First entrance

[withahumanface]

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.