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THE MAN WITH THE LEAD STOMACH

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Part One

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Today is

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doubly splendid,
as I meet my friend.

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Monsieur de la Borde.

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May I ask what other pleasure
you evoke?

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I like the smell of the stage.
And its proximity.

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Its proximity or its crowds?

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Indeed, I admit it.

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I come to admire a tender
and gracious object.

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We shall see her soon.
On stage.

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What's wrong?

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Your taste in women usually runs

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to more attractive persons.

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- Do you know who it is?
- Not at all.

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Princess Adélaïde is loved
and loves to be loved.

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Are they her chaperones?

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Count and Countess de Ruissec.

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Old military nobility, severe,

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devout and drivelling.

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They belong

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to the entourage of the queen
and the dauphin. Says it all.

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Your friend Sartine is here too.
Our chief of police.

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Always watching over the family

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of our King Louis XV.

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Something terrible has happened
to our son.

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You do not recognise me?

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Be assured, your Highness,
we will ensure

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they are accompanied home
and the affair settled discreetly.

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However, certain observations
must be carried out.

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Commissaire Le Floch, here,

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will accompany me.

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We know him.
My father holds him in high esteem.

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Sir,

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we bid you soothe

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our friends' distress.
Do not worry about me.

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Do what must be done.

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Commissaire.

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I suppose your great friend,
Mr de la Borde,

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will have told you about
Count de Ruissec.

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Mr de la Borde?

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Do not play games.

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I saw you conversing.

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What he said indicates he does
not hold de Ruissec in high regard.

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Nor does His Majesty.

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But the fellow has been useful

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to various people.

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Army Commissioner.
From the devout clan.

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The countess?

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- What can you tell me?
- The countess?

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Gently, Commissaire.
Don't get carried away.

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This case will demand
wisdom and tact.

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And nimble diplomacy.

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Countess de Ruissec deserves
concern worthy of her rank.

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For that,
you will have to enlighten me.

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It is not my job to enlighten you.

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The facts alone

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will do that.

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I want you to be free
from all suggestion.

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Free to gather your first intuition.

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Take me to my son's chamber
and make your report.

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Sir, around 9 o'clock,

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I had just taken logs
to your apartments

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and had gone back down.

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As is custom, I was reading
the Holy Scriptures in the kitchen.

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Then?

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The viscount came up.

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I heard the door to his room close,

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the key grate in the lock,

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- then there was a shot.
- A shot?

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Are you sure?

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My butler is a former soldier.

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He served in my regiment.

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He has perfect hearing
and knows what he's talking about.

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Carry on, Picard.

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I hurried there
but found the door locked.

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I called, there was no reply.

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Can we force it open?

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Commissaire.

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Find a way to open
or break down this door.

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We are waiting.

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To hear is to obey.
I have the solution.

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A thieves' picklock
comes to the aid of the police?

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I will not have it, sir.

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This is my house
and my son...

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Sir, please let
the magistrates proceed.

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Who are you to give me orders?

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Sartine!

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The name reeks of a grocery.

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A little magistrate
fresh out of his commoner's lot.

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Little magistrate, indeed.

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Whose orders come from the king.

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The king!
It's all I ever hear.

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Do you find fault
with His Majesty, sir?

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I would never dream of it.

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I will tolerate nothing
against the law.

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I promised to be discreet,
but that is my only promise.

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As for your insults, sir,

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but for the dignity of my office
and a royal censure,

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I would demand satisfaction.

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Monsieur de Sartine!

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The best thing you can do

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is go to your apartments
until you are sent for.

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The torso wound hasn't bled.
It was inflicted post mortem.

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And there is this...

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A toothless old man?

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- Some dreadful old man?
- No, sir.

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The late, young, Count de Ruissec.

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Young? With such a face?
How can that be?

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What are you doing here?

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I am Lambert,
the viscount's manservant.

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Does that entitle you
to wear stockings

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and no shoes?

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I was sleeping when I heard a noise.

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So you dressed and hurried here
straight away?

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In your haste to help,
you did not don your shoes?

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You know your master is dead?

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Dead?

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The poor wretch kept his word.

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Wretch?

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He had been disgusted for days.

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Sick of love, of gambling...

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Or both.

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Disgust? Why?

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I do not know, sir.

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Wait in the corridor.

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Odd dilemma, don't you think?

