Pel Is Puzzled

by Mark Hebden

  ‘Please do that,’ Pel said.

  As he shook hands with Nosjean and left, Nosjean stared after him. He was a funny old bugger, he thought to himself, but, at least, unlike some funny old buggers, he knew his job, and did it well.

  Suddenly Nosjean realised he was surprisingly fond of Pel, especially when his frailties began to show. There had been a time when Nosjean, then a young sergeant who blushed whenever he was addressed, had been terrified of him, but over the months he had come to realise that, despite his sharp tongue, Pel was scrupulously fair. He came down like a ton of bricks on mistakes such as Misset made but he was never short on praise when someone pulled off something worthwhile. What was more, unlike some, he didn’t claim the praise himself. A lot of praise had gone Darcy’s way and a lot had come to Nosjean. Despite his uncertain temper, Pel was a good man to work for, a man who overcame his own uncertainties to behave with utter confidence when he was doing his job. Why shouldn’t he go home feeling like the next President of the Republic? Why shouldn’t he take Madame de Saint-Bruie out to lunch? Why shouldn’t he take her to bed, for that matter? He’d got a gleam in his eye and, judging by what Nosjean knew of Madame de Saint-Bruie, she probably had one, too. It would, he decided, probably do the poor old bastard good.

  The following day, Nosjean drove down to Chagnay. Mijo Lehmann greeted him with a wide smile. Madame de Saint-Bruie wasn’t in the shop.

  ‘She’s been off colour for the last day or two,’ the girl explained.

  ‘Sick?’

  ‘Oh, no. Moping chiefly. Between you and me I think some man’s let her down. She likes men, you know. She liked your inspector.’

  ‘I think he likes her,’ Nosjean grinned. ‘He’s hoping to come down at the weekend and take her out to lunch. Think she’d go?’

  ‘She’d probably jump at the chance. I think she’s had a big disappointment. He’s probably just what she needs.’

  He persuaded her to shut the shop for half an hour and took her to a bar round the corner for a coffee and to arrange for dinner that evening. Everything was going very smoothly, he felt.

  The man on the next table, who was reading France Soir, was looking oddly at Nosjean, and Mijo pointed out that he was looking at the picture of Nosjean which accompanied the story of the triumph in Paris.

  ‘I think he’s seen your picture,’ she whispered. ‘I have a copy myself. I bought it to show my friends.’

  Nosjean borrowed the newspaper and they opened it at the picture, Nosjean talking loudly enough to confirm for the man on the next table that he was indeed one of the heroes of the episode. Eventually the man put down his paper and leaned over to touch Nosjean’s shoulder.

  ‘You this type in the paper?’ he asked.

  Nosjean blushed and modestly admitted that he was. ‘Good for you, mon brave,’ the man said. ‘We need more like that.’

  Pink with pleasure, Nosjean finished his drink and escorted Mijo back to the shop, even managing to snatch a kiss behind one of the tapestries that separated the office from the front.

  ‘I’m terribly proud of you, you know,’ Mijo said warmly. She opened the paper and spread it on a battered-looking escritoire. ‘Everybody’s talking about it.’

  Nosjean studied the paper proudly. He was there with Pel and Darcy in the main story and even a second time with Quiriton in the smaller story on page 2 about the châteaux robberies. Everybody seemed to be in the paper, in fact – Phillippe le Bozec who’d started it all; De Franzecky; Malat; Lambov, the Russian attaché; the man they’d known as Rambot; Pissarro; Cormon. All lined up in a veritable rogues’ gallery. Even Jacqmin, the artist, was there for his part in the affair. It didn’t matter much now whether he’d done the drawings for the châteaux robbers or not. They’d got him in jail, anyway, and if he had been involved, at least he wouldn’t be around to trouble art connoisseurs for a long time.

  All the same—

  Nosjean was just wishing they could have nabbed the expert whose advice had encouraged the robbers when Mijo spoke.

  ‘I’ve met that one,’ she said, pointing.

