Detective Railton received his commendation. The Chief of Detectives retired, replaced by a parade ground martinet. As promised, the scroll was returned, by courier, to Jean Paul with apologies. The story was destined to be an interesting anecdote.

Barbara and Keith grew as an item, to the point where they made it official and took a new apartment together. Nothing was formally announced, but Janet was provided with endless reasons for doubling her eager snooping.

****

In an empty garage, on a side street in Nice, three men with jackets off and sleeves rolled up; beat senseless a helpless man tied to a chair. His weak, garbled protests gained him no mercy. Jules Bernier finally broke and revealed his source for the scroll, his own nephew, Antoine Gagne. Before letting Jules go, Jean Paul had both his knees crippled as a lesson not to be forgotten, and then his attention turned to the nephew.

A week later, Le Monde reported the discovery of a young man's body, half buried upside down in one of the planters inside the castle gardens. He was reportedly identified as one Antoine Gagne, a chemist employed by The French National Centre for Scientific Research. Police reported a complete absence of clues, witnesses, or even a reason for the bizarre killing.

Jean Paul relaxed on his patio balcony, sipping a large drink and watching Helene do her yoga exercises. The faint noises coming from inside made him sit up, curiously listening. There was a muffled shout and some more noises, louder this time. He started to get up off his lounge, stopping when a man wearing a scarf over his face came through the patio doors.

Jean Paul let out a yell for his men . . . too late, as the man fired several shots point-blank into the Riviera godfather's chest, stitching him to the lounge.

"For Jules and Antoine, from a friend." He glanced at Helene who was wide-eyed and frozen with fear in a yoga firefly pose, then disappeared back inside, down the corpse littered stairway and out to the street.

All the papers featured the incident in headlines, Le Monde leading the way with the tragic killing of the generous philanthropist, while competitors countered with the gangland slaying of the notorious godfather of crime. Helene gained a brief celebrity with interviews and TV appearances as the wealthy owner of a valuable fake scroll.

****

Tony Badali toasted the newscaster reporting the story on TV. A grim smile grew as he changed channels to catch the hockey game.

****

Keith and Barbara watched the news with surprise.

"Do you think that had anything to do with the scroll – with us?" She suggested.

"To be honest, yep. That other killing of the chemist – that's just too coincidental." Keith turned over on his pillow, and flopped an arm across Barbara. "I think JP bought into a scam and when he found out, cashed in on the scammers. Glad to be done with it all. This is where I like to do my purchasing – pun intended." He nuzzled closer.

"And there's a lesson to be learned, detective."

"Mmhmm?"

"Caveat emptor."

FIN