More than a child: At 17, Claire had her whole life ahead of her. Who could have wished her dead? Suspicion quickly falls on her teacher at the agricultural college, charismatic, original but with a seemingly ambiguous relationship with his pupils. More than enough to encourage Marleau to take a close interest in him.
Marleau is called to a beauty salon in Sceaux, where an employee was found poisoned. The victim's participation in community theatre leads Marleau to an actor, his family, and his entourage.
Marleau, posted to a Gendarmerie in the Basque country, is called to investigate the death of a young woman whose body was found in an under-construction restaurant she was due to manage. HQ assigns a psychiatrist to the captain.
Oscar the coroner sends for Marleau after a man is killed in a "duel" staged by a group reenacting Napoleonic battles. The investigation pits Marleau against a lawyer from a past case.
A woman asks Marleau to locate her missing daughter, a performer in the local cabaret. The search leads Marleau to a drowned man, powerful businessmen, and the cabaret's colorful denizens. A buffoonish Commandant vexes Marleau.
Marleau is sent to the Vosges after unlikable Cyril Duprat is murdered in his influential family's sawmill. Marleau's focus becomes Cyril's likable cousin Serge, a former prodigal son who rescued the sawmill and saved the town.
An investigating magistrate sends Marleau to a luxury hotel to protect Simon Cappa, a corrupt businessman who is an important cooperating witness. The captain decides the best way for her to blend in is to pose as a hotel maid.
Captain Marleau investigates when a school teacher, Micka, dies in a boat explosion in Brittany. Is the killer a high school friend of Micka-- Max, Florence, Leila, Tanguy, or Gregoire? Or is it unscrupulous developer Charles Le Tallec?
