Madeleine McCann: Lights! Camera! Action!

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I was an avid watcher of "Taggart," when Mark McManus played the eponymous detective, though I can't recall even one single episode in its entirety, the plot or the characters. I do recall scenes where I recognised the urban landscape of Glasgow. "That's near the Art College." "That's at the top of the High Street."

The scene I recall most vividly is one that was filmed very near to where I grew up. On the edge of Coatbridge, a town in Lanarkshire, Scotland, the land rolls down through fields to the main Edinburgh to Glasgow railway line and the vista extends right out to the Campsie Fells: a view I was told off many times for staring at from the window of a classroom in my junior school at the end of our road.

Walk to the end of Dudley Drive, round Gartcloss Road and then head down the lane and you come to a farm. A scene from an episode of "Taggart," was filmed there and when the episode was shown on the telly, a little group of us were gathered at my mother's house to spot the scene where a car burst into flames right by one of the farm buildings. Would you believe it? Jist doon the lane!

So, there we were, all set up with cups of tea, (some of us!) cans of McEwan's, a few packets of crisps and a plate of Mammie's rock cakes. All I can remember of that show was the burning car, blazing away in glorious colour. "There it is," somebody yelled. (I think it was my brother Joseph, but it could have been any of the bunch of people squeezed onto the sofa.) And shoor 'nuff, there it was: a huge booming blast and a car roared into flames.

I vaguely recall the next bit, where the action cut to an office and a police officer said that the farmer had reported a car in flames on his land. Taggart said "Any witnesses?" The answer on screen was "No," and laughter erupted in Mammie's living room. "Nae witnesses? We wiz awe doon there! Hauf ae Toonheid wiz there!" (Translation: We were all down there. Half of Townhead was there.)

You see, word had gone round that there were television cameras setting up "ower the back," and a small crowd of locals headed down there, where a barrier had already been set up by the film crews, obviously expecting spectators. So, most of the people I was watching with had been there and had seen it all being set up. Now, they were watching the product for viewer consumption. No cameras, no director, no microphones. None of that behind the scenes stuff on view. Just the scenes from a story.

There is often a huge difference between the story we are shown and what went on behind the scenes, how the scene was set, how the show was staged.

With the Madeleine McCann case, we know the story. We have seen it often enough now over the past five years. We have heard the audio version(s) from Kate and Gerry McCann, we have read the written versions in our newspapers and we have seen the McCanns version of the events surrounding Madeleine's disappearance in their documentary. There is photographic evidence of the apartment after Madeleine had gone from it. There is the "last photo," of Madeleine with Gerry and Amelie by the swimming pool. And we are about to have version number two of Kate McCann's book.

That's the story. What we see after such an event is the story. What went into making the story is what we need to know, what the police need to know in order to find out what happened to a little girl whose name we only knew after she was gone. We don't know the before, because we weren't there when the scene was set and the story unfolded. Did the story roll like an incident we might hear about on the news, which unfortunately, in this case, wasn't caught on CCTV? Was it like a news story? "Today a car was mysteriously found ablaze at Jock MacDonald's farm just outside Coatbridge," or was it a scene that was staged for a later viewing audience? "A film crew arrived at Jock MacDonald's farm just outside Coatbridge to film for an episode of Taggart."

There is, of course, a world of difference between a staged drama and an actual event. There is a huge difference between a spontaneous happening and a scripted event. Think of the ways in which these two might be described. An event being reported would be described, probably, in the past tense. "We saw that car being brought down the lane and we saw it being set on fire," whereas the script would read, "Vehicle is positioned near the barn, petrol is thrown onto it and it's set on fire."  In both cases, there is a description and there is a timeline.

So, what of the original story as told by the people known as "The Tapas 9."? Script of report?

One of the covers torn from a child's sticker book on which the timeline was set out.

A mixture of tenses here. So, reads partly like a script and partly like a report. Note 9.20/5 which is particularly significant, I think. "Ella. Jane checked 5D. Sees stranger (with) child."

Version 2 of the timeline. Notice that in version one, male adult McCann's name is spelled as '"Jerry," and in version 2, as "Gerry." Version 2 has "Gerald," written on the bottom. So, perhaps was drawn up by Gerry? 

Version 2 is written mostly in the present tense, so reads, in my opinion, more like a script. We have the added information about Russel's "poorly daughter," and Jane Tanner's experience of seeing "the abductor," is described more fully. "Sees stranger walking carrying a child."

In my opinion, I would consider that some of the above is scripted and some is factual reporting. Work out which is which and I guess the case is on its way to being solved!

And what of the scene of the drama? Stage set or images of a place where an unforeseen traumatic event unfolded?

Madeleine's bedroom the day after she disappeared, showing the edges of the two cots, where the twins were said to have been sleeping that night. Madeleine's bed looks as though no one has been sleeping there and a witness stated that the cots had no sheets, just mattresses. Did the twins sleep there? And what about the headboard of the bed designated as Madeleine's being behind a chest of drawers?

Shutters jemmied? Shutters not jemmied! Window open? Well, Matthew Oldfield didn't notice on his 9.30 check, although he did get the number of windows wrong, when he said there were two! Did one of the "set," builders mess up there? If this was a stage set, which in my opinion it was, one of the stage hands didn't sort out those shutters! Action! Lights! Roll it anyway!

Key players? Witnesses? Actors? Extras? In the story, Kate and Gerry McCann are the key players. Madeleine leaves the stage before the story unfolds and we view her through the veil of the memories those who remember her. She has become almost like a shadow in the background of the continuing Kate and Gerry McCann saga.

Were the Tapas 7, those who went on holiday with Kate and Gerry, just bystanders? Did they, like the people in my mother's house, view the story only when it was being told for the audience? Or were they extras or even key players in the drama? If there was a script, who wrote it? Who set the stage? Who was in charge of props? Who was the director?

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, who is leading the Scotland Yard team reviewing the Madeleine McCann case, is quoted as saying he believes that Madeleine could be alive somewhere, living with her abductor. Does he really think that Madeleine could have been taken from that holiday apartment in the "small window of opportunity," which was more like a medieval arrow slit? If he does, then he is watching the show through the lens of the stories told by those who took part. He's like the people sitting watching it on the telly, who never ask how the drama was produced. He needs to go right back to the production stage, bring in all the players and question them about their roles. Bring in the key players: Kate and Gerry and the rest of the Tapas Crew. Bring in the extras: the Mark Warner staff; the Smith family who saw a man carrying a child. Make sure all those people with "walk on," parts, tourists who were in Praia da Luz at the time, have been interviewed.

