To anonymousfriend27: Some of the questions get answered… in the next chapter. For now, there are still more questions to ask…
Adrien smiled at the Marinette through the door, even after it had closed and he could no longer see her. On turning around, however, he looked around his office and groaned. He had added some personal touches to the office, but it still felt a little too impersonal. His father's influence hung over everything, from the plain black curtains to the cold, sterile walls, devoid of any familiarity or warmth. Maybe now that our relationship is "official" here, I should let Marinette redecorate the office! She's doing such a good job with the mansion… He smiled at the thought, making a mental note to ask her over dinner. But he couldn't worry about that now; the advertisement for his office manager position wasn't going to write itself.
He dropped into the office chair and spun around once before turning on his computer. While he waited for the computer to start up, he pulled a framed picture of himself and Marinette out of his desk drawer and set it on the desk where he could look at her all the time. "Another benefit of our relationship being 'official' now," he commented, smiling at it.
Plagg simply rolled his eyes and leaned against the picture frame, arms folded. "Don't tell me you're going to be all mushy over Pigtails here now, too…"
"Don't lie to me, Plagg," Adrien chuckled. "I know how much you like her, and how much you like seeing us together."
"… I refuse to answer that," Plagg sputtered, "… at least without a whole batch of her father's camembert macaroons!" Plagg phased through the desk into "his" drawer. It wasn't too long before Adrien heard a contented sigh followed by a low purring that made the desk vibrate.
As soon as the computer had finished booting up, before he could start his work, a notification popped up from the company's intranet security program: a suspicious email received by someone at Agreste. Adrien furrowed his brow but opened the program anyways. Usually these were simple phishing attacks and the software stopped them dead in their tracks. Occasionally the program overreacted to an employee receiving a cat video. However, neither of these was the case.
"What?" Adrien breathed. "This can't be happening…"
He was looking at an email sent from a Givenchy email address… to Marinette's company email: "We have received your design submission and will contact you if it is accepted. Regarding your request for an internship, we regret to inform you that we do not currently have openings at the lycée level. However…"
Adrien pushed the computer away in disgust. Marinette? Submitting designs to another fashion house? Looking to leave her Agreste internship? Was it just too awkward after yesterday, now that he had made their relationship public? Had he ruined their chances of working together by pushing her into the spotlight yesterday? His eyes burned at the unfairness of it. He had thought that putting Janet in his place, firing him for everything he had done – to Marinette and to the other employees – was the right thing to do, both for the company and for Marinette. But now it might be hurting Marinette's future with the company! Would he have to continue this company without his partner by his side? But how could he do that?
He was just about to walk down and talk to Marinette in person when the phone buzzed and Mme Batteaux's voice came through, a trace of concern in her tone. "M. Agreste, you have visitors."
"Who is it?" he asked, frowning at the phone.
"Two police officers are here," she answered hesitantly. "They… say they have a judicial commission."
"Of course," he replied, swallowing hard. "Please send them in."
Adrien pasted his best model smile on his face as the door opened and Lieutenant Raincomprix stepped through, another officer trailing behind him. He rose from the desk and offered his hand, more out of politeness than any happiness at seeing them. "Officers," he greeted them. "To what do I owe this visit? Looking for something for Sabrina's birthday? I think Marinette's newest blouse design would be just her style! Or perhaps you are looking to commission Agreste to design new uniforms for the police force? Because I assure you, my team can do some amazing things with Kevlar!"
Lieutenant Raincomprix grimaced. "This… is awkward, Adrien," he finally confessed, pondering each word as it came out. He sighed heavily. "I wish I wasn't here right now, I really do. But we received an anonymous tip that Agreste's financial records are… incomplete. The tipster gave us some evidence, enough that a judge opened a judicial commission and empowered us to demand your financial records. I need you to hand over the records and computers, and I also need to ask you to come down to the station and answer some questions for us."
"Of course," Adrien replied nervously, speaking a little louder to drown out the low growl emanating from his desk. "Just let me call my attorney and make sure he agrees with what you are saying."
