William didn't wait long in the cafe before a large group of police officers rushed in.
Seeing that William was the only male, the police officers immediately surrounded him.
Alright, the person he spoke to on the phone was indeed very powerful, but he hadn't caused any trouble in France.
Why were the police looking for him?
"Mr. William Devlinshire?" the leading middle-aged police officer with a bushy beard asked.
William nodded, "Officer, is there anything I can help you with?"
"Mr. Devlinshire, I'm Bézu Fache, Director of the French Central Directorate of Judicial Police.
What time did you meet Jacques Saunière today, what time did you separate, and where were you between 6 PM and 8 PM after you separated?" Director Bézu Fache asked.
William looked at Bézu Fache, then at the surrounding French police officers.
The situation was not in his favor, so he reluctantly said, "We met at this cafe at 3 PM, separated half an hour later.
After we separated, I went to the Champs-Élysées and bought two Patek Philippe watches at the Patek Philippe boutique, one of which is on my wrist."
William showed his Patek Philippe watch to Bézu Fache.
Bézu Fache glanced at William's watch and nodded.
He was an experienced police officer and could tell at a glance that the Patek Philippe on William's wrist was genuine, and by its style, it certainly wasn't cheap.
Bézu Fache's suspicion of William lessened a bit; at the very least, if William were the murderer, he wouldn't still be waiting outside the Louvre for the police to arrive.
Bézu Fache motioned for William to continue, "After leaving Patek Philippe, I went shopping near the Eiffel Tower, where I met two celebrities from Hong Kong who were traveling in France.
I chatted with them until 7:30 PM, then walked to the cafe, ordered dinner, and then at 8:40 PM, seeing that the professor hadn't arrived, I called him.
Then you all arrived."
"Officer, can I ask what exactly is going on? Why isn't Professor Jacques Saunière here? Did something happen to him?"
Bézu Fache ignored William. He first had his subordinates question the café waiter, and then used his walkie-talkie to instruct the monitoring center to check the surveillance footage from the Champs-Élysées and the Eiffel Tower Square for any videos of William.
A few minutes later, Bézu Fache received a reply from the monitoring center confirming William's alibi.
Bézu Fache hesitated, then said to William, "Professor Jacques Saunière was murdered in the Louvre tonight, around 7 PM."
"What?!" William was greatly startled. He stood up in shock, the wooden chair he was holding creaking loudly in his grip.
Bézu Fache and the surrounding police officers were startled by William. They looked at the broken chair back in William's hand and swallowed nervously, a shiver running down everyone's spine.
They all thought, 'How much strength does it take to break a chair back? If that were to happen to a person, their bones would surely snap instantly.'
William roared, "Damn it, tell me who did it!" He had just managed to connect with Jacques Saunière, and now, just a few hours later, the man was dead.
How was he supposed to find the secret Henry had told him about now?
Then, a thought flashed through his mind: could it be the hostile forces mentioned in Henry's letter? Was someone looking for the secret protected by the Devonshire family?
Bézu Fache unconsciously rubbed his wrist and said calmly, "I don't know. I'm also looking for the murderer.
After our investigation, Professor Jacques Saunière wrote your name and Professor Robert Langdon's name on the floor with invisible ink before he died."
"Now that your suspicion has been cleared, the murderer can only be Robert Langdon. We have already found Robert Langdon. I will expose Robert Langdon's true colors at the scene and apprehend him in front of the victim's body."
"You may go, Mr. Devonshire, but I require you not to leave France for the time being. I may need to summon you at any time," Bézu Fache continued.
William wouldn't just leave like that. He still wanted to try and find some clues on the professor's body.
"Can I follow you to see the professor? I just came from Oxford to see him today.
I didn't expect that just a few hours after we parted, the professor would be harmed.
I want to see you catch the murderer with my own eyes.
Also, you said the professor wrote my name in invisible ink before he died.
Perhaps I can discover something at the scene, officer. Maybe I can help."
Bézu Fache thought for a moment. There was indeed an abbreviation of William's name at the scene, indicating that the professor had indeed thought of William before he died.
It might be better to keep this guy close.
He nodded and said, "Alright, Mr. Devonshire, you can follow me, but I hope you don't disturb my interrogation."
"No problem, I promise not to disturb your interrogation. I'll just watch from the side," William quickly assured him.