Lastly, re-enact the scene. Set up a reconstruction, involving all the original cast. That, in my opinion, may be the first step towards finding out if the stage was set (rather badly) or if what took place on the night of May 3rd 2007, in Praia da Luz was a very tragic and unforeseeable event in the life of two caring parents.

DCI Redwood may find that there are problems with continuity, actors being upstaged, impossible scenes of actors appearing to be deaf and temporarily blind. Reconstruction first and then interview all the actors when the impossibilities show up in the production. Then tell us again that Madeleine may be alive and living with her abductor!

Note: this blog post is not the director's final cut. More scenes will be added! 

Madeleine McCann - the world's most well known missing child

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 Could she be alive and well and living with her abductor?

Duarte Levy - Maddie: new book, but still no solution to the mystery

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"Don't expect a miracle. This is still just promotion," warns a Portuguese PJ inspector.

Approaching the fifth anniversary of their daughter's disappearance, Kate and Gerry McCann, little Maddie's parents, are preparing to launch a new version of their book, "Madeleine."

Thanks to promotion and a rapid decrease in the initial cover price, the original version of "Madeleine," sold 280,000 copies in the United Kingdom alone.

The "new," work, in paperback format, will be released in the United Kingdom on May 10th and includes a new epilogue which is supposed to reflect the work of the British team which is busy analyzing the the original investigation.

What's more, it's the confidence the McCanns claim to have in this team that has been put forward to justify the return of the case to the pages of the British tabloids.

After five years and a few million Euros up in smoke - 2.2 million in 2011 alone - , a team of 36 detectives and civilians would be under pressure to find the solution to the Maddie mystery.

According to a source - always the same - quoted by the Sunday Mirror tabloid, "the London Metropolitan Police (Scotland Yard) would have invested a great deal of resources in the examination (of the investigation) and they want results."

According to the Sunday Mirror, the work of the British police will result in a "full report with a series of recommendations," for the Portuguese PJ.

Astonishingly, the source quoted by the tabloid also provides statements from the McCanns and details of Kate's work in the writing of the new epilogue.

The information disclosed by several British tabloids, also makes clear that Chief Inspector Andy Redwood's team anticipate that their report could lead to the reopening of the investigation in Portugal.

As a reminder, a PJ team in Porto, in the north of Portugal, is also proceeding with a re-examination of the facts from the original investigation - a kind of "Cold Case," Portuguese version.

Pressure, but no miracles.

A long way away from the communication experts and the promotion of the new version of "Madeleine," the Portuguese team views the case with a lot less enthusiasm.

"Unfortunately, we can't expect a miracle because it's still only promotion," a PJ inspector close to the team directed by coordinator Helena Monteiro warns.

According to this inspector, "the method adopted by the English is flawed by a mistake: at the beginning, they threw out all possibilities with the exception of abduction by a stranger to the group."

"I am not accusing the parents, but there were other people and for certain there are still doubts. And the only way to take up the investigation again would be to start with the reconstruction," states the same inspector, stressing that "pressure is on collaboration," at the expense of quality.

Decoding

One month before the publication of this "new" book - a sort of rehash of the first version - it is important from a commercial point of view, to make a new appeal to the British media.

It is incidentally interesting to stress that it's the same English tabloids that the McCann clan condemn every time the subject of Maddie's disappearance is approached from an angle that is not orchestrated by their public relations machine - and I'm referring to Clarence Mitchell.

Astonishing coordination between the British media, usually miserly in their collaboration, who, for some unknown reason (sorry for this utter sarcasm), have all published similar information.

Information worthy of a communications expert....did I mention Clarence Mitchell?!

I am not even talking about the Portuguese media ...because there we talk about the "parrot," effect.

Duarte Levy 17th April 2012/

How DARE Gerry & Kate Claim the PJ Did NOTHING!

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From Joana Morais - Judge orders return of Amaral's books

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Following the ruling of the Court of Appeals of Lisbon on October 14, 2010 in which the judges decreed that Gonçalo Amaral's books could be sold, revoking the first judgement of the Court a quo [lower court/court decision's that was appealed] that had granted a banning injunction, and in a new legal setback for the McCanns, we can now confirm that the judge has ordered the immediate devolution of the 7.500 copies of the book "Maddie, the Truth of the Lie" that were entrusted to Isabel Duarte, lawyer of the McCann couple. The lawyer has, of today, 10 days to fulfil that order.

Read the full article on Joana's blog

And in Spanish on Mercedes' blog, credited by Joana as having published this breaking news.

"Belle Famille," - by Arthur Dreyfus - Chapter 29

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Résumé of chapter 29, with thanks to Frencheuropean

Sometimes, just for a moment, Laurence would find herself believing that Madec had really disappeared and was alive.

Less than two weeks after the Pope's appeal, the donations reach over three million Euros. Stéphane insisted on engaging a professional accountant. Indeed, as "people make mistakes", he doesn't want to be chased by the taxman when he goes back to France.

Forty days have gone by in which Andreotti has devoted all of his time to a child he never knew. One day, he even imagined:

"If she had never existed? This would make great theatre. (à la Pirandello) He suddenly feels weary, thinking about the hundreds of cases that have passed through his hands during his career. And if he had a child with his friend Venezia?"

Then he receives a call from the prison governor: Ron Murdoch wishes to speak to him urgently.

Tony decided to pour almost all of the money in the fund into various private detective agencies "who often have means at their disposal which are better than those of the police". Four are chosen, "one of them being the prestigious Control Risks Group, which had investigated the death of Lady Di."

Tony also wants to use psychics to find Madec. But not a simple psychic, a total service that will pull out all the stops: "crystal ball reading, read the tea leaves, tarot, drawing the cards, dowsing, telekinesis, hypnosis - and even the drawing of blood. It was a serious programme."

Stéphane can't get over the exorbitant amounts demanded. Sure, it is boring to have to be forever repeating the same things, but at least , "these were obliging people and they wore made-to-measure suits."

