Merry and her nephew Sam travel all the way to Paris only to discover the two French Fauteuils (chairs) she wants to sell are not particularly valuable.
No matter what Merry’s arguments, the antique dealer is not swayed; however, on their way out, they are approached by a young man (Aldo Huxley) who tells them another antique dealer – a Monsieur Vautour – might be interested in the chairs. It isn’t until they leave that we, the reader, realizes something nefarious might be going on.
When they arrive at Vautour’s, Merry is like a kid in a candy store. After a successful buying spree, Merry and Sam head back to the hotel, where Merry finally dives into a report on the chairs a friend sent her. It seems back in 1904, a woman in black stole valuables from the St. Louis World’s Fair and hid them in a French Fauteuil chair. Jailed, she was never able to retrieve them. Realizing their chairs may hold the loot, Merry and Sam head to where the chairs are secured in the hotel, only to find they have been vandalized. Both have a good idea who might be the culprit and show up at M. Vautour’s main gallery the next morning to find his boss (M. Aniuolh) murdered.
Enter Inspector Vailant: an overbearing, egotistical detective who fancies himself a profiler. His methods are straight out of a 1960s detective movie. All the main suspects are held at the gallery which include Merry and Sam, M. Vautour, Louise (Vautour’s daughter) Aldo Huxley (Louise’s boyfriend), and Pam, (M. Anouilh’s assistant). Observing his methods, they’re convinced they’ll be the ones to solve this murder.
This issue is all about the characters and their possible motivations. The interview process feels a bit like a data dump, but I love the questionnaires they fill out. Each one adds a side of their personality that you don’t get during the interrogations and can be quite humorous. Pam has the most interesting backstory and could easily have her own spinoff series.
This is a fun romp, but I look forward to having more time spent on Sam and Merry since they have the most developed relationship. It’s clear they absolutely trust each other and have each other’s backs. I’d also like to see more of their detective process, but perhaps we’ll see that in issue three.
Creative Team: Margie Kraft Kindt and Matt Kindt (writers), Matt Kindt (artist), Sophia Hilmes (letterer)
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
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