by Gerald Jay
Georgette glanced at the clock. She’d skip breakfast—wasn’t hungry anyhow—and make herself coffee at work. As Georgette got on her bicycle, a small black dog came racing toward her—tail wagging and galloping at a crazy angle—her bark a shriek as she fell down and picked herself up again. The scraggly chickens ran for their lives.
“Tais-toi, Mimi.” The dog gave a whimpering cry as if she’d been kicked in the face, and dragged herself away. Mimi was blind.
Georgette raced away. The sunflower-fresh morning air filling her lungs helped her head, and she felt much better pedaling past her father’s fields as she tore along the road to L’Ermitage. There wasn’t a car to be seen, and she sprinted all the way to the turnoff, where she quickly slowed down and shifted gears. No problem for her Peugeot PX-10, which had eighteen speeds and Mafac “competition” hubs and brakes. Georgette was a triathlete and once had Olympic dreams before she was kicked off the national team. But that was bad luck and ancient history. She attacked the steep dirt road that led to the house as if it were an alpine stage of the Tour de France, her muscular legs churning up the hill like pistons. Though breathing hard, she had scarcely more fat on her thighs than the steel frame of her bike and had barely broken a sweat by the time she got to the top. Not bad, she thought, pleased with herself.
Propping up her bike with its trademark arc-en-ciel rings against the house next to the other Peugeot’s rampant lion, Georgette wondered where Ali was. She didn’t see his Beetle. Glancing up at the house, she noticed that the white shutters were still closed. They must have gotten home late again last night. She’d like to have a vacation like that. Nothing to do but eat, sleep, and screw around, instead of wiping up other people’s slop. She cleaned for them twice a week and made extra for doing the laundry. The pay was good, the work wasn’t much, and they were nice people. As jobs go, she wasn’t complaining. But one of these days … she told herself. She was looking forward to getting paid today and buying a new dress.
Georgette went up to the door and was surprised to find it locked. They had never before bothered to lock the door or she would have asked for a key. Irritated, she marched around the house to the back door, and luckily it was open. She pushed up her sleeves and in her usual no-nonsense fashion got down to work at once, opening the shutters in the living room and airing out the cigar smoke. They had been drinking. On the dining room table were four glasses and a bottle of wine that was almost empty. Taking the tray from the oak sideboard, she cleaned up the table and emptied the ashtray on top of the scraps of food left over on the plate, which she piled along with the silverware, bottle, and wineglasses onto the tray. It struck her as odd that only one of them had had anything to eat. With foreigners you never knew what to expect, but maybe that’s what she liked the most about them.
Lifting the heavy metal tray, Georgette carried it into the kitchen where, without warning, she felt dizzy and all the strength seemed to drain out of her arms, her hands. The tray slipped from her fingers, clanging and splintering glass as it struck the bloody tile floor. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Blood streaked and splattered on the windows, the walls, the ceiling, and pooled around the bound and twisted body on the floor. His eyes wide open, Monsieur Reece stared sightlessly at the blood on the ceiling, his head tipped back as if straining to see it and his gaping throat ripped from ear to ear. Where were the others? His wife? His friends? How could they have slept through such butchery?
Georgette tried to scream, but the air caught in her throat; trapped there the choked spasmodic moans she made came in guttural waves. Unable to breathe, she felt herself shaking uncontrollably. The thought of staying in that nightmare house another second was unbearable. She had to get out of there and find help. Call the police. Leaping on her bike, Georgette fled down the hill, pedaling frantically faster and faster, her whirling feet a blur.
PART TWO
13
PLACE MESTRAILLAT, TAZIAC
After listening to the evening news on France 2, Mazarelle turned off the TV as if he were slamming a door. The reporters had nothing new beyond what had already been disclosed. The first serious case to come along here since he arrived, practically right on his doorstep, and they give it to the local gendarmes. He supposed that was only fair under the circumstances. First come, first served. Still and all, it was a pain in the ass. He had to get out of this place. While Martine was still alive he had a reason for being in Taziac, but not now.