  Nosjean came to earth. ‘Which one?’

  ‘That one. Jacqmin. He came in here.’

  Nosjean sat up. ‘In where?’

  ‘In here. In this shop.’

  ‘He did? When?’

  ‘Oh, more than once. Not lately though.’

  Nosjean was beginning to grow excited. ‘When was the last time?’ he asked.

  ‘About a fortnight ago.’

  ‘What did he talk about?’

  ‘Furniture.’

  ‘What sort of furniture?’

  ‘Old furniture.’

  Nosjean had almost forgotten his picture in the paper and Marie-Joséphine Lehmann’s admiration, even the kiss she’d given him. Everybody’s friendly neighbourhood artist, Pel had called Jacqmin. Into anything and everything – honest and dishonest. They’d suspected all along there’d been an artist involved in the robberies. Of course there had! It had been Jacqmin! As Pel had said, the news got around. Cormon had put Rambot on to him, and probably Rambot had put who ever was running the châteaux jobs on to him. Or the other way round.

  ‘Did he meet anyone here?’ he asked. ‘I mean had he come by some sort of arrangement? He must have had an accomplice, an expert to guide him. Was there anyone else in the shop when he arrived? – someone he could talk to?’

  ‘Only me and Madame de Saint-Bruie.’

  Nosjean frowned. ‘Only you and—’ he stopped dead, a sudden uneasy feeling gripping him ‘—and Madame de Saint-Bruie?’

  Mijo smiled. ‘I think he was a friend of hers,’ she said. ‘He seemed to be trying to learn about furniture. He didn’t know much about it but he liked it and she liked to take him off with her when she visited the châteaux classés. She was trying to teach him about it, I think.’

  Nosjean drew a deep deep breath. It was painful enough to hurt his chest. ‘They don’t deserve to own such beauty,’ she had said.

  ‘This Jacqmin,’ he said slowly, remembering the slim young man with the mop of wild hair Quiriton had seen as he had driven past his sub-station, the wild hair that could in the shadows have been dark, blond, mousy – or red. ‘Did they go in her car?’

  ‘Yes, of course.’ Marie-Joséphine was looking at Nosjean in alarm. ‘Are you all right?’

  ‘Yes, I’m all right.’ Nosjean spoke with difficulty. ‘What is it? A yellow Passat Estate?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘With dents in it? At the front and rear and along the side?’

  ‘Yes. She’s a dreadful driver and sometimes when she’s had a brandy too many at lunch time she runs into—’ the girl looked at Nosjean, puzzled. ‘How did you know?’

  Nosjean hardly heard her. He was thinking sadly of Evariste Clovis Désiré Pel. It was all too clear, all the affected help that would put them off the scent, the constant references to the expert they sought as ‘he’, as if he were male, all the apparent interest in Pel that would deflect suspicion.

  ‘Oh, no,’ he said softly to himself. ‘Oh, dear God, no!’

  Note on ‘Chief Inspector Pel’ Series

  According to the New York Times, Chief Inspector Evariste Clovis Désiré Pel, of the Brigade Criminelle of the Police Judiciaire, in Burgundy, France is ‘in his professional work, a complete paragon. He is sharp, incisive, honest, and a leader of men and everything else a successful cop should be.’ Outside of work, however, ‘he is a milquetoast, scared of his gorgon of a housekeeper, frightened of women, doubtful of his own capabilities.’

  In fact, his morose attitude has been said to add ‘a piquancy’ to the reporting of his adventures. His general complaints about all those around him are mollified a little when, in the course of the series, he marries - but readers are left to judge that and the events surrounding it for themselves.

  One of the delights of the books is their setting - Burgundy - and Pel is ‘Gallic’ to the core. Moreover, his complex character makes a refreshin
g change from many of the detectives to be found in modern crime. Solutions to his cases are found without endless and tedious forensic and his relationships are very much based in real life.

