The Map and the Territory (38 page)

I don’t normally thank anyone, because I gather little information, very little in comparison with, say, an American author. But in this case I was impressed and intrigued by the police, and it seemed to me necessary to do a bit more.

This time, I therefore have the pleasure of thanking Teresa Cremisi, who took all the necessary steps, as well as the principal private secretary Henry Moreau and the police commander Pierre Dieppois, who gave me a kind welcome at the quai des Orfèvres, and provided very useful information on their difficult profession.

I also thank Wikipedia (
http://fr.wikipedia.org
) and its contributors, whose entries I have occasionally used as a source of inspiration, notably those concerning the housefly, the town of Beauvais, and Frédéric Nihous.

It goes without saying that I felt free to modify the facts, and that the opinions expressed are exclusively those of the characters; in short, this is a work of fiction.

Michel Houellebecq is a poet, essayist, and novelist. He is the author of five novels,
Whatever, The Elementary Particles, Platform, The Possibility of an Island
, and
The Map and the Territory
, which won the Prix Goncourt. He lives in Ireland.