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A choice between the infamy
of suicide, and homicide,

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equally so.

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The family is known.
News travels fast.

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There's already a rumour in town.

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Soon it will reach the court.
We must protect the king.

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- The king?
- Since the attack

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on his person
by that wretch Damien,

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the monarch's natural morbidity
is fuelled by everything.

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Fed by everything...

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out of all proportion.

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We must preserve his mind
from noxious fumes.

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The viscount was murdered.

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Do what it takes to make sure.

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The body must be taken
from his family

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to the Châtelet
to be examined.

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Then go ahead, Commissaire.

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Since when do your extravagances
require my blessing?

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You are commissaire and magistrate.
Both will take the case.

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I leave it to you.

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And I leave you.
I have no further interest.

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I go to Versailles
to warn Mr de Saint-Florentin.

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To prime the weak barrage
of my influence

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against Ruissec's storms.

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The fellow is one of those
whose rank is to be feared.

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Left-handed.

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Nicolas!

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Yes, Bourdeau.

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Do we know the old man's identity?

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He was only 22,
and until his recent death,

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was an officer in the royal guard
and set for a grand career.

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The man shot left-handed.

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Yes.

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I had noticed.

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Call our men.

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We shall have to take away the body.

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I doubt the family will consent.

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We must act promptly
so as not to resort to force.

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Finish the observations
and seal the room.

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I shall keep the enemy busy.

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There he is,

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his master's dog,

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lost in contemplation of an image
that parodies life.

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Yet it decorates your salon.

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I acquired it from a ruined partisan,
fond of such illusion.

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I'd just as soon cover them
with paintings or tapestries.

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One last time, I order you
to let me see my son.

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Sir...

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I must inform you that his body
has been taken from this house

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and carried away
for investigation.

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Does this mean you intend
to open his body?

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To my great regret,

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it may be necessary
to establish the truth.

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The truth!

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What truth do you hope to find?

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My son shot himself
in a double-locked room.

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You yourself unlocked it.

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Why torture
a poor lifeless body?

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Perhaps to show your son
was wounded cleaning his gun.

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This would avoid
the disgrace of suicide.

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You are lying.

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Your voice betrays your incredulity.

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And your honour preserved.

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Honour?

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How dare you pronounce that word?

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Who are you to talk to me of honour?

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Only those with honour
may talk of it.

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How dare you, sir...

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What's this?

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Your signet ring.
How can this be?

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Why do you bear the arms
of my old friend?

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Your old friend is dead.

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From him I hold the blood
and chevrons of the Ranreuils.

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I advise you to weigh your words.

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So...

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The fruit of sin delights
in such abject occupations.

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What does it matter?

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It is the madness of the age.

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An age where sons turn
against their fathers.

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Where aspiring to good
leads to wallowing in evil.

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Leave, sir.
I know what I must do.

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Sweet Catherine.

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Thy chin descends two-fold
upon thy breast.

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What was that, my boy?

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Nothing.

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Just a remembered line
from the great Boileau.

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00:20:31,160 --> 00:20:33,520
I dropped off waiting for you.

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00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:38,320
Every night I tell you
not to wait up.

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00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:42,000
You must be hungry!

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I have a meat pie

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00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:49,400
and a bottle begun
by Mr de Noblecourt before retiring.

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He ate very well.

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He always does
when his gout leaves him in peace.

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"Come tomorrow at 4 o'clock
to the Church of Carmes.

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"Someone will be waiting

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"who would benefit
from your wisdom."

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00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:01,200
A Blavet sonata.

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First flute at the Académie.

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May the best man win.

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00:22:06,920 --> 00:22:10,640
I'm reduced to the difficult
and dangerous task

227
00:22:10,800 --> 00:22:12,480
of sight-reading for traps.

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00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:15,360
But you, sir,

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have the look
of a pointer on a hunt.

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00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:29,960
The de Ruissec case,

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no doubt?

232
00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:33,320
How do you know?

233
00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:36,200
Paris is but a village,
my young friend.

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00:22:37,120 --> 00:22:40,560
The court and the town
are teeming with rumours.

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00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:43,440
And my former role
as King's Prosecutor

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opened plenty of doors

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and made me privy
to plenty of confidences.

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00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:52,240
Catherine! My morning feast.

239
00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:54,520
And the same for our Nicolas.

