:15 PM

Three murders. All the statistics have been overturned in only a matter of hours and are showing an increase of fifty percent.

He goes to his car and tunes in to a special frequency on his radio. I believe theres a serial killer at work in the town. A voice murmurs something at the other end. The sound of static cuts out some of the words, but Savoy understands what is being said. No, I cant be sure, but neither do I have any doubts about it. More comments, more static. Im not mad, sir, and Im not contradicting myself. For example, I cant be sure that my salary will be deposited in my account at the end of the month, but I dont actually doubt that it will. Do you see what I mean?

More static and angry words.

No, sir, Im not asking for an increase in salary, Im just saying that certainties and doubts can coexist, especially in a profession like ours. Yes, all right, lets leave that to one side and move on to what really matters. The man in hospital has just died, so its quite possible that on the news tonight three murders will be reported. All we know, so far, is that each of the three murders was committed using a differ- ent but very sophisticated technique, which is why no one will suspect that theyre connected, but suddenly Cannes is being seen as a danger-

ous town. And if this carries on, people are bound to start speculating about whether there is, in fact, only one murderer. What do you want me to do?

More angry comments from the commissioner.

Yes, theyre here. The boy who witnessed the murder is telling them everything he knows. The place is swarming with photogra- phers and journalists at the moment. I assumed theyd all be lined up and waiting by the red carpet, but it seems I was wrong. The problem with the Festival is that there are too many reporters and nothing to report.

More indignant remarks. He takes a notebook from his pocket and writes down an address.

Fine. Ill go straight to Monte Carlo and talk to him. The static stops. The person at the other end has hung up. Savoy walks to the end of the pier, places the siren on the roof of his car, puts it on at maximum volume, and races off like a madman, hoping to lure the reporters away to some nonexistent crime. They, however, wise to this trick, stay where they are and continue inter- viewing the boy.

Savoy is beginning to feel excited. He can finally leave all that pa- perwork to be completed by an underling and devote himself to what hes always dreamed of doing: solving murders that defy all logic. He hopes hes right and that there really is a serial killer in town terror- izing the population. Given the speed with which news spreads these days, hell soon be in the spotlight explaining that nothing has yet been proved, but in such a way that no one quite believes him, thus ensuring that the spotlight will stay on him until the criminal is found. For all its glamour, Cannes is really just a small provincial town, where everyone knows everything thats going on, so it shouldnt be that hard to find the murderer.

Fame and celebrity.

Is he just thinking about himself rather than about the well-being of Cannes citizens? Then again, whats wrong with seeking a little glory, when every year for years now, hes been forced to put up with twelve days of people trying to look far more important than they really are? Its infectious. After all, who doesnt want to gain public recognition for their work, whether theyre policemen or film directors?

Stop thinking about future glory. That will come of its own accord if you do your job well. Besides, fame is a very capricious thing. What if youre deemed incapable of carrying out this mission? Your humili- ation will be public too. Concentrate.

After nearly twenty years in the police force in all kinds of jobs, getting promoted on merit, reading endless reports and documents, hes reached the conclusion that when it comes to finding criminals, intuition always plays just as important a part as logic. The danger now, as he drives to Monte Carlo, isnt the murdererwho must be feeling utterly exhausted from the sheer amount of adrenaline pump- ing through his veins, not to mention apprehensive, because someone saw him in the actno, the great danger now is the press. Journalists also mix logic with intuition. If they manage to establish a link, how- ever tenuous, between the three murders, the police will lose control of the situation and the Festival could descend into chaos, with people afraid to walk the streets, foreign visitors leaving earlier than expected, tradesmen accusing the police of inefficiency, and headlines in news- papers around the world. After all, a real-life serial killer is always far more interesting than any screen version.

In the years that follow, the Film Festival wont be the same: the myth of fear will take root, and the world of luxury and glamour will choose another more appropriate place to show its wares, and grad- ually, after more than sixty years, the Festival will become a minor event, far from the bright lights and the magazines.

He has a great responsibility, well, two great responsibilities: the first is to find out who is committing these murders and to stop him before another corpse turns up on his patch; the second is to keep the media under control.

He needs to think logically. How many of those journalists, most of whom come from far-flung places, are likely to know the murder statistics for Cannes? How many of them will take the trouble to phone the National Guard and ask?