Without waiting for a response, Adrien called M. Renoir and explained what was happening. M. Renoir instructed him to cooperate with the officers but not to speak until he arrived. He promised to meet them at the police station.
"Very well, officers," Adrien told them after hanging up the phone. "I'm at your disposal."
Adrien couldn't keep his feet still while sitting in the police station and waiting for Lieutenant Raincomprix to return, Plagg rumbling quietly in his pocket. Beside him M. Renoir sat calmly, poring over the judicial commission documents and company financial records that Raincomprix had provided.
"You realize that is not conducive to my concentration, right?"
Adrien's foot stilled of its own accord. "Sorry, sir," he replied sheepishly. "I just fidget when I'm nervous. And being on this side of the table in a police interrogation room definitely qualifies…"
"I've only been here with you once," Renoir commented, raising an eyebrow. "After Gabriel's arrest."
"And that ended after three hours when the Heroes of Paris opened a portal over there, and Ladybug, Carapace, and Queen Bee walked into the room and personally insisted that they release me," Adrien confirmed. He smiled humorlessly. "That was definitely the highlight of the day."
"Still, you make it sound like this is a common occurrence. How many times have you been in a police interrogation room?" Renoir wondered. "On either side of the table?"
Adrien chuckled. "More often than you'd expect for a seventeen-year-old rich kid whose super-villain father would have literally murdered him if he stepped a toe out of line." He couldn't exactly explain that a few of those had been dressed as a cat… Attorney/client privilege or not, he and Marinette had both agreed that Renoir did not need to know that!
Marinette… Adrien hoped she wouldn't worry too much. He'd noticed Tikki hovering discretely in a corner of the lobby ceiling while the police were walking him out. Plagg had disappeared from his pocket for a few minutes while Lieutenant Raincomprix figured out the best way to avoid the press (he'd have to thank Sabrina for buying him at least that much consideration). Plagg had returned before they left, so Adrien assumed that Marinette had some idea what was happening. But she couldn't know any more than he did, and he was still completely in the dark.
His foot started tapping again.
Renoir glanced over at him in annoyance, but the door opened before he said anything. Lieutenant Raincomprix walked in, sat down, and set a folder on the table between himself and Adrien. Adrien stopped moving at once and turned to look at the officer.
"I'm sorry for keeping you waiting," Raincomprix told them. "The accountant was going through your company finances to see if those anomalies were correct."
"And what reason do you have to believe my client committed a crime, if one has indeed been committed?" Renoir asked icily.
"Do you understand your company financial records, Adrien?" Raincomprix asked, ignoring the question.
At a nod from Renoir, Adrien replied, "I'm still learning, but I understand the basics. When I took over the company, M. Renoir advised me that I need to keep an eye on the company financial records so I don't get in trouble. Like I seem to be now," he added, grimacing.
"And your financial records are accurate?"
"Last time I checked. I still have no idea what any of this is about!" Adrien insisted.
Raincomprix flipped the folder open and slid it across the table. "Then how do you explain this?"
Adrien stared at the top sheet of paper. "I can't," he admitted. The paper showed a series of small withdrawals from Agreste's accounts, duplicating expense payments and occurring every few days over the months since he had taken control of the company. The next page showed Agreste's tax returns, which did not account for these withdrawals. From the number at the bottom of the first page, the total withdrawn was close to €1 million. "I don't remember seeing transactions like this. I certainly didn't authorize any of these!"
"This doesn't look good," Raincomprix told him, frowning. "The accountant is still working his way through the shell companies these fraudulent transactions were funneled through, but his preliminary finding is that they all point back to you."
"What!?" Adrien sat up straight, ignoring Renoir's hand on his shoulder.
"My client categorically denies these accusations," Renoir interjected, cutting off Adrien's sputtering protest.
"Unfortunately, what we have is more than enough to open a preliminary enquiry into your company for financial fraud." Raincomprix sounded apologetic as he said it. "You'll have to stay here until we get this sorted out."
Adrien's jaw dropped and he could feel Plagg squirming in his shirt pocket.
