Prologue<br >T -，. ~ablv nlild ()11 Monday， November 7<br > hc weather in Paris was unseas{)I<br >1c)3~. With telnperatures in tile low sixties， tile city had been basking in<br >an I11dian stunmer for the past week: Men left their overcoats i~ ttlc<br >closet， girls wore light dresses， and caf~Es o~l the boulevards had not vet<br >takcll in ttlcir sidewalk tables， which lind been out since earl ，: spriiig.<br > At exactly ~:35 A.M.， a small， dark-haired young man in a khaki-colored<br >raillcoat arrived outside a sllop called ALa Fine Lame ("At the Sharp<br >P， ladc") at 61 Rl~c du l;aubourg Saint-Martin， a quiet street in tlle tenth<br >arrondisscmel~t ru~ning nortlleast from tile Boulevard Saint-Denis， across<br >tile Boulevard dc Magenta， along tile side of the Gate de i， t ;st， alld<br >ending at what is today the Place de Stalingrad.<br > I l~e youth approached Mine. Carpe， wife of the owner， who was in<br >the "s ..<br > procc， s of winding up the heavv iron sht~tters tl~at protected the shop<br > wi~dow at ~ight~tlle merchandise sold at A l_，a Vine Lanle was nlainlv<br > sporting alld hllntillg equipment， including knives， gruls， atld alnmu-<br > nition.<br > "I want to buy a revolver，" he said to her.<br > Nlmc. Carpe told tlim to see llcr lmsband， the gunsmith， illside the<br > sllop. ~I llc voculg man went i1~. N I. Carpe was a small， stocky， middle-<br > aged man with a mustache， lookillg rather like an Englisll major gone<br > ma~lstrates a~d<br > sligi~tlv to seed. tte was the kind of witness examining o， ， ，-<br > police ~)fficers yearn for~a precise ma~ able to give exact details ab(>ut<br > c， vcrvthi~g， including tt~e time. ~I ime， in fact， was his hobby--he fre-<br > ~t~e~tlx， acted as timekeeper for sportil~g events~and he tmppened to be<br > checking his watch at the moment tt~e yotn~g stranger spoke to his wife.<br > l t~c :ou~g ma~ entered and rcpeated his request， seeming， accordil~g<br > f<br > t() N1. (，arpc， ，~cr，~ calm correct， land speaking perfectly adequate<br > ii， rencl~."<br > "Why do volt need a gun?" the shopkeeper asked.<br > "I of(on h~;ve to carry large sums of money to the bank for nay father，"<br >