Chapter 17 Victor

4:24 AM

It was at the beginning of April when Robert decided to close the case and for the last time come to Paris to make sure that he didn’t omit anything and that nothing had skipped his attention. This time Anton came with him, and although he had been in Paris before, he enjoyed the city, its food, its people, and its language. Anton could speak some basic French expressions, which was helpful and made Robert feel safe and at home. To be honest, after so many times in the French capital, he started to recognize streets, monuments and achievements of architecture, he got used to some tastes and scents, and felt like a student who had been on a student’s exchange programme, and suddenly felt like an expert of the foreign world.

It was a different experience to spend this time with Anton, as in Warsaw they rarely exchanged kisses and hardly ever held hands, firstly, in fear of some act of homophobia, secondly, they were rather private and didn’t enjoy public displays of affection. But in Paris something happened to them, they didn’t know whether it was the romantic aura usually associated with the city, or the fact that they were alone among millions of French-speaking people, but they touched each other from time to time and smiled as if they had just met and fallen in love.

The purpose of Robert’s last visit was to finally get to know Alicia’s ex-husband, Victor. The only way to do this was to follow him for a couple of days and check whether he went to any suspicious place or met any suspicious people. Victor spent all his time at work, being in charge of his logistic company. He drove all over Paris, and sometimes outside of Paris to meet his business clients’ needs, to make some new contacts, and to fulfill his recent contracts. In the evening, he went to his spacious flat and got drunk in front of the TV. Robert suspected the worst, namely that Alicia’s body was hidden somewhere in the flat, whether in the wardrobe, below the bed or in the fridge. These were suspicions he was prone to due to his years in the police and other brutal criminal cases he had to solve in the past. The only way to check whether his suspicions were true was to enter the flat and check for himself, but how could he do this, when Victor was still in the flat, and Robert couldn’t just break in when he was away?

Observing Victor’s flat from the distance gave Robert another idea. The businessman might not have remarried after Alicia divorced him, but he frequently used the services of prostitutes, especially one, a Russian girl, Svetlana. A blond, big-breasted, cheerful girl, who didn’t look anything like Alicia, which proved that men were more likely to fall for the exact opposite of their previous partners, was a frequent guest at his spacious penthouse. Robert waited for Svetlana to leave the flat and stopped her by the pavement.

‘Excuse me, I would like to use your services. How much do you charge per hour?’

Svetlana gave him the price, he gave her the money straight away and they both went to Adam Fabjan’s flat. Svetlana was surprised when she saw Anton cooking something in the kitchen, but she was used to many odd behaviors, and, without complaining, started undressing in the living room.

‘No, no,’ Robert opposed, ‘We need another kind of service.’

‘With you both? That will charge you extra.’

Robert laughed.

‘No, we are not going to have sex.’

Svetlana was visibly disappointed. She buttoned up her dress and put her underwear back on.

‘Then what?’

‘How long do you usually spend with Victor?’

‘You mean my last client? An hour. Well, he comes pretty quickly, but he likes games. He’s into these spanking ones.’

‘That doesn’t surprise me, he used to beat his ex-wife.’

Svetlana looked pitiful, but Robert sensed that it was all just a pose. She was used to far worse things, and probably far worse things did many of her clients, probably in front of her or engaging her into the process.

‘Listen, we are carrying out an investigation. I’m from Warsaw police department. Next time Victor will be in need of your services, I need you to call me, make sure that the flat door is open and occupy him for an hour. Blindfold him, make sure that he doesn’t hear what’s going on around him. I need to search his flat.’

‘What will I get for this?’

Robert put a pile of banknotes on the table.

‘But won’t I be in any trouble? Won’t they deport me? I’m not legally here.’

‘Listen, I have nothing against Russian people. Actually, I am in a relationship with one.’

Anton waved form the kitchen and greeted Svetlana in Russian. Svetlana raised her eyebrows and sighed, again, in disappointment, as if she wished that her clients were closer in appearance to Robert and Anton.

She took the money and agreed, having no better things to do, as it was, in fact, an additional income for her precious and hard work. And this time she didn’t have to do anything extra.

They did as they had previously agreed. When Victor called Svetlana, she instantly called Robert and they both approached Victor’s apartment. Robert gave Svetlana a ten-minute go-ahead and, when he was sure that Victor was thoroughly serviced in his bedroom, Robert quietly entered the flat and started his search.

But there was nothing in the kitchen, nothing in the living room, nothing even in the bedroom, occupied by blindfolded Victor and Svetlana jumping on him with screams of ecstasy as if she had been doing this all her life. In the havoc of sexual pleasures, himself quite amused, Robert was able to look under the bed, but, to his relief, there was nothing resembling Alicia’s body. The last thing that he could do, as Svetlana’s screams were getting quieter and quieter, was to look into the corridor cupboard drawer. Inside, among keys, spare change, screwdriver, wine opener, and other practical items was an envelope signed ‘Alicia’. Robert looked inside, but again, there were no pictures of Alicia’s mauled body, but pictures of her and Victor’s rare trips to the mountains and to the seaside. It seemed that Victor treated Alicia with sentiment and he didn’t cut to pieces their mutual moments, even though he himself destroyed them, allowing his aggressive nature to win over his feelings for his beautiful wife.

Robert took a look over the flat, making sure that he checked Victor’s suitcase, but there was nothing of significance except for work documents, so he decided to leave. If Victor was a murderer, he was perfect at hiding his victim, and if there was a shed in which he kept his ex-wife, who somehow escaped his tyranny, he rarely visited her, as more time he spent in the company of his Russian lady of pleasure.

Adrianne Dubois was almost ready to leave her pharmacy office and go home, but before the closing hour the door opened and her favorite handsome, tall, dark man came inside accompanied by another one: this time blond and young. The handsome man smiled at the sight of Adrianne, wrote something on the phone and showed it to her.

I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING THAT YOU DID FOR ME. MERCI

Adrianne smiled and was given a box of Polish candy and a set of Polish alcohols. She thanked and felt a pleasant warmth in her heart.

The two men left the pharmacy and Adrianne approached the window to say her personal and silent farewell. When she was looking through the glass of pharmacy, she saw them kissing and holding hands, which brought to her a cold sensation of a broken heart and made her shed a tear.