The 7th Woman by Frédérique Molay Page A

personality. She said she didn’t know of any other man as attuned to women as he was. He was sensitive to the aspirations and challenges women faced in a macho world. Sylvie even swore that he had a sixth sense for understanding women. That made her excessively jealous.
    How could you not appreciate Nicole Monthalet? Nico had clearly seen the resentment some of his colleagues had for the “commissioneress”—the envious expression they sometimes used, as if no woman had the ability to hold down this position. He presumed that she had fought hard to succeed and avoid the traps set by those idiots. That made him respect her even more, and he was proud to work under her.
    The prefect and the state prosecutor joined Nico and Rost in Nicole Monthalet’s office. They were well dressed and had the self-assurance of people who had done well in their careers. A third man was with them. Nico recognized Alexandre Becker, the magistrate who had just been appointed to investigate the case. From now on, they would have to consult with him. Nico had worked with Becker before but didn’t have an opinion of the man.
    Nicole Monthalet took the lead with the men, all of whom were used to giving orders themselves. She opened the file that Michel Cohen had given her a few minutes earlier. Pictures of the two victims were spread across the first page, right up front, and Nico took note of that real lack of tact. Not that Madame Monthalet reacted, but Nico was certain that this was one of those tests she faced on a regular basis, a message so that she would understand that nobody would wear kid gloves with her just because she was a woman. Nico held it against Cohen for letting that slip through, but then again, he might have been the one behind it.
    â€œ Messieurs , we are here to review a criminal case of an exceptional nature and to make sure that the investigation is going in the right direction. Clearly, there is a serial killer wreaking terror in Paris, and his targets have the same profile.”
    With an abrupt gesture that was almost angry, she put the pictures in the middle of the table so that everyone could study them.
    â€œThe murderer acts in the beginning of the afternoon,” she said. “He is between twenty-five and forty years old, Caucasian, left-handed, knows about sailing knots and can sew a perfect skin suture. He is sociopathic, methodical and organized. The number thirty has a special meaning for him, and that is how many times he whips each of his victims. He has a problem with his mother, so he amputates his victims’ breasts. In addition, he stabs them in the abdomen. He’s thumbing his nose at us, as evidenced by the message he left for us at Chloé Bartes’ home. We think that he will commit a crime each day until Sunday. If I am to believe our detectives, a young women will die this very afternoon, tortured and stabbed.”
    â€œHow many men are on the case?” asked the prefect, Mrs. Monthalet’s direct superior.
    â€œTwo squads from the brigade criminelle , which makes twelve officers led by their section head, Deputy Chief Rost, and by Chief Sirsky, who are with us here,” she answered. “Our psychologist is providing her insight. That is enough. Our other teams are busy elsewhere.”
    â€œAnd the criminal is totally unknown to the police?” the state prosecutor asked.
    Nicole Monthalet shot him a smile full of disdain.
    â€œWe have fingerprint and DNA databases, but we would need to have the criminal’s in order to run them. And it’s about time that all the information about homicides in our country be in the same database. It would be a great help to our police officers.”
    â€œWe know how interested you are in advancing the SALVAC project,” the prefect said. “The interior minister was attentive to your input and has committed to moving forward with it. He is even talking about creating a special police