| |
––––––––
“I WANT TO FEEL HONOURED to be here, but every time I see you people, I end up with at least two migraines.” Captain Bouvier sat down on one of the chairs in the reception area in front of President Godard’s office. For a neurotypical he was more tolerable than most. His reputation as strict but fair was justified. I hadn’t had a lot of contact with him, but Daniel and his team had great respect for their superior. He gave me a long look before he turned to Manny. “Am I going have another migraine?”
“Probably.” Manny shrugged. “You should be used to it by now.”
Manny had allowed only me to join him for this meeting. He’d grumbled about Colin’s history with the four criminals, but especially Paulo. He didn’t want to give the president of France any obvious reasons for not allowing us to go to Portugal. Colin and Vinnie were waiting for us in the SUV.
Captain Bouvier sighed. “What is so important that we’re meeting here?”
Manny was about to answer, but the door to the president’s office opened. As always, President Godard was wearing a dark tailored suit and a colourful tie.
His expression was welcoming when he saw me. “Genevieve. It’s so good to see you. Isabelle was just saying a few days ago that she wants to invite you and Francine over for lunch to discuss the shelter for gifted girls.”
I nodded. “She phoned me. We’re meeting next week.”
“Good.” He turned to the men. “Manny.”
“Mister President.”
The president’s eyes widened slightly, then he glanced at Captain Bouvier and nodded. Over the last eight years we’d been working under the president, not only had Manny grown to trust him, they’d become friends. A few times, I’d heard Manny use the president’s first name and even chuckle when they’d had phone conversations. Manny wasn’t known for his humour.
Manny’s use of the president’s official title was not only out of respect, but also for the benefit of Captain Bouvier. The president looked at the captain. “Good to see you again, Captain Bouvier.”
“It’s an honour to be here, sir.”
President Godard held out his hand towards his office. “Please come in.”
We followed him into the beautiful room that he used as his office in Strasbourg. The official presidential residence was in the historic Élysée Palace in the heart of Paris, but he and Isabelle spent a lot of time in their home here in Strasbourg.
We settled around a small conference table as the president closed the door. “You are lucky to catch me here. Isabelle and I are leaving for Paris this afternoon.” He sat down. “What is this matter that we couldn’t discuss over the phone?”
“The Collector.” Manny slumped in his chair. “We have an opportunity to get to him.”
“And I’m not going to like this.” The president nodded. “Why is the captain here?”
“Because we need the support of his GIPN team.”
“You know you have it,” Captain Bouvier replied immediately.
Manny paused. “We need the team in Portugal with us.”
I barely contained the shudder that threatened to shake my body. I’d always found travelling to be stressful, but had managed that fear and had visited incredible destinations that had given me invaluable experiences and memories. But facing the reality of travelling in a time where viral infections were a real threat overwhelmed my neurodiverse mind to the point of going into a shutdown.
I truly didn’t want to travel to Portugal.
I took three slow breaths and turned my full attention to the conversation. President Godard was looking at Manny over the brim of the frameless glasses he’d started wearing a year ago. Captain Bouvier’s expression turned from confused to suspicious. “Portugal? Why not contact their response team? GOE is what they’re called, if I remember correctly.”
President Godard leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers. “I think Manny has to start from the beginning.” He held up one finger. “Start with a quick briefing on what you have so far on the Collector. So Captain Bouvier has the full context.”
The captain hadn’t been pleased when he’d found out that Pink was helping Francine search the dark web for any and all mentions of the Collector. He’d only been slightly mollified when Pink had vowed that he’d only been helping in his off time. Captain Bouvier had made it clear that he didn’t want to use the GIPN team’s resources to find an international art criminal. Not when they were dealing with an increasing workload. There had been more need for SWAT-like intervention in the last few months.
“We’ve so far found events that fit the Collector’s M.O. in twelve countries. With the fire at the consulate general, it’s now thirteen.” Manny continued to tell the president and Captain Bouvier about all the buildings the Collector had destroyed and the innocent lives lost in the process.
Captain Bouvier’s one raised eyebrow and tightened lips conveyed a level of irritation that worried me. I’d only agreed to consider going to Portugal on the condition that Daniel and Pink joined us. At first, the captain’s expression led me to believe he wouldn’t agree to his people leaving France. But the more Manny revealed, the wider his eyes grew. His depressor anguli oris muscles pulled down the corners of his mouth, his nostrils flaring. “This was all done by one person?”