The logical response? None of them. Their minds are focused on what has just happened. Theyre excited because a major film distribu- tor suffered a heart attack during one of the Festival lunches. They dont yet know that he was poisonedthe pathologists report is on the backseat of his car. They dont yet knowand possibly never will that he was also involved in a huge money-laundering scam.

The illogical response is that theres always someone who thinks more laterally. Its therefore now a matter of urgency to call a press con- ference and give a full account, but only of the film directors murder on the beach; that way, the other incidents will be momentarily forgotten.

An important figure in the world of filmmaking has been killed, so whos going to be interested in the death of an insignificant young woman? Theyll all reach the same conclusion as he did at the start of the investigationthat she died of a drug overdose. Problem solved.

To go back to the murdered film director; perhaps she isnt as im- portant a figure as he thinks; if she was, the police commissioner would be calling him now on his mobile phone. The facts are as follows: a smartly dressed man of about forty, with slightly graying hair, had been seen talking to her as they watched the sunset, the two of them observed by a young man hiding nearby. After sticking a blade into her with all the precision of a surgeon, he had walked slowly away, and was now mingling with hundreds and thousands of other people, many of whom quite possibly fitted his description.

He turns off the siren for a moment and phones his deputy, who had remained at the scene of the crime and who is probably currently being interrogated by journalists rather than himself doing the interrogat- ing. Savoy asks him to tell the journalists, whose hasty conclusions so often get them into trouble, that he is almost certain it was a crime of passion.

Dont say were certain, just say that the circumstances may indi- cate this, given that they were sitting close to each other like a courting couple. It clearly wasnt a robbery or a revenge killing, but possibly a dramatic settling of personal scores.

Be careful not to lie; your words are being recorded and may be used in evidence against you. But why do I need to say that?

Because that is what the circumstances indicate. And the sooner we give them something to chew on, the better.

Theyre asking about the weapon used.

Tell them that everything indicates it was a knife, as the witness said.

But hes not sure.

If even the witness doesnt know what he saw, what else can you say apart from everything indicates that, etc. etc.? Frighten the lad; tell him his words are being recorded by the journalists and could be used against him later on.

He hangs up before his subordinate starts asking awkward ques- tions.

Everything indicates that it was a crime of passion, even though the victim had only just arrived in Cannes from the United States, even though she was staying at a hotel alone, even though, from what they have been able to glean, she had only attended one rather trivial meeting in the morning, at the MarchŽ du Film next to the Palais des Congres. The journalists, however, would not have access to that in- formation.

And there is something even more important that no one else on his team knows, indeed, that no one else in the world knows but him.

The victim had been at the hospital. He and she had talked a little and then hed sent her awayto her death.

He turns on the siren again, so that the deafening noise can drive away any feeling of guilt. After all, he wasnt the one who stuck the knife in her.

He could, of course, think: She was obviously there in the waiting room because she had some connection with the drug mafia and was just checking that the murder had been a success. That was logical, and if he told his superior about that chance encounter, an investiga- tion along those lines would immediately be launched. It might even be true; she had been killed using a very sophisticated method, as had the Hollywood film distributor. They were both Americans. They had both been killed with sharp implements. It all seemed to indicate that the same group was behind the killings, and that there really was a connection between them.

Perhaps hes wrong, and there is no serial killer on the loose. The young woman found dead on the bench, apparently asphyxiated by an experienced killer, might have met up the previous night with someone from the group who had come to see the film distributor. Perhaps she was also peddling drugs along with the craftwork she used to sell.

Imagine the scene: a group of foreigners arrive to settle accounts. In one of Cannes many bars, the local dealer introduces one of them to the pretty girl with the dark eyebrows, who, he says, works with them. They end up going to bed together, but the foreigner, feeling strangely relaxed on European soil, drinks more than he should; the drink loos- ens his tongue and he says more than he should too. The next morning, he realizes his mistake and asks the professional hit manevery gang has oneto sort things out.

It all fits so perfectly that it must be true.

It all fits so perfectly that it makes no sense at all. It just wasnt credible that a cocaine cartel would have decided to hold such a meet- ing in a town which, during the Film Festival, is heaving with extra police brought in from all over the country, with private bodyguards, with security guards hired for the various parties, and with detectives charged with keeping a round-the-clock watch on the priceless jewels being worn in the streets and elsewhere.

