The Secret Of The Cathars (2011)

by Michael Hillier

“Who are they?”

  “Nobody knows. There are rumours about links to freemasonry and also to the Templars.”

  Philip laughed. “The Templars are ancient history. I ought to know. I believe my family home in Templecombe used to be a centre of Templar activity in England but that all disappeared long ago.”

  “Don’t you be so sure.” She tapped him on the chest. “Yes, they’ve gone deep underground but they are rumoured to still be in existence in a different, secret form. And they’re all the stronger and the wealthier for the secrecy.”

  “Good god! You make it sound as if you’re being stalked by shadowy organisations waiting to spring on you as soon as you find something.”

  She shook her head. “Well, that may be the case. Why do you think that journalist woman suddenly turned up this afternoon?”

  “Oh, she had perfectly good explanation for her arrival. I don’t see any reason not to believe her, even if she did lay it on a bit thick about speaking to you.” He raised his head. “By the way, did you check to find out if she went up to the main site when she left us?”

  “She did not - or if she did, she made sure that no-one saw her. I asked both Jean-Luc and Gaston and also a couple of other helpers whether they saw anybody matching your description of her and nobody had. And I believe Gaston - I’m sure he’s straight.”

  “That’s a strange comment. You say you’re sure Gaston’s straight. Aren’t you sure about Jean-Luc?”

  “I suppose you think I’m becoming paranoid.” She laughed, a little falsely. “As you know, I find it strange that he was suddenly available when we needed him. He was recruited in Paris and he has no archaeological record.”

  “Hmm. You seem to be surrounded by dodgy characters. There’s Armand and Jeanette, this journalist woman, Jean-Luc and the dodgiest of them all - me.”

  That really made her laugh. “You mean I may have put myself in mortal danger, just meeting you here?”

  “That’s right. Seriously though, you ought to carry out background checks on these guys - me included.”

  “Oh, I have.” She shook her head. “The trouble is, I don’t know how much to believe of the information I’ve received. You yourself saw how Bertrand Dugard more or less confirmed that I was right to be suspicious about Lerenard. And yet the background check on him was excellent. The only one I can believe is you.”

  “You’ve checked up on me?”

  “Of course. And you came through with flying colours. There seem to be no hidden secrets about you which you haven’t already told me about.”

  “I’m pleased about that.” Philip cleared his throat. “However the tone of Abbe Dugard’s comments about Lerenard makes Gaston’s comments appear less ridiculous.”

  “What comments?”

  “Well, as you know, he was strongly of the opinion that Andre Jolyon’s death wasn’t an accident. Nobody took him seriously at the time - particularly me, who he was accusing of the murder. But he saw the body and the site before anybody else. Perhaps, with all these dodgy characters around, he was right, but he’d just chosen the wrong culprit.”

  “Mon dieu!” She put her hand over her mouth and Philip noticed her face had gone white. “Are you saying that Andre really was murdered? I’d never taken that as a serious possibility before.”

  “Has there been any news about the autopsy?”

  “No. They said several days.”

  “I remember you telling me that it was very out of character for Andre to have gone up to the castle that night. So it seems possible to me that he could have been banged on the head, carried up to le Bezu, and thrown off the cliff at the top. I don’t want to point a finger but Jean-Luc could have done it. He’s a big, strong man and I would guess that he’s a real hard type under his educated exterior.”

  “Are you saying that he could have killed Andre in order to take his place? But Bertrand specifically said that I would be safe with him.”

  “Well, you may be, Jackie, but what about everyone else? Do you remember how shocked the good Abbe was when we told him about Andre’s death? He had to sit down and have a drink of water before he could carry on and talk to us.”

  “Philip!” She clutched his hand. “This is awful. Do you really think he could have killed Andre? How can I continue to work with him with that suspicion at the back of my mind? I must have it out with him. I’ve got to clear the air before we carry on.”

