Deadly Aid by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-04-23T19:10:43+00:00

CHAPTER 23

As Jeanne waited in the lobby of the police station the next day, she scanned the posters on the gray walls and tried to remain calm. In an eff ort to keep her mind from wandering to worst-case scenarios, she focused her attention on a list of lawyers, reading each name carefully.

Th en she stared at a picture of a young, smiling policewoman in an ad soliciting potential recruits.

Her gaze then drifted to the missing-persons posters. A brown-

haired little girl, a teenager with a big smile, a troubled-looking young man: these faces formed a gallery of ghosts, people who had disappeared from space and time. Jeanne noticed that some had been miss-

ing for several years—no doubt dead. Others had simply decided to

fl ee their lives. Jeanne considered running away from her own. It was a pipe dream: she’d never be able to disappear completely. Sure, she could change her life, move to another place and meet new people, but that would only be a change. She wanted to actually disappear.

Th e waiting-room attendant brought her back to reality. “Captain

Villemein is waiting for you in his offi ce. It’s on the third fl oor.”

Jeanne found him sitting at his desk. He was on the phone and

signaled her to sit down.

Deadly Aid

As he wrapped up his conversation, she tried to decipher his pierc-

ing look. He hung up the phone and said, “What happened?” He

pointed to the bandage over her eyebrow. “Did you run across some

Malians again?”

“No. I’ll explain later.”

Villemein shook his head and crossed his arms, resting his elbows

on the desk. “OK,” he said. “Th anks for coming in on such short

notice. It won’t take long. I wanted to hear what you had to say about the Jennifer Renduit case, but I’ve just learned something this morning that makes this meeting a waste of time. It’s good news.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Jennifer admitted she lied. She testifi ed that she made up the

whole story.”

“I’m not surprised,” Jeanne said. “Why did she lie?”

“Apparently, she wanted to be placed in Émilie’s school. She told

the same story as her friend, only Émilie’s story of sexual abuse was real and hers was a fabrication.”

Villemein looked at Jeanne and smiled. “It’s crazy, isn’t it?” he said.

“I once heard about a man sentenced to three months in prison for

exposing himself to an eighteen-year-old girl on the street. Except the whole story was made up. Th e girl did it for the money. She wanted to sue the guy for emotional distress, all so she could pay for driving lessons. Men have it bad sometimes, too.”

“I guess so,” Jeanne said. “Women used to be ashamed to admit to

being raped. Today, they point a fi nger and a guy fi nds himself behind bars. Th e burden is on him to prove his innocence.”

Th e meeting seemed to be coming to a close. She relaxed and

started to collect her things.

“Hold on a second,” Villemein said. “I want to talk to you about

the Ferrière case.”

Jeanne settled back into her seat.

105

Michel Tarou

“Franck Ilus is our main suspect in the death of Gérard Ferrière.

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