Everything about this trim, stone house reminded him of her. Small wonder. It was Martine’s house, and her family’s before that. A jewel beautifully renovated about fifty years ago on the Place Mestraillat, a lovely, quiet corner of the village. He pushed the lace curtain aside and gazed out at the dark, empty, windblown street. The three Callery pear trees surrounding the old stone pump shimmered in the starlight.
Mazarelle went over and sank down into his large, red, overstuffed armchair. It seemed as grossly out of place here as he now felt. They had brought the chair from Paris along with their other furniture. No sooner had he sat down than Martine’s cat showed up. Climbing onto his lap, Michou snuggled against his belly and made herself at home. He envied her.
For the past three days all he could think about was L’Ermitage. The TV newscasts and newspapers were full of it. A grisly business. Three of the four foreign visitors staying there had been found bound and gagged in different rooms in the house, their throats cut, and no sign of Monsieur Phillips anywhere. According to the Taziac gendarmes, he seemed to be the leading suspect. Mazarelle wondered what evidence they had.
Even though he’d notified them immediately of Monsieur Reece’s stolen Visa card and missing money and that Reece had identified the person at the ATM in Bergerac as the L’Ermitage handyman, there was no mention of Ali Sedak. But it was still early days. They were bound to latch on to him sooner or later. Though not directly involved in the investigation, the inspector supposed it was his personal contact with the victims that quickened his pulse and ironically made him feel a little less dead himself.
From the shelf holding his large record collection, Mazarelle selected one of his Columbia Jazz Masterpieces. The Benny Goodman Sextet, featuring for the first time Charlie Christian. The year 1939, with France and Europe on the eve of disaster. As soon as he sat down, Michou was back on his lap to listen. Michou loved jazz. And the incomparable Benny was playing “Memories of You,” his clarinet floating each liquid note so effortlessly, so wistfully that even a dumb, self-absorbed cat could appreciate it. And following Benny came Hampton with his luminous vibraphone and Christian, the young genius of the electric guitar, to weave their spell.
Michou stretched herself luxuriously as Mazarelle, lost in thought, rubbed her belly. She was a lovely animal to look at—a rich satiny gray with big pointy ears and a mincing feminine walk—but she came at a cost. The back of his chair was as clawed and shredded as the one in Proust’s cork-lined bedroom that they had seen in the Musée Carnavalet in Paris. Then there was his allergy. His sneezes arriving not in single bursts but whole fusillades. And having felt the preludial itch, Mazarelle in anticipation was reaching for his handkerchief when the telephone rang.
It was Rivet, and completely unexpected. Mazarelle shut off the record player. The only time his boss had ever called him at home before was to offer condolences when Martine died. Though they were hardly friends and Rivet was inclined to be an ambitious pompous ass, the youthful commissaire was always correct. They got along. Rivet had approved his transfer from Paris despite Mazarelle’s reputation as a hotshot. The commissaire didn’t mind having another experienced man on the force as long as he was clear about who was in charge. Familiar with the petty fiefdoms of police bureaucracy, Mazarelle, busy with his sick wife, had stayed out of Rivet’s way.
Mazarelle placed his hand over the phone until he finished sneezing and, wiping his nose, snuffled a hello.
“What was that?”
“Sorry.”
“You sound
like you’re coming down with a cold.”
“No, only my damn allergy.”
“Oh yes. You should take care of that. Anyhow, I just got a call from Périgueux. The procureur isn’t satisfied with the people in charge of investigating the Taziac murders. He said the ministry in Paris recommended you, if you were available. He’d like you to take over the investigation immediately. Does that appeal to you?”
“If not, I should be a hardware salesman.”
“I thought so. I told him I had no objections. He’ll be expecting your phone call early tomorrow morning. Okay?”
“I’ll be happy to do what I can, naturally.”
“Don’t forget. He said early.”
“Right.”