“Orchestrated, more like.” Manny snorted with derision. “The Collector finds some underhanded way to gain the cooperation of local criminals. They pull these jobs and the Collector gets what he wants.”
“Which is what exactly?” Captain Bouvier waved his hand around. “All these artworks you’re talking about?”
“Yes.” Manny looked at me. “Doc?”
“Yes?” I recognised his expression, but I didn’t know what he expected from me.
Manny sighed heavily. “Please share with us the theory about the art.”
I leaned away from him. “It’s not a theory.”
“I would still like to hear what you’ve found, Genevieve.” The president’s smile was gentle.
I took a moment to organise my thoughts so I could convey our findings as accurately as possible. “We limited ourselves at first by only looking for heists of artefacts similar to the antique silver coins of our previous case in Croatia. But then I found heists with the same pattern, yet the items taken were paintings, not coins or any other type of artwork.”
“Long story short, they came to important conclusions.” Manny rolled his hand impatiently for me to continue.
“Shouldn’t I give more context for how I came to these conclusions?”
“For the love of Mary, no.” Manny glanced at Captain Bouvier when the latter snorted. “Doc, just give us the final results.”
I exhaled in annoyance. Context was important. But to these men brevity trumped that. “I’ve divided these heists into two groups. One with artefacts dating back thousands of years. The second group is paintings dating back no further than the eighteenth century. The Malhoa painting taken from the consulate general fits in that category.”
Manny knocked on the table. “Doc, the end results.”
I closed my eyes and held back my impatient retort. “We have no end results yet. What I can tell you is that the antique artefact heists were in countries like Egypt, Iran, Peru and India. Countries where bombings and fires are easy to disguise amid the internal conflict in these regions.”
“And the painting heists?” Captain Bouvier asked.
I counted them off on my fingers. “Brazil, Morocco, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. Too similar to the artefact countries to really make a distinction. With the exception now of the most recent heist here in Strasbourg.”
The president narrowed his eyes. “What conclusions have you drawn from this data?”
“I believe we need to find more of the Collector’s past heists to create a complete profile. That will help us figure out the pattern and a possible motivation. And an understanding of the two distinct groups of artworks stolen.”
“This is taking far too bloody long.” Manny inhaled deeply and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “We might have a shorter way of finding the Collector.”
“And something tells me I’m not going to like it.” The president straightened. “Let’s hear it.”
“An art thief contacted us.” Manny’s lips thinned. “The bast... idiot broke into Lieutenant Daniel Cassel’s apartment and held him hostage until we arrived.”
“What?” Captain Bouvier moved to get out of his chair, but sat back down when Manny shook his head.
“Daniel was never in any danger. The thief only had a stun gun with him and his only goal was to get Frey to help him.”
“He knows Colin?” the president asked.
“Hmm.” The regret on Manny’s face was fleeting. He hadn’t wanted to let this slip. “Not important right now. What we should pay attention to is that four wanted criminals have agreed not only to work together, but to ask for our help in catching the Collector, knowing the risk they’re taking by exposing themselves to law enforcement. They also don’t come empty-handed.”
Manny gave a very brief account of what Armando had told us. When he finished, he looked at me, then at the president. “We think we should go to Portugal and at the very least check this out.”
Captain Bouvier shifted in his chair and inhaled to speak, but stopped when the president lifted his hand and looked at me. “Genevieve? Do you trust this Armando?”
“No.” I blinked when all three men reacted with soft laughter and grunts. “To be clear, I don’t trust him in general, but I do trust that he experienced extreme fear whenever he spoke about the Collector. I feel confident that his motivation to help us find and stop the Collector is genuine.”
“What Doc’s not saying is that his true motivation is likely to stop the Collector so he can continue thieving without worrying about the Collector threatening the lives of his loved ones.”
“The Collector threatened their lives?” the captain asked.
Manny’s lips tightened. “The Collector brutally killed Armando’s cats.”
“That... damn.” The president crossed his arms. “Is he a psychopath?”
“Diagnosing psychopathy is not that simple.” Generally, I loathed how quickly people fell back onto accusing someone of a mental illness when that person’s behaviour was borne from fear or trauma. “Yet in this case, I wouldn’t be surprised if that were to be the diagnosis.”
“Is this Armando connected to the consulate general fire?” the president asked.
“We don’t believe so.” Manny nodded towards me. “Doc says he’s telling the truth when he said he only flew in this morning. Francine is checking that now.”
