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"The same to you," came a chorus of muted replies.
Thinking about the routes, Juliette hoped yet again they were in the right area, that the killer wouldn't choose to strike somewhere different, and leave them scrambling to catch up. They could not afford to lose another victim. One more kill, and Juliette had no doubt it would mean the third strike for their brand new investigation team.
"Here you are," the driver said.
She knew her route. In the distance, she could see the Eiffel Tower, bright and gleaming with its lights.
Juliette climbed out of the car and set off, making sure to walk with a tired slouch, and not to look in the least like a police officer.
Take the bait. Come after me, she urged him silently, hoping that tonight, he would pick her as his next victim.
CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
Juliette slouched forward, getting into her role. She had to be careful. Tonight, as she walked this route, she was not going to be thinking like a cop, nor even an undercover cop.
This was who she was. Just a tired office worker in a low tier corporate position at one of the company headquarters in Paris. Something unglamorous. Not make-up or cosmetics. Something less exciting. Maybe adhesives and coatings.
That was it.
She was a low level worker at an adhesives and coatings company, and she'd come to central Paris for a compulsory training day, and was now heading home. Tired of her job, annoyed by a training day that had brought her all the way into the city center when her home was an hour’s Metro ride away. She was trudging along, and might be briefly sidetracked by some interest, a distraction.
She'd be open to it. Though not seeking it.
In character, she made her way through the crowd, all the while keeping her eyes on the lookout spots that she'd identified. She needed to make sure there was nothing there that might lead anyone else astray.
Though she had no idea how the killer had shown himself to his past victims, she could imagine how it might have happened. How their eye might have been caught. She was hoping that her eye would be caught, as she walked along her route.
From here, the vista opened up, and she could see those beautiful twinkling lights of the tower, the anchor of Paris, the wonder of the world that drew so many from all corners of the globe just to look, to see.
She turned sideways to stare, because anyone would do that, even a disillusioned office worker.
And then, she turned back. She followed the route away from the tower’s view, and into the winding side streets. He hadn't appeared for her and that meant she now needed to move on to the next phase of her patrol. This would take her down the winding alleyways of a neighboring suburb. Personally, she thought it was a more promising area, but she couldn't be sure. Who knew where he was now?
The streets were much quieter now and Juliette found herself straining her eyes to pick out anything suspicious. She kept her head down and her gait casual, but her eyes were constantly darting around in search of any clues.
"Nothing so far," she muttered, adding to the host of similar comments that she'd heard from the others.
She was beginning to feel scared that he would not appear, that they'd overthought this and set the entire operation up for no reason.
But then, she heard a noise. It was a soft, melodic sound, like the tinkling of a distant music box.
She scrunched her eyes in concentration, trying to pinpoint where it was coming from. Would she be lured by this?
Yes, she would. It was beautiful and intriguing enough.
Veering down the cross street, she followed the sound, and it led her to a corner. As she neared it, the sound got louder and her own hopes got even higher. Perhaps this was the lure that he'd used.
Rounding the corner, she stared ahead in expectation.
Standing there was a tall, dark, and handsome man wearing a red cape and playing a harp. He was the source of the music. And he'd attracted quite the crowd. People were gathered around him, listening, filming, exclaiming. Money was pouring into the hat he'd placed in front of him.
She had no idea if he was a legitimate performer or not. Perhaps he had a license, perhaps not. But with so many people around him, the chances of him committing any murder was way too slim. This wasn't their man and she had to look further.
Juliette sighed, and then made her way back onto the main street.
"I had a possible, but it didn't work out," she said. She felt like she'd been walking for ages. Was this killer even going to surface tonight?
She squared her shoulders and kept walking. She would not give up. She'd keep looking until she found him.
