C1 Paris

On the 22nd March,around 6:30pm,sounds of honking cars was still heard faintly. The cold breeze gently blew in through the window and lights kept flickering. Time passed by slowly, through the window I could see the children in the opposite building staring at the television. Just when I was about leaving my office,a man walked in bald,funny looking and appeared to be in his late forties. I sat back on my chair and beckoned him to sit down. He took a sit opposite me and took long to speak. Finally he spoke up, "Good day Miss Christa,I'm here to report a missing person case ". I brought out a notebook,placed it on the table and relax back to further listen to what he had to say. I wondered why he didn't go to the police and came to me but still it would be an easy case. He went on," I'm Mr Hector Benicio second son of one of the richest man in London. My elder brother Nelson went on a business trip to France and hadn't returned for the past two months. I would like you to investigate more and find out the reason why he hadn't returned". "Have you tried contacting him or the police" I said to him. "I've done that already that's why I came to you, aren't you a detective after all. Your job is to investigate the matter",he replied in a harsh tone. Only his tone could have made me call off the case but as a detective I had to fulfill my duties when needed,I took on the case and he gave me the necessary information I needed. I was going to France for the first time to be specific Paris. After he left I picked up my coat,my hat,my scarf and left the office. I drove down to my apartment to get rested for tomorrow's journey.

Mr Hector was kind enough to book my plane tickets and promise to take care of my expenses in France. He might be rude person but no doubt he loved his brother. I arrived London Gatwick airport and boarded my plane. I arrived Charles de Gaulle airport half past seven,the French breeze blew through my clothes,I held my scarf closed preventing it from blowing away. Tiny snowflakes dropped on the ground indicating the winter season. I took a cab to Grand Hotel du Paris Royal,the exact hotel Mr Nelson checked in. According to the brochure there were elegant rooms and suits with free wifi plus a chic French restaurant,a lounge,bar and a spa. It was also closed to the Louvre museum and opera house. Paris was a perfect place to spend a vacation,maybe after the case I would stay a few days. I checked into room 101,the exact room Mr Nelson had checked in. I quickly looked around for any clue to Mr Nelson disappearance but I found none. I decided to have a chat with the receptionist hoping to get some information from her. Luckily she was less busy,which made it easier to have a chat with her. The chat went on smoothly until I decided to bring out the topic of Mr Nelson. She fidgeted for a little and finally declined knowing anyone by the name of Nelson Benicio. Through her eyes it was obvious that she was hiding the truth but why. I insisted she rethink and showed her pictures of him. It took her long before she accepted that she knew him. According to her he stayed in the hotel but left after two weeks. I inquired if he took his luggage with him,she replied negatively and requested someone to take me where his luggage was. I looked through his luggage and found only a few things,his documents and a piece of paper in a brown cover note book. I kept the paper in my right pocket and headed back to the receptionist. I didn't bother telling her about my findings since she would be of no use to me. She looked rather relief when I told her that I found nothing which made me more suspicious. In my room I opened the piece of paper. On it was written, "Nelson can you please meet me at Chez Casmir at Gate du Nord 6 rue de Belzance at 6 pm",Beauty. I had gotten my next clue,I needed to find out who was Beauty and Chez Casmir was the first place I had to search. I brought out my laptop to Google out the place and get some relevant information,It was apparently one of the most popular restaurants in Paris and wasn't that far. I quickly picked up my coat,boarded a cab and headed there. I took a sit next to the door to get a closer look on the people who came in. Not long a man sat opposite me and kept stealing glances at me. He looked like a foreigner to be specific an African or maybe a black American. Anyway he had a good French accent and spoke French fluently. Maybe he was from one of the francophone countries in Africa. I turned my face away avoiding his glance. He finally broke the silence between us,"Bonjour Mademoiselle,êtes vous bien?","Oui,je suis bien"I replied. "Pourquoi as tu demande?" I asked him,'j'ai demande parce que vous assez l'air inquiet"he replied concerned. The conversation kept on going,I decided to inquire about Mr Nelson from him but before I could do that the waiter came over to take our orders. I would had prefer a cup of latte instead but the man insisted I ordered that he would foot the bills. It was generous of him but I'm a lady that doesn't like accepting favours from men mostly those I barely knew. I didn't want to appear arrogant to the stranger and decided to let him foot the bills and order our food.