  “Steady on. You can’t come straight out and accuse him. You haven’t got any positive evidence. And, let’s face it, a chap like that isn’t going to put up his hands and say, ‘All right - I confess’. No, Jackie. You’d be more likely to put yourself in danger by confronting him.”

  “But what can I do?”

  Philip shook his head. “Don’t accept my suspicions. They’re only theories. If you do think he may be responsible for Andre’s death, you’d better tell the police sergeant. Give him all the details and let him decide what to do. My guess is that he’ll just interview the guy and leave any further action until he has some solid evidence.” He took a breath. “In any case, I may be barking up the wrong tree. What about Jeanette? Did she show any interest in Andre?”

  “I don’t think so. Of course he made comments about her sexy appearance. But it didn’t go any further. In any case she’s not going to carry Andre up to le Bezu and throw him off the top.”

  “Not on her own perhaps. But she could be part of a team.”

  “Oh, my god!” Suddenly she burst into tears. Between sobs she said “This - sort of thing - has never - happened to me - before. - Always before - everyone - wanted to help. - We were a team. - Oh, - I do miss Andre. - He dealt - with all these things. - I feel - so alone. - There’s nobody - to help, - to take away - the pressure -“

  He had his arms round her and hugged her to him. “Here now. Don’t take on so. I’m sorry. These are only silly theories of mine. They’re probably a load of rubbish.”

  “No,” she gasped. “I must take them seriously. But it’s never been like this before. It was always fun up until now. If a problem came up, Andre stepped in and solved it.” She shook her head. “I’m only just beginning to realise how much I relied on him.”

  “I must admit I didn’t understand how important he was to you.”

  “Oh, yes. We were a team.” She looked up at him. “Only a professional team, mind you. The relationship was never serious on a personal level.”

  “I only wish I could replace him. But I don’t know enough about the business or the people involved to be any help professionally.” He smiled. “Besides, I would want the personal relationship to be serious.”

  She was quiet for a moment, looking at him with those wonderful blue eyes filled with tears. “Is that an offer?”

  “Call it more of an ultimatum.”

  She smiled, almost coyly. “Then I accept.”

  And then they were kissing, the salty taste of her tears still encrusting her soft, half-open lips. They continued for a long time, their bodies hugged tightly together, until they became aware of a giggling nearby. Philip looked up and saw two little girls standing about five metres away, observing them closely. They couldn’t have been much older than five or six. They burst into applause when they saw his slightly embarrassed gaze.

  He straightened up and looked at his watch. It was already nearly nine. “You should both be in your beds,” he said firmly.

  “Quite correct.” Jackie emerged from his embrace long enough to give them a brief lecture in French and they both turned and ran off laughing. No doubt they would have a good story to tell their families.

  The little interplay had restored their good humour. They still sat arm-in-arm but with smiles on their faces.

  “Seriously,” said Philip, “I promise to be there for you as long as you need me. I don’t know much about archaeology or French society but I will always be willing to give my opinion and whatever support you want when you are dealing with the various people you come across. That’s as lon
g as you want me to, of course.”

  “Thank you, Philip. I think I may need that more than you expect. But what will happen when you go back to England?”

  “I won’t go until you release me. If you want me to stay for a long time, perhaps you can offer me a job on your staff.”

  She smiled. “Oh, I think that can be arranged.”

  “Now then,” he said, suddenly businesslike. “We must decide what we’re going to do about tomorrow. I suggest we leave everything as it is for now. But, without making it obvious, I think we should watch Jean-Luc, Armand and Jeanette like hawks. The latter two will be easy because I will be working with them. Now we’re to be on the main site I can also keep an eye on Lerenard during the day-time.”

  “I’ll watch him as well.”

  “However, I guess the main time when they’ll be likely to go off to do their own thing will be in the evenings. It’s obviously too late tonight, but in future we need to try and keep some sort of tabs on them out of working hours.”

  “My!” Her eyes lit up with amusement. “This is my new man of action. I will put myself in your hands, my darling.”

  “Yes please.”