Since his violent argument with Laurence, he wakes with a start each night, next to the sleeping Laurence, crying out: "I have killed her!".

He remembers his childhood in a family that was wealthy and cold and of that fatal day when the car driven by his father's personal chauffeur was involved in the accident that caused his scar.

The driver, distracted by a pretty redhead on a pavement in Pigalle, had run a red light.

At the hospital, he looked at himself in the mirror:

"At the sight of his face which had been torn and sewn back together, Stéphane had made two decisions: to never again go to Pigalle; to become a surgeon."

Martin Brunt of Sky News - the blue sports bag.

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In this video from December 2007, Martin Brunt mentions the blue sports bag, which was said to have disappeared from the McCanns' holiday apartment. He also shows the view from the table the McCanns sat at in the Tapas Bar and states that the McCanns would not have been able to see anyone going in or out of the apartment.

Brunt then walks the route the McCanns would have taken to check on the children and concludes that it would have taken 80 paces from the restaurant to the gate leading to the unlocked patio doors.

And what will Kate and Gerry tell the twins about that evening when their sister disappeared into thin air? When Sean and Amelie are old enough, they will be told that Kate and Gerry were dining 'in the restaurant next door.'* I hope that Brunt video is still available when Sean and Amelie are judged to be old enough for the explanation because 80 paces to the restaurant next door may seem like more than spitting distance to them or close enough to hear a child crying. I guess that's Kate and Gerry's problem. The twins will be able to explore for themselves before too long and how will their parents explain away all the discrepancies? However hard the McCanns try to make sure certain things get whooshed away, there will be plenty left on the internet for the twins to find. And when they do, perhaps that's when Kate and Gerry will truly have to face the reality of what went on in Praia da Luz, how they went on holiday with three children and came back without Sean and Amelie's sister.

*Daily Mail May 2nd 2010

Criminal Profiler Pat Brown Travels To Portugal To Search For Madeleine

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Video produced by HiDeHo

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"Belle Famille," - by Arthur Dreyfus - Chapter 28

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Tony rented a Mercedes for going to see the Pope.

In the comfortable car, Laurence thinks about the secret recording: "There's no ethics any more in the profession of journalism. It's all about audience figures." Happily, for some unknown reason, the government is supporting her.

They wait in a small room for the Pope's formal discourse to end.

Laurence drily tell her husband, who is praying beneath a crucifix, to "quit this circus." An escort comes to fetch the Macands to take them to the Holy Father.

On the way there, Laurence takes out of her handbag an Elnett hairspray for dry, damaged hair.

The Pope is old and tired. He looks ill. He is addressing the crowd from the balcony overlooking St Peter's Square. As he comes back, his special adviser, Comman, presents Madec's parents and Madec's photo to him and reminds him that he agreed with the French government that he would speak to them about it later.

The Pope turns back to the crowd for his final homily. To the crowd he presents, not the photo of the child, but the fax, upside down. An adviser respectfully turns it up the right way.

"Questa ragazza è sparita. Piccola Madic è stata sottratta dall'amore dei suoi genitori" (This little girl has disappeared. The little girl Madic has been taken away from the love of her parents.)

The adviser murmurs a few words in his ear. The Pope corrects himself:

"Piccolo Madec è stato sottratto dall'amore dei suoi genitori. Che Dio ci aiuti a ritrovarlo, con il vostro aiuto a tutti." (The little boy, Madec has been taken away from the love of his family, may God help him as well as all of you.)

A moment later, the Macands find themselves back in their car. Laurence is disappointed. All the Pope did was offer her a limp hand, without even looking at her.

During the journey, Laurence receives a call from the Minister. She thanks him and he tells her that the Italian police "are going to get things moving." The secret recording is not mentioned.

For the first time, Laurence feels totally cynical: "All it takes is for something to get a bit muddled for the thing to disappear. Sincerity is human, she thinks, but politics is scheming."

(Thank you Frencheuropean!)

"Belle Famille," - by Arthur Dreyfus - Chapter 27

The Minster is proud of having got the Pope interested in the Macands. His Public Relations service will "leak," the information to magazines about the role he will have played in securing this interview.

The young journalist at France 2 is suspended and the case will be subject to a temporary injunction.

The Josserand's lawyer demands 230,000 Euros in damages and compensation and Laurence considers that they could thank her because, without doing anything, they are going to get lots of money, thanks to her.

Then the internet site of an investigative journal publishes an article accompanied by a secret recording:

"SCANDAL AT THE CSA

When the Macand parents pull the media's strings.

Then Laurence's voice is heard, indistinct because of static. Madec's mother whispers: "between you and me our friends the Josserands, who were interrogated in France, are behind my son's disappearance...He will be dead. The police know who killed my son."

In his office, the Minister is not at all happy:

"-Every time you try to be nice, it backfires on you.

- You made the right decision, Minister.

- Why did that idiot need to talk crap like that for the first camera to arrive?

- We don't know yet. We 're trying to contact her.

- What will Carolis (former president of France television), Interpol and the CSA think of me?

- It has nothing to do with you.

- I remind you that I informed the Pope: it's gone world-wide.

- It might be a fake, sir.

- You know it's not, he let out in exasperation. The services analysed it.

-Yes, but for the rest of the world, it's perhaps still a fake. Nobody authenticated it.

- You're certain about what you're saying? The politician asked after a preoccupied silence.

- I think we need to play that card, Minister."

Petrified, Laurence picked up her phone. It's the Interior Minister's Public Relations service again. She is told that it's known to be a fake, that the Minister will support her "in her fight for the truth." The voice repeats:

"A message, you've only got to give out a message, which is also ours, Madame Macand - that document is a fake."

Confronted for the first time since Madec's death, with the real world, Laurence locks herself in the toilet. Tony reproached her above all for screwing up their good image. Stéphane looked on her as an enemy.

She takes to musing that life is only a game, "the only game, where the objective is to understand the rules."

With thanks, once again, to Frencheuropean for the résumé in French.

