I had the dream again.
Yes...
I was in the apartment in Brussels. It was empty.
You were there too.
You were smoking a cigarette in the lounge.
There was a knock at the door.
It was a delivery man. He brought a parcel.
What was in it?
I don't know.
I...
I hit him...
in the face,
a headbutt.
The guy was surprised. I hit him again.
He fell down, covered in blood.
I was very calm.
I bent down to carry on banging his head against the floor,
methodically.
It finally burst on the door frame.
And then?
Nothing. I woke up.
How do you interpret this dream?
I don't know.
You really don't know?
Why don't you talk about why you're here?
Why not talk to me about Heiderfeld?
HEIDERFELD 3 WEEKS EARLIER
- Dad, where are the bowls? - In the box marked cutlery.
- Not bad, eh? - Yeah, it looks good.
The sofas are coming later. It'll be good, you'll see.
- Hello. - Hello.
- Are you Yoann Peeters? - Yes.
Sorry to bother you. I'm Sébastian Drummer, a local inspector.
We'll be colleagues.
Yeah.
Nice to meet you. Here's the thing.
We found a dead guy in the river in the Sainte-Anne woods.
He drowned, probably suicide.
- Yes, and? - Well, this is my first. Death, I mean.
Sorry to ask you this, but it's Sunday and we can't get hold of the chief.
Would you mind coming with me?
Judge Renkin told me to contact you.
Wait a minute.
I'm sorry, I...
- OK? - Yeah.
I have to go. Will you let the delivery men in?
OK.
- Sign for me, OK? - OK.
Let's go.
Drummer, like the dentist?
- That's my father. - I went to him when I was a kid.
- A fat guy, smoked a pipe. - That's it.
- Does he still smoke? - No, he's dead.
Throat cancer, last year. It was very quick.
You lived here?
A long time ago.
I spent part of my youth here.
- You smoke? - No.
Stop!
Shit! Stop right now.
Out of the way.
Everybody get back, now! What the hell is this?
Where's the security cordon?
Who the hell's in charge here?
That's me, sir, René Verelst of Heiderfeld police.
Inspector Peeters. Where's your legal exclusion zone?
- There isn't one. - There isn't one?
Well, no. The guy committed suicide. I'm not marking up the whole river.
Jesus! Don't touch anything.
Stand ten metres back and mark out the zone.
- Call the lab and get Forensics. - Forensics?
Yes, Forensics. No-one enters this area till then. Got it?
- OK, you're the boss. - And get rid of these people.
There are kids, for fuck's sake. This isn't a show for kids.
Inspector, they found him.
- Did they see anything? - No.
Take their statements. Take everyone's, the kids' too.
His name is Driss Assani.
He's from Togo.
He plays in defence for Heiderfeld. Well, he did.
He's not the first we've found here.
There's a bridge known as the suicide bridge.
I know it.
I guess you haven't sealed off the bridge?
Er... No.
- Have you been up there? - No.
Good. Drummer, can we reach the bridge from here?
On foot? Maybe, but...
- But what? Is it far? - No, ten minutes max.
It's your shoes...
Let's go.
Hello, Camille? Don't wait for me, have your lunch.
OK, OK.
There's 20 euros on the table. Buy yourself something, OK?
I'll call you when I finish.
You believe it was murder?
I don't believe anything... except forensics.
- You're not checking the other side? - No.
People always jump facing downstream.
It's statistical.
Before jumping they check the direction of the current.
At this height you'd have time to feel yourself falling.
Be careful.
What's that?
- It's Jeff the Indian's caravan. - The Indian?
Jean-François Lequais, ex-postman.
The locals call him that because he lives in the woods.
- Lequais lives there? - Yeah. You know him?
A little.
Let's go and say hello.
What made Lequais come and live here?
He had a breakdown. His daughter died four or five years ago.
- Shit. - It was horrible.
Jeff never recovered. He thinks the Sainte-Anne Virgin took his daughter.
Lequais!
Jeff?
Lequais!
Jeff?
Lequais!
So yes, of course, building this dam would involve flooding land.
You can't create reservoirs without flooding land.
But if you look at the new area,
it's 85% forest and pasture.
