Q UEBEC UEBEC C CITY IS SIMPLY Q QUEBEC TO Q QUEBECKERS. IT IS THE provincial capital. And oh-so-very-thoroughly provincial capital. And oh-so-very-thoroughly tres tres French. French.

The Vieux-Quebec, the old quarter, is the only fortified town in North America up lat.i.tude from Mexico. The same zip code boasts the Chateau Frontenac, the a.s.semblee nationale, and the Musee national des beaux-arts. Hotel, parliament, and fine arts museum to us Anglophones. Quaint and cobbled, the Vieux-Quebec is a world heritage site.

Bastarache's small corner of the ville ville definitely was not. definitely was not.

Located on a seedy street off Chemin Sainte-Foy, Le Pa.s.sage Noir was a dive in a row of dives featuring women taking off their clothes. Short on charm, the neighborhood filled a niche in Quebec City's urban ecosystem. In addition to strippers flaunting T and A on runways, dealers hawked drugs on street corners, and hookers sold s.e.x out of flophouses and taxis.

An SQ cop drove us to the address on Ryan's warrant. Hippo's car was at the curb along with a CSU van and a cruiser with Service de police de la Ville de Quebec on its side panel.

When Ryan and I pushed through Le Pa.s.sage's heavy wooden door, the air was thick with the smell of stale beer and dried sweat. The place was as small as a bar can be without becoming a kiosk. It was clear Bastarache didn't spend a lot on lighting.

A bar shot the center of the room. A crude platform spanned its rear wall. At stage right glowed a Rock-Ola jukebox straight out of the for ties. At stage left was a pool table helter-skelter with b.a.l.l.s and cues abandoned by hastily departing patrons.

A uniformed cop stood by the entrance, feet spread, thumbs hooking his belt. His badge said C. Deschenes, SPVQ. C. Deschenes, SPVQ.

A man slouched on one of the eight stools at the bar, heels catching one rung. He wore a white shirt, razor-creased black pants, and shined black loafers. Gold cuff links. Gold watch. Gold neck chain. No name tag. I a.s.sumed Mr. Sharp was the abruptly idled bartender.

A pair of women smoked and talked at one of a dozen tables facing the stage. Both wore shocking pink polyester kimonos.

A third woman sat apart from the others, smoking alone. Unlike her colleagues, she was dressed in street clothes. Shorts. Sequined tank. Roman sandals laced to her knees.

Otherwise, the place was empty.

While Ryan spoke to Deschenes, I scoped out the ladies.

The youngest was tall, maybe eighteen, with dull brown hair and tired blue eyes. Her companion was a thirty-something redhead who'd definitely put part of her salary into a b.o.o.b job.

The lone smoker had fried platinum hair that wisped down past her ears. I put her age at somewhere around forty.

Hearing voices, or perhaps sensing my interest, the blonde flicked her eyes sideways in my direction. I smiled. She glanced away. The other women continued their conversation, uncurious.

"Bastarache has an office in back. Hippo's there." Ryan was speaking in hushed tones at my shoulder. "His digs are on the second floor. CSU's working that."

"Has the staff been questioned?" My gesture took in the women and the bartender.

"Bastarache is the boss. They're employees and know nothing. Oh. And the bartender says kiss his hairy French a.s.s."

Again, the blonde's gaze slid to us, darted off.

"Mind if I speak to the talent?" I asked.

"Looking for new dance moves?"

"Can we lose the bartender and the kimono sisters?"

Ryan gave me a questioning look.

"I've got a feeling the blonde might be a talker if company's not present."

"I'll ask Deschenes to bring the others to me."

"OK. Now play along."

Before Ryan could respond, I stepped back and snapped, "Stop telling me what to do. I'm not stupid, you know."

Ryan got it. "Hard to tell most of the time," he said, loud and very condescending.

"May I at least at least have my pictures?" I held out a haughty palm. have my pictures?" I held out a haughty palm.

"Suit yourself." Disgusted.

