The Inquisitor (Garde à vue)

THE GRILLING

I see.

It works when it wants to.

New Year's Eve, 9 p.m.

Hi.

Can I help you?

My car's been stolen.

You're the third.

And certainly not the last.

The others can go hang.

What if I had that attitude?

Mr?

Jabelain.

Jean-Marie Jabelain.

Good evening Sir.

I do apologise.

There was a traffic jam at St-Jean.

Has it cleared yet?

No.

Where's the other one?

He went for a coffee.

I asked him to bring me one...

I'm not sure he heard me.

He's a bit like you, your partner...

...he only hears what he wants to.

That's not true.

My rule is both to listen...

and write down everything.

Hopefully, this case will soon be cleared up.

What's that?

Did you walk on this table?

No, it's the other one, he.

Incidentally,

your Chief Superintendent...

a handsome fellow, he is.

They say he even wears a wig.

Is that true?

I know I sound bitter when I say

I didn't receive an invitation this year.

Maybe it was lost in the mail...

Are you disappointed?

Yes, such elegant parties.

Kissing under mistletoe, the best jokes...

Ladies can bring their jewellery,

dance with their lovers,

then introduce them to their husbands.

Are you married, Detective?

Yes. I was.

Three times.

Apparently I'm boring.

Please take a seat.

It is strange that we've troubled you...

on New Year's Eve.

We just need to clarify some details,

especially concerning the dog.

Mrs Martinaud isn't expecting you?

No...

My wife's not waiting.

Good Evening Belmont.

Do you want it?

What about Mr Martinaud's coffee?

It's here.

If this is for Mr Martinaud, then fine...

it's better I don't have it.

I'm stressed enough.

Thanks all the same.

We were about to talk about the dog.

Yes. Wait, which dog?

I'm afraid we're going to do this one to death...

So am I... although in terms of the dog,

I have to understand your statement.

Let see...

On the evening of December the third...

You take a walk with Mr and Mrs Brunet's dog.

Is that true?

Yes it is.

The same routine each night. I'm fond of dogs.

If you like them, why don't you have any yourself?

My wife doesn't like them. She prefers cats.

- You have a cat? - No, they're too messy.

My wife would like a cat without the mess.

A cat makes less mess than a dog.

Canaries are the messiest of all.

She didn't want any, but I stood my ground.

Sometimes, it works...

Yes...

The canary, the neighbor's dog...

What's his name again?

Brunet.

- No, the dog. - Tango.

Right. Tango. An Irish setter.

Good sense of smell, those dogs...

Aren't they retrievers?

You bet. And very good ones.

Only if they go hunting.

Tango is more of a house dog.

Tango. You spell it like doing a 'tango'?

Well...

How do you want to spell it?

Like 'paso doble'?

In all your statements you say...

'When I found the body'.

You never mention the dog.

So what?

The dog should have found the body.

Sorry. My mistake.

And I studied that file all evening!

While in traffic jams...

No, you're right.

Mr Brunet said...

you weren't with Tango that evening.

Usually you are, but not on that evening.

Not on the third.

Old Brunet is talking nonsense.

He drinks.

All right, but...

Mrs Faure, the shop owner at number 12...

must be talking nonsense too.

So is Marcel Esperu at number 19...

In the whole neighborhood...

you're the only one talking sense?

Who should I believe?

Them.

You know Sir...

I have nothing against you.

Not the slightest resentment.

I would even say no feelings at all.

It would be too hard to have an opinion...

of everyone who came through here.

That shows...

a certain kind of dedication.

Mr Martinaud,

Two little girls were raped and killed,

eight days apart.

I want to know who did it.

If it is you or someone else,

I swear I don't care.

Don't say that. It's not true.

- Yes it is. - Not true!

If an arab or a nigger rapes little girls...

it's an ordinary story.

But if it's me, Mr Martinaud...

public notary and lawyer,

it's unheard of in a cop's career.

Newspapers, interviews...

TV if all goes well... true?

Confess!

Let's not reverse roles here!

Right, let's say I am obsessed by ambition.

But Brunet, Mrs Faure and Esperu,

why do they condemn you?

Because I'm rich,

I have a nice house and a lovely wife.

As it happens, I don't deserve any of it.

My mind and body are only average...

Mediocre people resign themselves...

when exceptional people succeed.

They applaud the gifted, the champions.

But success for one of them...

it just gets on their nerves.

It strikes them as an injustice.

I'm sure you've received anonymous letters.

No more than usual.

No... well, not a lot more.

If Frenchmen like to write to the police,

what can I do?

Yes, I received letters, loads of them.

About tax evasion, real estate fraud,

little things like that.

And two rapes, of course.

And some of those letters even suggest...

that your wife was the instigator.

And in others, a simple spectator.

But none of the letters mention your mediocrity.

Eccentricity, yes. But not mediocrity.

Anyhow, two witnesses testified...

you were without the dog on the third.

- No. - How's that?

May I?

They don't say there's no dog...

they say they didn't notice it.

It's underlined.

Belmont, come here.

What's all this mess?

He's right. They don't say the dog wasn't there...

they just say they didn't notice it.

Isn't that the same?

No. Not at all.

They say they didn't notice...

That could mean it was there...

or it wasn't, right?

Sorry, but... does it matter?

If the dog was there,

it should have found the body.

Again, does it really matter?

True, does it matter?

It's not the dog that called us, right?

I didn't help it make the call!

Tell me, Detective...

When I was summoned,