In reality, only eight families will be relocated.
NO TO THE HEIDERFELD DAM
It's unfortunate, but what is that compared to the common good?
A facility like this holds 100,000 cubic metres of water in the main basin,
with an average depth of 45 metres.
So in a valley like the Semois,
the energy produced could supply several villages the size of Heiderfeld...
Mr Pera, excuse me.
It's better to focus on the ecological and economic impact.
Don't overwhelm them with numbers.
My fellow citizens are... practical people.
Right, I'll continue.
- At present we have federal... - Excuse me.
Madam Mayor, Judge Renkin is on the phone.
Two minutes.
They found a body in the river. A young man, apparently.
Brigitte Fischer here.
My God! Yes?
You OK?
Yeah.
I just have a bad hangover.
- It's carnival, too much Martini. - Oh, right.
What I do is eat fatty stuff.
Really?
A big burger, for example. It's great for hangovers.
- Oh, yeah? - There's nothing better.
The fat soaks up the alcohol.
It works with anything - fries, a filled baguette, a kebab,
an enchilada with lots of sauce...
At least that's what works for me.
- Where are you from? - Brussels.
My father and I live on the Muno road.
Yes, I know it.
Know where I can get something to eat?
Sorry, no enchiladas in Heiderfeld.
Zoé... Hello. Where's your brother?
- You OK, Mom? - No. Isn't your brother here?
- What's going on? - Driss is dead.
They found him in the river.
Oh, Kevin. Kevin. I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
They're too big for me but they should fit you.
I had a pair as a kid.
You don't think he committed suicide?
He was pretty beaten up.
- What do you mean? - I don't know.
Maybe he didn't throw himself off.
I don't normally enter tenants' apartments when they're away.
- Is he a good tenant? - I don't know what a good tenant is.
- No particular problems? - No, I can't complain.
No noise, violence, alcohol?
No noise but weird smells, if you know what I mean.
No.
- Cannabis! - Oh.
- And apart from that? - Nothing.
He's a loner.
I see him in the lobby with his sports bag.
He says hello to me, the only one in the building.
Evenings he's at home, I don't hear him.
- Is he in trouble? - No. He's dead.
- He threw himself into the Semois. - No!
Yes.
- Was he a good defender? - Very good. Like a wall.
He got us promoted.
- Had he lived here long? - A year, I think.
He arrived last January, after the break.
- Does it happen often? - What?
Small clubs importing players. Is it common?
I don't know.
It was a first for Heiderfeld, anyway.
Poor kid.
I think you should come and see this.
My journey ends here. I can't stand it any more. Driss.
Hey, family, can you see me OK?
You OK or what? This is Driss.
We're in Europe. This is Belgium. Afi, Afi, Afi!
I signed for a new club, FC Heiderfeld. Look, Afi!
That's my apartment on the second floor.
That's it.
The apartment is big, very big, but it doesn't have any heating yet,
so it's a bit cold.
The cold in Europe is hard, it's solid.
But it's OK.
About the money, Dada,
I haven't been to the post office yet,
but I'll go tomorrow,
you'll get it tomorrow or next week, OK?
All right... I think of you a lot, OK?
We're in Europe, all together. Big kisses.
I could have told you it was a suicide.
A body floating in the Semois in March below the Godard bridge...
It doesn't take a genius to see it was suicide.
- No need for labs. - I want to follow procedure.
I don't blame you, Peeters.
But I'll tell you this, that way you'll know.
We're not very rich here.
We have to save money, so we think twice before getting the lab involved.
But it's OK. I'll call Renkin to tell her everything is settled.
Add this to the file.
- You're not doing an autopsy? - No.
I don't have the means and it doesn't seem relevant.
Do you know what an autopsy costs?
No.
5,000 euros.
Poor kid though, 22 years old.
Old timers committing suicide I can understand. But a young guy...
Come on, kids, wake up.
Keep passing the ball.
Come on!
Jeroen, are you playing with your hands in your pockets?
It'll do you good to sweat a little. No pain, no gain.
Keep going.
Keep it moving.
Hi, Markus. You OK?
I have bad news.
Driss is dead.
