Name: Gabriel Lecouvreur, alias “Le Poulpe” (The Octopus) Distinguishing features: Shoes. Soft white leather or coarse red canvas, what matters most is feeling good in them. (Previous owners are normally out of the running.) Occupation: Neither cop nor detective. Occasionally, publicist. Wages: Paid in flesh. Love life: Cheryl, as long as he gets home in time. (The hot-blooded hairdresser digs a little stockroom salsa when The Octopus is on the road.) Known hangouts: Places of religious and fashion worship, waterfronts and urban dives. Favorite quotation: If you fuck in the henhouse, you’re gonna break eggs. Name: Cheryl Occupation: Hairdresser Specialty: Bangs Tendencies: Sexual. Mainly linguistic, occasionally manual. Favorite reading: Princesses of the World, Couples. Hobbies: Shooting, cartons, window-shopping Motto: Two in the hand are worth one in the bush.