Although if that were true, it would be equally good for his career. A settling of accounts between mafia men would attract as much pub- licity as a serial killer.

He can relax; whatever the truth of the matter, he will fi- nally acquire the reputation he has always felt he deserved.

He turns off the siren. It has taken him half an hour to drive along the motorway and across an invisible barrier into another country, and hes only minutes from his destination. His mind, however, is mulling over what are, in theory, forbidden thoughts.

Three murders in one day. His prayers are with the families of the victims, as the politicians always say. And he knows that the state pays him to maintain order and not to jump up and down with glee when its disrupted in such a violent manner. Right now, the commissioner will be pacing his office, conscious that he now has two problems to solve: finding the killer (or killers, because he may not be convinced by Sa- voys theory) and keeping the press at bay. Everyone is very worried; other police stations in the region have been alerted and an Identi-Kit picture of the murderer sent via the Internet to police cars in the area. A politician may even have had his well-deserved rest interrupted be- cause the chief of police believed the matter to be so very delicate that he felt it necessary to pass responsibility on to someone higher up the chain of command.

The politician is unlikely to take the bait, telling the chief of police to ensure that the town returns to normal as soon as possible because millions or hundreds of millions of euros depend on it. He doesnt want to get involved; he has more important issues to resolve, like which wine to serve that night to a visiting foreign delegation.

Am I on the right path? Savoy asks himself.

The forbidden thoughts return. He feels happy. This is the high point of a career spent filling in forms and dealing with trivia. It had never occurred to him that such a situation would produce in him this state of euphoriahe can, at last, be a real detective, the man with a theory that goes against all logic, and who will end up being given a medal because he was the first to see what no one else could. He wont confess this to anyone, not even to his wife, who would be horrified and assume that he must have temporarily lost his reason under the strain of working on such a dangerous case.

Im happy. Im excited, he thinks.

His prayers might well be with the families of the dead, but his heart, after many years of inertia, is returning to the world of the living.

Savoy had imagined a vast libraryfullofdustybooks,pilesof magazines, a desk strewn with papers, but the office is, in fact, painted entirely in immaculate white and furnished with a few tasteful lamps, a comfortable armchair, and a glass table on which sits a large computer screen and nothing else, just a wireless keyboard and a small notepad with an expensive Montegrappa pen lying on it.

Wipe that smile off your face and at least try to look a little con- cerned, says the man with the white beard, who is dressed, despite the heat, in tweed jacket, tie, and tailored trousers, an outfit not at all in keeping with the dŽcor or with the subject under discussion.

What do you mean, sir?

I know how youre feeling. This is the biggest case of your career, in a town where normally nothing happens. I went through the same inner turmoil when I lived and worked in Penycae, Swansea. And it was thanks to a very similar case that I got transferred to Scotland Yard.

My dream is to work in Paris, thinks Savoy, but he says nothing. The man invites him to take a seat.

I hope you, too, get a chance to realize your professional dream. Anyway, nice to meet you. Im Stanley Morris.

Savoy decides to change the subject.

The commissioner is afraid that the press will start speculating about there being a serial killer on the loose.

They can speculate all they like, its a free country. Its the kind of thing that sells newspapers and brings a little excitement into the dull lives of pensioners who will watch all the media for any new tidbit on the subject with a mixture of fear and certainty that it will never happen to them.

I hope youve received a detailed description of the victims. Does the evidence so far suggest to you a serial killer, or are we dealing here with some sort of revenge killing on the part of drug cartels?

Yes, I got the descriptions. By the way, they wanted to send them to me by fax, for heavens sake. How old-fashioned! I asked them to send the information by e-mail, and do you know what they said? We dont usually do that. Imagine! One of the best-equipped police forces in the world still relying entirely on a fax machine!

Savoy shifts rather impatiently in his chair. He isnt here to discuss the pros and cons of modern technology. Lets get down to business, says Dr. Morris, who had been quite a celebrity at Scotland Yard, but had decided to retire to the South of France and was possibly as glad as Savoy to have a break from rou- tinein Morriss case one that now revolved around reading, con- certs, charity teas, and suppers.

Since this is the first time Ive met such a case, could you perhaps tell me whether or not you agree with my theory that there is only one killer, just so that I know where I stand.