"Belle Famille," - by Arthur Dreyfus - Chapter 26

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Résumé of chapter 26 - from Frencheuropean

The conference, transmitted by journalists of fourteen different nationalities, is a great success. Donations flood in. By midnight, 300,000 in euros has been promised. Tony takes on to decide how the money will be used: prime time slots on TV being expensive, "he opts for an announcement in the regional and national dailies and a poster on street hoardings." He will also contact graphic artists and advertising agencies.

As planned, Sylviane lodges a complaint against France Television. She calls Laurence to ask her what she should do with the boys as she no longer wishes to take responsibility for them, given the circumstances. In a rather frosty tone of voice, after having consulted how much money was available, Laurence informs her that a local teacher will come and fetch them. The conversation is over, "Madec's mother reckoned that she had never liked Sylviane. That at the first setback, that fat cow had become a stranger to her. Was it possible to be friends with someone who was physically ugly?"

The Minister, for his part, is indignant at the error committed by the journalists. He picks up his phone and two hours later, Antenne 2 receives a notice of reprimand from the CSA for its untruthful reporting.
(CSA = Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel, the president of which is appointed by the government, but which is independent.)

On returning home, he meets with fierce anger from his wife, who reproaches him for his intrusive activities, telling him that because he can "get the CSA to issue a notice of disapproval," he gets to feel manly and powerful.

"Belle Famille," - by Arthur Dreyfus - Chapter 25

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Résumé of chapter 25 with thanks to Frencheuropean, as usual!

In spite of the reticence of the Macands, who find it inappropriate, Tony insists on organising a buffet for the journalists at the conference. On principle, Laurence has obtained an assurance that there will be no lump fish roe because the guests might think it was caviar.

Tony insists that if they are well fed, they'll write longer articles.

Although surprised, the journalists set upon the food and the champagne. "Everybody gets down to guzzling and they fight over the leftovers. There are injuries." Outraged by this behaviour, Stéphane smashes the glass of a journalist who is demanding a fourth glass of champagne. Laurence drags him into another room and puts him sharply in his place, being sarcastic about her husband's usual lack of restraint. He apologises.

"Belle Famille," - by Arthur Dreyfus - Chapter 24

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Continuing with the résumés which have been sent to me by Frencheuropean.

Chapter 24

The Macands' financial situation is cause for concern. The stay is expensive and Stéphane is no longer being paid. As Tony has organised a press conference, this presents an opportunity to appeal for donations.

Laurence, who has gone out through the back of the building, where the conference will be organised, spots a young journalist in the car park, just sitting idly in his car. She asks to speak to him in private, and once in the vehicle, she whispers: "The police know who killed my son."

As early as 4pm, a rich woman from Versailles writes a cheque for 50,000 Euros made out to a non-profit organisation, which had urgently been set up three days before. "Finding Madec."

Stéphane is furious because he has just watched the 1 o'clock news on France 2 with Tony and heard that Fabien and Sylviane figure "amongst the main suspects in Madec's disappearance (and probably his death) They were under investigation."

He telephones the news to Laurence, who exclaims: "they're totally mad!"

And she gets to thinking:

"The wheels were in motion. In a few hours, the Josserands would inevitably have seen the news. They would be indignant at being accused. They would lodge a complaint for defamation. And dig their heels in. Ruling out participating in any way in a reconstruction. Inspector Braconnet would give up his infernal idea."

It's looking good, muses a relieved Laurence, practically savouring the moment: the loss of a child accompanied by loads of things to do and exhausting disagreements, but which, all the same, make you forget, somewhat, the sadness of the loss itself.

Tony Bennett met with criminal profiler Pat Brown today!

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US criminal profiler Pat Brown met with Tony Bennett, secretary of the Madeleine Foundation, today in Windsor, to discuss the complete mystery of Madeleine McCann.

Read the report of that meeting here ("Gerry McCann Abuse of Power" blog.)

"Belle Famille," - by Arthur Dreyfus - Chapter 23

Résumé of chapter 23

After regaining consciousness, Laurence, who is not annoyed at her husband, (and even rather liked it) cries with him. It is beyond her power to change the events of that fatal night into something she'd like it to have been.

To get some air, Laurence walks to the rocks on the shore.

She has never in her life found fulfillment. Her husband has never understood her expectations, in spite of a willingness to try.

She thinks of her video: "She was not famous, but she was known. it was like being more real." From Tony, she learned the essential principles of media training: "Know when to be silent,...list the facts, think about the details of what she is saying." The golden rule, in crisis communication, being to "repeat the concrete details, over and over, robotically - and nothing but the concrete details (date, time, places, names)" She then realises that since the start of the day, she she has not thought about her son.

Andreotti has met a young woman who wants to set up home with him. Given the state of the world and the constraints of his job, he is hardly enthusiastic. In a local paper, he reads a news item: a bather has been injured in the foot by a meat fork. The newspaper calls on the local people to be careful of objects thrown into the sea. And Andreotti deplores that a newspaper should give so much space to a scratch on the beach, a quite insignificant event. Ah, "since Berlusconi, things have gone downhill..."

Notes: Thanks, as usual, to Frencheuropean.

The book, "Belle Famille," by Arthur Dreyfus, can be purchased here

"Belle Famille," - by Arthur Dreyfus - Chapter 22

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Résumé of chapter 22 - with thanks to Frencheuropean for reading the book and sending the résumés to me in French.

The Macands decide to produce their own message, using their camera, back-lit, with close-ups that make their features look hollow, as though they have not slept well. This message is a success on the internet.

Meanwhile, in a drawing room in France, the Junior Minister of The Interior, someone who courts the media, puts down his newspaper, Le Figaro, and thinks this is a good opportunity to restore the image of the French police abroad. He decides to send one of his best inspectors to Tuscany.

Just when, on Tony's advice, the Macands are about to deactivate their phones to take out an Italian line rental, Laurence's telephone rings: it's a call from the Minister of the Interior. During the five minute conversation, the Minister presents himself as a father.

He assures them of his personal commitment to make sure that everything will be set up to bring their son back.

He was so convincing that for a few seconds, Laurence hoped that Madec would be found.

The French inspector, Jacques Braconnet, gets an unenthusiastic welcome from Andreotti, who anticipates a lot of useless effort, especially as, at the request of the Minister, journalists accompany the French police everywhere. Braconnet explains to the Macands that an abduction alert should have been launched. This doesn't bother Andreotti because, if he didn't launch an alert, "it was because he did not consider it to be necessary. Instinct told him that the truth was hidden elsewhere."