Putting down the phone, Mazarelle sprang up from his chair lightly, as if free of the accumulated deadweight of pain, loss, and boredom that had clung to him since Martine’s funeral. He felt a new surge of excitement, a half-forgotten sense that all wasn’t over for him. Perhaps there was something to look forward to after all—the pleasure of tracking down whoever was responsible for these three savage murders and the satisfaction of bringing him, or them, to justice. There was something else too. L’Ermitage, he reminded himself, was the sort of high-visibility case that might resurrect a fading career. The sort of case that with any luck could soon return him to Paris. But in order to conduct a major crime investigation, he’d need as much help in the way of resources as he could get from the procureur. He’d know soon enough.
Mazarelle considered his pipe rack on the shelf, a xylophone of shapely pipes and subtle woods, and plucked out his long-stemmed meerschaum. Curved like a saxophone with a large, deep écume de mer bowl. He tamped down the tobacco and joyfully lit up, wondering who it was in the Ministère de l’Intérieur who still remembered his name.
Up the next morning at the crack of dawn, Mazarelle waited until a decent hour before placing his call. Phillipe d’Aumont was the procureur of Périgueux, the d’Aumonts a well-respected family in the region. Though he’d never met the man, Mazarelle was aware that Phillipe’s father had been an eminent judge and supposed the son was also well connected.
The procureur said he had been expecting his call, actually sounded pleased to receive it. Not only did he know who Mazarelle was but he was delighted to discover that Mazarelle was now working not far away in Bergerac. And close to the scene of the crime. It was reassuring, he said, to have a man of his skills, his reputation taking over the inquiry into these ghastly Taziac murders. D’Aumont promised him his complete support.
Whether it was the man’s easy charm or merely his innate noblesse oblige, Mazarelle distrusted him from the start. And his skepticism was justified when the procureur’s “complete support” proved vague on the numbers. Pressed by Mazarelle, d’Aumont finally committed himself to a task force of twenty judiciary police and technicians. But then removing his velvet glove, d’Aumont made it very clear that in exchange he wanted results.
“This job gets top priority. You’ll have to drop everything else you’re doing.”
“Yes, of course.”
“I want action, Inspector. Paris wants action. Remember that four foreign nationals are involved in this ugly business. The press will be after us like mad dogs. Local politicians are already complaining about how this will kill their tourist season. It’s like a plague. And especially bad now when unemployment is breaking our backs. Oh yes,” he added, “one thing more. Make absolutely certain you keep me informed of your progress. Don’t fail me, Mazarelle.”
Recognizing the peevish tone, Mazarelle liked d’Aumont a little better. From top to bottom in major cases, everybody always had a gripe. But pressure was something the inspector had learned to live with in high-profile homicide cases over the years—the biofeedback of experience—and he handled it well.
Mazarelle’s next call that morning was to Duboit. Bernard Duboit was a young cop the older man liked and trusted. Though not terribly ambitious or always dependable, he was actually a pretty good cop, well liked by his friends at the commissariat who called him “Doobie,” and someone whose loyalty in a pinch could be counted on, a quality that Mazarelle prized. Besides, there was something else. Bernard and his wife, Babette, had gone to Taziac high school with Martine, and when she returned from Paris—years later and seriously ill—they couldn’t do enough for her. In a difficult situation they’d been very kind, unlike some of her old friends, and Mazarelle was grateful.
He knew that Bernard, who now lived in Bergerac, would probably still be at home at this early hour because he was usually late to work and always with some lame excuse: an argument with his wife, his youngest kid sick with a stomachache, the older one with an earache, or he himself wasn’t feeling so top-notch. This time it was the toilet. It had backed up and shit was floating all over the bathroom floor.
“Call a plumber,” the inspector advised. “Right now I want you to go to the gendarmerie in Taziac and ask Captain Béchoux for his report. I expect to have it on my desk when I get to the office. Understood?”
“What sort of report?”
“Don’t be a jerk, Bernard. We’re taking over the investigation of the L’Ermitage murders from the gendarmes. The procureur has instructed Captain Béchoux to prepare an account of what they’ve done so far. Get it for me.”