Dr. Morris explains that in theory, yes, hes right: three murders with certain common characteristics would normally be enough to in- dicate a serial killer. And such murders were usually confined to one geographical area (in this case, the town of Cannes), and . . .

Whereas, a mass murderer . . .

Dr. Morris interrupts him and asks him not to misuse terminology. Mass murderers are terrorists or immature adolescents who go into a school or a snack bar and shoot everyone in sight, and who are then either shot dead by the police or commit suicide. They have a pref- erence for guns and bombs that will cause the maximum amount of damage in a short space of time, usually two to three minutes at most. Such people dont care about the consequences of their actions because they know exactly how it will end.

In the collective unconscious, the concept of the mass murderer is easier to take on board because hes clearly mentally unbalanced and therefore easily distinguishable from us. The serial murderer, on the other hand, touches on something far more complicatedthe destruc- tive instinct we all carry within us.

He pauses.

Have you read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Steven- son?

Savoy explains that he has so much work that he has little time for reading. Morriss gaze grows icy.

And do you think I dont have work to do?

No, no, I didnt mean that. Listen, Dr. Morris, Im here on an urgent mission. Im not interested in discussing technology or literature. I just want to know what conclusions you drew from the reports.

Im sorry, but Im afraid we cant, in this instance, avoid literature. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is the story of an appar- ently normal individual, Dr. Jekyll, who, in seeking to explore his own violent impulses, discovers a way of transforming himself periodically into a creature entirely without morality, Mr. Hyde. We all have those impulses, Inspector. A serial killer doesnt just threaten our physical safety, he threatens our sanity too. Because whether we like it or not, we all carry around in us a great destructive power and have all, at some point, wondered what it would be like to give free rein to that most repressed of feelingsthe desire to take someone elses life.

There are many reasons for this: wanting to put the world to rights, to get revenge for something that happened in our childhood, to vent ones suppressed hatred of society, but, whether consciously or unconsciously, everyone has felt that desire at one time or another, even if only in childhood.

Another meaningful silence.

I imagine that, regardless of your chosen profession, you must yourself have experienced this feeling. Tormenting a cat perhaps or torturing some perfectly harmless insect.

Its Savoys turn now to give Morris an icy stare and say nothing. Morris, however, interprets his silence as consent and continues talking in the same easy, superior tone:

Dont expect to find some visibly unbalanced person with wild hair and a hate-filled leer on his face. If you ever do have time to read although I know youre a busy manI would recommend a book by Hannah Arendt, Eichmann in Jerusalem. There she analyzes the trial of one of the worst serial killers in history. Obviously, Eichmann needed help to carry out the gigantic task he was given: the purification of the human race. Just a moment.

He goes over to his computer. He knows that the man with him wants results, but that simply isnt possible. He needs to educate him and prepare him for the difficult days ahead.

Here it is. Arendt made a detailed analysis of the trial of Adolf Eichmann, who was responsible for the extermination of six million Jews in Nazi Germany. She says that the half a dozen psychiatrists charged with examining him had all concluded that he was normal. His psychological profile and his attitude toward wife, children, mother, and father were all within the social parameters one expects in a responsible man. Arendt goes on: The trouble with Eichmann was precisely that so many were like him, and that the many were neither perverted nor sadistic, that they were, and still are, terribly and terrify- ingly normal. From the viewpoint of our legal institutions and of our moral standards of judgment, this normality was much more terrifying than all the atrocities put together. . .

Now he could get down to business.

I notice from the autopsies that there was no sign of sexual abuse...

Dr. Morris, I have a problem to solve and I need to do so quickly. I want to know whether or not were dealing with a serial killer. No one could possibly rape a man in the middle of a lunch party or a girl on a public bench in broad daylight.

He might as well have said nothing. Morris ignores him completely and continues.

. . . which is a common feature in many serial killers. Some have what you might call humane motives. Nurses who kill terminally ill patients, people who murder beggars in the street, social workers who feel so sorry for certain pensioners or disabled people that they reach the conclusion theyd be better off in the next lifethere was one such case in California just recently. There are also people bent on putting society to rights, and in those cases, the victims tend to be prostitutes.

