Another Precinct Visit

The ride to the precinct was quiet. Not because Marc was feeling particularly put out, but because when Jules put him in the front seat and then walked around to the driver’s side, she pointed to the dashcam. Marc assumed that it was just a caution and there wasn’t any serious trouble, but he decided to let her take the lead and they made the twenty-minute drive in silence.

Jules escorted him into the precinct and led him to an interview room. He still had his phone, so he quickly texted the office to let them know he was in an impromptu meeting and to push a couple of calls he had scheduled. It took almost half an hour for Jules to come back, and when she did she was carrying a pair of coffees. She set them down on the desk, then took a remote out of her jacket pocket and pointed it at a camera in the upper corner of the room and the little red recording light turned off.

“We’re in the clear to talk openly,” Jules said.

“How open?” Marc asked with a smile, accepting his coffee with a nod and a raised eyebrow. His fingers brushed hers as he took the cup from her, hinting at the flirting they’d been doing the night before.

“Open enough, Marc,” Jules said, rolling her eyes slightly. She sat back and took a sip of her own coffee, her posture relaxed as she crossed her legs. “I have a couple of real questions for you that should clear up anything and lead to another more serious talk in here, but first we can just chat a bit.”

“Just chat, hmm?” Marc asked. “Is that what was on your mind? Juste une conversation informelle?”

“My French isn’t that good, but I got that,” Jules said. “Yes, informal. Casual. Personal.”

“Then, my dear Detective, please suggest a topic of conversation,” Marc said. “Travel, cuisine, perhaps the weather?”

“Tell me about you and Sinead,” Jules said.

“What is there to tell?” Marc asked. “She asked me for help, I gave her help.”

“Why, though?” Jules asked. “What do you get out of it?”

“Why should I receive anything in return, beyond spending some time with a beautiful woman?” Marc asked. “And you must admit, your former partner is quite striking.”

“That’s the problem, Marc,” Jules said. “And you’re a charmer. So I want to make sure that you’re on the up and up here. Have you two had sex?”

“Bah, non,” Marc said, wagging a finger at the Asian detective. “Pourquoi tu demandes ça? No, the Detective and I have not slept together.”

“Well, that’s good.”

“Pourquoi?” Marc asked. “Not to be so forward, Jules, but are you perhaps asking not because of concern for Sinead, but out of… personal interest?”

“Are you implying something?” Jules asked.

“Only that our rapport over dinner was quite pleasant,” Marc said with a smile. “And that I would not mind the idea of another dinner. Perhaps more intimate, so we can discuss you instead of me.”

“You are dangerous,” Jules said with a little smirk and a shake of her head.

“Le danger, c'est le sel de la vie,” Marc said, then cocked his head to the side as Jules made it clear she didn’t quite catch that one. “Danger can be fun,” he simplified. “A little bit.”

“It can,” Jules said, and for a moment she indulged herself and looked Marc up and down. He didn’t shift, and simply sat and sipped at his coffee as he let her look. She was a beautiful woman and he didn’t mind being appraised and appreciated - perhaps things would have been different if he weren’t so wrapped up in Sinead. Jules certainly had as strong a personality as the Detective, she just lacked that fiery temper that Sinead could show occasionally. As it was, Marc was having fun but knew that whatever banter was going on between them, Jules was only having some fun as well. If one of them were serious the tone would be different.

“So, Detective,” Marc said after a long moment of silence. “If you are feeling more assured that your former partner and I are not ‘an item,’ as you Canadians say, perhaps there is something else you would like to ask me?”

“And what if I’m not more assured?” Jules asked. “Should I keep asking questions?”

“Absolutely,” Marc said, opening his arms a little wider to invite her to continue. “I would rather you decide I am trustworthy in all things, rather than none.”

Jules shook her head, again eyeing him as she smirked. “Something tells me I should be careful around you, Mr Fornier. You are altogether too good-looking and too flirty for your own good.”

“Ah, if I were flirting with you, Detective, you would know it,” Marc said with a smirk of his own.

“Oh, I know it,” Jules said. “But I can handle your flirty ass. Let’s talk about why you’re really here though. Where were you on the afternoon of January 7th?”

Marc was allowed to refer to his calendar on his phone to answer Jules’ questions about a series of dates that didn’t seem connected to him or his whereabouts, though he did have an answer for each of them. Then the detective had questions about the business opportunity that Victor Berisha had brought him. Nothing that had transpired between Marc and Victor had been illegal, as of yet, but Jules agreed that the hints he’d made in their conversations certainly suggested there could be some in the future. Victor was careful though, a middle-man protecting his clients and therefore his paydays.

In the end, Jules wrapped up scribbling some notes in a notebook and shut it. “That should clear everything from my end,” she said. “You’re no longer an official person-of-interest, but I can’t keep you out of the reports entirely since your name shows up in our surveillance of Berisha. I’ll label you as a cooperating witness and that should keep you clear.”

“Actually,” Marc said. “If at all possible, I would prefer to remain unlabelled. While I trust you, and I certainly trust Sinead, it is entirely possible that some of my business associates would be… unfortunately suspicious if information was leaked.”

“Snitches get stitches, even in the lofty heights of the city,” Jules sighed.

“Not so dangerous, but it could lead to a loss of business,” Marc said. “So, if you don’t mind…?”

“If that’s how you want it,” Jules said. “No labels for you. That does mean that anyone else looking at the case might flag your name though.”

“I would rather deal with that if it comes, Detective. Merci.”

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