The French inspector wants to set up a reconstruction, which seems impossible to Laurence, who has totally erased the events of that evening from her memory.

At his headquarters in the Place Beauvau, the Minister thinks about the Macands' video seen on a magazine programme shown by TV channel TF1 (regretting that he had forgotten to call the presenter to wish him a happy birthday).

"In their despair, the Macands seemed to be united. What was their daughter's first name? Before her abduction, little Madaine (original first names hard to remember) must have been happy."

Stéphane, who is attempting to manage his absence from the hospital, calls the Josserands to let them know that the French inspector wants to do a reconstruction. Their trip will be paid for and it wouldn't take very long. Fabien voices their agreement, if it's good for Madec.

Stéphane relays the news to Laurence, who has returned from the hairdresser's ("look at my head. I'm ashamed to be on the telly.") The next instant, his wife slaps him. Taken by a sudden rage, he violently hits her across the face and she faints.

"Belle Famille," - by Arthur Dreyfus - Chapter 21

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Résumé of chapter 21 from original in French by Frencheuropean.

The Macands moved into a new hotel. During an inventory, the manager of the previous hotel pointed out the absence of the meat fork. Laurence looked him up and down, stating that it wasn't there when they arrived. Stéphane threw a large denomination bank note at the feet of the manager, who was asking to be reimbursed. Laurence appreciated the grandness of the gesture.

Ron passed the lie detector test with flying colours and Andreotti is more and more convinced of his innocence, but his bosses at ministerial level, begin to apply pressure. So, Andreotti places Ron on remand.

Yannick Noah has recorded a video with the text that Tony has sent to him. Tony is well pleased with the result. Turning towards the camera, the singer says:

"I will stop singing for a moment for this child. This child who is called Madec. This child who has disappeared. Just a moment for him. Because he must be found. Because together we can create miracles. Don't forget: just a moment. For Madec Macand."

But the video is not very successful. On the other hand, an article in a satirical journal, published on the internet, is a resounding success. It is headed:

"When Noah the demagogue thinks he's Columbo"

Laurence is furious with this failure.

"Belle Famille," - by Arthur Dreyfus - Chapter 20

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Résumé of chapter 20 - original French from Frencheuropean.

Tony calls and tells Laurence they need "a media plan."

The Josserands leave for France with the other two boys. Laurence wonders if she misses Madec and observes:

"For a while, her son's disappearance has occupied a more important place for her than her son himself. She would have wanted to hold him tightly in her arms - which he struggles against somewhat. Mule head. The mother remembered a colouring session. Why did Madec go over all the edges? Laurence had snatched the red crayon and filled a tomato in properly. In spite of the example, Madec still went over the edges. Snatching the book from her son's hands, Laurence had emptied out a box of felt pens and set to colouring all the other vegetables."

Andreotti arrives at the Macands' place. The Murdoch lead has gone nowhere. He will be interrogated again with a psychologist present and with the use of a lie detector. Laurence's blood runs cold when the inspector informs her that one of his friends is dead, having jumped from the top of the cliff and that divers are going to search along the coastline.

The hotel manager requests that the Macands leave the premises by noon the following day.

Madec's uncle wants to create a "buzz," to move the world. Necessary for that: 1 - money, 2 - getting known.

He is going to contact Yannick Noah, through a friend. (Note: Yannick is a former French tennis player, now a singer, who has set up a charity, with his mother, for underprivileged children)

He joins his sister in Italy and before the journalists, he declares: "I am spokesman for the Macand family."

Laurence can hardly believe her luck when she learns that all the divers have brought back is the body of Simone Cazzi.

"Belle Famille," - by Arthur Dreyfus - Chapter 19

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Résumé of chapter 19 - Original French by Frencheuropean.

Laurence is astonished to see the photo of Murdoch, who looks more like George Clooney than like a paedophile. Anyway, she considers that as he was found guilty of the worst crimes, he could pay twice.

She turns on the tears and exclaims:

"What's awful, inspector, is that he saved his life before."

A week has gone by and the investigation has become a murder case. Forensic analysis to do with Murdoch turns up nothing. Andreotti is not convinced of his guilt.

The media gathers in front of the chalet. The Macands pretend to ignore them. The magazine VSD offers 15,000 Euros for an interview. Laurence is flattered by the offer.

"She estimates that if they wait for more the bids will get higher. She comes to a standstill. Would haggling like this play on her conscience? It's all for Madec. For the happiness of his brothers and his family: for the possibility of living without him."

Obsessed by his past and by the weight of the recent suspicions, Murdoch thinks about committing suicide by throwing himself of the top of a cliff, but another man beats him to it and throws himself off first. That puts Murdoch off.

"Belle Famille," - by Arthur Dreyfus - Chapters 16,17 and 18

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Résumés of chapters 16,17 and 18 - from the original French by Frencheuropean.

Chapter 16

Still single at age 46, Paulo Andreotti lives, as is the custom, with his mother. He is happy with his life and commits a lot of time to his investigations.

It's strange that, if the child was abducted, he didn't make any noise and wake his brothers. No trace of chloroform was detected by the forensic police. What were the cucumbers doing in the entrance hall when they should have been found in the child's bedroom or in the kitchen? Unless it was the child who placed them there before going outside where he was kidnapped?

He is going to re-interrogate everyone, check up on criminal records and alibis.

He feels some affection for Laurence, who reminds him of a former conquest.

He thinks of his best friend, Simone Cazzi, who never had a chance in life: beaten by his parents; born on a February 29th (a present every four years) and who, just when he was happy, having customised the car of his dreams, saw that car crushed in just a few seconds by a bin lorry. He hasn't fared very well since.

Chapter 17

Laurence, who has not eaten in four days, pushes away the image of Madec's body that surfaces from time to time, repeating to herself, "I didn't kill him," On reflection, she concludes that "what's missing for the case to advance is a guilty party."

Her blood runs cold when Andreotti comes to inform them that the maritime brigade is exploring the coasts, searching for a body. She imagines the return to Granville in shame and sadness.

Andreotti also announces that the press is about to arrive to interview them and advises them to be wary.