Dr. Morris, I didnt come here . . . This time Morris raises his voice slightly. And I didnt invite you. Im doing you a favor. If you want to leave, please do so, but if youre going to stay, please stop interrupting my argument every two minutes. In order to catch someone, we have to understand the way he thinks.

So you do believe were dealing with a serial killer? I havent finished yet. Savoy controls himself. After all, why was he in such a hurry?

Wouldnt it be more fun to let the press tie itself in knots and then pre- sent them with the solution?

Please go on.

Morris moves the monitor so that Savoy can see more clearly. On the large screen is an engraving, possibly from the nineteenth cen- tury.

This is the most famous of all serial killers: Jack the Ripper. He was active in London in the second half of 1888, and was responsi- ble for killing five or possibly seven women in public and semi-public places. He would rip open their bellies and disembowel them. He was never found. He became a legend, and even today, there are still people trying to uncover his real identity.

The image on the screen changes to reveal what looks like some- thing from an astrological chart.

This is the signature of the Zodiac Killer. Hes known to have killed five couples in California over a period of ten months, mostly courting couples who had parked their cars in isolated spots. He used to send letters to the police bearing this symbol, which is rather like a Celtic cross. No one has yet managed to identify him.

Researchers believe that both Jack the Ripper and the Zodiac Killer were people who were trying to restore moral order and decency to their particular areas. They had, if you like, a mission to fulfill. And contrary to what the press would have us believe with the terrifying nicknames they invent, like the Boston Strangler and the Child Killer of Toulouse, these were ordinary folk who would get together with their neighbors at weekends and who worked hard to earn a living. None of them ever benefited financially from their criminal acts.

The conversation is beginning to interest Savoy.

So it could be anyone who came to Cannes to attend the Film Fes- tival...

Yes, having first made a conscious decision to create an atmo- sphere of terror for some completely absurd reason, for example to overthrow the dictatorship of fashion or to put a stop to the making of films that provoke violence. The press will come up with some blood- curdling soubriquet for him and start chasing various leads. Crimes that have nothing to do with the killer will start being attributed to him. Panic will ensue and only come to an end if by chanceand I repeat, by chancethe killer is caught. These killers are often only active for a short period of time and then disappear completely, having left their mark on history. They may perhaps write a diary that will be discovered after their death, but thats all.

Savoy has stopped looking at his watch. His phone rings, but he decides not to answer. The subject is far more complicated than he thought.

So you agree with me?

Yes, says the expert from Scotland Yard, the man who had become a legend by solving five cases that everyone else had given up on.

Why do you think were dealing with a serial killer? Savoy asks.

Morris sees what looks like an e-mail flash up on his computer and he smiles. The inspector has finally started to show a little respect for what he has to say.

Because of the complete absence of motive. Most of these crimi- nals have what we call a signature: they choose one type of victim, homosexuals, say, or prostitutes, beggars, courting couples. Others are known as asymmetrical killers: they kill because they cant control their impulse to kill. When they reach a point where that impulse is satisfied, they stop killing until the urge to kill again becomes unbear- able. I think that is the kind of killer we have here.

There are several points to consider in this case. The criminal is highly sophisticated. He has chosen a different weapon each timehis bare hands, poison, and a stiletto knife. Hes not motivated by the usual things: sex, alcohol, or some evident mental disorder. He knows the human anatomy, and that, so far, has been his only signature. He must have planned the crimes in advance because the poison he used isnt easy to obtain, and so we could classify him as a killer with a mission, but one who still doesnt quite know what that mission is. From what I know of the young girls murder, and this is the only clue we have so far, he used a type of Russian martial art called Sambo.

I could go further and say that its part of his signature to get close to his chosen victim and befriend him or her for a while, but that theory doesnt fit with the murder committed in the middle of a lunch party on a beach in Cannes. The victim apparently had two bodyguards with him and they would have been sure to react if the killer had gone any- where near their boss, plus the victim was under surveillance by Eu- ropol.

Russian. Savoy considers using his phone to ask for an urgent search of all the hotels in Cannes. A man, about forty, well-dressed, slightly graying hairand Russian.

The fact that he used a Russian martial art technique doesnt mean he himself is Russian, says Morris, reading Savoys mind like the good ex-policeman he is. Just as we cannot assume hes a South American Indian because he used curare.

So what do we do? We just have to wait for him to commit his next murder.