He killed himself. He was found this morning in the river.
He was more than a teammate, he was a friend.
We'll miss him.
Stop crying.
Stop crying, I said.
Shut up for two seconds, OK? It's not your fault.
It's nobody's fault. That's life. So now we do as we said, OK?
Stay home, go to sleep and I'll see you tomorrow.
Fuck it! Shit!
Off we go.
- Hello, Inès. - Hello.
- You're living back here? - Yes.
- Are they yours? - Oh, no.
- You still live here? - Yes.
Well...
- See you around. - Yeah.
Let's go.
Driss's body was the first you'd seen since the accident?
Yes.
It was a bit soon for you, right?
A case of this magnitude.
What are you getting at?
What was I supposed to do? Close my eyes like everyone else?
- That's not what I said. - No-one gave a shit about that kid.
Without me, the case would have been closed.
So yes, I made mistakes, but no investigation is perfect.
There weren't just mistakes, Inspector.
- Hello. - Hi.
- Want to come in? - Yes. Unless you're busy?
No... Come in, come in.
Thank you.
- It's nice to see you. - Yes, it's been ages.
- The house hasn't changed. - No.
Time flies.
I heard about Driss. It seems you're on the case.
- News travels fast. - Heiderfeld hasn't changed much.
Is it true that he committed suicide?
He jumped from the bridge.
- Did you know him? - A little.
I was teaching him to read.
- He couldn't read? - No.
I mean, not very well.
You OK?
Could he have written this?
No, it's impossible.
He didn't write that.
You're a real pain, Peeters!
You're a hero, Pineli. You'll get your medal.
Medal my arse! I'll lose my job over you.
- Did you get the chief's permission? - No.
- Good evening. - Good evening.
We'd like to see Driss Assani's body.
- Mr Pineli's a doctor. - Good evening.
Driss was his patient.
Show him your card.
Follow me.
If this guy committed suicide, he revolutionised the process.
OK.
Can you prove it?
Give me two hours.
OK.
Oh, fuck! What the...
Come on, let's go.
Hurry up!
- Peeters, come and see. - What time is it?
- Five o'clock. - Shit.
It took longer than expected but there are multiple traumas -
a cracked pelvis, a major blow to the left femur,
and the bruising indicates a particularly strong impact.
The ankle is smashed, fractured tibia and fibula.
On the chest I found bruises that are more or less consistent.
They're scattered and irregular,
probably due to the body smashing against the rocks.
But they're all minor injuries.
That is to say, they're all non-fatal.
Best of all is the head.
Look.
The fatal blow is here.
The occipital bone is fractured.
This kind of injury is unforgiving.
With his brain fried, our man died instantly.
He was hit on the head, a very violent blow,
with a stick or a club.
In fact this is what I found in the wound.
Bark.
And that's not all.
The highlight of the show.
I thought it was a scratch,
but looking closer I noticed it was burnt powder.
Your suicide was shot and it was close.
What I don't get is the amount of powder.
It's black powder, which has been obsolete for about 100 years.
It means your suicide was shot with a very old weapon.
An antique.
- A musket or something like that. - Shit!
- Does that ring a bell? - Yeah.
Let me do it.
Hey, Jeff.
Nice place you've got here.
Very nice.
Can we talk for a second? I have some questions for you.
Let him go!
Yes, madam, exactly.
Yes, that's exactly what I thought.
It was a bit too strange for a suicide.
Yes, of course, that's exactly what we'll do.
OK. Yes.
So you weren't sure either. Lucky I asked them to check.
Yes.
OK.
I'll send you a fax today. Yes. Goodbye.
You should have called me.
I'd have given you my permission.
- I look like a clown now! - We had to act fast.
Yeah, right. Take me for a fool.
I don't know what interests you in that morgue,
but don't make waves.
We don't need that here.
It's a small village.
Excuse me. I just had the lab on the phone.
You were right. Lequais' gun works perfectly.
It was fired recently.
Remember school?
On Wednesdays they served hot chocolate to the primary kids.
You could smell it all over the school. I loved it.
Have you seen this kid?
Jeff, do you know him?
Do you know him?
Jeff?
Sainte Anne.
