'Madame Blanc' Investigates a Historical "Blueprint"

Jean and Dom are excited to have an all-expenses-paid getaway to Malta as this week’s episode of The Madame Blanc Mysteries opens. It’s their first time away as a couple, and although it’s a working holiday for Jean — she’s been hired to examine what may be the original blueprint of the capital city, Valetta — she doesn’t think it’s going to be anything particularly complex. It’s a five–century–old mystery, after all. (We viewers get to see more of the real Malta, where the fictional town of Sainte-Victoire (which looks so very French) is filmed, and enjoy panoramic, dazzling shots of its capital, Valetta.)

Jean dons her Lucy Worsley historian hat and explains that the capital city dates from the sixteenth century. It was rebuilt after Jean de Valleta defeated an Islamic invasion, thus saving Europe and Christianity. But de Valleta died soon after his military victory, and Grand Master Pierre de Monte took over planning and building the new city. Now, a couple of antique dealers in Valetta claim they have the blueprint of de Valetta's original city plan, and they want Jean to validate it. If it’s genuine, it would be priceless and change the history of Malta. The most obvious difficulty of Jean's task is that there appear to be numerous "originals" around. (Blueprint count: One.)

But their plans for a romantic holiday are spoiled by an attack on their colleagues, Margot and Bobby, when they come to meet them at the airport. Jean and Dom hear a woman scream and see two people run back into the airport. Seconds later, a car speeds past them toward the exit, driving on the wrong side of the road and nearly hitting Dom. Jean and Dom find Margot and Bobby still in their car, both injured, Margot seriously, and clutching an empty leather tube.