Translates as: What are you gonna do?

‘Was there a party this past weekend?’

‘It rained this weekend.’

‘Friday?’ Friday had been lovely.

‘Not the kind where they needed us.’

‘Merci.’ She left the gendarme to release René and Hubert.

 

***

Jean-Marc Pouliot ushered her into the tent-like blind they had thrown up.

In fact there were two men found in the Rhine that day. The first, the man René and Hubert had poked and studied, was fortyish, tall and lean, fine features, good looking — absent the death-dulled stare, the matted, ratty hair. There was also the fact of a clean bullet hole in the centre of his forehead. And the side of his head had been severely broken open, battered with a sharpish object during the course of a struggle. Or perhaps falling on a rock.

A spiffy dresser — at least on top: stylish cream-toned lightweight suit coat, a navy tie with tiny ruby hearts in a running pattern, a two-toned shirt (with two more bullet holes). South of his trim waistline, one elegant but blood-stained grey silk knee-length sock remained on his right foot. A string-like brief (le slip) more or less preserved his modesty. Shoes, other sock, and trousers were not part of his ensemble. It certainly fit with the notion of a trysting spot.

Jean-Marc Pouliot let the plastic sheet fall back. ‘We have his pants and one shoe.’

‘Who is he?’

‘Don’t know. Wallet’s gone.’

‘Get a time?’

‘Not really…’ handing over the initial paperwork. The local medical examiner had done his job and left. ‘At least forty-eight hours. Have to wait for a more exact time-frame.’ Until Médecin légiste Rafaele Petrucci took over and performed a more extensive pathology investigation.

Their victim had spent a rainy weekend in the river. ‘But he didn’t float in.’

‘No,’ Pouliot agreed. ‘I’d say the first two shots knocked him into the water. He may have floated from one shallows to the next, to where they found him, he was definitely in the river and it rolled him around some. But it happened here, that’s sure.’ The pants and shoe would add strong circumstantial confirmation. ‘And we’re gathering up some other things.’

The inspector was pleased to see they had recovered a pistol. It was laid out on plastic, on display in the sun. ‘SIG 220,’ Pouliot said. ‘Standard police and army issue. Up to the task.’

‘In the water or the bushes?’

‘Water, but a pretty weak throw.’ Adding, ‘Five shots gone from an eight-round mag.’

Interesting. Three in the victim. ‘Find the other two?’

‘Casings, yes. Slugs from the misses, not yet. All these rocks, the river…’ They would do their best. In Jean-Marc’s opinion, the non-pattern of the casings suggested a rundown. ‘Two shots to the stomach area — two casings over by the willow there…’ Directing her view; ‘where we found his pants and shoe. We found two more casings along a more or less straight path from there to those rocks.