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00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:04,640
What do you know
of Count de Ruissec?

241
00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:07,840
Don't trust the facade
of an old man,

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buttressed by certainties
and delusions of honour.

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Though he is known for his courage,

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he was hard and cruel
with his soldiers.

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As usual,

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you have the right
to a frothy chocolate.

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And piping hot loaves,

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- fresh from the oven.
- And me?

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You? The doctors consented

250
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to a few prunes stewed in their juice

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00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:39,880
and a large glass
of medicinal sage tea.

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She could return.
Any excuse would do.

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00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:53,240
Ruissec acquired his general's rank
from his wife's dowry.

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Before marrying the countess,
he was a scrawny squire

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00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:01,120
with no gold
but for his coat-of-arms.

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00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:06,240
But the rumours of plunder
hampered him

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and he didn't achieve
the offices

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- to which he aspired.
- Rumours?

259
00:24:11,120 --> 00:24:13,320
His detractors claimed he fiddled

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on everything.

261
00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:17,960
Clothing, fodder, flour...

262
00:24:18,120 --> 00:24:21,120
Even cannon powder
and lead for bullets.

263
00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:22,440
Lead for bullets?

264
00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:24,680
Lead for bullets,

265
00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:28,160
which was behind
that awful Langremont affair.

266
00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:32,120
I was army prosecutor then.

267
00:24:34,840 --> 00:24:36,200
Langremont.

268
00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:38,840
Jean de Langremont.

269
00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:42,560
Old Occitan nobility.

270
00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:45,400
A feared moneylender.

271
00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:47,480
A skilled horseman.

272
00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:50,760
One of the most brilliant
and promising officers.

273
00:24:53,120 --> 00:24:56,200
A man of total integrity.

274
00:24:57,680 --> 00:24:58,480
Monsieur de Ruissec.

275
00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:05,120
Oddly dressed
for reporting to your general.

276
00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:07,600
Do you at least bring good news?

277
00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:08,960
Good news?

278
00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:11,440
Our troops are defeated
by your fault.

279
00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:12,760
Defeated?

280
00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:14,640
Defeated.

281
00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:16,560
The enemy was too strong.

282
00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:19,360
By my fault?

283
00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:20,840
Or yours?

284
00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:25,880
You call that lead?

285
00:25:33,520 --> 00:25:35,080
Our bullets do not carry.

286
00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:37,840
When they do,
they do not penetrate.

287
00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:39,920
What do you say, sir?

288
00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:42,760
What do you say,
Monsieur de Ruissec?

289
00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:46,200
This man is a traitor.

290
00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:48,680
Prosecutor...

291
00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:50,720
Have him taken away.

292
00:25:51,120 --> 00:25:53,600
His cause was already lost.

293
00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:56,040
I could do nothing to defend him.

294
00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:01,080
Langremont was hanged
on the spot as a mark of infamy.

295
00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:03,280
What about the lead?

296
00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:05,560
It was later proved

297
00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:07,680
that the lead was adulterated

298
00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:11,280
and de Ruissec had been
making vast profits.

299
00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:14,600
That's how he bought his house,

300
00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:16,800
in very suspicious circumstances,

301
00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:20,120
from a partisan
he had pushed to bankruptcy.

302
00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:22,080
Many reasons to hate him.

303
00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:25,440
And now, tired
and fighting old age,

304
00:26:25,600 --> 00:26:29,560
he is secretly involved
in finance and speculation.

305
00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:32,080
But he is in the king's outer circle.

306
00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:36,000
- As for his sons...
- Sons?

307
00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:39,640
Two souls without qualities,
conceived without pleasure.

308
00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:41,920
Sons?
He has several sons?

309
00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:46,800
You didn't know the viscount
had a younger brother?

310
00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:48,880
So I am of use!

311
00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:52,800
The vidame Gilles de Ruissec,
long promised

312
00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:55,360
to the Church. A gambler.

313
00:26:55,520 --> 00:26:57,920
A taste for the seedy life,
one imagines.

314
00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:01,880
Desperado or pervert?
That is the question.

315
00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:04,960
Watch where you step, Nicolas.

316
00:27:05,120 --> 00:27:08,000
These devout rebels
are the worst kind.

317
00:27:08,160 --> 00:27:09,560
Take precautions.

318
00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:11,760
And do not act alone,

319
00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:14,400
as you tend to do too often.

