Chapter 4
"Miss Dupain-Cheng? I'm Captain Bourgeois, your new babysitter."
Marinette swallowed, eyes locked onto cold blue ones, "Babysitter?"
The blonde flicked her hair over her shoulder, the sudden slam and locking of the door making her wince, "Precisely, I'll be making sure you behave while officer Agreste is at work." Without any hesitation, the woman took off her shoes and hat, before guiding Marinette by her elbow towards the living room.
Marinette clumsily followed, frowning at the slight pressure on her elbow, but begrudgingly following to not aggravate the female policewoman. It was obvious she meant business and Marinette was never one to mess with the law.
Well….until…that incident.
Marinette was deposited on the couch, while the captain strolled into the kitchen. From the corner of her eye, she spotted Plagg watching her, he seemed relaxed enough, but not overly affectionate as he was towards his owner or Marinette.
The captain stopped beside the black cat, scrunching her nose, "Someone needs a bath."
Plagg hissed, but it was no serious threat, his tail was still relaxed, back not hunched and he promptly walked over to Marinette, who gently scratched his head. He laid down near Marinette's feet, as if to guard her against the blonde woman.
Marinette wondered what relationship the woman had to Plagg, to Mr. Agreste in general. He called her a friend, but she seemed so casual in his home, as if she knew exactly where everything was, as if she practically lived there.
As it turned out, she did. The blonde woman opened cupboards and drawers Marinette hadn't explored yet, effortlessly taking out ingredients, utensils and setting up water to boil.
The sleeves of her uniform were meticulously rolled up, folded, before she set to work on the cutting board.
The minute Marinette's chains rattled when she wanted to stand up and ask if she could help, the rhythmic sounds from the knife hitting the cutting board stopped and the woman's back grew even more rigid if possible, her head tilted so she caught a glimpse of the suspect from the corner of her eyes.
The dark-haired woman froze, feeling like a deer caught in headlights, before her trembling lips finally stilled enough to speak, "Uhm…do…do you need help-"
"No, thank you."
The answer was curt, sharp and painless.
The woman suspected this was how the rest of her day with the captain would go.
Mr. Agreste mentioned the woman was a friend, how could such a kind man like him possibly be friends with someone like her?
"Ice queen." Marinette's thoughts halted abruptly when the captain moved her head, as if actually hearing her thoughts, before she dumped what looked like chopped up vegetables into the pot filled with water.
Exhaling in relief, Marinette felt her body sag back against the couch. She saw Plagg jump onto the empty spot next to her, cuddling up to her side and purring contently, his head resting on the side of her stomach.
Marinette petted his head, feeling slightly more reassured about her situation, it remined her of Tikki nuzzling her to comfort her whenever she had deadlines to meet or an overload of work on her designs.
"Miss Dupain-Cheng," the authoritative voice caused Marinette to straighten automatically, "Have you or have you not been responsible for the robbery at the store?"
She didn't expect the straightforward question, weren't police officers supposed to interrogate her first? Maybe use sly tactics or intimidation or a play with words to butter her up? Did only detectives do that?
She swallowed, stiffening, lips set into a thin line.
She wouldn't, she gave her word.
After another moment of silence, captain Bourgeois finished cleaning the knife and cutting board and set it aside, stirring the pot, not once turning to face the suspect, "I see." She paused briefly, as if thinking, "Armed robbery gets you either three years in jail or up to eight in repeat and especially violent offenses. According to the background check we did of you, you're not a repeat offender, which will lessen your sentence. Your sentence will also be lessened if you confess the identity of the other offenders involved."
Marinette sat still, listening to the captain recite it so easily, like a bullet from a shotgun, quick, precise, fast. Her stomach churned, she couldn't rat out the others, but she was the only one caught, she would be the one sent to prison. What would maman and papa think? What of her job at the designing company?
A shaky breath left her lips, feet nervously shifting against the carpet, "I-I know what you're doing, I won't tell anything." She didn't dare look at the woman's back, least she turned and pierced her soul with those icy eyes.
The captain huffed, but gave no other reaction to her statement, except, "Suit yourself, Miss Dupain."
Something hardened within Marinette and she spoke through grit teeth, a fierceness to her voice that wasn't there before, "It's Dupain-Cheng, Miss Bourgeois."
"That's Captain Bourgeois, to you Miss Dupain-Cheng."
Despite her harsh tone, there was a small smile on the blonde's lips.
Adrien's eyes scanned the information written on the piece of paper, lips captured between his teeth as he calculated the distance between the precinct and the address.
