The Bar at the End of the Universe

The first thing Javert notices, when Milliways appears to him this time, is the subtle change in the atmosphere. It's exactly the kind of thing an officer of the law encounters time and again - a quiet tension, a shift, the sense that something has gone very wrong.

In response, Javert's own demeanor changes. He has been, in the weeks since contacting the Paris prefecture about Valjean's false office in Montreuil-sur-mer, lighter than anyone in Montreuil-sur-mer had seen him to be before. Knowing that the justice Valjean believes himself to have escaped will claim him once more has been precious to Javert, allowing him to endure the inevitable wait as Paris sorts through the hundreds of letters it must deal with every day. It has also allowed him to quietly endure Valjean and to play the part of the humble inspector who has learned his place, which he must do to perfection. Valjean cannot get wind of anything that would prompt him to flee once more. But Javert is a born spy, an actor when the law requires him to be, and that much has come easily.

It is equally easy to cast away that lightness in favor of a more reserved and watchful approach. Something has gone wrong in Milliways. Javert may not have the authority to do anything about it, but some responses are involuntary, and there is nothing preventing him from gathering information if he can.



[OOC: Open till it falls off the front page.]

[OOM: "Monsieur le maire, that can't be done."]

It has been nearly two years for Javert since he set foot in Milliways, but he doesn't blink as he steps inside today. He is too overwhelmed, can scarcely breathe for the shock he's just experienced.

But shock is momentary, existing only long enough to give the senses time to adjust, and Javert's begins to dissipate with each step that brings him further inside, leaving room for thought:

How dare he? Who twists the law to absolve a criminal, and declares it justice at that?

Ah, but Javert knows who.

His hands are still trembling a bit from shock as he removes his hat and sets it on the Bar, but by the time he has finished unbuttoning his redingote, his motions have become the stiffly measured ones of a man whose temper - which he has always been able to keep in check - is beginning to rise.

Another criminal. That's who. A recidivist. An escapee.

Jean Valjean.



[tinytag: gilbert cocteau]

Inspector Javert is deep in thought as he opens the door to his rented room. He has long been suspicious of Monsieur Madeleine, who triggers the deeply rooted instinct that makes Javert the successful policeman that he is, but the incident of the runaway cart is troubling him on a brand-new level. The man's remarkable display of strength in raising the full weight of that cart on his own - it's the first solid, tangible proof Javert has had that M Madeleine is a legitimate cause for specific, rather than merely general, alarm. Before this he had only his own suspicions to go on, and while his instincts have never steered him wrong in these matters, a simple hunch is not enough to bring trouble down on a man who could, in theory, be innocent. The incident of the cart alone, even bolstered by M Madeleine's reactions to Javert's insinuations, is still not enough, but it's more of a starting point than Javert had just a few hours ago. There may yet be hope of finding irrefutable proof of what Javert has come to believe is M Madeleine's true identity.

So he is quite justifiably preoccupied as he crosses the threshold.

He is not, however, too preoccupied to notice that he has not arrived at his intended destination. He snaps instantly out of his reverie, his grip tightening on his walking stick beneath his redingote.

Unfortunately for Javert, France has no laws against replacing a man's room with a tavern, so he is at something of a loss as to how to proceed. An explanation of some kind would not go amiss, even if he didn't believe it.