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There have been some intriguing leads. One person was arrested Nov. 13 and interrogated for several hours before being released. On the face of it, the man and his car seemed to match an eyewitness description of a damaged white Uno fleeing the tunnel with a large dog in the rear compartment. The suspect, an employee of a private security firm, regularly carried dogs in his car and had had his white Uno repainted red shortly after the accident. But investigators declared him "cleared of suspicion" after determining that the car did not match the physical evidence found at the accident site.
Did the investigators let their man go too hastily? The gendarmes' technical report, a copy of which has been obtained by TIME, declares that "the initial coat is compatible with the white traces visible on the Mercedes" and that the plastic bumper had a "composition compatible with the transparent, blackish traces visible on the Mercedes." The report said the left rear light did not appear to have been damaged (the mystery Fiat had left taillight fragments on the road), but that the body of the car had been repaired at the precise spot where the Mercedes would have clipped it.
--THE PAPARAZZI Nine photographers and one photo-agency motorcycle driver remain under investigation for involuntary homicide and nonassistance to persons in danger. They have consistently claimed that the Mercedes left them far behind and that they had no role in the accident. Though only one of them tried to call the emergency services, they all claim to have assumed help was on the way.
Eyewitness testimony conflicts sharply on the question of how close they were in pursuit of the Mercedes. But most witnesses, including the first two policemen on the scene, paint an unflattering picture of their antics in the wake of the accident, when they hovered around the car, insulted one another and vied for the best photo angles. Stephan confronted them with eight witnesses on June 5, but many discrepancies remain. Road tests last May proved that all the motorcycles and scooters involved in the chase were powerful enough to keep up with the Mercedes. Lawyers for the photographers argue that Paul's drunkenness and reckless driving caused the accident, and point to the Ritz's responsibility in allowing Paul to take the wheel. Lawyers for the Ritz-Fayed camp claim that the aggressive pursuit by the paparazzi was the main "causal factor" behind the speed and choice of itinerary leading to the notoriously dangerous Alma tunnel.
Sources close to the investigation say prosecutor Maude Coujard is not convinced that there is sufficient evidence to try any of the paparazzi, especially on the involuntary homicide charge. Stephan and fellow Judge Marie-Christine Devidal, however, appear to be considering charges against some of the photographers for involuntary homicide or the lesser charge of reckless endangerment.
Stephan may also widen the investigative net to include other paparazzi. He has requisitioned the mobile-phone records of all the defendants to see if they were in contact with other photographers who may have been on the scene that night. The judge also suspects that some of the paparazzi may know more about the Fiat Uno than they let on, and that its driver could possibly have been a photographer.