A/N: To Charity; I'm glad you liked Chapter One. And don't worry, chapter four will have just enough fluff to satisfy. Does that mean you like the romance? Somebody tell me! And for all you Erik fans out there, don't be upset b/c he's not in this chapter until the end, but I wanted to establish that the others in the Andre and Firmin detective agency are sleuths too. Enjoy!
peace, love and lipgloss,
Mlle.Fox
Downtown Paris was a polished gem of the city. Giles Andre stepped out of his hired hansom and paid the driver. Then he looked up to the building before him and went inside. The police station was full of men in black uniforms, and shining silver buttons; vagabonds being dragged along in handcuffs and Ladies of the Night applied rouge as they attempted to flirt with the officers. Andre dodged one streetwalker's advances and was shown into the office of one Sergeant Philippe Letrec. The tall, fat officer was reading over a case file when he looked up to Andre.
"Ah M. Andre, right? Good to see you again!" As the Sergeant put his folder aside on his desk, Andre shook hands with him,
"Thank you...Do you have a moment?"
"Of course! Please sit!" said Letrec gesturing to an empty chair. "What can I do for you today?" Andre sat,
"You have heard Roland Richard turned up alive only to drop dead again?" Letrec's face dropped,
"Yes. Nasty business that. I could have sworn he was dead all those years ago."
"Yet you neglected to tell us that the late M. Richard was a friend of yours." said Andre eyeing him.
"Didn't I? I could have sworn I mentioned it." Letrec said.
"What fascinates me the most about this case, is that three different men and the man's own family saw the body the first time and he appeared to be dead. But then it turned out he was alive this whole time." said Andre.
"Perhaps he is like Lazarus, raised from the dead." said the policeman.
"Or perhaps someone helped him fake his own death." suggested Andre. Letrec's face darkened,
"What are you implying Mousier?"
"Not a thing. But my partner and I are acting on behalf of the man's son and widow. We won't stop until we find the truth." said Andre with determination.
"What do you wish to know?" asked Letrec.
"Where were you the night before last?" asked Andre.
"I was here doing paperwork."
"Can anyone vouch for you?"
"I suppose not. Seeing as to how it grew late and everyone was gone by the time I left. I went straight home to bed." Letrec told him.
"I see...Sir? Do you remember the Paris Commune?" asked Andre.
"What of it?"
"Well, where were you when all that took place?" asked Andre.
"While the Commune was in power you mean? I fled the city to Versailles along with the rest. Why?" Letrec asked suspiciously.
"Did you ever hear about the Commune having a secret treasury committee? A committee that managed to raise funds for the Communards cause?" asked Andre.
"No, can't say I did." answered Letrec.
"And what about Roland Richard? Did he ever talk about the Commune with you?" asked Andre.
"No, can't say he did. Why?" asked the Sergeant.
"What would you say if I told you Richard supported the Commune?" said Andre waiting for his answer. The officer replied,
"You found that out? Can hardly believe it. Roland never struck me as the traitor type."
"When was the last time you saw him?" asked Andre.
"Alive you mean? Well, I'd say nine months prior to his death. We were too busy busting down on protests at the time for us to see each other after that. Anything else?" asked Letrec. Andre smiled and stood extended his hand,
"No, I think that clears up a few things. Thank you for your time!" Sergeant Letrec smiled,
"No trouble! No trouble at all!" Andre doffed his hat and walked out of the police station, not seeing a tall, stocky fellow in dark clothing following behind him.
Meanwhile, Antoinette waited patiently in the pew box, looking around the gothic church, admiring the beauty of the stained glass windows. Finally, a priest came out of a confessional, his bible in his ancient hands.
"Father Tomas?" she asked standing.
"Yes? Yes, my dear do you have something to confess?" he asked. She rolled her eyes and laughed,
"Ever since I met someone, yes I have! But that is not the point of my visit today. Father, I was told by the Widow Richard that you gave the last rites to her husband, Roland Richard, about four years ago?"
"Ah, yes! Yes. I remember she and her son were most distressed when they lost him." he said.
"Yet, what if I were to tell you Roland Richard had been alive all this time...and then was murdered just yesterday?" she asked waiting for his reaction. He gasped,
"My dear no! You can't be serious! Are you sure it was him?"
"Positive. His son and wife recognized him." she told him. The priest grew pale and then wavered on his feet.
"It can't be true! It can't!" he whispered to himself. She sat the old man in the back pew saying,
"Father, calm yourself! You act as if the Christ proclaimed he wasn't coming back!"
"Did...did he say anything...anything about what he's been doing for the past few years?" asked Father Tomas. She told him watching him with suspicion,
"No...no, he died before he could. All he could tell us he had supported the Commune." He dabbed his forehead with his handkerchief,
"I'm not surprised someone stabbed him if he helped raised money for the cause." She stared him down,
"Father...I never said he was stabbed...nor did I say what he did for the Commune. Father Tomas...were you a part of the secret committee the Commune used to raise money for?" The man of God looked her straight in the eye and told her,
"No. If you will excuse me my child, I must prepare for tonight's mass." He stood and left a stunned Antoinette still sitting in the pew, not believing a priest had just lied to her.
On the other side of the city, Firmin was pacing out in the halls of the university in the medical wing. He huffed and puffed in aggravation and checked his pocket watch for the sixth time that morning, when he heard his partner's voice call to him. Firmin turned to see Andre walking briskly down the wood paneled halls towards him. Andre said,
"So sorry I'm late! I couldn't hail a hansom for the life of me!"
