[NS] Case Closed

Rick Blaine sat quietly in the Prefect of Police's office for a few moments, digesting all that he had been told. Finally, he slipped his hand inside his jacket to extract the silver cigarette case. When he pressed the release on the side, the spring-load lid lifted. He held the case out to Captain Renault who selected one. With his Zippo, Rick lit first Captain Renault's coffin-nail, and then his own.

After taking a deep drag, followed by tilting his head back and exhaling the gray cloud of carcinogens, Rick finally spoke. "An impressive piece of police work, Louie. You wrapped up a **** case in only two days."

From the tone of the night club owner's voice, Captain Renault could tell that the man was being serious. He was not engaging in his customary banter. The policeman said simply, "Thank you, Rick."

Tugging on his right earlobe, Rick continued. "You should get some pretty good press coverage on this. And I'm not talking about just the local boys. This will probably make the international news as well."

Captain Renault sat behind his desk, suspiciously eyeing Rick. Where was he going with this?

"I can see it all now," Rick held both of his hands up at eye level, palms facing outwards, and spread them apart in a sweeping gesture, imitating a movie screen. "Pathe Gazette.... Prefect Of Police Arrests Killer Of Resistance Agent." Lowering his head to indicate a second line on the screen, he proceeded with, "Vichy Police Avenge Freedom Fighter's ****."

Rick pointed with his index and middle fingers, the cigarette clamped between them. "I am willing to bet it will even catch Berlin's attention."

"Hmmm, yes," Captain Renault absent-mindedly stroked the thin moustache that ran across his upper lip. "On second thought, maybe I should change the cause of **** from '****' to 'Suicide'."

The Prefect of Police was already reaching for the file folder on his desk. "Suicide always keeps the paperwork so much simpler."

Rick picked up the fedora in his lap and got to his feet. "Well, I'll leave you to it... I've got a saloon to run."

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