320
00:27:15,840 --> 00:27:17,800
See what I mean?

321
00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:20,080
Honestly!

322
00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:21,600
So early in the day!

323
00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:26,040
Inspector Bourdeau
wants to see you urgently.

324
00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:36,720
Did Sartine say what he wanted?

325
00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:40,560
No. He simply bid me
have you appear before him.

326
00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:48,920
This note was passed to me
by the Countess de Ruissec.

327
00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:51,840
- The Church of Carmes?
- We must go.

328
00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:54,560
Ask Rabouine to lunch
at Mother Morel's.

329
00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:55,760
Very well.

330
00:27:57,000 --> 00:27:59,600
Did you know the viscount
had a brother?

331
00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:04,480
Find the vidame Gilles de Ruissec.

332
00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:08,920
Don't detain him.
Find out about him

333
00:28:09,120 --> 00:28:10,800
and the place he stays.

334
00:28:12,120 --> 00:28:16,080
And envy my dangerous task
of facing Sartine at dawn.

335
00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:47,720
Let me introduce
the Baron van Eyck,

336
00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:50,280
Bavarian minister in Paris,

337
00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:52,960
who has need of our help.

338
00:28:53,400 --> 00:28:54,960
Yours, in particular.

339
00:28:56,080 --> 00:28:58,960
It concerns a smuggling case.

340
00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:01,280
A tangle that, I am sure,

341
00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:03,000
you will unravel.

342
00:29:12,320 --> 00:29:14,280
Our case is being hushed up.

343
00:29:16,120 --> 00:29:19,360
Sartine has given me a case
of interest to Bavaria.

344
00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:20,680
The case is closed?

345
00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:24,200
No. But they're sticking spokes
in our wheels.

346
00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:27,080
What kind of Bavarian case?

347
00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:31,600
Some story about smuggling,
a comical affair.

348
00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:33,800
But I had to oblige
Mr de Choiseul.

349
00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:35,680
The king's minster?

350
00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:38,040
An important case.

351
00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:41,840
A case that was quickly resolved.

352
00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:44,200
I have only to write the report.

353
00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:49,880
Mother Morel.

354
00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:52,880
Could you serve us
that sumptuous Sancerre

355
00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:55,320
whose secret comes
from your cousin?

356
00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:58,600
You know I don't have that right, Commissaire.

357
00:30:01,520 --> 00:30:05,760
I reserved for you two plates,
not knowing whether I'd see you.

358
00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:09,880
- Lamb's liver soup.
- With a piece of steak?

359
00:30:10,080 --> 00:30:12,880
Indeed!
A very tasty piece at that.

360
00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:16,600
Second, I've cooked you
seasoned slices of pig's liver

361
00:30:16,760 --> 00:30:19,720
in fatty bacon
with a dash of white wine.

362
00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:20,760
Perfect.

363
00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:29,480
Our action has been slowed.

364
00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:32,120
But what about
the Church of Carmes?

365
00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:33,640
It is very impolite

366
00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:38,080
and uncurious not to heed
a refined lady's rendezvous.

367
00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:41,480
Two failings incompatible
with my position.

368
00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:44,320
Lack of perspicacity
and scorn of accuracy.

369
00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:47,880
I haven't seen Rabouine.
Did you not contact him?

370
00:30:52,400 --> 00:30:54,880
Have pity, my Lord,
on poor Rabouine

371
00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:56,400
and his offspring.

372
00:30:59,960 --> 00:31:01,960
Did Bourdeau tell you everything?

373
00:31:02,160 --> 00:31:04,480
Your will shall be done.

374
00:31:04,680 --> 00:31:06,800
To the letter.
Use assistants.

375
00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:08,520
Yes, my Lord.

376
00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:18,520
- Is the child his?
- Probably not.

377
00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:22,760
Some wretch kidnapped as a child
for a life of begging.

378
00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:26,040
And who, like Rabouine,
is an auxiliary policeman.

379
00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:28,440
Mr de Sartine is right.

380
00:31:28,920 --> 00:31:33,000
The Great Architect's laws
sometimes digress diagonally.

381
00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:36,000
Paris is manure
on which the flies teem.

382
00:31:36,160 --> 00:31:37,840
Some are timely.

383
00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:40,320
Others are indispensable.

384
00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:42,320
Thank you.

