Chapter 23 Chapter Twenty-Three "Cooper Is Too Powerful"

Interpol's headquarters is located in a seven-story building at 26 Rue Armangode, which is surrounded by the forest of Saint-Cloud, about six miles west of Paris.There is a circle of white walls outside the building, and there is a tall green tree screen in front of the building to cover it.The gate facing the road is closed 24 hours a day, and visitors are strictly checked by a closed-circuit television system before entering.Inside the building, there is a white iron door at the entrance of each floor, which is closed and locked at night. In addition, each floor of the building is equipped with an independent alarm system and closed-circuit television system.

Such tight security precautions are necessary because the files of 2.5 million criminals from all over the world are kept in this building.Interpol is also an agency for information exchange between 126 police forces in 78 countries. It coordinates when they investigate various cases of deception, forgery, drug trafficking, robbery, and murder around the world. effect.It transmits the progress of each case synchronously through a briefing called "Notice", using radio stations, telex and satellite early warning equipment.The members of the Paris headquarters are all detectives from the French Ministry of the Interior or the Paris Police.

One morning in early May, a meeting was taking place in the office of Prosecutor André Trinan, who heads Interpol headquarters.The furnishings of the office are simple and comfortable, and the scenery outside the window is pleasant.Looking east, the Eiffel Tower is faintly visible in the distance, while looking west, the white dome of the Sacré Coeur in Montmartre is clearly visible.Prosecutor Trinan was in his forties, tall and formidable, with black hair, a pair of brown eyes shining behind black-rimmed glasses with horns, and he looked very shrewd.Sitting with him in the office is a team of detectives from England, Belgium, France and Italy.

"Gentlemen," said Prosecutor Trinan, "I have received urgent reports from your countries inquiring about a series of crimes which have recently taken place all over Europe. Very ingenious cases of deceit and theft have taken place in succession in six countries, These cases all have some similarities. The victims themselves are notorious people, none of them used violence during the crime, and the perpetrators are all women. We can conclude that this is an international gang composed entirely of women. According to We have completed a set of mock portraits of the perpetrators as described by victims and sporadic eyewitnesses. As you can see, no two women in these portraits are alike. Some are blonde and some are brunette. They are allegedly British, French, Spanish, Italian, American or Texan."

Inspector Trinan flipped a switch, and a series of pictures appeared on a small screen hanging on the wall. "What you are seeing is a mock sketch of a brunette with short hair." He pressed a button. "Here is a blonde with a bouffant...here is another blonde with a perm...a brunette with shawl curly hair...a slightly older woman with a French twist ... a young woman with a few strands of blond hair ... a middle-aged woman with a 'savage' hairstyle." He switched off the projector. "We have not yet been able to find out who their leader is and where their lair is. They leave no trace and disappear like smoke rings without a trace. However, we will catch one sooner or later, and then we will be able to All at once. Ladies and gentlemen, if those present cannot provide some more specific information, I am afraid we will have to reach a stalemate."

Daniel Cooper arrived in Paris by plane and was greeted at Charles de Gaulle airport by one of Trinan's deputy prosecutors, who drove Cooper to the Prince de Guerre Hotel, next door to a more stately building. Sister hotel, George V Hotel. "Your meeting with Inspector Trinan is scheduled for tomorrow," the escort told Cooper. "I'll pick you up at a quarter past eight." Daniel Cooper hadn't expected this trip to Europe.He intends to finish his mission as soon as possible and return home.He knew all about the places of pleasure in Paris, but he was reluctant to try them himself.

He moved into his guest room and went straight to the bathroom.The bathtub was very satisfying, something he hadn't expected.He felt that the bathtub was much bigger than the one at home.After turning on the tap, he turned and went back to the bedroom to unpack the luggage.As he neared the bottom of the trunk he saw a small locked box safely hidden between coat and underwear, and he picked it up and held it in his hand as if it had a pulsating life of its own.He carried the small box into the bathroom, put it on the washbasin, picked out a small key from the key ring, opened the box, and the words on the yellowed newspaper clippings whizzed towards him.