"You were suppose to meet me here twenty minutes ago so we could speak with Dr. Christi before his lecture began! Now, we have to wait until it's over! Come on!" Firmin snapped at him before beginning to make for the door.
"I said I was sorry! What are you so snippy about?" asked Andre.
"I'm aggravated with my cousin! He sent word he couldn't set up a meeting with his representative until next week! And we haven't seen Erik all day. Knowing him he's probably solved the case already! And then there's the fact I know you get ill with the topic of Dr. Christi's lecture, so that will annoy me to no end!" explained Firmin before opening the door. As they crept inside quietly, standing in the back of a huge auditorium with about a hundred students looking at the teacher below, Andre asked,
"What topic?" Then he looked down and gulped back the bile in his throat upon seeing the cadaver body on the slab, cut open so Dr. Christi could explain to his students about the procedures of a proper autopsy. As Andre shut his eyes and clutched his stomach, Firmin muttered,
"That topic!"
They waited patiently in the back of the lecture hall, listening to the Doctor talk about death and how to detect it; the sound of papers rustling and pencils scribbling. Finally, Doctor Christi yelled out,
"Alright! Class dismissed!" Dodging the crowd of eager young med students on the way out, Firmin came down the stairs and called out catching the Doctor's attention,
"Mousier Doctor! If you have a moment?" Taking off his rubber gloves covered in blood, the thin man in spectacles said,
"Ah, M. Firmin! I rather thought you had abandoned me!" Declining his outstretched hand, Firmin said,
"No, I was waiting on my partner, M. Andre who..." When he saw Andre still at the top of the lecture hall not coming down, he sighed and continued,
"...Who I am CONSTANTLY waiting on!" Dr. Christi chuckled,
"A little squeamish eh?" Firmin turned up his nose at the decaying corpse on the slab,
"With good reason! Now Doctor, If I may just ask you a few questions."
"I'm at your disposal Mousier." said Dr. Christi as he began to cover up the cadaver with a stained white sheet.
"Four years ago, you examined the body of the late M. Roland Richard, correct?" Dr. Christi nodded,
"Ah yes! Massive coronary of the heart with fatal blockage of the arteries. I remember it well. A word of advice Mousier, exercise and eat plenty of vegetables and you will never have to worry about a failed heart!"
"Neither did Roland Richard until yesterday morning." said Firmin.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Early yesterday, Roland Richard died of a fatal stab wound to the chest and internal bleeding. He was murdered. What do you think of that?" Firmin asked of him.
"That's impossible! I examined him myself! He was as dead as Marie Antoinette!" protested Christi.
"And yet his wife and son and close family relation identified him as Roland Richard. How do you explain that?" Firmin questioned. Christi leaned against the slab and sighed,
"I never met the man before, so perhaps the body they brought in was not Roland Richard."
"Possible...yet when the family came to identify the body, they said the body at the time was Richard. Now...we already established he faked his own death. What we are trying to find out is if someone helped him do it." Firmin said.
"What does that have to do with me?" asked Dr. Christi.
"Well you examined the body. You signed the death certificate. Perhaps you...helped..." he suggested. Dr. Christi folded his arms and glared at Firmin,
"Now why would I do that?"
"Where were you during the Paris Commune, Mousier Doctor?" asked Firmin. Dr. Christi stared blankly at Firmin a moment before taking the sheet off the dead body again and saying,
"You know how this fellow died Mousier?"
"Not a clue." said Firmin turning green a second.
"He stuck his nose in someone else's affair. And he got shot. Yes, we can all learn a lesson from him. Now if you will excuse me sir, I must go grade some thesis papers. It was wonderful speaking with you again. Au revoir!" said Dr. Christi smiling and leaving the lecture hall. Andre saw Firmin twirl his cane about in his fingers as he came casually up the stairs. Andre said,
"It would seem the good Doctor is hiding something."
"So it does!" said Firmin doffing his beaver fur top hat and leading the way out. They decided to walk home, figuring they could think on the way. Firmin thought of the defensive doctor while Andre's mind lingered on the suspicious sergeant. Soon, they reached the driveway and saw Antoinette heading for the door as well. Firmin called out, stopping her,
"I take it you needed to think on the way home as well, Mam'selle?" She turned and said drawing out a long breath,
"Let's just say after meeting with Father Tomas, I'm considering becoming a protestant!"
"Well, at least you'll be able to divorce!" said Andre fishing out his set of keys as they neared the door.
"I'm completely baffled!" said Antoinette.
"Join the club. But we can go over all we learned over supper. Right now, I just want silence!" said Firmin as Andre turned the handle. But as they walked in, they were greeted with violent, passionate music, specifically, the banging of a piano. Jean Claude took their hats and gloves and told them,
"Welcome home sirs, Mam'selle. Mousier Erik requested that you all meet him in the parlor as soon as you came in." Andre led the way saying,
"Well, it's about time!" They found Erik with his eyes closed, becoming lost in the score, his hands gliding over the keys as if they were covered with silk.
"Erik! Erik!" yelled Firmin tapping Erik's shoulder to snap him out of the spell. Erik blinked and looked up at them and said,
"What have you found out?"
"Can't we rest a bit? It's been a trying day!" said Andre.
"Yes, why can't we wait until supper to discuss the case?" asked Antoinette sitting beside him on the bench. He stood and looked out the window saying,
"Because just as I suspected, you've all been followed."