385
00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:53,200
You still intend to open the body?

386
00:31:53,360 --> 00:31:56,160
More than ever.
I sent word to Sanson.

387
00:31:57,720 --> 00:32:00,280
We'll meet at the Châtelet jail.

388
00:32:00,480 --> 00:32:02,320
You're invited too.

389
00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:04,160
Knowing your delicate nose,

390
00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:06,280
don't forget to bring your pipe.

391
00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:47,040
The Countess de Ruissec!

392
00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:57,800
Whatever your secret,
you've taken it with you.

393
00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:07,160
A complimentary ticket.

394
00:34:06,560 --> 00:34:07,520
Report.

395
00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:14,800
At 4 o'clock, a carriage arrived.

396
00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:20,040
An old woman got out
and entered the church.

397
00:34:20,200 --> 00:34:21,320
The coachman?

398
00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:23,360
He didn't wait.

399
00:34:23,520 --> 00:34:26,520
Then a grand lady left the church.

400
00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:30,400
Young, pale face,
wearing blue spectacles.

401
00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:32,840
- The child tailed her.
- Child?

402
00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:36,800
Don't worry, my Lord.
He commands a whole band

403
00:34:36,960 --> 00:34:39,040
and blends into the crowd.

404
00:34:39,720 --> 00:34:42,000
And this child doesn't let go.

405
00:34:44,600 --> 00:34:46,400
Thank you, my Lord.

406
00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:55,120
A complimentary ticket
from an actress

407
00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:57,200
addressed to the late viscount.

408
00:34:58,080 --> 00:35:00,800
No doubt the countess
was to give it to me.

409
00:35:00,960 --> 00:35:02,320
An actress?

410
00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:05,600
La Bichelière,
from the Comédie-Italienne.

411
00:35:05,760 --> 00:35:08,040
The countess died from a violent blow

412
00:35:08,200 --> 00:35:09,880
on the side of her neck.

413
00:35:10,080 --> 00:35:12,600
I quickly had
the same painful experience,

414
00:35:13,960 --> 00:35:15,760
but with a less deadly fate.

415
00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:17,880
The stakes must be high

416
00:35:18,080 --> 00:35:20,400
to attack an officer of the king.

417
00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:28,640
The wretch must have
lost consciousness.

418
00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:32,200
Plague of a world where questioning
is a means of justice.

419
00:35:32,360 --> 00:35:35,960
And where suffering presages
even greater horrors.

420
00:35:36,160 --> 00:35:40,200
Even if one has finally surmounted
one's disgust,

421
00:35:40,360 --> 00:35:44,800
convinced that one's occupation
can shake one's compassion...

422
00:35:58,120 --> 00:35:59,720
Commissaire.

423
00:35:59,880 --> 00:36:03,520
It's not customary
to shake the executioner's hand.

424
00:36:03,680 --> 00:36:07,520
I have no prejudices.
Is our homicide still here?

425
00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:09,680
I feared it may have been taken.

426
00:36:09,840 --> 00:36:11,840
Scemacgus, my friend!

427
00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:14,240
Given the importance of the case,

428
00:36:14,440 --> 00:36:15,960
I'll conjugate my powers

429
00:36:16,120 --> 00:36:19,160
with those of your friend,
whose knowledge of anatomy

430
00:36:19,360 --> 00:36:20,200
is authoritative.

431
00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:21,920
You are quite right.

432
00:36:22,080 --> 00:36:24,560
Experience sustained by learning.

433
00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:27,520
What do you think, Scemacgus?

434
00:36:27,680 --> 00:36:30,280
- It's a heavy subject.
- Heavy?

435
00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:32,680
Scemacgus is trying to say

436
00:36:32,880 --> 00:36:35,560
that this corpse has a weight

437
00:36:35,720 --> 00:36:37,720
unlike any other human.

438
00:36:38,760 --> 00:36:39,720
Meaning?

439
00:36:41,040 --> 00:36:42,040
Look.

440
00:37:03,680 --> 00:37:05,240
Heavy and ductile.

441
00:37:05,800 --> 00:37:07,280
Lead, gentlemen.

442
00:37:07,960 --> 00:37:11,240
This man has a stomach of lead.
Have you seen his face?

443
00:37:11,720 --> 00:37:14,280
I've never seen
such a horrible sight.

