Le Bon Plaisir

Hello! Alésia 12 12. Please hold, call from Tokyo.

Claire! Finally!

It's Castor.

Hello!

Speak, my love!

Claire! Did you get my letter?

Yes.

Did you do what I asked?

No.

But you will?

No.

Claire!

Hello, Paris?

TEN YEARS LATER

THE SECRET OF THE PRESIDENT

Elizabeth!

Elizabeth!

ADIOS NO HOPE OF RETURN

I thought you forgot me.

Four people lost their keys tonight.

No, Kitty!

No, no, no! You and I are finished.

Don't call back or my dad will flip.

Vodka. A tall one!

We don't do credit, young man.

-We're closing. -I'll take that.

Hello, Claire? Is that you? It's Mom.

Hello.

Hello!

That damn recorder again!

You're out, Claire! Call me, my love.

I'm worried.

Yes. I'm still here.

You recognized me.

The President?

He's in session...

It's urgent!

-Wait... -You're right.

I'll speak to him personally.

-Mr. President... -Yes?

Alright, Prime Minister. I'll catch up.

He'll be here soon.

President of the Republic.

Foreign Affairs Minister,

please be as concise as possible,

even if it's hard.

Mr. President, my trip to the Middle East

coincided with the American Secretary of State's visit.

I witnessed world States attempting

a new approach to the situation in the Middle East...

Hello.

Hello.

You changed everything!

How are you?

Well, it seems.

Yes. Very well.

So?

Well...

Yes.

No. I'll still be in New York on the 20th.

Sorry.

Tell me exactly what happened.

My purse was snatched last night.

It had a letter from you inside.

A letter I kept in a red billfold.

Here.

That's right, you drink French, now.

Can't you stop that?

Claire!

It's me.

I thought you were working at home this morning.

How about dinner?

Call me, my love.

What was in the letter?

Your Tokyo letter.

I meant to tell you, but...

you're hard to reach.

I think your secretary...

Did you share the letter?

No. Never.

-I kept it... -Why not in a safe?

In Switzerland!

What should I do?

Nothing.

We'll call you.

Where's the minister?

I'll expect him in 15 minutes.

The President.

The ambassador left home. The man fired.

He had three passports on him.

That was at least two too many, right?

Was he identified?

Thirty-three years old. A Libyan coming from Italy.

If Mr. Herhert says so...

I even thought of writing it, Minister.

When are you out? Monday?

Don't rush.

I'm obliged to rush you.

Yours is the best seat in government.

You're wasting your time with the damn press.

They're against us.

Not all of them.

Thank you.

So? Did the Libyan talk?

We're handling it.

He's as Libyan as I am, but I let him go.

It suits us for now.

Does this name still ring a bell?

Claire Després.

Claire...

I need to know who she frequents,

how she lives,

where she gets her resources.

I often wondered what became of her.

She makes many calls.

-I want a wiretap. -Motive?

Any.

We need one!

-It's an order. -Oh. Is that all?

No.

She says an old letter of mine was stolen from her,

it would be troublesome

if in our opponents' hands.

-Troublesome? -Troublesome.

"She says?" To whom?

Are you seeing her?

You never know anything, Interior Minister!

The ambassador is dead. Asshole!

Write a telegram to the widow.

There's no widow. Just his daughter.

Where was the letter?

In her bag.

For ten years! Can you believe it!

-Hello, Claire. -Hi.

-Do you recognize me? -Barely.

Grey hair suits you.

It makes you look serious.

-You changed everything. -Yes. Myself included.

-Yes. You're gorgeous! -Really?

-Wasn't I, before? -No. You were not.

You were delicious.

That was another life.

Give me that.

I'm impressed by your place!

-It's my job. -Yes. It's true.

Tell me. I hear you're well paid

to draw on sheets and plates.

That's not exactly it, but almost.

That's good.

Yes! Yes. This, this is...

This is very good.

Any news?

My bracelet!

It was my grandmother's.

An old lady found it and brought it to the police.

Only an old woman would do that!

Your thief...

kept the money and tossed the rest.

Sometimes they're courteous enough to send back papers.

What if I put out an ad?

-Thank you. -"Red billfold lost.

"A souvenir. Reward."

Yes. We can try.

I'll handle it.

No use being identified.

Tell me, Claire.

Do you know this man?

Yes.

What do you know about him?

He has pointy ears,

an ugly wife, and he's a manager somewhere.

He's funny when he imitates the Prime Minister.

Have you and he had... any particular relations?

Not that particular! A long time ago.

Do you still see him?

Sometimes, with friends. Why?

On Thursday he called you and said: "It's done,

"I can't thank you enough."

What did he mean?

He needed an apartment, and I...

How do you know he called me?

Get out, Pollux,

or I'll be rude to you. I don't like cops.

If we had more, your purse wouldn't have been stolen.

-If it was stolen... -What?

-Hypothesis. Pure hypothesis. -Which?

An ex-lover knows you have

a document that compromises the President.

A notorious, active opponent.

He wants to use it,

you are convinced...

A score to settle,

and a simulated theft exculpates you.

Then why warn you?

Remorse, the President thinks.

He expects a confession.

Just a hypothesis. You know how he is.

-When he's threatened... -Paranoid!

No! Not completely.

Listen, I forgave him much...