  Order of ‘Pel’ Series Titles

  These titles can be read as a series, or randomly as stand-alone novels

  1. Death Set To Music Also as: Pel & The Parked Car 1979

  2. Pel & The Faceless Corpse 1979

  3. Pel Under Pressure 1980

  4. Pel Is Puzzled 1981

  5. Pel & The Bombers 1982

  6. Pel & The Staghound 1940

  7. Pel & The Pirates 1984

  8. Pel & The Predators 1984

  9. Pel & The Prowler 1985

  10. Pel & The Paris Mob 1986

  11. Pel Among The Pueblos 1987

  12. Pel & The Faceless Corpse 1987

  13. Pel & The Touch Of Pitch 1987

  14. Pel & The Picture Of Innocence 1988

  15. Pel & The Party Spirit 1989

  16. Pel & The Missing Persons 1990

  17. Pel & The Promised Land 1991

  18. Pel & The Sepulchre Job 1992

  Further titles are available post 1993 See Juliet Hebden (author)

  Synopses of ‘Pel’ Series Titles

  Published by House of Stratus

  These can be read as a series, or as stand-alone novels

  Pel & The Faceless Corpse

  An unidentified, faceless corpse is discovered near a memorial dedicated to villagers killed by the Nazis. Pel is on the case searching for a way to name the faceless corpse. The trail leads him from Burgundy to the frontiers of France, aided by a canny Sergeant Darcy and the shy, resourceful Sergeant Nosjean. Follow the irascible, quirky Chief Inspector on a road to solving the mystery of the faceless corpse.

  Death Set To Music (Pel & The Parked Car)

  The severely battered body of a murder victim turns up in provincial France and the sharp-tongued Chief Inspector Pel must use all his Gallic guile to understand the pile of clues building up around him, until a further murder and one small boy make the elusive truth all too apparent.

  Pel Under Pressure

  The irascible Chief Inspector Pel is hot on the trail of a crime syndicate in this fast-paced, gritty crime novel, following leads on the mysterious death of a student and the discovery of a corpse in the boot of a car. Pel uncovers a drug-smuggling ring within the walls of Burgundy’s university, and more murders guide the Chief Inspector to Innsbruck where the mistress of a professor awaits him.

  Pel Is Puzzled

  New varieties of crime are popping up everywhere in Inspector Pel’s beloved Burgundy. Raids on a historical chateau and the surrounding churches have led to the plunder of priceless treasures. But when theft becomes murder, Pel is called to uncover the true nature of who’s behind the crime wave. The case leads him from Paris to Scotland Yard and a climax involving the famous Tour de France cycle race.

  Pel & The Bombers

  When five murders disturb his sleepy Burgundian city on Bastille night, Chief Inspector Pel has his work cut out for him. A terrorist group is at work and the President is due shortly on a State visit. Pel’s problems with his tyrannical landlady must be put aside while he catches the criminals.

  Pel & The Staghound

  Violence, the mugging of gay men, and the disappearance of a wealthy local business man, Rensselaer, troubles Chief Inspector Pel who is baited by his superiors in Paris clamouring for more teamwork, technology, and sociologists. What remains is a harrowing question - has Rensselaer been kidnapped or murdered? Rensselaer’s family don’t seem to mind. Only Archer, his favourite staghound, is anxious for his missing master.

  Pel & The Pirates

  As Chief Inspector Pel honeymoons with his long-time love Mme Genevieve Faivre-Perret in St Ives, a local taxi driver is murdered on their first night. More puzzling is his attempts to reach Pel before the brutal killing and his message is one of murder, arson, and smuggling. But, can Pel break the silence surrounding the Islanders, and catch the killer?

  Pel & The Predators

  There has been a sudden spate of murders around Burgundy where Pel has just been promoted to Chief Inspector. The irascible policeman receives a letter bomb, and these combined events threaten to overturn Pel’s plans to marry Mme Faivre-Perret. Can Pel keep his life, his love and his career by solving the murder mysteries? Can Pel stave off the predators?

