The Secret Of The Cathars (2011)

by Michael Hillier

  Jacqueline collapsed onto the bed. For a moment she said nothing, then, “Have I really heard you right?”

  “Absolutely. There will be no television programme produced about le Bezu.”

  “What about the series?”

  “The whole lot is cancelled. They want to talk to you about replacing it with some of the stuff you started five years ago regarding the remaining evidence of the First World War. Alain assured me that you wouldn’t lose out as a result of this change of strategy.”

  “Change of strategy?” She thumped the bed violently close to Philip’s foot. “The bloke’s been got at. The gutless wimp has rolled over in front of the threat from the Catholic Church or some other influential bunch of characters.”

  “My dear, we can’t possibly know that and I do beg you not to make any allegations like that which might get back to Alain Gisours.”

  “I warned him right at the start that there would be parties trying to stop the story getting out. And what did he say? Oh, he told me he wouldn’t let anything like that influence him. Now what do I hear? The bugger’s been bought.”

  “Please don’t talk like that outside this room, Jackie. It wouldn’t do your standing in Paris any good at all.”

  “I expect that bloody, crawling weed has squirreled away several million in his Swiss bank account from some secret source. He’s lost all sense of honour and integrity.” She snorted. “My god, am I disappointed in Alain Gisours. I thought he had more guts than that. He said he knew it was going to be tough at times but he promised me he wouldn’t let me down. Stupid fool that I was, I believed him. Huh! It’s always the same. When the pressure comes on he’s as weak as the rest of them.”

  “The compensation for cancellation is extremely generous,” Cambray hastened to assure her. “Everybody will be well looked after. All expenses up-to-date will be settled, with a reserve to cover unexpected items.”

  “How much?”

  “Pardon?”

  “How much are they going to give me for two years part-time research and three months full-time work here?”

  Bernard’s eyes strayed back to Philip. “My dear, do you think …”

  “Out with it, Bernard. I want Philip to hear how good the wages of corruption can be in this lovely country of ours. How much are they giving me?”

  He spluttered a little. “Er - it’s one million.”

  “Euros or pounds?”

  “Well, euros of course.”

  “I want a million pounds sterling in cash.”

  “Pounds? Why pounds?”

  “Just to be bloody awkward! It’ll be more difficult to get the banks to cough up the cash. Besides, I may decide to go and live in England after this.” She tossed her head. “Oh, you can have your fifteen percent in euros, if you want. The rest is to be in pounds.”

  “It won’t be necessary for you to pay me anything, my dear. The million is for you alone. I have been separately looked after.”

  “Of course - they’ve got to reward their hatchet-man. How much are you getting then, Bernard?”

  “My dear.” He looked sideways away from her. “That information is private.”

  “Do you want to continue working for me?”

  “You know I do.”

  “Leave it at that, Jackie.” Philip was starting to feel sorry for the guy.

  “Tell me - how much, Bernard?”

  “Hmm. Well, all right, then. I’m getting a quarter of a million.”

  She exploded. “Bloody hell. That’s not much, is it, for acting as their bully boy. I thought you were going to tell me that it was thirty pieces of silver.”

  “My dear.” The man looked crestfallen, his normal bubble of self-importance completely burst. “In no way have I betrayed you to anybody. I wasn’t consulted or warned about this decision at any time. When I received the phone call last night I was as shocked and surprised as you are now. I’ve just been sent down here as the messenger-boy. All the important decisions were taken way above my head.” He positively drooped with remorse.

  “I’m sorry, Bernard.” Jackie quickly forgave him. “I shouldn’t be attacking you. I realise that it’s not your personal fault. I was just shocked to hear this awful news so suddenly. And I’m thinking about what will happen to all the members of the team who are really starting to gel together now.” She stood up. “Right. That’s it for now, Bernard. Now I want to discuss what this means with Philip. I want you to go downstairs and get everyone together to receive the bad news. I’ll talk to them at eight o’clock.”

  “Very well, my dear.” He picked up one of the empty champagne glasses from the dressing-table, twizzled it in his fingers and put it down again. “Am I to assume - er - that this new personal relationship…”

  “You’re not to assume anything. We haven’t discussed it.” She shepherded him towards the door. “Now, off you go.”

  After he left she closed and locked the door and turned back to Philip. Suddenly she threw herself on to the bed, face down, the hem of her dressing-gown riding up to her bottom and uncovering her legs. She didn’t cry. She didn’t say anything.

  After a moment’s hesitation, Philip moved to her side and put an arm across her waist. She lay unmoving and after a while he started to gently massage the muscles of her back through the softness of the silk fabric. Slowly she began to relax and moved slightly against him. Still he said nothing and continued the massage.

  At last she murmured, “I am lucky to have found you.”

  “Well, I do a good line in silent sympathy.”

  “Yes.” She turned her head towards him. “That’s one thing that Andre couldn’t do at all. He would have been raging against the unfairness of the whole world and it would have been me who had to pacify him. At least I feel I can lean on you psychologically.”

  “You can lean on me any way you like.”

  “That’s comforting.”

