Death at the Clos du Lac (2013)

by Magson, Adrian

  ‘Very good, sir.’

  ‘Oh, and a slice of that Mimolette cheese. Haven’t had it in a while and since it hails from up north, not far from where my friend works, I might as well show support for the poor disadvantaged region. I’m also watching my weight.’

  The waiter looked at Rocco, who signalled that he would have the same, and departed in a flourish.

  ‘Where do they get their balls, these people?’ Santer murmured, staring after him. ‘I swear, if de Gaulle himself walked in here and ordered the same, that idiot would show the same disdain.’ He shook his head. ‘Where was I? Oh, yes. How important is this man … Ardois, was it?’

  ‘Yes. There are two people dead already and another one’s missing, probably also dead. I’m trying to find out who killed them. Unfortunately, ISD have other ideas.’

  ‘That bunch of hooligans? Christ, stay away from them. They’re not nice.’

  ‘You know them?’

  ‘Only what I’ve heard, which isn’t good.’ Santer sat back. ‘I knew a couple of undercover cops once who stumbled on a case of corruption in the customs service. Stuff was coming into the country that should have been stopped, with big payments of cash changing hands in sports bags late at night making sure that certain officials would look the other way. They followed the trail and claimed it went all the way up to the headquarters building here in Montreuil. Then ISD horned in on the case and pulled rank. The two investigators objected to being frozen out just as they were zeroing in on their man, but it did no good.’

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘They got posted to some backwater patch – a bit like you only not so interesting. It turned out ISD were working on a connected case … or so they claimed, and theirs took precedence over the cops’. After that it went very hush-hush. Personally, I wouldn’t want to get on their bad side. They play rough and don’t much care who knows it. However, if they get away with it, it means the Minister must like their style and they get results which makes him look good.’

  ‘I’ll bear it in mind.’ On impulse, he said, ‘There’s another name you could try: Rotenbourg. Same first name.’ He explained about Stefan’s slip of the tongue.

  Santer scribbled both names on a piece of paper and stood up. ‘With names like this, he could have come from Alsace or somewhere along the borders. I don’t know anyone over that way, though. Give me two minutes and I’ll get someone on checking the files here in Paris. It might take a while.’

  ‘Don’t worry, it’s a start. He might have had some connection to Paris, even if only for work or residency purposes. But don’t spend too much time on it and tell your man not to stick his head above the ramparts.’

  ‘Never fear, he won’t.’ He looked across at a waiter hovering by the kitchen door. ‘Tell him to get that wine over here. I won’t be long.’

  Rocco smiled and beckoned the waiter over. ‘Will do.’

  They were just enjoying coffee when the waiter approached and said there was a telephone call for Santer. The captain jumped up and went to take it, and came back after two minutes with a folded paper napkin which he dropped alongside Rocco’s plate.

  ‘My man had to ring a couple of people, but he found no male with the name of Ardois fitting your description and age range. But he did find a Rotenbourg, first name Pascal. He lives down in the fourteenth arrondissement near Montrouge. Nothing special about him, though.’

  ‘How did he find the name?’

  ‘From the incident records. Rotenbourg’s car was broken into and vandalised seven months ago, and reported to the local station for insurance purposes. Nothing of note since.’

  Montrouge. Rocco knew the area vaguely. He looked at the napkin on which Santer had scribbled the man’s name, followed by an address and telephone number. It was worth a visit, if only to discount the possibility that another family member might have been sequestered in a state-run institution guarded by a military guard.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Later that afternoon, Commandant Levignier was at his desk, scanning a report on a group of disaffected council members in a group of islands in the Pacific known colloquially as a ‘Dom Tom’ – départements et territoires d’outre-mer. It was one of France’s overseas territories over which ISD had a watching brief, and he’d blocked all calls while he dealt with it. Some of the Dom Toms, as distant as they were, needed swift intervention by gendarmes from time to time, to avoid trouble escalating.

  When his internal phone rang, he snatched it up ready to reprimand his secretary.

  It was Delombre.

  ‘The Pole’s been trying to get hold of you. Says it’s extremely urgent.’