Laurence, who flatly refused to begin with, looking offended, is quite happy however when Andreotti makes the remark that the press may be able to help in the search. She then pretends to be resigned to it: "in that case, of course..."

That evening, she fears the worst when the inspector knocks on the door. He brings them a photo, that of a suspect.

Chapter 18

Ron Murdoch thinks of his past. A teacher in an English school in Italy, he had been sentenced to 16 years in prison in England for interfering with young pupils. He had pleaded guilty, regretting that the death sentence didn't exist. On leaving prison, he found a job in a bar in Leicester. He fled to London because a 20 year-old barman, Magnus, had fallen in love with him and he had sworn never again to associate with young adolescents. Magnus, however, found him and they set up home together.

To please him, Ron, who had just had an inheritance from his mother, offered to take him on holiday. Magnus chose Italy, in a quiet holiday village. Ron hesitated and then agreed. However, shortly before the departure, he takes on to tell Magnus everything about his past. Magnus, knowing everything, reproaches him for having, with that confession, raised a wall between them and he leaves.

Ron leaves for Italy by himself. At the swimming pool, he goes to the rescue of a child who is drowning. Later, he goes to spend two days visiting the monuments of Florence.

On his return, he is visited by the police and the inspector informs him, in a quiet voice, that he is the prime suspect in the abduction of a little boy: Madec Macand.

"Belle Famille," - by Arthur Dreyfus - Chapter 15

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Résumé of chapter 15 - from original French by Frencheuropean.

Two days have gone by. Searches have turned up nothing: no one saw anything.

German Shepherd dogs were deployed on the ground, to the great consternation of Laurence, but since it had rained, they found no traces. They couldn't search the chalet, which Laurence had surreptitiously locked from the inside. She had scrubbed the floor and the skirting boards in the kitchen with bleach again.

The Josserands were only told the day after the disappearance. Sylviane and Laurence agree, with some regret, that a holiday is now out of the question. Sylviane suggests taking the boys back. Laurence reckons that the boys are a handicap for her. When they are around, she has to be strong, but when she is strong, she cannot cry. For the media, she has to be able to cry: "truth shines through the tears." And then, with their departure, the Josserands are also one less burden.

The site manager, who is worried about the upheaval caused by the disappearance and the consequences for the customers, is curtly sent packing by Laurence. Laurence then discovers, within herself, an unknown strength: "that which mothers gain during their pregnancy."

A regional newspaper, "France West," tries to contact them by telephone. Stéphane is quite flattered but he is brought into line by Laurence who tells him that it's enough with the police, that "it's a case of abduction," and that they are not going to recount their life for the tabloids.

To herself, however, she imagines the front page of the newspaper, the photos. She hears herself saying: "I insist that the faces of my other two children are blurred," The small world of Granville seemed suddenly quite shabby to her.

"For Madec, Laurence was seeing bigger things."

"Belle Famille," - by Arthur Dreyfus - Chapter 14

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Résumé of chapter 14 - from original French by Frencheuropean.

The 'flying squads,' comb the surrounding area. Stéphane spends the night at the police station while Laurence stays with the boys.

At seven o'clock in the morning, her husband returns with Inspector Paolo Andreotti, who speaks very good French. Well-built and with a youthful appearance, he has a lopsided smile, which gives him a deceptively idiotic look.

They sit down in the kitchen while the police search the lounge. Laurence remarks, with interest, that there are too many people in such a small space.

"Laurence stared at the totally innocent soles of the police officers' shoes, which were erasing the traces of her secret." They were erasing the traces, which could have revealed the accident.

Stéphane produced an account of the events up to the arrival of the police. Laurence, practically shaking, says she confirms what her husband has said, but Andreotti comments that that is not enough and that she must relate what happened when she went back with the cucumbers, without her husband.

"When I opened the lounge door, my son was already asleep. I hugged him.
- What time was that?
- It was early in the evening: perhaps 21.15
- Did you close the door when you left?
- The front door?
- Did you lock it?
- I believe so. I wouldn't have left the children without doing that."

Laurence is quite satisfied with her answers. Not so difficult after all! Andreotti is perplexed: no evidence of tampering with the shutters, a locked door. In search of a significant detail, he asks Laurence what she did with the cucumbers. She says she doesn't know. Andreotti notes that they are sitting on a small piece of furniture in the entrance hall.

The investigation begins with the customary enquiries about the Macands' activities.

A photo of Madec will be posted on every public building in Tuscany before the evening comes.

In the course of the day, Laurence toughens herself. The memory of Madec's body slips away, little by little, like a little raft drifting towards the horizon. Stéphane, totally disoriented with sadness and worry, nevertheless reckons that his dear wife, Laurence, will never be the same.

"Belle Famille," - by Arthur Dreyfus - Chapter 13

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Résumé of chapter 13 from the original French by Frencheuropean.

Her friends ask her if the cucumbers calmed Madec. Without thinking, she answers, "Yes," and then corrects herself immediately: "He was sleeping when I went in." She thinks that Madec is somewhat like an unreal death at the cinema. When they get back to the chalet, the door is half-open and the light is on. Not finding Madec, the father says he is going to have a look around outside because he wouldn't be surprised if the child was wandering in the middle of the night. He asks his wife to drive round in the car while he goes to the swimming pool and the beach. He goes out, double locking the door.

Laurence drives mechanically towards the place where the body is hidden. She feels ill when she realises that it's really Madec's body. She takes it in the boot of her car. She drives along the cliff road, overhanging the sea, and pulls onto the verge, where a rough path, forbidden to the public, opens into the void. She drops the body, which falls into the crashing waves.

She starts to sneeze and is relieved to find a handkerchief in her pocket. It's creased, "but still clean."

Ron Murdoch, who has been out for a walk to relax, recognises her at the wheel of the car as she returns.

Meanwhile, the father and the security guard have contacted the police.

Laurence goes to the kitchen and she see the scorpion on the floor. And suddenly, she realises that it wasn't a simple accident, but that "she had killed her son," She collapses onto to the floor in a violent fit of hysteria, the suddenness of which, her husband does not understand.

She hears the police arriving, questioning her husband. She is going to be interrogated.

She thought about Antonin and Vladimir, How much she loved them.

For them, she makes a decision.