  “Of course, it’s easy for me,” he admitted. “I haven’t been involved in all the work that went into planning this series. I can understand the frustration that you must feel about the research which seems to have been wasted. Can’t you talk direct to this Alain Gisours chap and try to get him to change his mind?”

  She shook her head. “It would be a waste of time.”

  “What about the people over the top of him - his directors and shareholders?”

  “I don’t know who they are. I only know that I wouldn’t be allowed anywhere near any of them. And if I tried too hard it would seriously damage the prospects for my future in television. Mind you,” she rolled on her side and supported herself on one elbow, “the way I feel at the moment, I don’t think I want any prospects.”

  Philip had his own prospect where her robe had fallen open down the front. He pulled his mind back to attention. “With all the effort you’ve put into this you could write a book about it. You’re well-known. It would almost certainly be a best seller. They couldn’t do anything about that.”

  “But it wouldn’t have an ending, Philip. The work here at le Bezu was going to provide us with an ending.”

  “I don’t know about that.” He was thoughtful. “If we could find my ancestor’s secret cache that would provide a hell of an ending.”

  “Yes, it would,” she agreed. “But how are we going to find that?”

  “Well, if everyone is paid off and leaves today, that will leave us with an empty site. I bet it’ll be a week at least before this contractor appears to reinstate the place. I don’t expect they’ve even appointed anybody yet. We could use that week to have a final search for the treasure.”

  “Of course we could.” She sat up. “You - are - brilliant, Philip Sinclair - do you know that. How did I get through the rest of my life without you?” She hugged her bare front against him. “We could have a whole week here alone together.” Suddenly she changed her thoughts. “Philip - make love to me again.”

  “You’ll be late for your meeting.”

  “So what! They’re goin
g to be well paid for waiting. Bernard will have to keep them happy.”

  Philip didn’t need any further urging. He pulled her dressing gown away from her half-naked body.

  They were actually only a quarter of an hour late getting down for the meeting. Philip tried to make his entrance behind Jacqueline as unobtrusive as possible but he guessed everyone knew how their relationship had progressed by now. He particularly noticed Gaston’s scowl when he saw him appear.

  Jackie was trembling slightly as she faced the crowd of silent faces. But she didn’t delay in getting down to business.

  “Have you told them the bad news, Bernard?”

  “I thought I should leave that to you, my dear.”

  “Very well. This is it, folks, in a nutshell. Half an hour ago Bernard brought me the shocking news that we are all redundant; out of a job; laid off permanently. TV France has decided to close us down as from today. No reason is given. The whole thing is completely out of our hands.” She paused. “Are there any questions?”

  In reply to the chorus of “Oh, no’s” and “Why’s?” she shook her head. “I’m sorry,” she said, “I can’t give you any logical reason for the decision. The bosses won’t talk to me. I think the reason is political - something outside our knowledge. The one thing I can say is that I’m sure it has nothing to do with any of you or your quality of work. I have been perfectly happy with all of you. This is the kind of thing I believe big companies do without consultation or explanation, although I must say it is the first time anything like this has happened to me.” She glowered at Bernard. “And it will be the last.”

  He blanched at her gaze.

  “So,” she continued, “as from today we are all out of work. There will be no need for any of us to return to le Bezu unless we have personal possessions which we wish to pick up. If anyone needs to go back, let me know and I will run you up there in one of the Land Cruisers.”

  She paused for breath and there was a buzz of conversation, cut off by her next lot of comments.

  “I understand all our hotel and bar bills will be paid by the company up to this morning. What is happening about wages, Bernard?”

  He brought out a sheaf of five-hundred euro notes from his pocket. “I am authorised to pay everybody a thousand euros per week or part thereof. The two days you have worked this week will be treated as a whole week. I think you will all agree that the company is being generous.”

  There were a few mutters, a few cheerful acceptances.

  “I believe that only Gaston has a formal contract. The rest of you are employed on a short-term, casual basis. Gaston - you will be entitled to the usual benefits of termination of employment for redundancy, and on top of that I will pay you two thousand cash severance money, which won’t appear on your contract documents.” He handed the four bank notes over to him. “Now then, Jackie, if you will tell me how much to pay to each person I will need their receipt signatures on this sheet.”

  He sat at a table and they went through the rigmarole of handing out cash to the helpers. Philip himself received two thousand euros, which he accepted, after a glance and a brief nod from Jackie. Following that, she spoke again. Philip noticed the tension in her which made her voice seem rather high-pitched.

  “I just want to say thank you to everybody for what you’ve done. I appreciate it a lot, even though my employers don’t seem to. I thought we had the makings of a good team and I’m disappointed …” She broke down and turned to Philip who had a handkerchief ready. He saw that she was shaking violently almost as though she was in shock.

  Gamely Bernard took over. “As Mademoiselle Blontard’s agent, I would echo that and thank you personally for the support you have given her. You can see that she is finding it difficult at the moment to speak to you individually. But if any one of you wishes to keep in touch with her, they may write to me and I will see that your letter or e-mail will get to her. I will leave a number of my business cards on the table and you are all welcome to take one.”