  ‘I know. I’ve been out of touch because I’m busy. What does he want now?’ Levignier was getting tired of the way Girovsky seemed to think ISD were at his beck and call. Unfortunately, ‘the Pole’, as Delombre liked to refer to him, possessed a lot of influence in both the Interior and Foreign Ministries, and right now, when French commercial interests were looking up and expanding, that was unlikely to change anytime soon.

  ‘He’s asking about our guest’s other half, and still pissing himself over that cop, Rocco. One of his spies says he’s been asking about the little pervert, Devrye-Martin, and a cop he thinks might be working at Rocco’s instigation has been checking records for the names Ardois or Rotenbourg. He thinks he got the address in the fourteenth arrondissement.’

  Levignier dropped the papers he was reading. Mention of both names brought a nasty stab of alarm. The fact that Girovsky had the ability and resources – without doubt somebody inside the Establishment – to keep tabs on matters that were not his to worry about was concern enough. But Rocco’s interference this deep and his ability to come up with information leading to Rotenbourg was far worse. ‘What sort of questions? And how the hell did he find out about the names?’

  ‘We told him, didn’t we?’

  ‘Not Girovsky, you fool – Rocco.’ But Delombre was right: it had been a mistake telling Girovsky about the Clos du Lac and its secrets. Not his fault, though, he reflected. Some middle-ranking secretary with a loose lip in the Ministry had blabbed about the precise function of the facility, thinking it would impress the Pole into keeping his mouth shut about the man they called Ardois. In doing so, he had also let slip the fact of Devrye-Martin’s existence and background. It had clearly been enough to make Girovsky dig deeper for his own ends.

  ‘Rocco’s just a typical nosy cop,’ Delombre continued. ‘He’s been asking questions. It was inevitable that someone would talk. For my money it’s that nurse, Dion. She looks the sort to have opened up to him in a big way.’ He sniggered at the double meaning, and Levignier winced with distaste. There were some people he would have wished not to work with, but Delombre was too good at his job to get rid of. For now, anyway.

  ‘The nurse won’t have talked,’ he replied. ‘And Rocco’s no ordinary nosy cop. You shouldn’t underestimate him. What does he know?’

  ‘He found the name and where the family lives. Apparently he contacted a cop in their home town, and asked if he had a photo. I checked with records, and they said all photos of Devrye-Martin had been suppressed from police files. But the cop asked the local newspaper if they had one. Nobody thought of that.’

  ‘Why the hell would he want a photo?’ Then he knew why. On the night of the murder, Rocco had been in the pool house with Devrye-Martin. The man had wandered there by mistake, apparently. Drucker had assured him that Devrye-Martin was so drugged up to the eyeballs he wouldn’t have known his own name, let alone anybody else’s. And if Rocco had learnt anything from him, he’d have been all over them before now, demanding details. No, however he had discovered Stefan’s real name he clearly didn’t know enough about him to make a real fuss.

  But a photo was different – especially to an observant police officer. It meant he’d be able to identify the patient. And that meant a dead man come back to life, now living inside a government facility.

  ‘Has he foun
d one?’

  ‘One of the editor’s assistants did. She didn’t know anything about the case and thought she was helping the police. She couriered it direct to Rocco.’

  ‘Damn. How did Girovsky get to hear about it?’ The Pole’s private spy network was in danger of making the men at the Quai d’Orsay look like amateurs. Not for the first time he wondered at the blurring of lines between state and private security, and where it would end.

  ‘The editor contacted the family and they rang their lawyer. He went to the Ministry. I think Girovsky’s got an insider.’

  Levignier made a mental note to investigate that. Not that it would surprise him. But whatever his importance to France’s industrial and commercial future, the Pole was seriously pushing his luck if he started interfering with matters of state. ‘Very well. Leave it with me.’

  ‘I could always,’ Delombre reminded him, ‘arrange for a slight accident. Even businessmen have been known to trip over paving stones.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Levignier replied automatically, his mind racing ahead with an idea. ‘Tell him … tell him we’ll let Rocco have his man.’

