Paris-Present Day

"Who is calling?"  Alix asked her secretary.  "Ah, Madam Chandler’s mother.  "Oui", she said resignedly, "I’ll take the call.  Thank you Michelle."

"Ms Lemieux, this is Priscilla Dunlap…Remie’s mother."

Alix sighed.  "Thank you for returning my call Madam Dunlap.  I have some things to tell you about your daughter. " A sharp intake of breath on the other side of the line and then silence prompted a flood of words from Alix.  She spent the next 20 minutes explaining Remie’s disappearance to an uncharacteristically silent Mrs. Dunlap.  Knowing Priscilla Dunlap through talks with Remie, Alix was surprised [pleasantly so] that she took the news as well as she did.  After convincing Mrs. Dunlap that her presence in Paris could not speed up the investigation she managed to get off the phone by giving her the number to her private line and a promise to keep her informed of any new developments.  The next call she made was to Detective Jordan.  He was out of the office so she left a message for him to call her when he got in.  She spent the next few hours clearing her desk of the work that had piled up since Remie’s unexplained disappearance.

Mimi buzzed her.  "Madame, a Detective Jordan to see you."

"Please, show him in," Alix said. Davit entered and immediately Alix felt uneasy.

Averting his eyes Davit said.  "We have a break, sort of."

Alix brightened.  "Well, that’s good, right?"

"It may be.  We found her purse."

"Where?"  Alix said, a chill starting to creep over her.

Davit cleared his throat,  "Hanging on an outcropping of the bridge____."

"Oh no!"  Alix exclaimed.  "And Remie?"

"No sign of her…. yet.  " Davit said.  "We have all available people searching the area but it could take some time.  The Seine does not give up its secrets so easily."

"Surely you don’t think she tried to kill herself?"

His voice faltered, and he turned away from her, staying out the window at the traffic on the busy street.

"We don’t know what to think right now…but we’re following all leads and that is one of them."

Alix sagged in her chair. "Mon Dieu…that cannot be…I won’t believe it.  She’s got to be somewhere.  Maybe she hit her head and is wandering about the city with amnesia.  Your people are still searching for her, they still believe she’s alive, don’t they?"

Davit grimaced and turned around to face her again.  "No, some of them don’t, but I do."  "I will find her Madame Lemieux, of that you can be sure."

Alix smiled sadly and her eyes softened.  "Thank you.  I’m not sure why I feel that she is out there, but I do. If you need anything from me, anything, you only have to ask."

"Thank you, I’ll do that and I’ll keep in touch. I promise."  She walked him to the door and watched until he was out of sight.   She knew he hadn’t told her everything but she didn’t want to push too hard, at least not yet…