“What do you need from me?” the president asked.
“Armando told us that the Collector has many Portuguese police officials under his control. We can’t trust anyone over there.”
Captain Bouvier nodded slowly. “And that’s where I come in.” He rubbed his temples. “You want to take my team with you because you don’t know if GOE can be trusted.”
Manny nodded, then looked at President Godard. “And we need you to hold off on telling President Pedroso.”
The president raised both eyebrows. “That’s not a good idea, Manny. For many reasons. If anything happens while you are there, it will be a diplomatic nightmare. We can’t violate the sovereignty of Portugal. It will be an action we might not be able to walk back. As it is, they are demanding answers about that fire. President Pedroso phoned me last night to ask if any of the other thirteen consulate generals and embassies in France need to be on alert. Was this an isolated incident or something else? No, I can’t keep this from him. ”
I studied President Godard for a few seconds. I’d become friends with his wife and learned more about him through her. I leaned forward. “Do you trust President Pedroso?”
A quick smile told me he noticed that I’d turned his earlier question back on him. He inhaled deeply and slowly exhaled while thinking. “I’ve known Miguel Pedroso since his days serving in the European parliament. The last time we spoke was eight months ago during an EU climate change summit. He was outraged by the recklessness of countries prioritising popularity and money over protecting the environment for future generations. I can’t say I know him well, but I do trust him not to succumb to the manipulations of a criminal.”
“Depends on what power the Collector has over him.” Manny gave the president a long look. “This is one of the most calculating criminals I’ve come across, Raymond. We can’t underestimate him.”
“Let me think about this.” The president nodded once. “But keeping this from President Pedroso is not an option. If anything were to happen to or because of you while you’re there, the buck will stop with me. Alerting the president to your presence in his country might go a long way to smooth things over.” His tone brooked no argument. “I assume you haven’t told anyone else about Armando and this new development?”
“Only him.” Manny tilted his head towards Captain Bouvier. “We know we can trust him and we need his help.”
“If the president signs off on this, you can have Daniel and his team.” There was no more displeasure in the captain’s nonverbal cues. He was surprised and pleased by Manny’s trust. And I’d seen the deep disgust he’d shown hearing about the Collector’s actions.
“There’s more, isn’t there?” The president looked at me.
“Armando and the others want immunity. They won’t give us the information they have on the Collector unless they are granted full immunity for their crimes.”
The president looked at Manny. “And from the look on your face, I’m assuming it’s not a good idea.”
Manny proceeded to list Inge’s, Jake’s, Armando’s and Paulo’s crimes—alleged as well as those they’d been convicted of. By the time he finished with Paulo’s numerous crimes, Captain Bouvier’s face had increased in colour, his lips pressed into a thin line. He looked at the president. “You can’t seriously consider this, sir.”
“There’s more.” Manny told them about the art and intel Armando had offered as a gesture of good faith.
President Godard sat back in his chair. “Well, damn. Access codes to a North Korean nuclear facility?”
Manny nodded.
“If that’s real, we can’t pass it up, Manny.” The president blinked a few times. “That’s invaluable intel. Immunity has been offered for much less.” He looked at me. “What do you think, Genevieve?”
In an ideal world, all decisions would be yes or no, first or last, right or wrong, legal or illegal. But life had limitless nuances. This was one of the most important lessons I’d learned in the years I’d been working with the team. I’d tried so hard to keep my life binary, but it had only added to my distress. Accepting that every part of life had innumerable shades had given me more inner calm.
I thought about this some more. It had been extremely difficult for me, but I’d come to accept that I wouldn’t always be able to have the rigid moral and ethical standards that made me feel safe. “Armando wasn’t specific when he asked for full immunity.”
“Sounds bloody specific to me.” Manny shoved his hands in his trouser pockets.
“He didn’t ask for international full immunity.” I looked at the president. “You couldn’t grant him that in any case. Would it be possible to grant them immunity from prosecution for crimes committed in France?”
The president nodded once. “I can agree to that, but it will be conditional. None of them are ever to set foot in France again. If they enter any French territory, they’ll be arrested.”
Captain Bouvier huffed a laugh, looking at me with approval clear on his face. “They get what they asked for, but I don’t think this is what they expected.”
President Godard turned to Manny. “If you’re convinced going to Portugal is the right step, you have the green light. I’ll leave everything else up to you.”