  ‘Won’t the family object?’

  ‘For the greater glory and honour of France and our future, and with his sordid little history? I’m sure they won’t mind making a small sacrifice.’ Levignier nearly chuckled at the irony of a man like Devrye-Martin being useful to anybody. ‘I might remind them how much money they’ll save in the long run.’

  ‘Couldn’t he expose the others?’

  ‘How so? He’s a pathetic nobody with nothing on his brain but his perversions. He knows nothing about the others. They were all drugged and docile, remember? Besides, I don’t mean we’ll actually let Rocco have him, as such. That would be asking for trouble. We’ll simply allow the inspector that illusion, then take it away from him before he gets too close.’

  ‘I don’t follow.’

  ‘Let Rocco have the photo. It will keep him diverted. Not that he’ll find anything. But I’m more concerned about his interest in Rotenbourg. I have an idea which should stop Rocco in his tracks.’

  ‘Like what?’

  ‘Well, if we can’t get him warned off officially, how do you think an accusation of sexual assault will go down on his record? Maybe that will take his mind off his job.’

  ‘Clever. You using anyone I know?’

  ‘No.’ Levignier had deliberately not brought Delombre in on this, or his little army of dubious undesirables who would do practically anything for money. Besides, he already had in mind a person who had the qualities and background that were ideal for bringing off what he’d planned, and he didn’t want Delombre getting involved. In addition, the girl he was thinking of was a little special, and he wanted to see how susceptible she was to taking some extra-curricular orders.

  ‘What do you want me to do in the meantime?’

  ‘Nothing. The plans go ahead. You stand by in case of emergencies.’

  ‘I usually do. Does that include our woman guest?’

  ‘Not yet. Everything there is under control. She’s being kept quiet, but her husband hasn’t cancelled his talks yet.’

  ‘Cold-hearted bastard.’ Delombre sounded almost impressed.

  ‘He won’t be for much longer. If we have to we’ll use the Sicilian trick.’

  ‘Can your men handle that?’

  ‘They’ll have to. If not, you may have to go in and help them.’

  ‘Sure. Let me know when and where.’

  Levignier thought about that. He’d deliberately kept Delombre out of the kidnap plan because the man didn’t do subtlety; he much preferred violent action leading to final solutions. While that method had its place, it was too soon yet. But if things weren’t resolved, he might have to get Delombre to finish it all for good. And that meant everybody. Kidnappers and victim.

  ‘Do we know where Devrye-Martin is?’ Another urgent problem, but this one was definitely Delombre’s number to deal with.

  ‘No. Nobody’s seen him since he walked out of the halfway house he was taken to after leaving the Clos du Lac.’

  ‘Careless. How did it happen?’

  ‘Everyone thought he was heavily sedated, like the rest. Apparently not. We know he’s not in Evreux, but he’s got a couple of friends who share his passions. They might help support him if he stops getting money from his family. We’re keeping an eye on them.’

  Levignier thought about it for a few moments. From rumours on file about Stefan’s earlier activities, it seemed certain that he had been peddling his photographs to fellow ‘enthusiasts’ in France and all the way up to Holland before he was discovered. Now he was out from under his family’s care, and likely to find it difficult to obtain any more of their money, it was likely that he would try to get back into his old trade. Either way, if Rocco got to Devrye-Martin first, it could all get very messy. Bad enough that a former dead man accused of taking pictures of naked children had come back to life, courtesy of the state; even worse if that same man had discovered anything of consequence about his former housemates and their reasons for being at the Clos du Lac. A man like that was highly likely to trade information of that nature to keep himself out of trouble. ‘As soon as you locate him, go see him.’ He allowed himself a cold smile. ‘Make it an aftercare visit.’

  ‘Meaning?’

  ‘You know what I mean. Soothe his pain. Make it permanent.’

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  By the time Rocco arrived at the address Santer had given him for Pascal Rotenbourg, it was late afternoon. Traffic on the main streets was building into the frantic hustle that Parisians seemed to hate and enjoy with equal measure, and he wanted to get clear of the city before it got too bad. But he needed to check Rotenbourg’s address on the off chance that he was in.

