‘I’ll be there.’
‘And did you enjoy yourself?’
‘Rather easy and rather quick.’
‘We’ll try to find you something better. Good-night.’
He hung up. Turned to Soleiman who had woken up.
‘You look all in, my boy.’
‘I am. On Monday it’s the general assembly. We’re going to propose that the new offers by the Ministry should be accepted. I don’t know what will happen. Turks don’t like compromise.’
Daquin moved Soleiman’s head onto his shoulder and licked the back of his neck gently, almost biting it.
‘You’ll win your vote, my boy. I hear what people are saying these days in the workrooms. They see you as a winner. I’ve got a gift for you. On Monday morning we’re going to arrest a workroom boss. Berican, 2 passage de l’Industrie. If the workers protest loudly enough we’ll blame the manageress for everything and let them have their boss back.’ He’d got down to the base of Soleiman’s spine.
‘Stop, Daquin. I don’t understand a word of what you’re saying.’
‘I’ll stop. For the time being. Go and make some coffee.’
Soleiman came back upstairs with the coffee-pot and two cups. He sat down at the end of the bed. Daquin told him about the Berican workroom.
‘The Fraud Squad will arrest the manageress and the workroom boss, they can’t do anything else. If the workers make enough fuss we’ll blame the manageress for everything and you can have the boss back. As for you, you’ll arrive at the general assembly, with him, the workroom will be reopened … Do you know Berican?’
‘Yes. He’s sent money to the Committee. You’re making me a real gift. What do you want in exchange?’
‘Nothing. You’ve given me all I want in any case. I want everything you can find out about Sener. I’m convinced he’s in the network, but I’ve no proof. And I want your ass. Now.’
21
7a.m. Passage de l’Industrie
Berican went up the staircase to his workroom, as he did every day it opened. On the landing, four sinister individuals, three raincoats, one jacket. Panic. Was it the Grey Wolves, as with Celik Osman? No. They were not Turks. Were they French police officers? They showed him their identity cards and a document he didn’t read. A search. He came out in a sweat. His vision was blurred. Paulette had sworn this would never happen …
Berican went in with the police officers. One of them stayed by the door. As the workers arrived they were sent into the kitchen. Morale was definitely low.
A rapid tour of the workrooms. The police officers seemed almost absent-minded. Tension increased when they reached the finishing machines. One officer carefully collected the checklists for the labels. But the place they really wanted to search was the manageress’s office. Account books, orders, invoices, they took out everything. One cop sat down and began to leaf through it all. In a locked drawer were designer labels from the couturiers and a register of their issue and return. A quick check showed that the totals were correct. Bottom drawer on the left, the boss opened it. Plastic bag from FNAC. Inside, a cardboard box. In the box, two rolls of labels, Saint-Laurent and Ted Lapidus. About five hundred of each.
‘And what’s this?’
Berican didn’t have to try very hard to look completely astonished.
‘I’ve no idea. This is the manageress’s office. I’m always in the workroom.’
‘And when does the manageress arrive?’
‘At 8.30, every day.’
‘We’ll wait for her. Sit down.’
One of the officers took statements from the workers. Hardly any of them had identity papers, the addresses were imaginary and nobody had ever seen that plastic bag.
Shortly after 8.30 Paulette Dupin arrived. When she saw the workroom empty and two unknown men coming out of her office she went pale. Flanked by the two men she was pushed into the office. She looked at Berican who was sitting on a chair. Salvation would not come from that quarter but he didn’t seem to be in a state of collapse.
Account books, first irregularities identified.
Paulette shrugged her shoulders, suspecting that they hadn’t come to look at those.
‘And these labels? What are they used for?’
Paulette glanced sideways at Berican.
‘I’ve never seen that box. I didn’t bring it here.’
‘In the bottom drawer of your desk, which was locked, and you’ve never seen it?’
‘No.’
‘That’s a position you’ll find rather difficult to maintain.’
The officers took Paulette and Berican into custody, the workers were asked to leave and the workroom was closed.
9.30 a.m. Passage du Désir
Paulette Dupin and Berican were locked up in two separate offices on the first floor. While the Fraud Squad team was preparing the interrogation Attali went to make his report to Daquin.
‘She’s tough. She denies ever having seen the plastic bag. In my opinion it’s a ridiculous defence. We’ll find the retailers who’ve been selling the counterfeit stuff. And perhaps too the producer of the labels in Turkey …’
‘Perhaps, but that’s how Fraud sees it. I want her to break down and quickly. I don’t care a damn about the swindles, I want the truth about the information leaks. We must know before the end of the custody period. After that we’ll never be able to manage it. You’ll be taking part in the Berican interrogation. Only one thing interests us: he has to admit he saw the plastic bag in the hands of Paulette, but if I understand correctly, we’ve little chance of getting that. Nothing else matters to us. Charge Paulette, clear Berican, that way we can release him late in the morning. Got that?’
*
Paulette was interrogated in Daquin’s office. The Fraud Squad superintendent and the inspector directed operations, Daquin observed.
Paulette was brought in by a cop in uniform, sat down in the chair indicated to her and tried not to panic. True, she hadn’t expected this, not she, married to a cop, she wasn’t prepared for it. Only one thought in her head: resistance, persistence, denial.
‘You are the manageress of the Berican workroom?’
‘Yes.’
‘A quick look at your accounts has shown up several irregularities. The workroom declares five workers and employs more than twenty on a permanent basis.’
‘That’s true, but the entire Sentier works like that. Haven’t you heard about the legalization of workers being negotiated with the government at the moment? We aren’t the only people involved.’
‘Let’s move on to the search this morning. That bundle of labels …’
‘I’ve never seen it.’
‘So I understand. Then these are not the labels supplied to you by the manufacturers?’
‘No.’
‘What could such a bundle of labels be used for?’
‘I’ve no idea.’
‘You’re not credible on that point, madame. After years of managing a workroom of this kind …’
‘I’ve nothing to say about that.’
‘Very well. Do you know a certain Turgut Sener?’
‘Yes.’
‘How did you come to meet him?’
‘The embassy gave us an order for some furnishing work in leather. He was in charge of the arrangements. I met him on that occasion.’
‘When?’
‘Three years ago.’
‘And do you continue to see him regularly?’
‘Yes, he’s a friend.’
‘Did you have lunch with him at Chez Flo, last Friday?’
‘Yes.’ Surprise.
‘And he gave you a plastic bag from FNAC?’
‘No.’
‘We have witnesses, madame.’
‘They made a mistake.’
‘We’ll continue this interrogation tomorrow, madame. One last question: is your husband involved in your professional activities?’
Paulette Dupin sat up, as though electrified.
‘Superintendent, when we married we both retained control over our personal property, and I am an adult. Leave my husband out of this.’