CHEZ CASMIR MENU

Deserts

Flakery buttery croissant

Croissant/pain au Chocolat

Lunch

Escargots

Fore Gras

Fresh Baguette

SPECIALS

Narella crepe

Jarques Gerun Caramels

French cheese

The menu looked appetizing and it was hard for me to decide what to order. The stranger ordered escargots and flakey buttery croissant for me . He finally introduced himself as Monsieur Louis Raphael,he was a frequent customer at the restaurant and knew everyone that came to the restaurant. He easily spotted first timers and took it upon himself to welcome them to the restaurant. Though he wasn't a staff of the restaurant he voluntarily brought in more customers for them without requesting for anything. I went ahead to ask him about Mr Nelson if he knew him and showed him his picture. He looked at it for along time and finally let out a chuckle. He replied that Mr Nelson was his close friend who visited the Casmir anytime he was a business trip. He went on to tell me about how Mr Nelson found interest in a French lady and often brought her here to have lunch and sometimes dinner. Her name was Beauty the same lady that wrote the letter to Mr Nelson. He further told me about a certain day when Mr Nelson was meant to meet Beauty but he never showed up. Beauty called him up to inquire where his friend was but he had no idea. I thanked him for the bit of information he had given me and requested to see a picture of the lady. He showed me a picture in his phone that included him,Mr Nelson and the lady. I was perplexed on seeing the lady in the picture. Coincidentally Mademoiselle Beatrice was the lady Mr Nelson found interest in. I wondered why she refused to give me any information about Mr Nelson. I left the Casmir and headed back to the hotel. Unfortunately Mademoiselle Beatrice shift was over and she had gone home. I requested for her address but was declined since the hotel policy went against the sharing of personal information of their workers. I didn't want to blow my cover yet and decided to find out her address by myself. I remembered that during the conversation between I and her she mentioned about living near a restaurant and it dawn on me that it was the Casmir. I recalled that Mr Louis did said that Beauty lived closed by.

I arrived at her apartment building and hoped I was at the right one. I rang the doorbell and patiently waited for someone to open the door. Shock was written all over her face on seeing me and inquired what brought me to her house and how I found out where she lived. I finally introduced myself as detective Christa Cairo and told her I was here to interrogate her on the missing case of Mr Nelson Benicio. At first she refused and requested me to leave her house. I reminded her that refusing to give me the necessary information I needed would be a risk to Mr Nelson. She obliged and let me inside her apartment. I took a good look at her apartment and noticed it was well furnished with expensive furnitures which I'm sure were gifts from Mr Nelson. Portraits of cats were seen hanging on the wall. She was a cat lover which was obvious by the many cats I saw moving around. She sat down on a couch while I sat down on one opposite her. A cat jumped on her lap and she gently stroke it. "What do you want to know exactly,I don't have all the time in the world to talk to you",she said angrily. I replied questions her on how long she knew Mr Nelson and if she was involved in his disappearance. She narrated how they met the first time at Chez Casmir,where she mistakenly bumped into Mr Nelson and spilled his coffee on him. She offered to help him dry clean but he refused insisting he was late for a meeting. Coincidentally he checked into the exact hotel she was working and she use that opportunity to apologize for spilling coffee on his shirt. Days passed by,they grew fond of each other and anytime he came to Paris for a business meeting he spent his leisure times with her. On the day he wanted to propose to her,it was precisely the day he went missing. All means of finding him was fruitless and till now there had me no information about his whereabouts.

Before she continue talking there was a knock on the door,I wondered why the person didn't use the doorbell. She went to check who was at the door and didn't come back after a long time. I went to check on her but there was no sign of her around. I opened the door, looking outside for any sign of her. Strange how can she just disappear like that. I heard some noise coming from Chez Casmir and decided to check it out. The front door was opened which made me more suspicious,I stealthily walked in,looking around. Suddenly I heard a sound coming from Chez Casmir. I saw someone going into the Casmir,he or she wasn't visible enough since it was night. I followed the stranger of night stealthily avoiding making any sound. The stranger unlocked the front door and went in. I followed suit and arrived at the back of the Casmir. From where I was I spotted Mademoiselle Beatrice tied up at a corner and a tall figure hiding between the shadows watching over her. Not long the stranger I was following walked towards her and gave her a tight slap surprising me. I could still not recognize the stranger over the dimmed light of the security lights but from the body figure,it appeared to be a well body built man wearing a black leather hoodie jacket. He kept on saying something to Mademoiselle Beatrice which was inaudible. I came closer hoping to hear better and mistakenly made a noise that alerted them. The tall figure in the shadows quickly ran away followed by the dark stranger. I ran towards Mademoiselle Beatrice quickly untying her,I removed the cloth on her mouth enabling her speak. Before she could say anything a gun shot was heard and the next thing I knew she dropped down to the floor with blood rushing from her back. Someone between the bushes had fired the bullet,I fired the bullet back missing by a second and couldn't get the person since the person quickly ran away. I held on Mademoiselle Beatrice telling it would be alright that she would definitely made it. While trying to get her to the hospital,she stopped me and told me that her time was up. Her last words were,"HERBS". Then she gave up the ghost right there,I brought out my phone and called the police and ambulance. Her dead body was taken while I explained the matter to the inspector,he lacked interest on what I said and simply told me to return back to were I came from that I don't really know what I'm dealing with. Before I could ask him to explain what he really meant,he drove off with the police van.