Rex Dalton Thriller series Boxset 2

by J C Ryan

  It was fruitless to speculate further, until he knew who they were talking about. He occupied some of the time he had to wait by counting the acoustic tiles in the ceiling.

  Eventually his wait came to an end. The cops lasted exactly twenty-eight minutes. A portly officer with stripes on his uniform sleeves indicating he was a sergeant came in, carefully closed the door, and sat down opposite Rex, across the scratched and wobbly small table from him. He put his hands atop the table and folded them together, then leaned forward, causing the table to creak under his weight.

  “What have you done with Mademoiselle Lemaire?”

  Lemaire. Margot Lemaire, that was the name.

  Politely, he answered. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know who that is.”

  “We have it on good authority you had dinner with Mademoiselle Lemaire night before last, and you were the last person to see her.”

  Understanding dawned on Rex, and not only understanding that they were indeed talking about Jacqui, but that this interrogation had something to do with what Ida had told them—she was the last one to see them together. Nevertheless, he kept his face neutral. Something was going on that he didn’t yet understand, and if he was to get to the bottom of it, he’d have to keep his wits about him.

  He answered carefully. “Night before last, I had dinner with two ladies I know as Jacqui Madrolle and Ida Engberg. We are casual friends, met here on the island for the first time, all staying at the same resort. I do not know a Margot Lemaire.”

  “This Ida Engberg you speak of is the witness who told us you were the last to be seen with Mademoiselle Lemaire. She said the three of you had dinner, and then she left, leaving you and Mademoiselle Lemaire together.”

  “Unless Mademoiselle Lemaire is the person I know as Jacqui Madrolle, that is a false statement.”

  “Then perhaps you’d care to explain why the resort manager also reported Mademoiselle Lemaire missing and that you were the one to alert him to that fact.”

  “I alerted him to the fact that Jacqui Madrolle was missing, I never used the name Mademoiselle Lemaire, simply because I don’t know anyone by that name. But I’m going to assume at this point that Mademoiselle Lemaire and Jacqui Madrolle are one and the same person. However, I have to say I’m perplexed as to why she would give me a false name.

  “Be that as it may, of course I am concerned that she’s missing. We had an appointment for breakfast yesterday morning, and she wasn’t there when I called for her. I asked Ida to accompany me to her hut to see if we could find her, and when we didn’t, I reported her absence to the manager.

  “However, this is not the first time it’s happened. She went to Lamap before, and she turned up just fine a few days later. But that time, she sent me a text that she was okay and would be out of contact for a few days. This time she didn’t. Why are the police now involved? And why the heavy-handedness in questioning me?”

  “Mademoiselle Engberg indicated you might be a danger to Mademoiselle Lemaire.”

  Ah that explains why they cuffed me.

  “Sergeant, I take it she also told you exactly how I endangered Mademoiselle Lemaire, and you’re burning to tell me?” Rex raised his eyebrows questioningly.

  The sergeant made no reply.

  “No? You didn’t ask?”

  The sergeant made no reply.

  “So, let me just see if I understand the situation correctly.” He didn’t wait for a response, as it was not a question. “You spoke to Mademoiselle Engberg, she confirmed we had dinner with the person we, Ida and I, have come to know as Jacqui Madrolle, who you say goes by the name of Margot Lemaire. Right?”

  The sergeant nodded.

  “Good. Then Ida told you I was the last person to see her the night we had dinner together?”

  The sergeant nodded.

  “Did she say that, or did she say when she left, we were together?”

  The sergeant blushed. “She said she left the two of you together.”

  “I see. Okay, then she told you I am a danger to Mademoiselle Lemaire. But you never questioned her as to what kind of danger I would pose to this woman. Right?”

  The sergeant cleared his throat and shuffled on his chair.

  “Sergeant, I don’t know how the laws of Vanuatu work, but I suspect it’s not entirely different from the laws of France or America or other civilized countries. In other words, it’s illegal for the police to make up false charges against people...”