“That sounds great. But why can’t you go and get it? You’re right there in Taziac.”
Mazarelle sighed. Though he’d a good heart, young Duboit had some authority issues that needed tending to. There was this curious father-son element that had crept into their relationship. Maybe it was partially his own fault because he’d never had a son. Or a daughter either, for that matter.
“Just do it, Bernard. Do it for me. Okay?” He’d no desire to rub salt in Béchoux’s wounds by personally showing up to take the defeated captain’s sword. Duboit was still whining like a teenager forbidden to use the family car when Mazarelle hung up.
14
COMMISSARIAT DE POLICE,
BERGERAC
While waiting in his office for Béchoux’s report, Mazarelle spent the time setting up his special task force, a small handpicked team of cops who were at home with homicide and whom he knew he could rely on, especially Roger Vignon from Bordeaux and Jérôme Bandu from Périgueux. Vignon was a solid detail man, expert on computers and a whiz at electronic research and surveillance. Bandu was a rock. He had a reputation for great courage and the medals to prove it. With barrel-chested Bandu, what you saw was what you got. His face had two expressions: tough and tougher. A guy like that might come in handy in a case as violent as this one. For DNA and most other lab work the inspector planned to use La Police Technique et Scientifique at Toulouse, one of the five regional police technical and scientific facilities in France. It had been a good morning’s work, he thought. Now where the hell was the report?
When Duboit finally ambled in just before noon, Mazarelle’s face was not a welcome mat. “He was busy,” Duboit was quick to explain. “Then their copy machine got jammed. I had to wait.”
“So did I. Give me that.”
Mazarelle dove into Béchoux’s report with an eagerness that impressed the young cop. He hadn’t seen the inspector so interested in anything other than his sick wife since he first came to work there.
The report said:
At 8:12 on the morning of the 25th, Gendarme Bruno Leduc received a 17 emergency police call from Georgette Chambouvard, who works part-time as a cleaning woman at L’Ermitage, a house located on the road from the quarry near the intersection with D14, not far from the village. She reported finding the dead body of one of her employers, Monsieur Reece—a vacationing American—on the floor in the kitchen. She said he had been murdered.
Gendarmes Leduc and Sigala responded. Inside the house, they discovered the body of a fully clothed man in his fifties on the kitchen floor. His hands were tied behind his back with blue plastic tape. His throat was cut and he had what looked to be multiple stab wounds i
n his chest. There was a great deal of blood all over the kitchen. They reported finding a wine bottle, ashes, scraps of food, and pieces of broken glass on the floor.
At first, there seemed to be no one else in the house. But when they entered the nearby bedroom, they came upon another body in a pool of blood on one of the twin beds. This time it was a middle-aged woman. She was bound—hands and feet—and gagged with the same sort of blue tape, and her throat had been cut many times. Both her legs were sliced just below the calves. She was wearing a white cotton dress and did not seem to have been sexually attacked. Except for the victim, the room appeared normal.
Nothing in the rest of the house seemed out of the ordinary until they went upstairs and found a third body in the tower. Another well-dressed middle-aged woman also bound and gagged with blue tape, her throat slit open several times and her calves slashed in exactly the same way.
The gendarmes examined the suitcases in the house, which they found in their rooms (the Reeces’ suitcases downstairs, the Phillipses’ in the tower) and identified their owners as Benjamin and Judith Reece from New York and Schuyler and Ann Marie Phillips from Montreal. They were also able to acquire the three victims’ passports. The passport of Monsieur Phillips appears to be missing, but it should be noted that they did find the return plane tickets for all four.
As to the murder weapon or weapons—a bloody knife of some sort—none was discovered, although the house and grounds were searched carefully.
The crime scene has been frozen and experts from the Institut de Recherche Criminelle de la Gendarmerie Nationale have gone over it. I have included their photographs herein. Other results will be made available to you as received. The victims’ suitcases, passports, plane tickets, papers, and medications have been collected and placed under seal. The cadavers, as property of the case, have been removed and sent to Bergerac for autopsies and identification.