The Mantis (La Mante)

A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES

Yeah?

Where?

What's the address?

What's the matter?

A new body.

Nice...

THE MANTIS

EPISODE 3

- Thanks. - No problem.

So?

It's beyond doubt.

The copycat.

Who's the victim?

Luc Hébrard.

40, history professor at Censier University.

One child, widower, wife died of cancer.

The cleaning lady found the body this morning.

Which animal drowns its victims?

Crocodile.

I love residential areas where everyone watches everyone else.

His neighbours had the bright idea to have CCTV installed.

And guess what.

It's aimed bang at the Hébrard's garden.

I've requested the monitoring firm access to it.

A large police presence has been deployed in the area.

A reliable source says the MO is very similar to the Mantis',

so it could be a new copycat murder.

Utter panic is spreading all over the region,

especially as the victims' profile remains uncertain,

and, according to our source, the investigation hasn't got anywhere.

Damien calling...

Damien, I'm sure your mother is behind all this.

Hello?

Yes, Charles. It's Lucie.

No, Lucie... I'm sorry, I got the wrong number.

Not at all, this is Damien's mobile. He just forgot it at home.

I know, I was trying to get through to a friend.

Sorry I've bothered you. Bye.

Thanks.

Your grandfather called.

What? Is anything wrong?

I'm sure your mother is behind all this.

Excuse me?

That's exactly what he said.

Hang on, I don't get it...

Neither do I.

That makes no sense.

True. He also said he got the wrong number.

Couldn't you have said that first?

I got nothing better to do?

What are you playing at, Lucie?

At nothing.

See you tonight.

Why do you say that?

- You think his mother isn't dead? - Dunno.

I have a feeling he's not telling me the truth.

1990...

Where did she die in theory?

On a flight between the Congo and the Ivory Coast.

There it is.

"The plane tried to land on the sea, split into two

and sank 300 feet deep. All the bodies have been identified."

That's great.

Not for Damien's mother, but it's what you wanted.

Read the rest.

"The French Consulate has contacted the airliner.

Fortunately there were no French nationals on the passenger list."

Does that mean she isn't dead?

COPYCAT MURDER 4

COPYCAT MURDER 3

COPYCAT MURDER 2

I thought so, but I wanted to check. Okay, thanks.

The coroner has confirmed Hébrard died in the night.

Also an injection in the neck.

We got nothing new to stop this fucking wall getting filled up.

- Let's question Séverin again! - No point.

Apart from Duquesne's attempted murder, he's clear.

He got the file and may have passed it around.

We're dropping Séverin, is that clear?

We got something on CCTV footage.

Look up registration number 4238-XB-94.

The car in which the drowned victim was found.

I think we got our man.

Crosses the road, rings Hébrard's bell, says something.

How tall do you think? 5 foot 9?

A bit more.

Can we see his face?

Never.

Bastard.

Nothing more.

Anyway, he's nimble.

Look, something weird at the end.

A flashing light.

He's using an LED defender.

- What's that? - A self-defence torch.

- You got one? - Yeah.

It dazzles people it's flashed at.

- Where do you buy it? - Self-defence or DIY stores,

the internet...

Anyway, it won't help us identify him.

It gives us a profile, better than nothing.

Yeah, which matches the silhouette from the first crime scene.

Guys...

The car Hébrard was found in isn't his.

It belongs to a certain Christophe Coulier.

Freelance IT consultant for several companies.

One of them, in 2013, digitised all criminal files,

including the Mantis'.

Plus, Coulier was reported missing 3 months ago,

but his mobile was reactivated last night.

It's in a forest outside Paris.

Would he be stupid enough

to use his own car and leave it at the crime scene?

Then reactivate his phone to lead us to him?

We're getting closer.

The GPS says the ruins are 1,600 feet higher up.

Okay, everyone, we're gonna walk from here.

Bertrand, we'll meet up there and go around it. Okay?

Police!

Round the back.

Nobody up there.

- So? - Nothing.

Yet, he's still here.

I'll call Coulier's mobile.

The Consulate could've got it wrong.

Or she wasn't registered on the passenger list.

Happens sometimes, you know.

Okay, supposing she's dead...

There must be a tomb somewhere.

Do you know where she was buried?

Yeah, in an old village called Miserey, I think.

Damien was raised there with his mother

and Charles, his grandfather.

In a big house they've never sold.

And where he's never taken me. Obviously.

How about driving out there?

Tomorrow morning?

If we find her tomb, you'll know for sure.

Yeah.

Okay, got it.

Good, thanks.

What's this corpse's name?

Coulier, Christophe Coulier.

Christophe Coulier.

Galiéni has found his mother.

Their DNA match, it is Coulier.

As for the mobile,

according to its battery level, it was thrown in the well last night.

The copycat deliberately led us to Coulier's body.

The Mantis!

Good old days. Remember, superintendent?

I'm not old enough to forget that.

We learnt our craft with her. The bodies were pretty mangled.

Her successor isn't bad,

except in this case, which he didn't handle as well.

What if I ask you to be more precise?

I'll tell you, look...

There.

Lack of experience. Much messier.

A botched job.

Given the cuts on the ribs, I'd say it was a knife.

Several violent stabbings in his back,

his chest...

A butchery.

How long ago was it done?

Judging from the insects found on the corpse,

at least three months.

It could be the first murder,

which aroused his predatory instinct.

But it matches no murder attributed to the Mantis.

I can't remember a mutilated victim in a well.

No.

Mrs. Deber?

Mrs. Debber, Captain Carrot is here.

Hello, Damien.

Stern, could you excuse us?

Your admirer led us to a body

hidden at the bottom of a well.

In decomposition for weeks.

A certain Coulier.

Does that ring a bell?

We think it was his first murder.

The triggering event which caused this killer

to become a monster.

The trouble is...

this murder doesn't match any other you confessed to.

So why did your copycat

lead us to that well

in your opinion?

At our house in Miserey,

there was a well in the garden.

Jeanne...

Jeanne!

Who was your first victim?

Why didn't you confess to it like you did the others?

Was it my father?

Won't you tell me?

What are you afraid of?

Of letting me down?