  “Wait a minute. What are you insinuating? That I am making up…”

  “Yes, sergeant that’s exactly what I’m saying. You know why? Because you know as well as I do you don’t have a case. You don’t have a lead. If you think you have a case against me, go ahead and charge me now, so I can get myself a lawyer.

  “I take it in your country people are entitled to representation?”

  “Yes, of course they are...”

  “The alternative is of course that you can stop this farce, and you can listen to what I have to say. I am worried about Jacqui, sorry, Margot’s disappearance. We’ve become friends during our vacation here. That’s why I reported her missing.”

  The sergeant stared at Rex for a while, probably considering his options and maybe wondering how this guy managed to turn the tables on him so effortlessly.

  “Well what’s it going to be? Am I under arrest or not?”

  “No, you’re not.” The sergeant whispered.

  “Good. So, do you want to hear my side of the story or not?”

  “Yes, please continue,” the sergeant said as he opened his notebook and retrieved a pen from the inner pocket of his jacket.

  “Before we start, I guess this is not necessary anymore?” Rex held his hands out in a gesture for the cuffs to be removed.

  The sergeant nodded, took the keys out of his pocket, and unlocked the cuffs. It was clear he was not really in the mood to apologize about the rough treatment, and Rex didn’t care about it.

  “That feels a lot better,” Rex smiled and rubbed his wrists. “Now, I need to get my dog first. I take it that’s not going to be an issue?”

  The sergeant nodded. He got up and led Rex to the holding cell where Digger was pacing nervously. When Digger saw him, he lifted himself onto his hind legs, put the front paws on the cross-bar of the cell door, and whined piteously.

  “It’s okay, boy. I’m here. We’re going to get you out.”

  The moment the door swung open, Digger rushed at Rex and did something he almost never did. He stood on hind legs, stretched to his full length, dropped his paws on Rex’s shoulders, and licked his face.

  “Okay, boy. That’s enough. I know you love me. Off. Get off now.”

  Digger dropped to all fours.

  “Thank you, Sergeant. Now, we can talk about what I know and if there’s anything I can do to help find Mademoiselle Lemaire.”

  In the conversation that followed, Rex told him how he met Margot first. He deliberately made a point of elaborating about the role Digger played in the introduction. That had the sergeant smiling from ear to ear, which was exactly what Rex wanted to achieve. That bit of humor broke the ice, and the sergeant was a lot less stressed from that point onward.

  Rex continued to tell him how Margot introduced Ida to him later, how they became holiday friends, and the things they did together. He also told him that lately it became obvious to him that something was bothering Margot but that she didn’t want to talk about it. He described his observation that she’d been crying before she went to Lamap, and on her return he got the impression, when they had dinner with Ida two nights before, that Margot had made some sort of decision about her problem while she was away.

  “She claimed she was fine, but I had the impression she was holding back.”

  “The impression.” The sergeant’s tone indicated skepticism.

  “Yes, the impression.” Rex replied. “That’s all I can say. She didn’t share any of it with me—only that she was fine.”

  “So, you don’
t think she went on another retreat like the first one.”

  Rex shrugged. “I couldn’t say for certain. The first time, she let me know. This time, she didn’t. As I’ve said before, we only met when I arrived at the resort, so I don’t know her that well. She and Ida were here before me. Maybe you could question Ida about that. And while you’re at it, please find out why she would say I was a danger to Jac… Margot. I can’t imagine why she would think that.”

  “All right, Mr. Donnelly. You are free to go. I’ll be in touch if I have more questions. I take it you are planning to stay a while longer on our beautiful island?”

  “Yes, I haven’t decided when I’ll be leaving yet. I’m still enjoying it. If I do decide to leave, I’ll make sure to let you know.”

  “That’ll be good. I think the whole matter will be cleared up in a day or two at the most,” the sergeant said.

  ***

  BACK AT HIS hut, to which he hadn’t been offered a ride, Rex considered the whole episode. He wasn’t at all sure that the matter would be cleared in a day or two. He’d stay out of the way, but he’d watch what they did to investigate, and he’d clean up behind them if he thought it necessary.

