The Witness by Josh McDowell Read Free Book Online Page A

demanded copies of the case files. Goddard protested but was overruled by his superiors.
    The next day it was Lemieux, rather than Goddard, who flew to Moscow. Once again the case quickly ran aground. The Russian “banker’s” associates mysteriously vanished. The man himself offered up the most pathetic of alibis. But Lemieux barely pressed. Instead, Lemieux soon cleared the Russian and went back to Paris, promising to keep the case open but offering little hope of ever seeing it solved. Worse, the suspect actually received official apologies from several governments, including Goddard’s own, and Goddard was suspended for a week without pay for “unfairly impugning the reputation of a valued friend of Monaco.”
    And now he was coming back, Marcel Maurice Lemieux, the most arrogant detective in Europe.
    DuVall joined Goddard on the balcony and held the phone toward him.
    “It’s him,” she whispered.
    Goddard rubbed his eyes and then took the phone.
    “Inspector Lemieux, what a pleasure to speak with you again,” he lied.
    “You are interrupting my day off,” Lemieux replied.
    “I am very sorry, monsieur, but it could not be helped. I’m afraid I have some very bad news.”
    “And I thought hearing from you was bad enough,” Lemieux groaned.
    Goddard bit his tongue. “I regret to inform you that Monsieur Ramsey has been murdered.”
    There was silence at the other end of the line.
    “Rafeeq Ramsey?” Lemieux asked at last.
    “I’m afraid so, sir,” Goddard confirmed and then briefly explained the circumstances of the death, so far as he knew them.
    “Any suspects?” Lemieux asked.
    “Not yet,” Goddard said. “But we’ve just begun our investigation, and I thought you might be able to help us on that front.”
    “Any witnesses?” Lemieux asked.
    “We’re still canvassing the area for them, but there is one man, Marwan Accad,” Goddard said. “He’s the CEO of an executive security company. He was with Ramsey at the time of the shooting. Ramsey may have been trying to hire him. We’re hoping Ramsey may have told him something that will shed light on who killed him and why.”
    “What do you mean you’re hoping ?” Lemieux wanted to know. “Haven’t you asked him yet?”
    “Well, no,” Goddard said, “not exactly.”
    “Fine,” Lemieux said with disgust, “I will ask him myself. I’m heading to the airport now. Have someone meet me at the helipad in twenty minutes.”
    “Twenty minutes?” Goddard asked, caught off guard. “Aren’t you in Paris?”
    “No, I’m in Nice.”
    Lemieux said it as if Goddard should have known. And he probably should have. Why hadn’t DuVall warned him? She knew Goddard hated surprises.
    “Well, Monsieur Lemieux, I will certainly have one of my men meet you and bring you up to the Ramsey flat. But I’m afraid I won’t be able to put you in front of Marwan Accad quite yet.”
    “Why not?” Lemieux demanded.
    “Accad seems to have disappeared.”
    “Disappeared?”
    Goddard took a deep breath. It was the last thing he wanted to admit, and to Lemieux of all people. “Yes, I’m afraid so. He slipped away in all the chaos, the commotion. But we’ve sealed off the city. We’ll find him soon and bring him in for questioning. He may be the best witness we have. Indeed, he may be our only witness.”
    “No, Monsieur Goddard,” Lemieux shot back. “That, I am afraid, is where you are wrong. Marwan Accad is no witness. He has just become my prime suspect.”
    “Suspect?” Goddard asked. “We don’t know anything about him yet—who he really is, why he was here, nothing.”
    “Then find out,” Lemieux insisted. “Issue a warrant for Accad’s arrest and alert the authorities from Milan to Marseille. I don’t want this guy getting away. Or I promise you, Monsieur Goddard, heads will roll, starting with yours.”

13
    It began to rain. Marwan turned on the windshield wipers and prayed, to a God he didn’t believe in, that he wouldn’t