  The six-storey building occupied a corner site midway down a tree-lined street, with shops at ground level and apartments above. Metal balconies ran the length of the second and fifth floors, and windows promised almost floor-to-ceiling views out across the park on the other side. The area seemed prosperous and was just enough off the beaten track to have a sense of calm to the atmosphere, in spite of the traffic not far away.

  Rocco parked his Citroën and walked into the building, nodding at a concierge cleaning a large brass handle on the open front door. Inside, against the rear wall, stood a bank of mail boxes. He checked for Rotenbourg’s name and found it located on the fourth floor, accessible by a clanky lift with concertina gates, a relic from earlier in the century.

  ‘Can I help you?’ The concierge had followed him inside. He was in his sixties and light on his feet, with the springy stance and bent nose of one who might have done a few years in the ring in his youth. His eyes flicked rapidly over Rocco and he nodded, making a quick assessment. ‘You’re police?’

  Rocco nodded and showed him his card. ‘I’m off my patch here,’ he told the man, ‘but I’m trying to verify some information about a case I’m working on. It could be a wrong lead, but these things have to be checked out. Just ticking boxes, that’s all.’

  The man shrugged. ‘Fair enough, Inspector. We’ve all got a job to do, right? What name are you after?’

  Rocco told him, and the man nodded. ‘I know Pascal. He’s not in, though. Went out this morning, early. You want to leave a message?’

  ‘Sure. Can you ask him to call me?’ Rocco felt the beginnings of an easy lead slipping away. Whoever the non-swimmer had been, it clearly wasn’t Pascal. He took out another card and handed it over. ‘What does he do, this Pascal?’

  ‘Do? I’m not sure. He’s retired from business, lived here about ten years, quiet, minds his own, comes and goes – you know how it is.’

  Rocco sensed that he’d got as much information out of this man as he was going to volunteer, but asked, ‘Does he have a brother?’

  ‘I don’t know. You’d have to ask him. He never says much about his background and I don’t ask. Why, is there a body?’

  Ro
cco smiled and thanked him, and headed back towards Amiens.

  At ten to seven, Rocco walked through the door of the café in Poissons, and nodded at Maillard, who was drying glasses behind the bar. A pungent fog of cigarette smoke hung over the bar, and the voice of an excited talk show host was fighting a losing battle with a volley of shouts from the far end of the room and a fan clattering noisily in one corner.

  ‘Drink?’ Maillard jerked his head at the row of bottles behind him.

  ‘Make it coffee,’ said Rocco. He preferred a clear head when dealing with unknowns, and a cop who was seen to drink didn’t instil confidence in the general public. In this case they were six men, all with the spare, weathered look of farm workers. Two were playing a noisy game of Babyfoot watched by four others slouched on chairs against the wall.

  They nodded at Rocco, but said nothing.

  ‘They’re not here yet,’ Maillard murmured softly. He poured a cup of coffee, black as treacle, and placed a slim glass of cognac alongside it, and a box of sugar cubes. ‘On the house. Cognac, too.’ For good measure, he opened a jar of gherkins and placed a fork on the counter, and tapped the lid of a large jar of pickled eggs.

  Rocco nodded his thanks but passed on the eats. ‘Will these men be any trouble?’ He didn’t know any of them, but his cop’s instinct wondered if they were known to the drink sellers and might pitch in to help them.

  ‘Not this lot. They know who you are, so they’ll behave.’ He smiled grimly. ‘If they don’t, they’ve got a long way to walk to find another place to drink.’

  ‘Good. Just act naturally and don’t look at me when they come in.’

  As Rocco leant on the bar sipping his coffee, the outside door opened and three men walked in. They had the rough look of country men, but there was something about them that set off his internal alarms. The first man was short and stocky, strutting in as if he owned the place. Confident. The leader. He was wearing a pair of very shiny shoes with pointed toes. Definitely not country-style. The second man was tall and whipcord thin, in need of a shave and carrying a long shopping bag which might have contained a baguette. He looked edgy.