444
00:37:14,600 --> 00:37:16,080
The face is shrunken.

445
00:37:16,680 --> 00:37:20,000
Similar to those taken
from savage tribes.

446
00:37:20,200 --> 00:37:23,080
This man was killed,
tortured, massacred.

447
00:37:23,240 --> 00:37:25,480
He was made to drink molten lead.

448
00:37:25,680 --> 00:37:27,480
Insides burned, head shrunken,

449
00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:30,280
organs destroyed.
An awful end.

450
00:37:30,480 --> 00:37:32,440
They shot a man

451
00:37:32,600 --> 00:37:35,040
who had choked on molten lead.

452
00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:46,120
I hereby inform you
of an order issued

453
00:37:46,320 --> 00:37:49,680
by the Count de Saint-Florentin,
king's minister

454
00:37:49,880 --> 00:37:53,200
in charge of the City of Paris
and its environs,

455
00:37:53,480 --> 00:37:56,400
to stay all investigation,

456
00:37:56,560 --> 00:37:59,480
inquiry and opening
of the said person

457
00:37:59,640 --> 00:38:01,560
and to give up the body,

458
00:38:01,720 --> 00:38:04,480
that it be transferred
to family trustees.

459
00:38:06,440 --> 00:38:07,920
It is yours, sir.

460
00:38:16,760 --> 00:38:18,960
My word!
Mr de Saint-Florentin.

461
00:38:19,480 --> 00:38:21,320
The blade was hoisted high.

462
00:38:21,480 --> 00:38:24,800
Some know their duty.
Others do their job.

463
00:38:30,520 --> 00:38:33,640
Have you traced
young Gilles de Ruissec?

464
00:38:34,080 --> 00:38:36,200
Without the slightest difficulty.

465
00:38:36,360 --> 00:38:37,480
Vidame Gilles,

466
00:38:37,680 --> 00:38:39,560
viscount at Lionel's death,

467
00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:42,920
lives at the Ruissec home
where we are banned.

468
00:38:43,120 --> 00:38:44,640
Viscount?

469
00:38:46,080 --> 00:38:47,040
It's a motive.

470
00:38:47,680 --> 00:38:51,920
Vidame Gilles may have murdered
his elder brother to be a viscount.

471
00:38:52,080 --> 00:38:53,800
I thought we were off the case.

472
00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:54,840
I know.

473
00:38:55,440 --> 00:38:57,040
I'm persistent.

474
00:38:57,960 --> 00:38:59,600
For the late viscount,

475
00:38:59,800 --> 00:39:02,320
the case is indeed closed.

476
00:39:03,320 --> 00:39:04,160
However...

477
00:39:05,320 --> 00:39:07,600
for his mother, the countess,

478
00:39:07,760 --> 00:39:09,000
it isn't.

479
00:39:12,120 --> 00:39:14,840
The body was examined
by Doctor Morand.

480
00:39:15,760 --> 00:39:19,560
His report confirms my suspicions.
Her spine was snapped.

481
00:39:28,320 --> 00:39:29,920
I'm visiting an actress

482
00:39:30,120 --> 00:39:32,720
from whom this ticket came.

483
00:39:32,880 --> 00:39:34,280
La Bichelière.

484
00:39:34,440 --> 00:39:38,200
Those girls are smooth-tongued,
hot and mostly spicy.

485
00:39:39,280 --> 00:39:40,960
I don't intend eating.

486
00:39:42,480 --> 00:39:45,600
Return to the Ruissec home.

487
00:39:46,280 --> 00:39:49,880
Find an excuse to lift the seals
and enter

488
00:39:50,080 --> 00:39:52,320
and carry out another search.

489
00:39:54,680 --> 00:39:57,160
I'll find it harder
to get in than you.

490
00:40:00,200 --> 00:40:01,520
Goodnight, sir.

491
00:40:10,760 --> 00:40:12,360
Come on!

492
00:40:15,280 --> 00:40:16,400
I adore you.

493
00:40:24,760 --> 00:40:27,600
Here, my Lord.
Eros undone

494
00:40:27,800 --> 00:40:29,280
by ill fortune.

495
00:40:37,360 --> 00:40:40,160
You'll find what you seek
on the mezzanine.

496
00:40:40,520 --> 00:40:42,120
Up the red staircase.

