BBC Musketeers / Coast of dreams

Cannes Wisdom

Last Time in chapter 20:

Nathan packed up his laptop and headed back outside. He had almost reached the door leading out of the building, when the woman behind the reception counter called out to him. "Excuse me...."

Nathan stopped and turned around, hoping against hope that she didn't mean him. That hope died, however, when one of the police officers approached him. "Monsieur, the lady at the counter is calling for you," the man said, pointing back in her direction. Nathan smiled at the man in thanks, and went back to the desk. "Yes?" he asked, looking at the woman expectantly. He was no stranger to police stations, if not this specific one. He had seen more than enough of them in his youth.

The woman gave him a searching look. If she had caught on to him, he didn't have an escape plan. He urgently needed to contact Henry and D'Artagnan, they would help him. For once, he wasn't working alone. At least he thought they'd help. They always called themselves the Musketeers and if he remembered his history correctly, the Musketeers never left one of their own behind.

However, he wasn't sure if that motto applied to him this time.

"Monsieur, this cable just fell out of your backpack. I think the zipper isn't closed all the way."

The woman stepped out from behind her counter and picked up the cable. "Here you are," she said, handing it to him. Nathan took it gratefully, hoping she wouldn't notice the sweat beading on his forehead. "Thank you," he said. He took the backpack off, stuffed the cable back into it and checked that the zipper was closed tightly this time. "Thank you very much."

The woman had already stepped back behind her counter and thankfully hadn't seemed to notice how nervous Nathan was. Finally he could leave the building. As he went down the few steps to the pavement, he took a deep breath, and walked to the car as quickly as he dared without arousing suspicion.

He got into the backseat of the car. "Can we?" D'Artagnan asked, looking at him in the rearview mirror. Nathan just nodded. D'Artagnan started the car and drove off. Nathan looked out of the window and could feel his body relax as the jolt of adrenaline in his blood ebbed away.

-

Later that evening, Porthos, Athos, Aramis and D'Artagan met in a bar not far from the hotel.

"Why are we meeting here?" Porthos asked, as he brought four glasses of beer to their bar table in a corner of the room. Each of the four men took a glass and drank.

"I don't know who might be listening at the hotel," Athos explained. Porthos understood. "When Treville informed Feron and Louis, Feron mentioned something he couldn't have known. He said, that the dead man had been lying in bed."

"Yes, but what's so suspicious about that?" Aramis asked.

"A body can be found anywhere and no one would mention a specific place," Athos answered. They all knew that it was pure speculation, but it threw a suspicious light on Feron in the matter and they had to follow up on it.

"Feron was right, the body was found lying in bed," D'Artagnan reported, showing them the report Nathan had downloaded from the precinct servers on his phone.

"Maybe it was just a lucky guess," Porthos said.

Athos nodded, but decided to let the matter rest for now. "Porthos, what did you find out?" he asked the stocky man.

"At the hotel it was common knowledge that Louis had changed rooms. Several people, including the receptionist, confirmed that the switch had immediately been recorded in the system and in the books. So the theory with the mistaken identity will be very hard to prove. I mean, the killer must have been exceptionally stupid. If you have a job like that, you make sure the right person occupies the room, before you act." The others nodded. "Also, a man called reception and asked if Louis is sleeping. The receptionist thought it very strange. The man claimed to be Louis' brother, and he also asked about the right floor," Porthos continued.