  Philip noticed that most of them did so. There was now a generally sombre atmosphere in the room. Jackie was hanging on to his arm very tightly

  “One final thing,” said Bernard. “Jacqueline said that your personal accounts with the hotel will be paid up to date which I will do straight away. Of course, anybody who wishes may stay on here after today. However I must point out that, if you do so, it will be at your own expense.”

  Jackie turned back to face the room. She seemed to have recovered some of her composure. “I believe most of you who live away from here have your own transport. But what about you, Gaston?”

  “No.” He remained taciturn.

  “Do you want a lift somewhere?”

  “I would like to go to Toulouse.”

  “Please can you give him a lift on your way back to Paris, Bernard?”

  Bernard spluttered a bit, but in the end he agreed that he could.

  “What do we do about the police?” asked Gaston.

  “Yes. Thank you for reminding me.” Jackie face wore a worried frown. “If you were interviewed by the police in connection with Andre’s death, and they thought they might want to speak to you again, they will have asked you to let them know before you leave town. So you will have to call in to the police station to tell them where you will be in the next week or two. Is that clear?”

  It appeared that it was clear to everybody.

  “Well,” she gabbled, “I’ll thank you again. I’m sure you’ll understand that this has been an upsetting experience for me, as I guess it has for you too. I’m going up to my room to wind down a bit. If you have any more questions, I’m sure Bernard will be able to answer them. Goodbye.”

  She turned and bolted towards the door. As she passed Philip, she murmured, “Please will you come up in five minutes?”

  Everybody was silent for a minute or two after she left. Then Bernard filled the vacuum by asking people whether they had any other expenses they wished to claim and the room was once again filled with chatter.

  - 22 -

  When Philip got up to her room he found Jackie lying face down on the bed again. The shock she had received that morning seemed to have stripped away her aura of power and invincibility. She was no longer the famous television personality. She was just a beautiful, upset lady.

  He went started to massage her back once more, trying to relax her and at least make her feel less overwhelmed by her problems. After a while he started to talk to her quietly.

  “You mustn’t let this defeat you. You’re still the star that everyone wants to see on their television sets. All right, so somebody powerful and high up has been able to persuade or bribe TV France to change their mind about the Cathar series and that’s very disappointing and frustrating after all the effort and commitment you’ve put into it. But it’s not the end of the world.”

  “Isn’t it?” she mumbled. “How can I get up in front of a set of cameras and talk to the watchers as though nothing has happened?”

  “I’m sure you can do it. You’re a professional. I bet there are a number of occasions when you haven’t been totally happy with the words which have been put in your mouth. And yet you’ve been able to deliver them with real conviction.”

  “But that was only detail stuff. It was never like this.”

  “Perhaps it wasn’t.” He continued working the muscles of her shoulders. “I agree that this is more serious. But you’re big enough to cope with it.”

  “I just don’t want to do it anymore.”

  “I don’t believe that, Jackie. In a few days I’m sure you’ll be raring to go again. You’ll find some new topic to get involved in. You’ll find that you want to put your full effort - your very substantial effort - into making your next project a success.” He paused. “I’ve only known you for a week but I have already realised what a fantastic talent you have.”

  She rolled over and looked up at him. “Kiss me, Philip.”

  So he did. It was a long time before she could
draw breath again. “Do you know,” she said, “I think you’re very good for me.”

  “Well, you certainly do a lot for me.”

  She sat up with a sigh. “I feel much better already. I suppose you’re going to tell me that I have to go back downstairs and face all those people I’ve let down again.”

  “You haven’t let them down. You know that and they know that. They understand that it’s out of your hands. I tell you what - why don’t you have a shower to freshen up first? You’ll feel better after that. We just dressed and rushed down to the lounge earlier. We didn’t give ourselves a chance. I could do with one as well.”

  “All right then. I’ll be ready in ten minutes.”

  “I’ll pick you up,”

  So they got back to the lounge about twenty minutes later. Philip thought Jackie looked devastating and the room burst into a round of applause when she entered.

  “I don’t deserve that,” she said. “But Philip has persuaded me that I must put on a brave face and come down to say goodbye to you all.”

  Philip had the self-assurance to speak up. “But before we do that, does anybody want to go back up to the site to get anything?”

  Suddenly it seemed that almost everybody did.

  “Well, in that case we’d better take both Land Cruisers. Can Gaston and Armand drive them, please?”

  They both said that they’d be pleased to do so.

  “You can stay here if you want,” Philip said to Jackie.

  “No. I’ve got some sensible trainers in the car.”

  The trip up to le Bezu almost seemed like a friendly outing now that everybody had got over their shock and a substantial amount of cash was nestling in their pockets. Even Bernard came along to see what they had done on the site. When they got up to the Great Hall area, he was clearly disappointed.

  “Not much to show for six weeks work, is there?”

  “We were just getting down to the Cathar level,” said Gaston. “We had a lot of rubble and vegetation to remove before we got there. Everything had to be carefully sieved and searched.”