497
00:40:56,240 --> 00:40:59,280
To what do I owe the pleasure, sir?

498
00:40:59,480 --> 00:41:02,800
For creditors' bills,
come back at 5 o'clock.

499
00:41:03,360 --> 00:41:05,960
A time when you're at the theatre.

500
00:41:09,920 --> 00:41:12,600
Who are you,
impertinent young man?

501
00:41:12,760 --> 00:41:15,720
Nicolas Le Floch.
Police commissaire at Châtelet.

502
00:41:16,720 --> 00:41:17,680
But you are

503
00:41:17,880 --> 00:41:22,000
far too young and appetizing
to be a copper.

504
00:41:23,080 --> 00:41:24,160
You are proof

505
00:41:24,360 --> 00:41:25,600
that value...

506
00:41:32,720 --> 00:41:36,000
Well, sir?
What is it?

507
00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:40,240
I have here a ticket

508
00:41:40,400 --> 00:41:43,120
on which I'd like your opinion.

509
00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:02,600
Where'd you get that from?

510
00:42:03,880 --> 00:42:06,200
A friend,
viscount Lionel de Ruissec.

511
00:42:07,080 --> 00:42:10,880
- He spoke of your charms...
- Lionel de Ruissec?

512
00:42:11,040 --> 00:42:14,760
Don't talk to me about that shit!

513
00:42:14,920 --> 00:42:20,080
A pig who robbed me, fucked me
then abandoned me!

514
00:42:23,040 --> 00:42:25,440
- Abandoned you?
- Yes.

515
00:42:25,600 --> 00:42:28,160
He acted all faithful and devoted

516
00:42:28,320 --> 00:42:30,240
then ran off with another.

517
00:42:32,200 --> 00:42:33,920
There wasn't much respite.

518
00:42:34,120 --> 00:42:37,040
He dumped me!
And for whom?

519
00:42:37,200 --> 00:42:40,280
Some rancid whore at court!

520
00:42:41,960 --> 00:42:43,760
Mademoiselle de la Sauvetet!

521
00:42:45,560 --> 00:42:48,640
No one knows about her.
They claim she paints.

522
00:42:48,800 --> 00:42:52,720
That means she's old
and frightfully ugly.

523
00:42:54,720 --> 00:42:56,080
But she's rich.

524
00:42:56,880 --> 00:42:58,320
That excuses everything.

525
00:42:59,240 --> 00:43:00,440
And viscount Lionel?

526
00:43:00,880 --> 00:43:02,280
Him?

527
00:43:02,440 --> 00:43:04,120
He's broke.

528
00:43:04,280 --> 00:43:06,320
He can't even pay my debts.

529
00:43:10,120 --> 00:43:14,040
Does he want me in the hospital
in a nightshirt?

530
00:43:17,800 --> 00:43:19,200
What will become of me?

531
00:44:04,400 --> 00:44:05,240
Yes?

532
00:44:05,440 --> 00:44:07,280
Have a seat, my friend.

533
00:44:07,440 --> 00:44:09,120
We must talk.

534
00:44:11,040 --> 00:44:12,360
The place may well

535
00:44:12,560 --> 00:44:14,400
appear incongruous,

536
00:44:14,560 --> 00:44:17,960
but I wanted to be away
from prying ears.

537
00:44:18,800 --> 00:44:21,920
I heard Mr de Saint-Florentin,
king's minister,

538
00:44:22,080 --> 00:44:24,480
yesterday immediately received

539
00:44:24,680 --> 00:44:27,080
your chief of police,
Mr de Sartine.

540
00:44:27,240 --> 00:44:31,120
Did this lead to the order
to abandon the case?

541
00:44:31,280 --> 00:44:32,120
Yes.

542
00:44:32,320 --> 00:44:34,800
- The body was taken?
- Yes.

543
00:44:35,480 --> 00:44:40,160
I heard from Dr Scemacgus
that your diagnosis was complete.

544
00:44:40,360 --> 00:44:41,240
Indeed.

545
00:44:41,440 --> 00:44:43,880
- There's no doubt it was murder?
- None.

546
00:44:45,520 --> 00:44:48,640
I fear this affair
is taking a nasty turn.

547
00:44:50,680 --> 00:44:53,720
Mme de Pompadour
wishes to see you tomorrow

548
00:44:53,880 --> 00:44:55,800
at the Château de Choisy.