  Jacqui Madrolle is Mademoiselle Margot Lemaire. Why the false name? What is she hiding? Rex was contemplating it from all angles when it dawned on him that he didn’t have the monopoly on anonymity through false identities. The only question that remained was what was Margot’s reason?

  Rex went through his usual routines to activate a network of proxy servers to disguise his location and identity, before he started Googling the name Margot Lemaire. Thousands of hits came back. Reading about her real life was a revelation.

  It turned out that the ‘low-level government employee’, Jacqui Madrolle, was actually a confidant to the newly-elected President of France himself—his campaign manager, and apparently a brilliant one, as he’d won handily. She’d recently been appointed his Press Secretary.

  That explained the false name. He supposed she couldn’t go anywhere that paid attention to French politics under her own name and still expect any privacy. A few entries down, he found the story about her assistant being almost booed off the podium until he explained that Margot had taken a vacation to recover from the rigors of the campaign.

  So, that explains what she was doing here. R and R, like me. So now, what’s happened to her? Could it have something to do with her position?

  And why the hell didn’t I pick up on any of this? Why didn’t Digger? But how was Digger supposed to know she’s using a false name? He smells or senses deceit in people not their names.

  He looked at Digger and said, “Sorry buddy. This was my mistake, not yours.”

  Digger didn’t even open his eyes. He just moved his ears, slightly.

  I really need to keep my guard up and be less trusting. Too much leisure is making me rusty.

  A few hours later, Digger was unsettled. Rex took the Frisbee and invited Digger to go for a moonlit run on the beach. He didn’t have to say it twice. Digger raced him out the door.

  Chapter 17

  Fatumara Bay, Port Vila, Vanuatu

  THE NEXT MORNING, Rex was up early and gave Digger his beach run and a short swim at dawn. By the time the market opened, they were waiting for the booths to open their shutters. Rex spent the morning poring over the wares and keeping his ears open. He was still fuming about what Ida allegedly said to the police and intended to confront her with that the moment he saw her.

  Later in the afternoon, Rex was back at his hut when the sergeant dropped by in person. Rex offered him a seat on the veranda and some tropical fruit juice, which the sergeant gratefully accepted. When Rex set the tray with a pitcher and two full glasses down, the sergeant reached for one and drank nearly half of it in a few gulps, before speaking.

  “Mademoiselle Engbert has left Vanuatu.”

  “When?” Rex asked.

  “While you and I were conversing yesterday, she boarded a plane for Australia. We have put a wanted bulletin out on her, but so far, no sign of her.”

  Rex just nodded. He didn’t much care for the woman, even more so since he learned she’d badmouthed him to the police, but he didn’t get the idea she was physically dangerous to anyone. However, he didn’t share his thoughts with the policeman.

  “We don’t know whether it was coincidence or not. The timing just seemed strange, though we didn’t tell her to stay on the island.”

  Rex said, “Come to think of it, she did tell me she was leaving in a day or two, the morning I decided to look for Jacqui instead of waiting for her to contact me. Excuse me, I mean Margot. Maybe it was just coincidence.”

  “Perhaps so. Nevertheless, we have inquiries out. Have you thought of anything else? Could Mademoiselle Lemaire have been involved in a swimming accident, for example?”

  Aha, so, that’s the real reason for the visit.

  “Not unless someone dragged her into the water or she landed in it by some accident. She wouldn’t go near the water. She was afraid of the deadly creatures you have around here.” If Rex had been speaking English, he’d have used the word ‘critters’. That was the word that came to mind. He didn’t know of a French equivalent, though. “Maybe you can tell me why you’re thinking it could have been a swimming accident?”

  The sergeant hesitated, then apparently remembered Rex was no longer a suspect. “We have checked her hut. Her passport and pocketbook are still there, along with her clothes, her laptop, cellphone, and Kindle reader. If she had gone to one of the other islands, she’d have taken at least some of that. At a minimum, her cellphone, passport, and pocketbook.

  “Inquiries to the other islands have not turned up any evidence that she was there recently. Her trip to Lamap, yes. Thank you for that lead. But that was before she had dinner with you and Mademoiselle Engbert.