He offended the Sainte-Anne Virgin.
The Sainte-Anne Virgin took your daughter, right?
And this. What's this?
- It's not mine. - Then whose is it?
- The Virgin's. - Drop your Virgin bullshit!
You'll get 30 years. Where's the fucking gun from?
Boumant.
What about Boumant?
- The Virgin glided across the lake. - What lake?
- Boom-boom-boumant. - What about it?
- You fired the gun, right? - Not me.
How did you do this?
- It wasn't me. - What wasn't you?
- I didn't mean to! - Mean to what?
- Sorry! The Lord is with thee. - Jeff, stay with me.
- Stay with me, Jeff. - Blessed art thou among women.
Tell me what you didn't mean to do.
Jeff, stay with me!
Hail Mary, full of grace, pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
Sorry.
Sorry!
Sorry.
Can you give Lequais a clean pair of trousers?
Trousers?
- Why stop? - It wasn't him.
- But he's about to crack! - Maybe, but it wasn't him.
- He'd confess to anything. - But he has the gun.
The gun's not his.
It's collector's stuff.
He writes a fake suicide note and keeps the murder weapon?
- It doesn't make sense. - The guy's crazy!
I don't think so.
So what do we do?
Nothing.
We'll let him calm down a bit.
Feed him and leave him alone.
I think he knows something but he's scared.
I don't know if it still works.
I feel I'm violating his privacy.
We're doing it for him.
For them, too.
- There. It's them. - Thank you.
Driss.
Hello?
Can you hear me?
- Do you speak French? - Yes, I do.
- Is Driss not there? - No.
Could I speak to Driss's parents?
Dada?
Driss?
- Driss? - I'm Inspector Peeters from Belgium.
I work for the Belgian police.
Can you hear me?
I have some bad news for you.
Your son is dead.
Driss is dead.
Your son is dead.
Driss?
He was found yesterday morning in a river. He drowned.
We don't know what happened.
I'm sorry.
We'll find who did this to him, I promise you. We'll find him.
It wasn't your job.
What?
Calling the family wasn't your job.
Why did you do it?
I don't know.
Somebody had to do it.
You're not co-operating, Inspector.
You've been beating about the bush for three days.
I'm here to help you, to listen to you.
But you have to talk to me.
Otherwise you'll have to talk to them, and they'll be far less patient.
You won't get out of it.
What happened was serious, Inspector.
Very serious.
People died, Inspector.
I want a cigarette.
I don't have any. I don't smoke.
Will you get me one, please?
- We'll finish this first. - I just want a cigarette.
We'll resume tomorrow.
- I want to see Camille. - You will.
- When? - As soon as possible.
It's not your fault, Jeff.
You're the real victim.
Your daughter, the bog, the cuts, the autopsy,
it all filled your head and you shot him, right?
And then what, Jeff?
Tell me. Tell me what happened after that.
Did you hit him?
Yeah.
With the butt?
Yeah.
With the butt.
He shouted. There was blood everywhere. I hit... hit...
Hello, I'm Brigitte Fischer, the Mayor.
It's nice to meet you. Welcome to Heiderfeld.
- How are you, Rudy? - Fine, and you?
See you soon.
Hello, Béatrice.
How are you?
You were right about the Indian. He came clean.
- Lequais? - He spilled the beans.
I had to lean on him, but...
He even gave some details.
He compared a skull exploding to a communion wafer cracking.
He went in hard, I'll give him that.
He'll get life for sure.
Hello. Good evening, everyone.
Good evening.
Thank you all for coming.
I'm pleased to be able to show you the model
of the dam that we plan to build...
What happened with Lequais?
He confessed everything to the chief.
- Shit! - ..discuss it over a drink.
But first I'd like us to spare a thought
for young Driss Assani,
who, as you know, died yesterday.
I want to thank our police, who are doing a wonderful job.
Thanks to them, the culprit is now in custody.
Bravo.
- Mr Pera, please. - Thank you, Mrs Fischer.
So, a dam like this contains 100,000 cubic metres of water...
Hail Mary, full of grace...
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb...
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners...
Hail Mary, full of grace...
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death...
Translation: Gill Parrott