  “All right. That’s a promise. But first I wanted to talk to you about what you’ve found down at the bottom of the site.”

  “I thought you weren’t very impressed.”

  She shook her head. “That’s quite wrong. What you’ve found poses a couple of very big questions. I didn’t want to discuss them with you while Armand was around.”

  “Go on then. I’m listening. Do you know what this paving stuff is?”

  “Well, it’s not paving for a start. As you pointed out yourself, it has also obviously been installed later than the steps. I believe it’s actually a roof - a lid put on top of something to cover it very securely. Then, as soon as it was laid, it was covered up with soil and rubble and vegetation to disguise its true purpose.”

  “And what is its true purpose?”

  “Who knows? We can only guess.” She looked at him seriously. “This is really very exciting, Philip. Those slabs must weigh at least a couple of tonnes each. It would have taken a lot of men or some special equipment to haul them up to the castle and put them in place. They can’t be easily man-handled out of the way. So whoever put them there must have wanted to cover up something very important.”

  “Of course,” he breathed. “Why didn’t I think of that? Do you have any idea what is hidden beneath them?”

  “Not really. It’s obviously something significant and it must be pretty big. We know it isn’t your Cathar treasure. That was only a few light-weight bamboo tubes. They could have been hidden in a small hole under a single slab and still have been just as inaccessible.”

  “So we’re looking in the wrong place?” he asked, feeling disappointed.

  “Not necessarily. Your ancestor chose the most out-of-the-way corner of the castle because he rightly judged it was the last place anybody would come to look for the treasure of the Cathars. It’s not impossible that somebody else later decided on the same location to hide some secret hoard. Let’s face it, le Bezu is very remote and off any modern route. Because it’s so difficult to even find, it’s not likely to be a first port of call for treasure hunters.”

  “I suppose that’s correct.”

  “I think it is quite possible that somebody else decided the castle was a good place to hide something important. By chance, they may have chosen the same room as your ancestor.”

  “What damnable bad luck.”

  “On the other hand, your ancestor was even more careful, because, according to the journal, he found his little secret hiding-place in the walled-up cave, which you wouldn’t even guess about if you went into the room. This second group were obviously a much bigger organisation than Phillipe de Saint Claire and his friend. They probably didn’t even consider unblocking the little cave. But when they’d put away whatever it was they wanted to hide, they decided to seal the whole room up tight with those colossal stone slabs.”

  Philip sighed. “We’re not going to move those easily. We’d need to get in heavy lifting equipment. That would mean a special roadway up to the site. Even if we could get permission that would create a hell of a lot of publicity.”

  “You’re right,” she agreed. “That is unless we can get round the edge of those slabs, which is what Armand wanted to do. I was thinking of letting him do that at the weekend with us helping, but I’m not sure I can trust him that much.”

  “Quite right. We’ve got to keep this to ourselves. But it’s still going to be quite a big job. I don’t think we can do it over a weekend, especially with the chance that one of the other members of the team may wonder what we’re doing.” Philip took a breath. “I think there’s no alternative but to forget about it at the moment and come back again at the end of the main excavation in the autumn.”

  “It’ll be frustrating to have to leave it for so long when we’re so close. And in the autumn I will be very busy meeting people when the series is about to start, so I may not be a lot of help to you.”

  “But surely there will be a window of opportunity between finishing the hard work on the series and the start of the build-up to the television appearances. Whatever happens, we’ll have to do it before the world and his wife start traipsing over the site licking their ice-creams.”

  She smiled at his description. “I suppose it’s possible. I will want a break before all the publicity starts. As for now, I can give Armand some other important jobs to take his mind off the paving. I’ll have the scaffolding dismantled and the access path covered over. With a bit of luck that area down there will be forgotten.”

  “OK.” He stood up. “Decision made. Anything else?”

  “Nothing to do with the archaeological site.”

  “It’s nearly dark. I think I’d better deliver you back to the hotel. Maybe we could have a drink in the bar before we say goodnight.”

