They travelled in the afternoon in a car with tinted windows and no official IDs and were followed by another vehicle with three National Police officers armed to the teeth. The driver of their car was also an expert in safety and handling situations of risk. Mercier and Dupont were in the backseat. They were already entering a small medieval town and its labyrinth of alleys. Even at that time the traffic was scarce and the strong north wind kept the people off the streets so that the driver drove confidently. The two young men, who had become friends in the midst of the circumstances of their lives, had been talking for a while but Mercier had fallen asleep in his seat. Michel shook his arm.
"Wake up, we're coming in and as soon as we arrive we'll have to get out of the car. We cannot afford any delay.”