Pel and the Bombers
Page 21
There was a long silence during which the pressmen eyed the locked doors again, wondering if they could manage when the time came to be first out with their information, then a confused hubbub of questions rose from the body of the hall. Above them came the voice of Démon, clear, sharp and imperious.
‘Enquiries,’ he observed calmly, arrogantly certain that all the other journalists were behind him, ‘can produce the most extraordinary facts.’
Pel gestured at Darcy who began handing out bundles of pictures – of the men in custody, the dead men, the scenes inside the besieged house and the house where Kino had been found. Photography had worked fast and the newspapermen grabbed them eagerly.
Démon studied them. ‘The details you’ve given about this organisation you claim to have smashed,’ he said, his manner faintly disbelieving. ‘How were they acquired?’
‘The woman, Anna Ripka, talked.’
‘Was she persuaded?’
‘She didn’t have to be,’ Pel snapped. ‘It was all over and she knew it.’
There were few questions. The intelligent ones among the pressmen accepted that there had been a rebuke in Pel’s words because there had been a lot of irresponsible criticism. As Pel sat down the Chief rose.
‘It should be made clear,’ he said, ‘that the police cannot and will not permit terrorists to take control of the streets and that the police will always use firearms when there’s a grave threat to life. Inevitably, fatalities will occur occasionally but it should be remembered that the police would have no need for weapons if there were no violence.’
As he spoke, the newspapermen were busy writing, glancing occasionally at Démon. As the Chief sat down, Démon rose. He looked pink but still smooth and very confident, as if he relied on his reputation to carry him through.
‘I feel,’ he said, ‘that I must reply to the vague accusations which have been made against the press, sir. There’s a feeling among us that these complaints are uncalled for–’
‘Not with me,’ Sarrazin said sharply.
The interruption seemed to startle Démon but he pressed on. ‘I feel the finger has been pointed at us and that we should be able to reply, because we’re being accused of a lack of integrity–’
Sitting frozen-faced on the dais, Pel interrupted to indicate a loudspeaker which had been set up alongside him. ‘I think,’ he pointed out, ‘that before we accept any recrimination for what’s been said here, we should hear a tape made the other evening by one of my officers.’
He gestured at Claudie Darel who had slipped quietly into the room to stand near Darcy and he saw Démon’s jaw drop. As he nodded, she pressed the switch and Démon’s voice came from the loudspeaker, overlaid with crackling but quite clearly the voice that was known over the whole of France.
‘…It’s rubbish, of course. I know it’s rubbish, but it sells. It’s what people want… We all have to make our way in this world and I’m making mine very nicely, thank you…’
Sarrazin started scribbling furiously. Fiabon, who’d been sitting open-mouthed, saw him and started, too.
‘…It makes better viewing to see people helped away with blood all over them. Especially if they’re Flics. I’ve more than once persuaded kids to heave bottles at them to get a better story…’
As the voice came to a stop, Démon’s face went pale. ‘I demand an explanation,’ he said. ‘That tape was taken without my knowledge.’
‘I can hardly imagine,’ Pel said stonily, ‘that you would have said those things if you’d known they would be made public.’
‘I have a right–!’
Sarrazin looked up, his wrinkled face cynical. ‘I think, my friend,’ he growled, ‘that you’d be wiser to sit down and shut up.’
For a moment Démon stared round him, studying the hostile faces of the other journalists then, snatching up his coat, he turned and strode to the door. Finding it still locked, he was obliged to wait in humiliated embarrassment until someone let him out.
Pel was staring at Sarrazin, bewildered. Everybody seemed to be behaving in an extraordinary fashion today. First Doctor Lacoste and Misset being heroes. Now Sarrazin, his most ardent critic, appearing on his side. As the room began to empty, Brisard touched his shoulder.
‘Well done, Inspector,’ he said. ‘That was clever. I imagine that one’s been shut up for a long time.’
Pel stared after him as he hurried away. Good God, he thought. Brisard, too! The whole world was acting out of character! He stopped, warmed by the gesture, then signed to Darcy. ‘Come on, Daniel,’ he said. ‘Let’s wind up the paper work.’
‘Leave that to me, Patron,’ Darcy said. ‘That’s what I’m here for.’
Pel hesitated, then he nodded. ‘Very well,’ he agreed. ‘I’ll go home.’
‘Not just yet, Patron,’ Darcy said. ‘There’s someone in your office wants to see you.’
Pel’s head turned. ‘The Chief?’
‘No.’
‘Judge Polverari?’
‘No, Patron. Turned up just before the conference. I said you’d be rather a long time.’
‘I don’t want to see anyone just now,’ Pel snapped. ‘I’ve seen everybody I want to see today.’
Darcy didn’t move, blocking the doorway so that Pel couldn’t pass, and in the end he sighed and headed for his office. He still wore his ruined suit, his feet dragged and he felt stiff and weary, and was quite certain that he’d be in bed for the next six months before retiring prematurely, his health ruined.
As he pushed the door open, he saw Madame Faivre-Perret sitting by his desk. She wasn’t doing anything, just sitting quietly, waiting. Her mackintosh was soaked and her umbrella had dripped a pool of water at her feet.
As he entered, she rose, pale and anxious, and Pel stood in the doorway, touched and feeling a little like tears. ‘I’m in no state to be seen by anyone,’ he muttered. ‘I haven’t changed. I’m filthy.’
She smiled uncertainly. ‘Evariste,’ she said. ‘Do you think that matters?’
Note on Chief Inspector Pel Series
Chief Inspector Evariste Clovis Désiré Pel, of the Brigade Criminelle of the Police Judiciaire, in Burgundy, France is, according to the New York Times, 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.’
It should be noted, though, things do change to some degree, and in the course of the series he marries - but readers are left to judge that and the events surrounding it for themselves.
What is true, is that Pel is ‘Gallic’ to the core and his complex character makes a refreshing change from many of the detectives to be found in modern crime. Solutions are found without endless and tedious forensic and his relationships are very much based in real life.
Pel Titles in order of first publication
These titles can be read as a series, or randomly as stand-alone novels
1. Pel & The Faceless Corpse 1979
2. Death Set To Music Also as: Pel & The Parked Car 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
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, Inspector 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)
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