  “That’s why we’re thinking perhaps she met with an accident while swimming alone. It has been known to happen. Tourists don’t always understand the inherent dangers in these waters. If they swim outside the shark nets…” He trailed off, leaving the rest of the sentence to Rex’s imagination.

  Rex shuddered. But he was resolute when he answered. “She would not have gone into the water of her own volition.”

  “Unless the decision you mentioned her making was to end her own life,” the sergeant said.

  Rex was quiet while he considered whether she would have committed suicide. He hadn’t gotten that vibe. If he had, he would have pressed harder for answers when he thought she was troubled.

  Did I miss it?

  But no, that didn’t feel right, and he said so.

  “With all due respect, Mr. Donnelly, we will make that determination. You are not a trained investigator, though I do appreciate your cooperation and impressions.”

  Rex didn’t reply. He didn’t want to get into an argument with the man, although he strongly disagreed with him.

  The sergeant smiled as he got up. “Thank you for the juice.”

  Rex thought that would be the end of it, believing the sergeant had already settled on suicide as the reason for her disappearance. He would find out the next day that it wasn’t nearly so simple.

  Chapter 18

  Sydney, Australia

  IDA KNEW EXACTLY where Margot had gone.

  Her assignment had been to get leverage on Margot Lemaire so that her employer could blackmail Lemaire’s illicit lover, the French President, Giles Aguillard, into renouncing his campaign promises to continue his predecessor’s policies. Specifically, the policy of standing firm on not allowing a Russian gas pipeline to be built through the French countryside to Paris.

  The French people had been against the idea, though there were some in Paris who would welcome cheaper gas. The cost, however, would be great—the construction of the pipeline would destroy hundreds of hectares of beautiful French countryside, disrupt the wine industry, expose the people to potentially hazardous conditions, and worst of all, make them dependent on Russia for
much of their gas usage. The latter didn’t sit well with the majority of the French people, irrespective of their political affiliations.

  It would take quite a threat to the President to make him recant his campaign promise, and the serendipitous find of his paramour’s positive pregnancy test would be just that threat. A day later, Ida’s report had brought two more agents to surveil Margot’s movements, and the confirmation found in her medical records at the clinic sealed the strategy.

  When Margot flew to Lamap, Ida wasn’t concerned, because she had the other two on her tail there. And when she left on the yacht, Ida knew where she was going thanks to telephone taps her agency had on Margot’s cell phone and now her brother’s land lines and cell phone as well.

  They’d pick up her trail in Vietnam, because to effectively blackmail Aguillard, they had to be able to capture her at any time he proved uncooperative. Until then, Margot was free to roam where she wanted, so long as Ida’s crew knew where that was.

  Ida and her crew would be in Vietnam before Margot got there, but Ida had stayed longer on Vanuatu to wrap up the unexpected complication of one Rowan Donnelly—a too-nosy man Margot had made friends with while she was there. She bargained on it that the cops would keep Donnelly from interfering. She’d made sure of that when she told the police Donnelly was the last one to see her and that she got the impression Margot felt uncomfortable in his presence. “I’m not sure why. Maybe she felt he posed some kind of danger to her,” she’d said when the policeman questioned her.

  As soon as she’d planted that seed, Ida and her crew flew by private charter to Australia, where they would be boarding a plane for Vietnam in about ten days’ time, a day or so before Margot would arrive in Ho Chi Minh City.

  Chapter 19

  Fatumara Bay, Port Vila, Vanuatu

  REX WAS AWAKENED before dawn by Digger’s barking and a racket outside.

  Don’t tell me the cops have changed their minds again.

  If he were honest with himself, Rex wouldn’t have been surprised if they had. The police theories had holes in them you could drive a Humvee through. They had nothing but his word that he hadn’t murdered Jacqui/Margot and fed her body to the sharks. They’d let Ida Engberg get away with only the most cursory of questioning. Had they even tried to track Margot’s movements? Did they have a bloodhound on the island?