Twelve-year-old Daniel Cooper testified in court today that the defendant, Fred Zimmer, was accused of raping and killing the boy's mother. The boy testified that when he came home from school, he saw his neighbor Zimmer walking out of the Cooper house with his hands and His face was covered with blood.The boy entered and found his mother lying in a pool of blood.She was stabbed several times to death.Zimmer admitted that he was Mrs. Cooper's lover, but denied being the murderer. The boy has been raised by his aunt. With trembling hands Daniel Cooper put the clipping back in the box and locked it.He looked around frantically.The walls and ceiling of the hotel bathroom were spattered with blood.When he saw his mother floating naked in the blood-stained water, he suddenly felt dizzy and grabbed the sink.The scream in his heart turned into a muddy moan, he tore off his clothes frantically, and jumped into the hot and blood-red bath.

"I must tell you, Mr. Cooper," said Inspector Trinan, "that you have a very special position here. You are not a member of the police force and you are here unofficially. However, the police chiefs of many European countries The Department invites us to further expand the scope of cooperation." Daniel Cooper was silent. "I understand that you are a detective with the International Society for the Protection of Insurance, which is a syndicate of insurance companies." "Some of our European customers have suffered great losses recently. I hear there is nothing to follow."

Inspector Trinan sighed. "I'm afraid so. We know these were the work of a very crafty gang of women, and..." "The insider didn't provide any information?" "No. Not at all." "Don't you think there must be something strange in it?" "What do you mean, sir?" It was already evident that Cooper was not trying to hide the impatience in his tone. "If it is done by a group, some of them must talk more, drink more, and spend more. It is impossible for a large group of people to keep secrets. Can you provide me with the materials of this group?"

The inspector flatly refused.He thought Daniel Cooper was the most physically obnoxious man he had ever met.He is also the most arrogant.This man was bound to become "a piece of sore throat" in him, but the prosecutor had to give his full cooperation. Finally he said reluctantly, "I'll give you a copy of these materials." He picked up the intercom and issued the order.Perhaps out of words, Prosecutor Trinan added: "I have just received an interesting report. There has been a theft of valuable jewelry from the Orient Express, which..." "I have seen that thieves have played tricks on the Italian police." "No one can deduce how this jewelry theft happened." "It couldn't be more clear," Daniel Cooper said bluntly. "Extremely simple logical reasoning questions." Inspector Trinant stared in surprise from his glasses.My goodness, he acts like a pig.He continued unhurriedly: "In this case, logic doesn't matter! Every inch of space on the train has been searched, the crew, passengers and luggage have been searched." "No," retorted Daniel Cooper. This guy is crazy, Inspector Trinan thought. "No—what?" "They didn't check all the bags." "I said they checked," Inspector Trinam insisted. "I read the police report." "Where is the woman whose jewelry was stolen - Silvana Luadi?" "how?" "She put it in a casket at night and it was stolen?" "Not bad." "The police checked Miss Luardi's luggage?" "Only the casket was checked. She was the victim. Why did they search her luggage?" "Because, logically, that's the only place the thief could have hidden the jewels—in the bottom of her other trunk. He probably had an identical trunk on hand when all the luggage was stacked on the platform of the Venice station. All he has to do is swap the two suitcases and get away." Daniel Cooper stood up. "If those materials are photocopied, then I should go." Thirty minutes later, Prosecutor Trinan spoke on the phone with Alberto Fornati, who was in Venice. "Sir," said the inspector, "I should like to know if any trouble happened to your lady's luggage when you arrived in Venice?" "Yes, yes," Fornerti complained, "that idiot porter confused her suitcase with someone else's. My wife opened the suitcase at the hotel and there was nothing in it except a pile of old magazines." No. I have reported to the office of the Orient Express. Have they found my wife's trunk?" he inquired hopefully. "No, sir," said the inspector.He added silently to himself, if I were you, I wouldn't think of it. Sitting in his chair after the phone call, he thought, This Daniel Cooper is too good, really good.