* Man, your God is here (Lom being a foreshortening of L’homme, man).
Paul Vermeiren
As he had done every morning for a year, Paul Vermeiren glanced at his agency’s brass plaque as he walked under the porch of 8b Rue Notre-Dame-de-Bonne-Nouvelle. The day he had come to look at the premises, the name had imposed itself: Agence Bonne Nouvelle, the Good News Agency. It had not been a mistake. The gentle irony lurking in the address inspired confidence: a good many clients had been susceptible to it. He walked across the paved courtyard, went up staircase A and entered the second floor apartment without having to unlock it. The layout of the rooms was ideal: a small hall which acted as a waiting room and led to two independent offices, his and that of his associate, Julien Grillet. A third room, which had a kitchenette and a shower leading off it, served as a pied-à-terre for Paul when the demands of an enquiry meant he could not get back to the country, which happened on average twice a week. He put his leather jacket over the arm of a chair and headed towards the kitchen, where Julien was making some coffee.
“So, how was Saint-Malo?”
“Didn’t have time to see,” said Paul.
“And the work?”
“It went well, a bit tedious towards the end.”
While he listened to the messages on the answering machine, Julien told him about his weekend of total inertia. Paul went to finish his cup of coffee in his office, eager to get to work: writing a report on his mission in Saint-Malo – the client had insisted on having it that very evening. The time had come to go back over his notes, to decipher some which were now illegible and to transform them into something clear. He switched on his computer, opened a new document in the Reports folder and gave it the same name as the client: Leterrier.
The man had contacted him two weeks earlier regarding his wife, who was a manager in a large company of estate agents. She had been complaining for three months that she had to keep going over to their Saint-Malo branch to sort out appalling problems with the management. One weekend in three she would ask her husband to bear with her and be patient. Instead of which, the husband was sending Paul Vermeiren on the job.
Confidential
Not to be divulged to any third party.
SURVEILLANCE REPORT
Purpose: Surveillance of Mme Elizabeth LETERRIER (indicated by colour photograph) on Friday, 6 May from the Immotan Agency, 4 Place Gasnier-Duparc, 35400 Saint-Malo.
0700 hrs:
Mission begins (depart Paris, arriving in Saint-Malo at 1015 hrs).
1130 hrs:
Set up surveillance equipment for 4 Place Gasnier-Duparc in Saint-Malo.
1425 hrs:
Mme Leterrier arrives in her car, which she parks in the company car park. She goes into the Immotan building. She is wearing a grey jacket and has a black handbag.
1650 hrs:
Mme Leterrier comes out of Immotan alone. In the car park she opens the boot of her car and takes out a brown suitcase. Then she goes on foot to the Lucky café, on the Place Jean-Moulin, and sits at a table on the terrace (see photograph No. 1).
1705 hrs:
A grey Safrane, registration 84 LK 35, parks a few yards from Mme Leterrier’s table. A man of about fifty gets out, joins Mme Leterrier and sits down at her table. He wears a grey suit and sunglasses. He is fairly heavily built, about five foot ten or eleven and has short brown hair.
1710 hrs:
Mme Leterrier has a cup of coffee with this man, and he drinks a pastis. He puts his hand over Mme Leterrier’s hand several times.
1725 hrs:
They both get into the Safrane and drive a short distance before stopping in the Rue des Cordiers. They buy some things from a greengrocer and in an 8 till 8 mini-market.
1740 hrs:
They leave in the vehicle.
1750 hrs:
They drive to a block of flats called “Mandragore”, 52 Boulevard Henri-Dunant at Saint-Servan-sur-Mer, and park in the car park. They walk past a garden and go up an external staircase, which leads to an apartment on the first floor of the second building (see photograph No. 2). Mme Leterrier is carrying her brown suitcase. The name Bernard NANTY is written on the letter box which corresponds to the apartment.
NB: There are four windows from that apartment which look out over the Rue de la Pie. Surveillance continues in that street.
1810 hrs:
Mme Leterrier’s figure appears in one of these windows. She is wearing a dressing-gown and has a towel twisted round her head. She draws the curtain.
2140 hrs:
No light from the apartment can now be seen from the Rue de la Pie.
2145 hrs:
End of surveillance and installation of the “witnesses” (pebbles) under the Safrane’s wheels.
2200 hrs:
End of mission.
To stretch his legs a bit, Paul went to make some tea and offered Julien a cup.
“It’ll kill my appetite. Why don’t we go and have some lunch instead?”
Surprised, Paul glanced at his watch: it was already 1 o’clock.
“Haven’t got time. Bring me back a sandwich, tuna and salad, and some sparkling water.”
“Oh, a Monsieur Martinez rang, you can get hold of him at his shop this afternoon.”
“Thanks.”
“What is this shop?”
“It’s a sweetshop. He wants to check whether he’s been swindled by a manufacturer.”
Paul would deal with him after doing this report, which he had to finish before his meeting at 4 o’clock.
Confidential
Not to be divulged to any third party.