  Pel & The Prowler

  The irascible Chief Inspector Pel basks in the warm glow of his marriage until a series of young women are found strangled, with macabre messages left next to them. Pel breaks his idyllic life in honeymoon heaven and begins an investigation among a student community. What ensues is a deadly game of cat and mouse.

  Pel & The Paris Mob

  In his beloved Burgundy, Chief Inspector Pel finds himself incensed by interference from Paris, but it isn’t the flocking descent of rival policemen that makes Pel’s blood boil - crimes are being committed by violent gangs from Paris and Marseilles. Pel unravels the riddle of the robbery on the road to Dijon airport as well as the mysterious shootings in an iron foundry. If that weren’t enough, the Chief Inspector must deal with the misadventures of the delightfully handsome Serjeant Misset and his red-haired lover.

  Pel Among The Pueblos

  A brief spell among the Pueblos, and a shoot-out under a moonless sky brings Pel his reward when the redoubtable Chief Inspector chases leads on a double shooting of two ageing crooks all the way to Mexico. This is Hebden’s eleventh novel in a series that delights and entertains a growing number of Pel fans.

  Pel & The Faceless Corpse

  An unidentified, faceless corpse is discovered near a memorial dedicated to villagers killed by the Nazis. Pel is on the case searching for a way to name the faceless corpse. The trail leads him from Burgundy to the frontiers of France, aided by a canny Sergeant Darcy and the shy, resourceful Sergeant Nosjean. Follow the irascible, quirky Chief Inspector on a road to solving the mystery of the faceless corpse.

  Pel & The Touch Of Pitch

  When Chief Inspector Pel accepts a drinks invitation at the house of a big shot, Deputy Claude Barclay, he doesn’t realise how compromised he will become by his acceptance. Shortly afterwards, Barclay is kidnapped; the partially decomposed body of a retired soldier is discovered in a wood and as series of art forgeries need investigating. Pel must tie all three together and solve a scandal, which has become the talk of France.

  Pel & The Picture Of Innocence

  An extravagant, big time gangland criminal is ambushed and assassinated; the only witness a ten-year-old-boy. Chief Inspector Pel is called in to investigate the killing, which spirals into an international investigation when a respected spinster is bludgeoned to death and some curious links begin to clink into place.

  Pel & The Party Spirit

  Brigade Criminelle is mobilised when a fatal stabbing, an anticipated delivery of lethal drugs from Marseilles, and the discovery of a thirty-year-old corpse in an ancient turreted tower in the town of Puyceldome coincide with a frantic search for two murderous hitchhikers, all on Chief Inspector Pel’s patch. And as folk-dancers, stilt-walkers, fire-eaters, and jugglers lurch through a night of carnival, Pel stalks his prey.

  Pel & The Missing persons

  A masked gang rob a supermarket at Talant, a home-made bomb is found at the local airport, and the body of an old man is found on the motorway near Mailly-les-Temps, and what is the connection between a fearful lawyer and the fatal stabbing of a Scottish tourist. On top of all this, Daniel Darcy, trusted deputy to Chief Inspector Pel has been suspended on suspicion of taking bribes.

  Pel & the Promised Land

  The twelfth title in the Inspector Pel Mystery series, this is a story of Pel’s beloved Burgundy as the Promised Land. Fires are breaking out all over the province, from small houses to woodland and when a local farmer’s flock of sheep is poisoned, a tray of valuable rings stolen from a local jewellers, and the body of a woman is found, Inspec
tor Pel has his work cut out for him in this exhilarating murder mystery.

  Pel & The Sepulchre Job

  A dead man is found floating in a canal, his wallet revealing a strange symbolic drawing, and a hostage drama unfolds at the Banque Credit Rural, where not only millions in francs and jewellery are at stake but also lives. On the other side of town, a stunning art student switches masterpieces for copies. Somehow, the crimes fit like pieces of a jigsaw so Chief Inspector Pel is faced with a challenge of a lifetime and responds with true Gallic guile.

  For subsequent Pel titles see Juliet Hebden (author)

  www.houseofstratus.com