"I hear she's been very sternly told by the Security forces here that she shouldn't eat any sailors, or indeed other people," the gentleman says. "But she'd like to, as far as I can tell."

Pause.

"And yes, the police. You know, in other countries and other times as yours, the police and other professional crime-fighters are regarded very highly and are sometimes considered heroes. France is quite unique in the disdain and ridicule in which the public holds the flics. The roman policier never caught on the way it did in other countries, and that persists to my time -- which is the year 2013, by the way."