SURVEILLANCE REPORT
Purpose: Surveillance of Mme LETERRIER on Saturday, 7 May, from the Rue de la Pie side of the Mandragore apartment building, Saint-Servan.
0700 hrs:
Mission begins.
0730 hrs:
Surveillance equipment set up on the Rue de la Pie side of the Mandragore building. The curtains are still drawn in the apartment. The Safrane is parked in the same place as the previous evening. The “witnesses” are still under the vehicle’s wheels, indicating that it has not been moved.
NB: Information established from the concierge: the man in his fifties seen the previous day with Mme Leterrier is indeed M. Bernard NANTY, the official tenant of the apartment under surveillance.
1000 hrs:
The blind over the apartment’s bay window is opened.
M. Nanty stands looking out of the window drinking a cup of coffee. He is stripped to the waist.
Mme Leterrier’s figure can be seen in a navy blue dressing gown.
1045 hrs:
M. Nanty and Mme Leterrier come out of the apartment and get into the Safrane. She is wearing jeans and a pink jacket, and is holding a sports bag. He is wearing jeans, a black T-shirt and sandals.
1050 hrs:
They leave the apartment block.
1110 hrs:
The Safrane stops beside the beach known as L’Andemer on the Saint-Briac road. Mme Leterrier gets out of the car and comes round to the driver’s side of the car where M. Nanty is still sitting in the driver’s seat with the window open. They speak for a moment (see photograph No. 3), seem to hesitate about something, then Mme Leterrier gets back into the car and they drive off again.
1120 hrs:
The car stops beside an almost deserted beach just over a mile from the woods known as the Bois Bizet. They sit down on a large blanket on the sand.
Mme Leterrier is wearing a black one-piece swimsuit. They kiss each other on the mouth several times.
1150 hrs:
Mme Leterrier and M. Nanty go for a swim.
1205 hrs:
They are sitting on the blanket. Mme Leterrier’s head is resting on M. Nanty’s shoulder. They are looking out to sea.
1220 hrs:
They get dressed and leave in the Safrane.
1245 hrs:
They park the Safrane in the Rue de Chartres in Saint-Malo.
>
1300 hrs:
They go into a men’s clothes shop. M. Nanty tries on several shirts with Mme Leterrier watching. They do not buy anything, and leave.
1325 hrs:
They go into the Crêperie Mitaine on the Rue des Grands-Degrés, and sit down at a table for lunch (see photograph No. 4).
1450 hrs:
They come out, go back to the car and leave.
1510 hrs:
The car drives up to the Mandragore building, and Mme Leterrier and M. Nanty go up to the latter’s apartment. They draw the curtains at the windows overlooking the Rue de la Pie.
1615 hrs:
Mme Leterrier leaves the first floor apartment alone. She unlocks a shed, takes out a bicycle and rides off.
1635 hrs:
Mme Leterrier locks her bicycle to a post on the Rue de Chartres. She goes into a chemist and comes back out with a paper bag in her hand. Then she goes back to the men’s clothes shop and buys one of the shirts previously tried on by M. Nanty.
1650 hrs:
She leaves on her bicycle.
1655 hrs:
She stops in a street full of shops close to the Place Vauban, and buys some vegetables and a joint of meat.
1710 hrs:
She leaves on her bicycle.
1725 hrs:
She goes back to the Mandragore building, puts the bicycle away and goes back to M. Nanty’s apartment.
1830 hrs:
Mme Leterrier appears from time to time in the windows overlooking the Rue de la Pie, particularly in the room on the extreme left-hand side, which is clearly the kitchen.
1915 hrs:
M. Nanty comes out of the apartment to go to the communal cellars and comes back up with a case of wine.
2110 hrs:
M. Nanty closes the shutters of the three main rooms and puts on the lights.
2230 hrs:
End of surveillance. All the lights are out.
2300 hrs:
End of mission.
He re-read the report and corrected a couple of words, imagining Rodier leaning over his right shoulder. Paul often thought of him now that he was fending for himself, and felt guilty for not getting in touch with him, asking for news of him or telling him his own news. He hated the idea of appearing ungrateful to someone who had spared nothing when he was training him for this madman’s profession, saving him from countless pitfalls, all things that Paul could now fully evaluate and appreciate. Rodier could not understand what extraordinary reason Thierry might have had for refusing the offer of taking over his agency and its client base. Practically gift wrapped. He had been prepared to do as much as possible to make the handover smooth, negotiating the lease, warning regular clients, finding an associate, and much more.
“Do you really want to start from scratch?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t understand, but it’s your decision.”
“Thanks, boss.”
“. . . Will you let me know how you’re getting on?”
“Of course.”
That was the last time they had spoken. A week later he became Paul Vermeiren; his remorse at having to let his former mentor down was still eating at him today.
Paul blew between the letters on his keyboard to get rid of the crumbs. If he carried on at this rate, he could finish his report before the 4 o’clock meeting and have a coffee in the little place opposite.
SURVEILLANCE REPORT
Purpose: Surveillance of Mme Leterrier on Sunday, 8 May, starting on the Rue de la Pie side of the Mandragore apartment block, Saint-Servan.
