"A criminal is an innocent man who's been framed by the government."331Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsHyFncV7WG
---S.D.S activist Krishna. V. Orbison, 1968
MISCHA SPENT THE NIGHT in a local jail on the south end of Paris. As usual, she was assigned her own cell for security reasons, which meant she had the overflowing toilet and cockroaches all to herself. They didn't have a mattress, but they scrounged up some blankets and laid them all along the bench for her to sleep on.
The cops at the jail were passing around a French magazine called Bruit that, on its laminated cover, claimed to contain some exclusively sexy photos of Rihanna, dating all the way back to 2005. Her managers, deciding that they did not want to miss out on the ravenous frenzy for anything related to the Monte Carlo Actresses, had sold the photos to the highest bidder. Rihanna hadn't posed nude, but she got as close as she possibly could---mostly bra-and-panties shots, including a few with another scantily clad female singer, which were immediately identified by the Neanderthal cops as their favorites.
"Thanks. I've done photo shoots in my undies, too, so we're good," Mischa said to whoever was approaching her cell door. She was lying flat on her poor excuse for a bed, staring up at the ceiling, and not very interested in seeing another picture of Rihanna.
"Everybody's seen you in your undies, Mischa. I'd take some shots of you myself if I had my camera."
She lifted her head enough to make out a man in a leather jacket and jeans, with an unshaven face and long coal-black hair pulled back into a ponytail.
"I've seen you in court," said Mischa.
"Stanley Pucci," he said. "New York Times."
She put her head back down. "The blog. The bloke who used to call me all the time."
"Guilty as charged."
"The guy who trashed me in last night's edition. 'A schemer and a liar,' I think you said. Hania, my sister, read that."
"Maybe we can help each other."
"How? Are you going to break me out of here? Are you going to confess to the murders? Those things would help me out."
He laughed. "Give me exclusive access to you. Talk to me, on and off the record. And I'll be a resource for you."
She rolled her head over toward him. " How did you get in here?"
He laughed. "I know, I know. Security's tight. One of these cops is my friend. I wrote an article about his sister once. But don't worry, they gave me a full body search before they let me pass. I'm no threat to you."
"A fellow countrymen of mine once said that the pen was mightier than the sword."
He liked that. "How do you prove a frame-up?" he asked. "That central intelligence asshole LaForge---he says nobody else had a key card to the hotel suite. So how does anyone get your hair and snot and all that stuff? Plus who even knew President Diderot was going to be in Monte Carlo? He was traveling incognito. An advance plan or frame-up is a tough sell, Mischa."
"So now you're going to tell me how much my case sucks?" she moaned. "Stanley, I'm tired and I need sleep. If I can think of something I need, you'll be the first to know."
"I think you're innocent," he said.
That line, Mischa had to admit, got her attention. She wasn't hearing a lot of that these days. She looked at him again. "Don't say anything like that to me unless you mean it."
"I mean it. I think Rihanna did it, personally. She was on a pretty destructive path, don't you think? I think the rest of you are getting screwed. She shot him and then came back onto the yacht and dumped the whole thing on the rest of you guys."
"That's not true," said Mischa.331Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaRUTTfD3wg
"Okay, maybe not that exactly. But I'd bet my journalism degree that Rihanna is the killer. And I'd also bet my degree that you're not sure whether I'm right or wrong."331Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHhndaGIPSB
She didn't answer. He was trying to goad Mischa. It was working.331Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqj4l8eR1KP
"I can help you," he repeated. "I can be very resourceful when I need to be."331Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj4SlXFZXla
"So you say," said Mischa.331Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVgKvTv4rR2
"I found you here, didn't I? At your undisclosed location?"331Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBoTQsx2juC
He dropped his business card inside her cell.331Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBfVeCsr1gF
"Call me," he said.331Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc71BBzv1sr