That decision is comprised of three words, which she speaks in a low voice, for the very first time.

"Madec has disappeared."

"Belle Famille," - by Arthur Dreyfus - Chapter 12

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"Nice Family," - résumé of chapter 12 - from original in French by Frencheuropean.

The restaurant cannot supply cucumbers, so Laurence and her husband go to buy some from a grocer's shop and go back to the restaurant.

Madec, who is very frightened of the Kappas, decides to find the scorpion, which his mother has hidden, because only the scorpion can protect him from the monster. While he is in the kitchen fetching a large meat fork from a drawer, he deduces that his mother must have hidden the key ring in a high place. So, he tries to reach the top of the cupboard by climbing onto a bar stool, onto which he places an upturned couscoussier, and finally on top of the cupboard, he makes out the shape of the scorpion. At the very moment when he grabs hold of it, his balance is disturbed and he falls over backwards, hitting his head on the corner of the table. As he falls, he skewers his neck on the meat fork. He dies. The noise does not wake his brothers.

Laurence, who leaves the restaurant to take the cucumbers to him, arrives at the chalet, finds that he's not in the lounge and comes across his body in the kitchen.

A small amount of blood has run from his throat. Without a second thought, she puts everything back in place, wraps the body in the tablecloth, cleans the blood-stained floor with a baby wipe soaked in bleach, puts that into the tablecloth and carries the body to the boot of her car. She drives to the edge of the holiday park and, in the rain, drops the body into a small, muddy, waste water drainage channel. Then she covers it with branches. She drives back.

"A short time later, a Peugeot 807 is seen parking in front of 'La Buona Tavola.' A woman in damp clothing is seen to get out. She is seen going back to her friends' table, tidying her hair, using her fingers as a comb, cutting out the cold part, which she deplored, of a 'four season pizza.'. She is seen eating. She is seen laughing."

"Belle Famille," - "Nice Family," by Arthur Dreyfus

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"Nice Family," - résumés of chapters 8,9, 10 and 11 from original in French by Frencheuropean.

Chapter 8

They arrive at the site of identical-looking chalets in a pine grove, with a swimming pool and close to the sea, but Laurence is disappointed because it's not as good as it looked on the web and she wonders what the Josserands, who are due to arrive tomorrow, are going to think. She consoles herself with the thought that, "as it's expensive, we won't be with the peasants." They decide to go to the swimming pool. Before leaving, because she cannot throw the scorpion key ring into the bin, she decides to place it on top of the highest kitchen cupboard.

Chapter 9

At the swimming pool, Madec, who is constantly in search of new experiences to spice up a dull life, dives under the water. While he is coming back up, his brothers hold his head under the water. Madec passes out.

Ron Murdoch, who was on a deck chair beside the pool, jumps in and brings out the unconscious child. Laurence, seeing the crowd, rushes over and gives her son emergency aid and succeeds in reviving him.

She gives her grateful thanks to Murdoch, who turns down her invitation to a meal. The brothers are not told off, but Madec gets a bit of spoiling: his bed is made up in front of the telly in the lounge and his food is brought to him.

The brothers apologize to him. He asks for his scorpion key ring, but Laurence is stubborn about it and comes up with the excuse for herself that the object could harbour bacteria. She explains to Madec, in an offhand way, that she has lost it. Furious, Madec does not believe her.

Chapter 10

Laurence recounts what has just happened, in an offhand way, to her husband, who has just returned, stressing the kindness of the Englishman. Their conclusion about the incident is that there was "more fear than danger." The Josserands arrive and their chalet is at the other end of the complex. Julien, tall and handsome, is an architect. His wife, Sylviane, envies Laurence her slender figure, but finds solace by telling herself that she has big bones. Laurence delights in learning that Julien has been unfaithful to Sylviane with his secretary, which consoles her a bit for having a husband with such a repulsive scar. The Josserands have a daughter called Mahud. The friends organise a get-together at 2 o'clock on the beach.

Chapter 11

On return from the beach, Laurence gets her oldest son, who is eleven years old, to read a book that contains scenes of violence, that is much too difficult for him. They have milk pudding, a traditional dish. Afterwards, Laurence adds, "...now you're going to bed because after being so busy with you all day, father and mother want to spend the evening with their friends." Stéphane goes to fetch the Josserands.

A short time later. Fabien arrives with his daughter Mahaut and brings as a gift for Madec, an old book, found in a second-hand shop, which tells the story of Kappa, a monster who hides in the water to drown kids. As such, he says, it will be a souvenir for Madec of his own drowning. There follows, told by Fabien, who likes a good laugh, a horrible tale of this aquatic monster, devourer of children with the most atrocious suffering. But to reassure a terrified Madec, Fabien reveals that only cucumbers, the Kappas' favourite food, takes them away from children. Laurence, who has put the other children to bed, puts out the light, and doesn't understand why Madec starts screaming and asks her to bring him some cucumbers.

A bit bothered, Fabien arranges with Laurence to meet at the restaurant.

"Belle Famille," - "Nice Family," by Arthur Dreyfus

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"Nice Family," résumé of chapter 7 from original in French by Frencheuropean.

Laurence is well-balanced physically, but too steely to be considered graceful. Her features are mordant, her cheeks smooth, her forehead finely lined, her hair a Nordic blond. But in herself, she is a person of tight-lipped principles. She is a dominant woman who has no truck with contradiction and writes off those who contradict as madmen or cretins. "She knows what she knows."

Stéphane gives way to her for the sake of peace and as she directs the cardiology service, he prefers to leave her with the illusion of power.

More adolescent than grown man, smooth face, and at 46 years old, a full head of hair.

Their relations are coldly regulated, love and sex have no place there.

Between this accommodating father and this very strict mother, Madec, in contrast to his brothers who adjust to the situation, feels very alone. His mother, because of this, thinks that he doesn't love her and attributes her frequent migraines to a son she doesn't understand. She sometimes has nightmares in which she sees herself as an animal, devoured by her own children.

During a stop in Italy, a kind shopkeeper offers Madec a keyring with a scorpion embedded in resin, which fascinates Madec and reminds him of Big. His mother is obliged to accept, but refuses to give it to her son because with a scorpion "it's not meant for a child of seven."

"She knows what she knows."

