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We are in Paris, in the 19th arrondissement, a multicultural and multi-religious district, where one can find, side by side, in the same street, a kebab shop and a Kosher sushi shop. Muslim and Jewish traditional communities live there in close proximity. Their children grow up in the same schools.
THE MAIN CHARACTERS
The prime suspect : Ahmed Taroundant is an Arab man, in his thirties, sexy but shy with women. He is an outsider, always up for smoking weed. On his balcony, he is day dreaming when it begins to rain. In fact, this is not rain but blood dripping from a body hanged on the upper balcony, where his neighbor, Laura, lives.
The victim : Laura Vignola. She was an air hostess. She was friends with Ahmed, who had the keys of her flat, to water her plants when she was travelling.
When he understands that Laura has been murdered, Ahmed is in shock, but he also immediately realizes that he will be the perfect scapegoat : he had the keys of Laura’s flat. From an outside viewpoint, he is a bit creepy as he spends his days doing nothing, except reading crime fiction in his tiny one-room flat where thrillers are piled up to the ceiling !
Two police officers are investigating. On the one side, there is Jean Hamelot : a very-French police officer in his thirties, very rational, son of communist parents. On the other side, there is Rachel Kupferstein : a gorgeous red-haired officer of Jewish origins.
Love and crime at first sight
They question Ahmed. He pretends that he spent his night reading and sleeping but he has to shake off his lethargy to prove his innocence. He has a crush on Rachel so could find any reason to call her. LOVE and the possibility for Ahmed and Rachel to be together and live a happy life is what is at stake in this crime story.
THE TRIO FOLLOWS THREE TRACKS
The religious fundamentalist track in Paris
The autopsy reveals that pig blood was spread on Laura’s body ; her genitals were savagely mutilated. This woman is labelled as an impure woman in the eyes of all the communities whether Muslim or Jewish. Laura was a free and modern woman ; did she do something scandalous in the eyes of the communities ?
The past of Laura. Laura had a complex family story : her parents were Jehovah Witnesses. As a child, she hated her education. As soon as she could, she fled to Paris to settle and begin a new life. She seems to have had an argument with her parents not long before she was killed.
But is there also a link between her murder and the appearance of a new type of drug in the neighborhood ? This sort of LSD is so strong that it is named “Godzwill” as it gives you the feeling of being God. Did Laura witness something she should have not and was cleaned up to protect the juicy business ?
Jean and Rachel will investigate in the neighborhood. They are supported by Laura’s friends : Black, Arab and Jewish young women who are determined to understand the truth about Laura’s death, even if that truth involves their OWN brothers who had fallen into fundamentalism.
Jean and Rachel will dive into a world where women still struggle against forced marriage, excision, and where integration often means opposing your fathers and brothers…
But this investigation is not confined to north Paris. Jean and Rachel will have to disentangle the threads of a huge web involving religious fundamentalists, corrupt policemen and drug traffickers. Their investigation will lead them to NYC where the sources of the drug trafficking lie.
IN THE END, LOVE
At the end of this investigation full of upturns, it is eventually proved that Ahmed is innocent. He was chosen as a scapegoat for the murder of Laura.
Rachel and Ahmed become lovers. Ahmed has eventually managed to love again… |
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