Ryan produced the envelope containing the prints, facial repros, and autopsy photos. s.n.a.t.c.hing it, I stomped across the room, yanked a chair, and threw myself down at a table.

The blonde had watched our "spat" with interest. Now her eyes were on the jar lid she was using as an ashtray.

After a brief exchange with Deschenes, Ryan disappeared through a rear door marked with a red electric sortie sortie sign. sign.

Deschenes collected the bartender, then crossed to the kimono twins. "Let's go, girls."

"Where?"

"I hear the joint's got a lovely green room."

"What about her?"

"Her turn's coming."

"Can we at least get dressed?" the redhead whined. "I'm freezing my a.s.s."

"Occupational hazard," Deschenes said. "Let's go."

Reluctantly, the women followed Deschenes and the bartender through the same exit Ryan had used.

While appearing to act in a huff, I'd chosen a table near enough to allow conversation with the blonde, but far enough away that my move wouldn't look like an approach.

"a.s.s wipe," I muttered under my breath.

"The male s.e.x is one long parade of a.s.s wipes," the woman said, jamming her cigarette into the jar lid.

"That one is the grand marshall."

The woman made a chuckling noise in her throat.

I turned to face her. Up close I could see that her hair was dark down close to her scalp. Dried makeup caked the corners of her eyes and mouth.

"That's funny." The woman picked a speck of tobacco from her tongue and flicked it. "You a cop?"

"Now that's that's funny." funny."

"Mr. Macho over there?"

I nodded. "Tough guy. Got a big big badge." badge."

"Officer a.s.s Wipe."

Now I chuckled. "Officer a.s.s Wipe. I like that."

"But not him."

"Jerk's supposed to be helping me."

The blonde didn't take the bait. I didn't push it.

Seemingly still fuming, I crossed my legs and began agitating one ankle.

The blonde lit another cigarette and inhaled deeply. Her fingers were nicotine yellow below fake pink nails.

We sat without talking for several minutes. She smoked. I tried to remember what I'd learned from Ryan about the art of interrogation.

I was about to take a chance when the blonde broke the silence.

"I been rousted so often I know the first name of every vice cop in town. Never encountered your Officer a.s.s Wipe."

"He's SQ, from Montreal."

"A bit off his patch."

"He's searching for some missing kids. One of them is my niece."

"These kids missing from here?"

"Maybe."

"If you're not on the job, why the tag-along privileges?"

"We've known each other a very long time."

"You doing him?"

"Not anymore," I said disdainfully.

"He give you that bruise?"

I shrugged.

The woman inhaled then blew smoke toward the ceiling in an inverted cone. I watched it drift and dissolve, backlit by neon over the bar.

"Your niece work here?" the blonde asked.

"She may have hooked up with the owner. Do you know him?"

"h.e.l.l, yeah, I know him. Worked for Mr. Bastarache off and on for twenty years. Mostly in Moncton."

"What's your take?"

"He pays OK. Doesn't let customers rough up his girls." Her lips pooched forward as she shook her head. "But I rarely see him."

That seemed odd with Bastarache living upstairs. I filed the comment for future consideration.

"My niece may have gotten herself involved in something," I said.

"Everyone's involved in something, sunshine."

"Something more than dancing."

The blonde didn't respond.

I lowered my voice. "I think she was doing p.o.r.n flicks."

"Gal's gotta earn a living."

"She was barely eighteen."

"What's this niece's name?"

"Kelly Sicard."

"What's yours?"

"Tempe."

"Celine." Again, the chuckling noise. "Not Dion, but not without flair of my own."

"Nice to meet you, Celine Not Dion."

"Ain't we a pair."

Celine sniffed, then backhanded her nose with a wrist. Reaching into my purse, I moved to her table and handed her a tissue.

"How long you been searching for this Kelly Sicard?"

"Almost ten years."

Celine looked at me as though I'd said Kelly had marched off to Gallipoli.

"The other kid's only been missing two weeks." I didn't mention Evangeline, who'd been missing over thirty years. "Her name is Phoebe Jane Quincy."

Celine took a very long drag, then the current b.u.t.t joined the others in the lid.