"Hey! Heading out?" Wayhem strolled by with a fresh stack of papers in his hands, probably another case, or research materials for an old one.
Adrien smiled weakly, "Yeah."
The brunet rose an eyebrow curiously, "Hey, what's up Mr. Sunshine?"
Adrien sighed, leaning his head back against his chair, "You think she's involved beyond a reluctant accomplice?"
Wayhem glanced at the paper in his friend's hand, before he gaze swept over the files of the recent robbery and he stuck his bottom lip out, "Well….hard to say. Do you have evidence denying it?"
The conflicted look on his face told Wayhem all he had to know, "So, what makes you so sure she was forced to tag along? I mean, she still refuses to say any names, right?"
The blond straightened in his chair and ran a hand through his hair, "Yes, but… she's not in our files, not even for a speeding ticket. She never did any sort of offense in her life, suddenly diving headfirst into robbery doesn't seem logical. Not to mention, what would drive a young woman such as her to do this? She seems jumpy, a bit clumsy and nervous, not exactly the usual profile of the people we throw into the cell."
Wayhem gave a loud, drawn out sigh, getting annoyed looks from some of their colleagues, Adrien smiled apologetically at them and they turned their heads to concentrate back on their work, "Maybe it's just an act? To get you off her trail?"
Adrien shook his head, "I don't think so, earlier this morning, when I surprised her in the kitchen, she was like a scared deer. A seasoned criminal would react differently, or at least someone who's committed a crime before. Also, I gave her enough openings to surprise me or just attempt to escape. She took none of them, I don't think she even noticed any of them. She could've attempted to flee when my back was turned, try to break the window during the night, anything. She didn't do anything Wayhem, she behaves like a scared civilian held hostage."
Wayhem pursed his lips, rubbing his chin, "Hmm….there's that." His eyes narrowed suspiciously, "Wait, how is Plagg reacting?"
Adrien shrugged, "Plagg loves her. He showers her with affection. Hasn't hissed even once. He didn't even react in the morning when she was in the kitchen and I asleep. He was laying right next to me, as if we were alone."
"Fur standing on end?"
"Nope."
"Did he try to bite her when she got near his cheese stash?"
Adrien gasped, "Not once! Not even once, Wayhem! He has his cheese stash in multiple places, right? She walked near it at least several times, but he never reacted." The man ran his hands down his face in frustration, "She must be innocent Wayhem!"
The brunet looked exasperated, "But-but why?! Ugh, there's nothing going on! I need her to be a little guilty just to spice things up a bit!" he pouted like a child, "Just imagine, handsome cop living with dangerous criminal? Hunk of a cop forced to share living quarters with deadly woman looking to slit his throat-"
Adrien pushed his overzealous face away from him, expression flat, "First, stop describing me so weirdly. Second, she's barely an amateur criminal. Slitting my throat? She jumped when I opened the door, I can't imagine her sneaking around anywhere with a dagger in her hands." The blond stood up, grabbing his jacket off his stool and putting it on.
Wayhem followed him towards the exit, gesticulating wildly with his hands, "You know how female criminals can get, no hate, but they often employ charm and the innocent, defenseless act to fool. It happened before Adrien, we have a few psychopaths in the cell for that you know." He would need to be an octopus to be able to count how many times they've arrested females, and males, who employed various practices of deceit and false charm to get their way out of a jail sentence.
"You know, it's always the quiet ones!" Adrien leveled Wayhem with a half tired, half amused look.
"Yeah…I know, Wayhem." With that, Adrien left through the double doors and towards the elevator, an amused smirk on his lips from recalling memories of Wayhem a few years ago, the quiet, shy recruit who was scared of everything and anything.
12 Rue Gotlib, 21st arrondissement
Adrien looked at the paper in his hand, before he looked upon the building he now stood in front of.
It definitely was the same address.
Pocketing the piece of paper, Adrien made his way inside.
The bell chime above his head alerted the patrons within of his arrival. Almost immediately, a shorter woman of Chinese descent greeted him with a bright, warm smile, "Welcome!"
A tall, large man emerged from behind what Adrien deduced was a kitchen, waving friendlily at him, "Good day, young man!"
Adrien paused, inhaling the sweet scent of baked goods and the warm, inviting atmosphere around him.
He had expected many things, a small apartment, a rundown, cheap building, a small house, anything.
What he hadn't expected was to run into a bakery, much less one of the best ones in Paris.
Adrien put on a friendly smile, tone polite and soft, "Bonjour."
Thanks for reading and I'm sorry for the short chapter!