"Belle Famille," - "Nice Family," by Arthur Dreyfus

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"Belle Famille," (Nice Family) - résumés of chapters 4,5, and 6 from original French by Frencheuropean.

Chapter 4

When his parents are on duty, Madec likes to watch television in their room. On seeing a woman on the screen getting herself accidentally devoured by a tiger at the zoo, before the eyes of visitors, suddenly interested in animal life, he plays with the idea of violent death.

Then he looks back on Sundays at mass, where he spends his time observing people and notably the old women (he calls them the hens). He notes that his mother often cries during the hymns and doesn't know why. She doesn't elsewhere.

Chapter 5

One day, after mass, he asks old father Garrec if he can go with him to the farm to see the cows. At the house, the old man recounts old stories while drinking red wine. The child insists on drinking a glass of it, then two and falls asleep. Also drunk, the old man goes to sleep. He is awoken by the police, who have been searching for hours for the child. The imp found asleep with the cows with alcohol in his blood, is given into the care of six child psychiatrists to see if he has suffered from the sequestration and is examined by a doctor who establishes that he has not been abused. The old man is committed to a psychiatric hospital. After consulting her lawyer, the mother does not have him prosecuted, but gives him fifty days to leave town. That will not be necessary; he dies after three weeks in hospital, like his forty cows that no one has thought to water in his absence.

End of Part 1

Chapter 6

Leaving for Tuscany. A dull journey, listening to the father's boring stories and searching, unsuccessfully, for restaurants that are open.

Laurence remembers her first meeting with her husband during a surgical operation where she was assisting him. She had decided to seduce him because she wanted to be a mother. It was only in the car park that she realised with horror, as he no longer had his surgical mask on, that a horrible scar crossed the lower part of his face. All the same, she noted that he had regular features and clear eyes and calculated that that mark would make him more vulnerable and attentive, which decided her.

Five years later, their first child Vladimir is born.

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Note: the novel, "Belle Famille," can be purchased from Amazon France

"Belle Famille," - "Nice Family," by Arthur Dreyfus

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Chapter 3 - résumé from original French by Frencheuropean


Madec, who is seven years old, has an older brother called Vladimir and a younger brother, Atonin. While the other two are blonde and of easy-going temperament, Madec, who is ginger haired, instead has the manners of a peasant, as odd in his family as his first name.

The father, Stéphane, really took to that Celtic sounding first name during a medical conference in Ireland. His wife reluctantly accepted it, while saying to him that he "was taking responsibility for that kid," two weeks after the child was born by emergency Caesarian because of a rare accident involving the umbilical cord.

Laurence, who has strict educational principles, and imposes on her family a bland organic diet, has, all the same, bought a video game for her sons. Madec, seeing his brothers stupidly zapping with the remote control doubts that he is of the same flesh and blood as them and decides to go out.

It is a Wednesday in Autumn and not a school day. The parents are on duty at the hospital and as the Macand brothers are incredibly sensible, they are left to their own devices for the day. Madec goes down, bare-footed to the beach and thinks about his chameleon, which his father has welcomed with enthusiasm, because he doesn't have very much to say to his son and the chameleon always gives him something to talk about.

To see just how red his skin can go, Madec undresses completely and goes bathing. He is happy because he is totally red in the waves.

Across from the beach, the nurse Francine Frêle sees him and rushes to cross the road and find him. Her chin meets the bumper of a lorry carrying ten tons of oysters. She dies and her brain is mixed up with the crushed shells. Madec comes and asks if she is dead.

Stéphane Macand gives his wife his opinion of the event in this way:

"With breath smelling of Aquavit, Stéphane Marcand explains to his wife that there was nothing they could have done, that they weren't there, either of them - you as well as me.That accidents just happen by accident."

Laurence, dissociating herself from manslaughter by her son, is more shocked by the fact that he was walking around totally naked in public view, placing the blame on the proximity of the nudist (and homosexual) beach, set up by the complaisant authorities according the permissive values of the left.

Regarding her husband, she finds him feeble and uninteresting. He turns to alcohol and that is even the object of "private jokes," at the hospital, but as he is a good diagnostician...

Laurence, a frustrated woman, enjoys underlining that her husband is a loser.

Madec is punished, the nurse is buried. Later there will be an investigation to determine the extent of responsibility of the nurse and Madec's parents for the accident.

With strong glue provided by the town council, school children are each going to stick an oyster shell onto the victim's grave. In the course of time, this will become a renowned place of pilgrimage, which will bring in a lot of money for the town council, which, being grateful, will honour Sandrine Frêle, "for her involvement," in this process.

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Note: the novel, "Belle Famille," can be purchased from Amazon France

"Belle Famille," - "Nice Family," by Arthur Dreyfus

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"Nice Family," (Belle Famille) by Arthur Dreyfus - Resumé of Ch 2

At her house, Laurence is angry with her forty-year-old brother, Tony, who is always bringing back strange and useless objects for her from his distant travels. This time, he has brought back, for his nephew, a chameleon, which the child Madec watches in its plastic box. Not very easy to chuck that in the bin.

Tony has fun recounting for his sister his rather disreputable adventures in Columbia, knowing that she, who only lives in the present, is not listening. In fact, Laurence is busy worrying about the droppings the chameleon will produce.

Tony teases his sister by reminding her that she had decided to give up on a lovely romantic relationship in Argentina (and not leave Stéphane) during her internship. Furious, Laurence who, since that episode, has denied herself any happiness, thinks about at least getting rid of the chameleon. She is delighted to see that Madec seems to be disappointed with the chameleon (which is less attractive than in the photos) and suggests to him that the chameleon sleeps in his room, because she has seen that the creature disgusts him somewhat and she hopes that he will refuse the gift for fear of having the animal close to him in the night.

But the child, guessing his mother's intentions, says that he likes the creature and calls it Big. The mother then comes up with a perverse plan: as they are just about to leave for their holiday in Tuscany, she will organise things so that the child forgets to take the chameleon and during the journey, she will exclaim that she has forgotten to feed the chameleon, but that this is not serious because these animals survive without food in the jungle.

On their return, Big will be found, lying on his back, dead, totally shriveled up and all will be well that ends well.

Note: with thanks, once again, to Frencheuropean for the original of this resumé in French.