  She rose and leaned against him. “The bar is a bit public. The concierge is always willing to do odd jobs for me. I can have him deliver a bottle of wine and two glasses to my room.”

  “In that case, let’s make it champagne. Do you like champagne?”

  “Two glasses of that and I’ll be able to refuse you nothing.”

  “I sincerely hope so. Are you sure your reputation will stand it?”

  “Bugger my reputation. It’s your body I want.”

  “How can I refuse when you put it so delicately?” He hugged her. “Come on then.”

  She put her arm round his waist and reached up to kiss him. Then they set off to the hotel, walking as quickly as their frequent embraces would let them.

  - 21 -

  Jackie and Philip were awakened by a pounding on the bedroom door.

  “What on earth? What’s the time?”

  Philip looked at his watch. “Nearly seven o’clock.

  The pounding was repeated. Through the door they could hear, “Jackie, can I come in?”

  “Goodness. I think that’s Bernard’s voice. What’s he doing here at this time of the morning?”

  “Jackie, it’s most important that I speak to you. Are you awake?”

  “Just a minute. I’ll put on some clothes.” She climbed out of bed and walked to the wardrobe to get her cream silk dressing-gown. She wrapped it around her and tied the belt as she went to the door. Philip thought she looked gorgeous with her dark tousled hair cascading over her shoulders.

  “What do you want me to do?” he asked. “Do you want me to go into the bathroom?”

  “Not likely.” She looked back at him. “Perhaps you’d better pull the sheet over your private parts. We don’t want to give Bernard an inferiority complex.”

  Obediently he leaned back against the bed-head and covered the lower half of his body.

  Jackie unlocked the door and pulled it open. “Come in, Bernard. What are you doing here so early in the morning? You must have left Paris soon after midnight.”

 
; He burst into the room. “My dear, I have to speak to you before … Oh, my goodness,” as he spotted the man in her bed.

  “Morning, Bernard,” said Philip sardonically.

  “Morning, young man.” He turned back to Jackie. “My dear, it’s vital we have a private talk straight away. Can you throw on some clothes and meet me down in the lounge?”

  She closed the door behind him. “That’s all right, Bernard. We can talk here. It’s much more private than the lounge.” She indicated the chair in front of the dressing-table. “You can sit there and I’ll sit on the bed with Philip.

  “Jackie,” said Bernard, “this really is very important. It’s extremely sensitive and - er -” He nodded towards Philip. “I think you’ll want to keep it to yourself until we’ve decided exactly how we’re going to play it.”

  “That’s all right. Philip won’t tell anybody else without my OK, will you dear?”

  “Of course not.”

  “But, Jackie-.”

  “Look, Bernard.” Philip noticed the slight frown which had furrowed her forehead and decided that Bernard would be in trouble if he objected much more. “Let me make it clear to you. This man is the direct descendent of Phillipe de Saint Claire, one of the four perfecti who escaped from Montsegur in 1244. I have checked him out and I know he is telling the truth. You may draw the conclusion that he and I are closely involved on the same side. Is it clear to you now?”

  Her agent looked from one to the other of them and cleared his throat. “Yes,” he mumbled. “Yes, perfectly clear.”

  “So what is this urgent matter you wish to discuss with me?”

  “Well, in a word - it’s simple really - there’s no other way of putting it - not to beat about the bush -“

  “Go on, Bernard.”

  “What? Oh, right. Well - I’m afraid, my dear, there’s no way of making it less of a shock. TV France have decided to pull the plug.”

  “What!”

  “That’s right. I was telephoned at eleven last night by Alain Gisours himself. Apparently the man had been in meetings all day. He told me I was to get down here hot foot and tell you that the whole project was off - cancelled lock, stock and barrel - knocked on the head with immediate effect. He said you are not to go back on the site. You are to pay everybody off as of today. Everyone is to leave the site. TV France will send contractors down in the next few days to clear and reinstate the whole area.”