Retrospective: Paris - How things got messy

4.7. Tristan Leroux - The worst day

Fall 1993, Paris police headquarters

Tristan fumed after his contact man left. This was possibly the worst day of his life. Just when he - inspecteur Tristan Leroux of the the préfecture de police de Paris, was about to lock up the enculé he had hunted and investigated for so long, Girodet had to ruin it! This should have been a day of triumph, another day justice got served, but instead, the private investigator he had solely hired to tail his suspect and dig out any possible dirt had come and ruined everything.

But Tristan's friend worked well throughoughly as usual, and his evidence was not to to be denied. He brought a recording of someone confessing the murder on Diego Santiago, and - blackmailing the enculé to confess it to the police by abducting the young woman. And also rat out some of the unknown man's henchmen.
Girodet also had witnessed the murder on Etienne Armand, the lawyer, by the hands of the same unknown man.

Only that the unknown man had a name - Louis Duhaut was already known to the police for a while, and under suspicion for trafficking weapons, but there was never any solid proof that could have been traced back to him. Until Girodet apparently had found his gang's warehouse by following him and his target there.
A small comfort compared to what Tristan had lost, but nevertheless, a great victory. He had already assembled a team to storm the warehouse, to lock up who was present of the gang, and find out where the girl was held hostage.
This was the only thing Girodet hadn't managed to find out yet.

Tristan himself, needed some time to breathe first, though.
And think.
Sure, it was suspicious that the suspect came back to confess so shortly after he had been released from custody, and even more so when his lawyer got murdered.
But it didn't matter to Tristan for what reason he would arrest him, as long as it prevented a criminal to commit more crimes.
Tristan was more than convinced, that the enculé was not an innocent victim, as Girodet believed. Just because the private investigator hadn't found any suspicious activities yet!
That man was slick as oil.
Every time Tristan had thought he caught something on him, he had escaped his grip. But there was no way he was not involved in Monsieur Santiago's crimes. Tristan wouldn't be able to convict him for murder - yet, but sooner or later he would find evidence for his criminal activities.
If they got Monsieur Duhaut and his henchmen into arrest, Tristan was convinced the gang leader would be more than happy to take his revenge over their failed plan and tell him anything he knew about his rival in crime.

His eyes fell on the polaroid photo, another piece of evidence Girodet had brought in.
Tristan cracked up bitterly.
His instincts were right that the enculé had seduced her.

How dared they to smile as if to spite him.
And that stupid, shameless girl...

How could she not be disgusted to let scum like him touch her?

Dirty...

Deranged...

Sick...

Scum...

Not even screaming and trashing his office helped to calm down the wrath that raged in Tristan's heart over all those disgusting images that haunted him, more and more each time after he had spoken to the suspect.

Francesco De la Cruz.

"Francesco." The name dripped like honey from his lips, sickly sweet and burning at the same time.

No.
Tristan would not give in and let the enculé corrupt him with perverted desires. He was a man of honor, he never had given in to the lower animalistic instincts like other humans, and even less he would do so now to some of their twisted abominations.
He had to focus on what was really important - finding the proof to lock up the enculé once and for all!

"Inspecteur Leroux...?"
Tristan had barely noticed the door had opened.
The man looked confused around the mess in the office but didn't say a word.
"I have searched for a file", Tristan said, wiping an invisible flake from his sleeve. "Report."
"Officier Charpentier just called... the warehouse - they found the loot, as expected. Firearms were stocked up to the roof. And -"
The officier stopped.

"Talk, for god's sake." Tristan didn't have any patience. "Did they find witnesses? The girl?"
"N-no...", the officier stuttered. "But - it was horrible... they found a lot of the men we suspected to be involved, including Duhaut, and some more... even some of our own officiers, Boucher, Fournier and Pelletier..."
"And?" an uneasy feeling crept up Tristan's chest.

"They're all dead!", the officier burst out, "It's a blood bath, Charpentier said!"

"WHAT?!"
This couldn't be!
Tristan cursed. "How could you let that happen?!"
"But inspecteur -"
"No but! How are we supposed to get confessions and testimonies now?"

Again another chance to find something incriminating on his suspect came to nothing.
This was too messed up - Tristan slowly started to wonder if he was cursed.
He had to think.
Maybe those officiers that were in the warehouse could lead somewhere. According to their position, they shouldn't be involved in the firearm and drug trafficking investigations, so they were most likely some of the dirty policemen Paris was infected with.
If he checked on their partners, maybe he could -

But before he could finish his thoughts, the door opened again.
"Inspecteur?", another officier entered, "The suspect... he's gone..."
"What??! And where's that imbécile that should watch him?"
"Also gone...", the second officier flinched, "we don't know for how long..."

"Am I working only with incompetent imbèciles here - "
Tristan was interrupted before he could give them his piece of mind on his men's abilities to be police officiers - or rather, the lack of it, when a third one entered.
"Inspecteur..."
"What!", Tristan snapped. He couldn't take any more bad news today.
"The - the commandant asks for your presence...", the third officier winced. "Im-m-mediately..."
A string of all possible and impossible curse words came out of Tristan's mouth.
Today everything had gone wrong that could, and he was less than in mood to report to his superior.

"You all!", he yelled on his way out, "take all men you can get, and look for the suspect, and find any of the men we suspect being involved in that gang that still might be alive! No more mistakes! Oh, and -", he added, before he would forget, "look for the girl too, of course."