0700 hrs:
Start of mission.
0730 hrs:
Surveillance equipment set up on the Rue de la Pie side of the Mandragore building. The shutters are still closed.
1130 hrs:
Mme Leterrier opens the shutters to the main room.
From the Rue de la Pie, M. Nanty can be seen to put his arms round Mme Leterrier from behind her. He slides his hand under her nightdress at breast height. He kisses Mme Leterrier’s neck for about a minute.
1510 hrs:
A delivery boy from RAPID’ZA delivers a pizza to M. Nanty’s apartment.
1715 hrs:
They come out of the apartment and get into the Safrane. Mme Leterrier is carrying her suitcase.
1740 hrs:
M. Nanty drops Mme Leterrier by her car at the Immotan Agency’s car park. She puts her suitcase in the boot. They hug each other for several minutes and then part. The cars set off in opposite directions.
1750 hrs:
End of surveillance.
2200 hrs:
End of mission.
Invoicing
Friday, 6 May: 0700–2200 hrs = 15 hours
Saturday, 7 May: 0700–2300 hrs = 16 hours
Sunday, 8 May: 0700–2200 hrs = 15 hours
Total number of hours : 46 hours @ 300 francs, making a total of 13,800 francs (net)
EXPENSES (hotel, meals, car hire, fuel, various) = 3,225 francs (net)
Four photographs = 1,600 francs (net)
NET TOTAL = 18,625 francs
VAT @ 19.6% = 3,650.50 francs
TOTAL INC VAT = 22,275.50 francs
Back on that Friday evening, the lights in Nanty’s apartment had hardly had time to go out before Paul had rung Jacques Leterrier to tell him he felt that what he had seen was enough. But the husband had insisted that Paul describe hour by hour the weekend that his wife spent with her lover, supported by photographs. With cases like this, men and women alike, they always want to see their rival’s face. Most of the time they find them unbelievably ugly.
Paul Vermeiren read his report through once more before printing it out. He anticipated his client’s reaction to each sentence. Leterrier was prepared to stomach quite a lot: the urgency of the first few moments, the little love nest that they hardly set foot out of, the towel in her hair, even the nice supper which she prepared lovingly, demonstrating an appalling everydayness. One detail was going to hurt much more than all the rest: the shirt. The shirt that Mme Leterrier went and bought secretly to surprise her lover. The sort of present a woman gives her man. Paul could still remember the look on her face as she came out of the shop, how much she wanted to please him. On her way back, alone on her bike, she had sung to herself, happy, with her face in the wind and a gift-wrapped package in her basket.
Paul concentrated on this episode and the way in which to describe it in his report. All things considered, the shirt might not need mentioning; there was certainly no risk of it changing any aspect of Leterrier’s decisions. He cut out the escapade on the bike as if it had never existed. It was one tiny little event in the private life of two complete strangers, and he had the power to erase it, to give it back to the couple who had lived it.
Then his eye came to rest briefly on:
1205 hrs:
They are sitting on the blanket. Mme Leterrier’s head is resting on M. Nanty’s shoulder. They are looking out to sea.
Paul remembered this image that he had not wanted to photograph. The lovers had sat silent and motionless for a long time, gazing at the waves on the incoming tide. It was not the silence of an old couple, but a perfect moment of harmony, something that went far beyond affection, sex and sin, expressed something inexpressible, an inner happiness that was so peaceful and so shared that it needed nothing. The account Paul gave of it in one sentence interpreted none of all that, but kept something of the exceptional nature of that moment. He printed the text out as it stood, and put it in an envelope. It was ten to four, too late to stop off at the café. He made the most of the little break to ring back M. Martinez and arrange a meeting. Someone rang the bell; Paul opened the door to a young woman of about thirty whom he had never seen before, and he showed her into his office.
“I have a chain of three sandwich bars which do a lot of home deliveries. I’ve had cheques from two clients which were tampered with after they were presented. The first one, for 345 francs, was changed to 62
,345 with an automatic machine – do you know the sort of thing I mean?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Right. The second one was altered by hand. The police made some enquiries, and we now know that the cheques were endorsed by two individuals who opened accounts in false names and withdrew virtually all the money in cash. I want to know whether the cheques were stolen from one of my letter boxes or whether I should suspect someone who works with me. That would be the worst possible scenario.”
Paul made a few notes but he looked the woman right in the eye. Rodier had warned him to be wary of new faces.
“When you start your own agency, don’t automatically believe everything your first clients tell you. You’ll be so pleased to see any! Watch out for a natural tendency to empathize just because it’s you they’ve come to.”
Rodier was referring particularly to jobs involving people’s feelings. Adultery cases were by far the most irrational and required the most delicate handling. In one of his very first jobs, had the husband not asked Paul to follow, not his wife, but her lover?
“I want to know what he does with his day, who he sees.”
“Can I ask you why?”
“I want you to prove to me that he’s a prick.”
Paul waited, perplexed.
Someone Else Page 18