William followed Bézu Fache to the Louvre exhibition hall where Jacques Saunière was murdered. It was his first time at the Louvre, and he curiously looked at the giant oil paintings around him, asking, "Officer, are these oil paintings real?
It's my first time seeing such large oil paintings. They must be seven or eight meters high, right?"
Bézu Fache looked at William with a look of disdain, thinking he was a true nouveau riche. He retorted, "This is the Louvre. Do you think these oil paintings are real or fake?"
William nodded smugly, then looked at the huge oil paintings with a fascinated expression, as if they were treasures, murmuring in his heart, "God, how much are these worth?"
Fache looked at William as if he were an idiot and said, "Of course they're fake. There are so many tourists here every day, the real ones would have been put away long ago."
"Go to hell, you jerk!" William glared at Fache angrily. This guy was just as annoying as he was on the phone.
Fache chuckled and shrugged, enjoying playing tricks on such a pretentious nouveau riche.
Depressed, William followed Bézu Fache to the professor's body and was greatly shocked by the professor's appearance before death.
Jacques Saunière was completely naked, with a pentagram drawn on his stomach. There was a gunshot wound below his left chest, which should have been the fatal injury.
But why did the murderer arrange the professor like this?
"God, why did the murderer arrange the professor like this and draw a pentagram on his body? Is this some special ritual?"
Bézu Fache shook his head and said solemnly, "What you said is not what the murderer did; the professor did it himself."
"What?!" William exclaimed in surprise. "Why did he do that? What is he trying to express?"
Bézu Fache held a fluorescent flashlight and shone it on the ground. Several lines of numbers and text appeared on the floor, but before William could see clearly, Fache's walkie-talkie announced that Professor Langdon had arrived.
William had no choice but to follow Officer Fache up the elevator to meet Professor Langdon.
"Professor Langdon?"
"Yes."
"Hello, Professor, I'm Officer Bézu Fache." After the two shook hands, Fache saw Professor Langdon constantly looking at the pyramid in front of the Louvre and asked, "Do you like the pyramid?"
Professor Langdon said, "It's very magnificent."
Fache said with a look of disdain, "It's just a scar on Paris's face."
William stared at Langdon, dumbfounded. "Isn't this Brother Hanks?" In his previous life, Brother Hanks was very famous, but for William, who was born in '98 in his previous life, he hadn't seen many of Hanks's movies.
Even if he had, after more than ten years, he could only remember impressive scenes, not every detail.
"Which movie was this, anyway?"
The dazed William was amused by Fache's words. Not all Parisians liked the pyramid in front of the Louvre.
Many French people felt that placing such a modern glass pyramid in front of the ancient Louvre was an insult to the Louvre, making it seem out of place.
"This is William Devonshire. He is a good friend of Jacques Saunière.
Saunière called him from England to Paris just a few hours before his death.
I've asked him and you to come to assist in the investigation.
Please come this way, Mr. Langdon."
The professor looked at William, whose face was filled with excitement, with a strange expression, then smiled politely and nodded as a greeting.
The astute William remembered that this was the real world, and to avoid Fache suspecting him again, he didn't want to talk to Langdon at all right now.
Everyone took the elevator down to the basement level. Langdon saw an inverted pyramid and said excitedly, "This is an inverted pyramid.
The two pyramids might correspond. They are truly unique."
To ease the tension, Langdon walked and said, "I'm just a historian and symbologist, officer. I'm not sure I can help."
Fache curled his lip, thinking, 'I didn't ask you to come here to help.' "How long have you known Professor Saunière?"
"Not long. We've only met once, at an academic seminar," Langdon said, giving an awkward laugh as he spoke.
"Is there something funny?"
"We had significant academic disagreements. Later, when he called me, I was quite startled."
As the three walked to the elevator, Professor Langdon's expression clearly tensed up as he looked at the elevator, and he stammered, "Can we take the stairs?"
Fache, being impolite, didn't care about Langdon's opinion. He led William into the elevator, staring at Langdon and gesturing for him to come in.
Langdon felt uneasy under Fache's gaze and had no choice but to enter the elevator.
Once inside, Langdon became very nervous, his expression blank, his eyes unfocused, and he couldn't speak clearly.
William and Fache exchanged glances, and both couldn't help but suspect Professor Langdon.
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