"Is my client under arrest?" Renoir calmly asked.
"Not at the moment," Raincomprix admitted, leaning back in his chair.
"Do you have sufficient evidence to arrest him?"
"Once the forensic accountant finishes with the financial records, I believe we will," Raincomprix informed them, looking uncomfortable. He sighed and fidgeted with his hat. "For now, we have enough evidence to say that someone was stealing from Agreste and that tax fraud has occurred. However, we cannot say definitively that Adrien himself was involved."
"Do you believe he is in danger of fleeing the country?" Renoir raised his eyebrows.
Raincomprix was silent.
"I assure you, my client has no intention of leaving while this investigation is going on. He has strong ties to the community, such as his many friends – including your own daughter, I might add – and his girlfriend, whose family has essentially adopted him as their own. He did not run away from them after you arrested his father, and he has no intention of doing so now."
Raincomprix's lip twitched in something like a smile. Nevertheless he said, "See that he does not."
"So what happens now?" Adrien asked. He and Renoir were sitting in the backseat of his car while the Gorilla weaved through the late-night traffic.
"The police will continue their investigation," Renoir told him, not looking up from his phone, "but that's not your concern at the moment. For right now, you are going to go to a certain bakery and try to relax – or as much as you can after spending over four hours in a police interrogation room."
Adrien nodded and sat through the rest of the ride in silence, not even acknowledging the other two men when the car stopped in front of the bakery and he got out. The bakery itself was dark, having closed several hours earlier, so he let himself in with his key and made his way slowly up the stairs to the apartment.
Marinette was waiting in the kitchen when he pushed the door open, Tikki sitting on the table in front of a small plate with cookies and cheese. Without a backward glance, Plagg phased out of Adrien's pocket and floated over to join her, ignoring the cheese and whispering to her urgently. As Adrien collapsed into a chair at the table, Marinette placed a bowl of soup in front of him.
"I'm sorry," she told him hesitantly. "It's not as fancy or special as what I was planning to make for you. I wasn't even sure you would come by tonight until M. Renoir texted from the car."
"That's okay," Adrien assured her. He laughed, but without any humor. "There were a few minutes I wasn't sure I would be leaving the police station tonight!"
Marinette's eyes grew wider at the comment, and she didn't respond for a minute. "Mama and Papa went to bed a little bit ago," Marinette finally told him. "They need to be up early to prepare tomorrow's stock. And I asked them to give us a little time alone tonight. I hope that's okay; Mama said that if you needed a mother's hug, she would be out in an instant."
"I understand," Adrien assured her. "They do so much for me already; I don't want to impose any more than I already do."
They were quiet for a few minutes as Adrien ate. Eventually, however, Marinette broke the silence. "Tikki said this had something to do with Agreste's financial records?" she prompted.
He nodded. "Apparently they got a tip about embezzlement and tax evasion and when they examined our records they found some fraudulent transactions. But I don't remember seeing anything like that when I looked at the statements last month." He frowned in confusion.
"So what happens now?"
"I don't know." Adrien shrugged. "They keep on digging to see if they can tie any of it to me, and if they do, I guess Father and I get to share a cell." Marinette gasped and covered her mouth. Hearing the sound, he looked up at her and tried to smile. "It's not so bad," he assured her. He barked out a derisive laugh. "Maybe seven to ten years behind bars together is just what we needed for our relationship: 'the family that does time together is just fine together,' or something like that!"
He studied Marinette's expression. Normally she was an open book to him, but there was something guarded about her expression. He recognized a dozen emotions in her face, but none stayed there for long. Was that guilt because she was trying to find a new internship? Was that anger at the situation? Was she upset about his near-arrest, or something else? They finished the late meal in awkward silence before Adrien helped her clean the dishes.
He was just about to go into his room when Marinette finally spoke again. She gave him a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes before giving him a stiff hug and saying, "Goodnight, Adrien." The hug only lasted a moment before she was disappearing up the stairs.
He watched her go with bemusement.
I don't actually know the French legal system, but I tried to align this as much as possible with what Wikipedia says about it.