The Crimson Rivers (Les rivières pourpres)

Jean-Louis!

Jean-Louis!

Stop! It's me!

Jean-Louis! For God's sake!

Jean-Louis.

Jean-Louis, it's Pierre.

What the hell happened to you?

The sword

and the snake.

Niéma...

Bloody hell.

What the hell?

My God, Jean-Louis.

Hello. I've found a body in the dunes.

I'll wait for you here.

THE CRIMSON RIVERS

PART I

Good evening.

Colonel Sabrina Harel.

I head the criminal research team in Lille.

Commissioner Niémans, CBCO Paris.

Is it true you knew the victim?

Yes.

He's Jean-Louis Querneaux.

He lived at the nearby monastery.

He was known there as Brother Guillaume.

I knew him long before he joined the order.

- He called today. He wanted to meet. - Did he say why?

- He felt threatened. - By who?

- He didn't have time to tell me. - Of course.

Wait.

Where had you arranged to meet? In the dunes?

At the monastery. He'd already left when I arrived.

Thank you.

One of the monks showed me to the coast, and I went to look for him.

I saw him running through the dunes. He wouldn't stop.

Do you know what the burned hand is about?

No.

OK.

And he died before you reached him?

- Yes. - Right.

When's the autopsy?

Leave the questions to me. You're just a witness here.

We'll see.

In the meantime, contact Gaillard. He's a crime expert in Lille.

We worked together in Paris. He's the best.

Tell him to get his arse over here as soon as he can.

Meet me at my office tomorrow morning.

To sign your statement.

Commissioner Niémans.

I need to speak to the Father Superior, please.

Hello. I'm Father Anselme. I'm in charge of the monastery.

Commissioner Niémans from Paris. Do you know why I'm here?

Are you leading the investigation?

I'm here as backup. Brother Guillaume was a friend.

- Did you know I was here yesterday? - At the monastery?

No, I wasn't aware.

Shall we take a walk?

Guillaume told me he felt threatened.

- Did you know that? - Brother Guillaume threatened?

But he never left the monastery.

He left yesterday, and it didn't work out too well for him.

- You don't wear a habit, Father? - We're not obliged to.

- You don't attend the services either? - It's not a service.

They're praying for Brother Guillaume.

- Can you think of a motive? - Absolutely not.

The culprit must not be of sound mind. May God forgive them.

- Why do you think so? - I see no reason for this crime.

In all his years here, his sole pursuit was his research.

We are a nationally renowned centre of musicology.

- Have you received threats? - Threats?

- What sort? - By terrorists, for example.

- You think... - I don't think anything.

- Answer the question. - No. No, of course not.

- What was Guillaume researching? - Guido d'Arezzo.

An 11th-century Benedictine monk.

He invented musical notation and gave names to the notes of the scale.

Could he have made a dangerous discovery?

- Are you serious? - Yes. You know his past.

And you, Father?

I assume you've asked the others if they saw anything?

No one saw anything. Everything happened outside.

- Don't try to accuse us, Commissioner. - I'm not.

Why might someone burn his left hand?

No idea.

Can I see your research centre?

Of course.

- There's no day of mourning, I see. - Time is unchanging.

Such is Cistercian monastic life.

Where is Guillaume's desk?

Over there.

Was Guillaume at lunch yesterday?

I believe so, yes.

Could someone have called him to arrange a meeting in the dunes?

- There are no mobile phones here. - Then how did he call me?

- The office has a phone. - And no internet?

Yes, but it's only for research.

Is this it?

What's this?

Neumes.

Ancestors of modern musical notes.

Guillaume was researching the origins of notation.

Sorry, Father, but I need to confiscate the hard drive.

- Impossible. - Sorry?

Nothing leaves the monastery. It's tradition.

I'll remind you, this is a murder investigation.

It's non-negotiable.

That's not a term in my vocabulary.

All it means is I have to come back with police and paperwork.

What a shame.

Hi.

Where are you?

OK. See you there. It's nice here. You'll like it.

See you soon.

REGIONAL POLICE SERVICE

The prosecutor called.

He's put you on the case with me.

Who are you, Niémans?

I belong to a new office with EU jurisdiction.

I see.

And what is the purpose of this office?

To help out on cases like this.

Have you made any progress?

A team is questioning the monks. They haven't said much yet.

Have you checked neighbours, psychiatric hospitals, prison releases?

The monastery is completely isolated. The rest is in progress.

And the jihadist angle, have you thought of that?

No. I confess, I hadn't.

We've never had anything like that around here.

But I'll check it out.

- What do you have on Jean-Louis? - Not much at the moment.

No mobile phone, no bank account, no social security number.

As far as society's concerned, he didn't exist.

The monks work on the internet.

We need to get Jean-Louis' hard drive. Anselme wouldn't give it to me.

OK. But we have to go easy on the monks.

The Archbishop already called the prosecutor.

Right.

One last thing.

Before Jean-Louis became a monk, he was a cop.

He had some trouble, if you know what I mean.

Call Internal Affairs and ask for his file.

Thanks for telling me this now.

- Where are you going? - To pick up my deputy.

- You have a deputy too? - Yes. Two for the price of one.

Lucky me.

- Have a good day. - You too.

We have to go back to the monastery.

Today.

- Long journey? - Sorry, Niémans.

It was chaos. I took the first train I could.

I thought you said I'd like it here.

Just wait until tonight. You'll love it.

How many times was he stabbed?

It seems once was enough.

It was a deep cut.

A hunting knife? Combat knife?

Or even a kitchen knife.

The wound measures about 12 centimetres.

It probably perforated his liver, stomach, maybe even the spleen.

If you'll allow me to speculate,

I'd say the killer knew what he was doing.

You think he had medical knowledge?

Or maybe he was a hunter.

We can smoke in here?

Nobody's ever complained.

- What about the hand? - It was probably burned with petrol.

We're waiting on the analyses for confirmation.

What are the other marks?

It seems our friend practiced mortification, flagellation,

scarification.

I don't know what he was atoning for, but it seems prayer wasn't enough.

Did you know him well?

I met him 20 years ago at Research and Intervention.

We were fairly close back then.

From cop to monk.

- That's one hell of a switch. - He was a devout Catholic.

Then he found out his wife was having an affair.

- He lost it, killed them both. - Shit.

Then he disappeared into the monastery.

Back then, I almost went with him.

- Let's get a coffee. - Yes.

Shit, what's he doing up there?

The tall one, I know him. Marc Messonnier.

I put him away 8 years ago. Violence, kidnapping and rape.

Friendly advice, Camille: forget all the scum you meet on the job.

- It'll drive you insane. - But how the hell is he out already?

Let it go. We're here to find out who killed Jean-Louis.

BHP IN CONCERT

- I didn't tell Harel the full story. - No?

No.

Jean-Louis said one thing to me before he died:

"The sword and the snake."

I did some research last night.

They seem to be a religious symbol of some kind.

It might have something to do with what he was working on.

You think his research was the motive?

- What else? - I don't know.

Sex, cash, theft..

- Evil instinct. - Sure.