549
00:44:56,040 --> 00:44:59,760
- In your role as marquis.
- Unaccustomed role.

550
00:44:59,920 --> 00:45:02,160
She wants it to remain a secret.

551
00:45:02,360 --> 00:45:03,840
Good luck, my friend.

552
00:45:21,280 --> 00:45:23,440
You will be seen immediately.

553
00:45:23,600 --> 00:45:25,120
Seen immediately?

554
00:45:31,160 --> 00:45:32,880
Are you fleeing me, Nicolas?

555
00:45:33,920 --> 00:45:35,000
You are.

556
00:45:37,040 --> 00:45:41,120
Choiseul told me how pleased he was
about Baron van Eyck.

557
00:45:41,920 --> 00:45:43,240
The facts established.

558
00:45:44,080 --> 00:45:47,080
The smuggler identified
and shortly arrested.

559
00:45:47,920 --> 00:45:50,440
The baron cleared of all suspicion.

560
00:45:51,520 --> 00:45:52,480
The king

561
00:45:53,280 --> 00:45:55,640
loved the story of your exploits.

562
00:45:56,440 --> 00:45:58,400
Bravo, Commissaire.

563
00:46:00,720 --> 00:46:01,680
I heard, too,

564
00:46:02,840 --> 00:46:04,280
by the way,

565
00:46:05,200 --> 00:46:08,800
of the death of the ill-fated
Countess de Ruissec.

566
00:46:08,960 --> 00:46:11,120
And the same misfortune

567
00:46:11,720 --> 00:46:13,440
almost cost you your life.

568
00:46:16,880 --> 00:46:18,280
I have my sources.

569
00:46:19,360 --> 00:46:21,280
Just as you have yours.

570
00:46:22,080 --> 00:46:25,960
What do you know of court intrigues,
Commissaire?

571
00:46:28,640 --> 00:46:32,480
The little I learn
ill-disposes me to learn more.

572
00:46:33,840 --> 00:46:36,080
I quite enjoy them.

573
00:46:37,360 --> 00:46:40,200
This game is being played
in a triangle.

574
00:46:42,200 --> 00:46:44,920
At this point, the summit,
is the king.

575
00:46:45,720 --> 00:46:46,720
Here,

576
00:46:47,400 --> 00:46:48,840
the dauphin.

577
00:46:50,160 --> 00:46:52,320
As he's surrounded by pious prigs

578
00:46:52,520 --> 00:46:54,800
who ceaselessly censure his conduct

579
00:46:55,440 --> 00:46:57,320
and condemn his mistress,

580
00:46:57,680 --> 00:46:59,560
the king has moved
away from him.

581
00:46:59,760 --> 00:47:02,400
Those who grumble about power gravitate

582
00:47:02,600 --> 00:47:04,160
to the heir to the throne.

583
00:47:04,360 --> 00:47:06,320
Thus the dauphin, unwillingly

584
00:47:07,320 --> 00:47:09,760
and even unwittingly,

585
00:47:09,920 --> 00:47:12,880
is now the leader
of a band of rebels.

586
00:47:13,720 --> 00:47:17,840
Madame de Pompadour herself
considers him her enemy.

587
00:47:18,840 --> 00:47:20,120
Mme de Pompadour?

588
00:47:20,280 --> 00:47:22,960
The last point of the triangle.

589
00:47:23,960 --> 00:47:25,400
But not the least.

590
00:47:26,920 --> 00:47:30,760
I believe you are to meet her.

591
00:47:33,240 --> 00:47:34,960
It was to be a secret.

592
00:47:35,320 --> 00:47:37,520
I wish it wasn't happening.

593
00:47:39,040 --> 00:47:40,720
I command Le Floch,

594
00:47:40,920 --> 00:47:43,920
but as for the Marquis de Ranreuil...

595
00:47:45,080 --> 00:47:48,880
You're feeling your way.
With La Pompadour in the game,

596
00:47:49,880 --> 00:47:51,200
the stakes are high.

597
00:47:54,840 --> 00:47:57,920
Go. But be cautious.
Keep Bourdeau close.

598
00:48:00,000 --> 00:48:01,080
We need you.

599
00:48:08,120 --> 00:48:09,680
To be continued...

600
00:48:38,520 --> 00:48:41,520
Subtitles Henry Moon
for TELETOTA