The Seaside Hotel

by Agnès Ruiz

  She went into the room that had been her office. She was surprised to see that nothing had been moved yet. Her father and her brother had clearly not had the time. She sat behind her desk and made a phone call. She knew where to reach the journalist her mother had told her about. She had a long discussion with him and let out a long deep breath that he wouldn’t disclose it. At least not just yet. She nonetheless promised him to keep him informed and that he would get the scoop.

  83

  Later, Joanna drove away in her car under heavy rain. The windscreen wipers struggled against the continuous surge with the strong wind which turned into uncontrollable gusts. She felt as though it had taken her twice the amount of time necessary to get the police station.

  “Joanna!” she heard.

  Her father was in the reception room, sat on a chair. She joined him and he told her that his lawyer was already on the case.

  “He’s taking care of Cécile.”

  “And Joshua?” Joanna panicked.

  “He’s with one of his associates. He couldn’t split himself into two.”

  “Of course.”

  Joanna had nevertheless understood that her father preferred choosing his fiancée and palmed her brother off to a complete stranger.

  “He’s extremely competent”, assured Rodolphe G. Gaspardin as if he read her mind.

  Joanna didn’t doubt it. It was a reputable legal office. But even so.

  “Have you heard anything?”

  “Cécile and Joshua are being accused of being involved in some jewellery thefts.”

  “I know.”

  “Did you know that Interpol are on the case? The thefts took place in Montreal, Barcelona, Brussels and London.”

  Guillermo walked through the reception area just then. He approached them and Rodolphe lost his temper.

  “Well? Are you going to let them go? You haven’t heard the last from me.”

  “No, Mr Gaspardin, quite the contrary, we are only just beginning.”

  “You are making a monumental mistake. And it’s going to cost you dearly, I’m telling you”, Rodolphe threatened further.

  “Dad, please, let Guillerm... Let Mr Voily do his job.”

  Joanna and Guillermo looked at each other as Rodolphe settled down after a fashion.

  “Can I speak to you?” Guillermo demanded quite firmly.

  Joanna wanted to refuse. However it would not have been very mature of her. She excused herself from her father. Soon, Guillermo guided her towards an office that had been assigned to him for the duration of the investigation.

  “What do you want?” asked Joanna, distant.

  “Fine, if you’re going to be like that... whatever. For the moment, it’s not about us.”

  “I agree with that. The ‘we’ is over forever”, Joanna hammered.

  “Joanna, I don’t know if you realise it, but your brother is in an inextricable situation. There’s no doubt he’s guilty. I have enough evidence to hold him.”

  “Why? Because the thefts happened in the cities my brother visited?”

  Joanna informed him that her father had just told her.

  “It’s not only that, Joanna. Believe me.”

  “But you can’t tell me everything, is that it?”

  “You’re too close to the suspect.”

  “I can be clear-headed when I want!” Joanna protested. “And what about Cécile? Why are you only telling me about Joshua? She’s the mastermind behind all this, that’s for sure.”

  Guillermo shook his head negatively.

  “It’s not what you think...”

  “Did you know they had an affair in the past?”

  Joanna told him about the episode she had heard by the tennis courts. Guillermo already seemed to know about their history.

  “You see, it’s all coming from her. You should concentrate on her comings and goings. I’ve tried to find out more about her. I drew a blank.”

  “It’s as if she never existed, is that it?”

  Joanna remained silent and understood he was holding back more information that she lacked.

  “Are you going to tell me that you know or not?”

  “Cécile is not our main suspect.”

  Suddenly, Joanna remembered Marguerite’s retirement party. Cécile was sporting a bracelet. It was an expensive jewel, without a doubt.

  “I’m sure it was a stolen jewel. You should check.”

  She was once again familiar with him, from habit, despite her swearing she would keep a distance between Guillermo and herself.

  Guillermo rummaged through a file and took out an enlarged photograph.

  “Is this the jewel you’re talking about?”

  Joanna observed the photo and confirmed.

  "You see! She’s no white goose, this girl. She is dangerous and wants to drag my brother into her schemes.”

  “This bracelet was from a theft that took place in Brussels five years ago. We have questioned Miss Burnier. She denied everything. She confirmed that the bracelet was a gift from Joshua when they were still together. She says she didn’t know it was a stolen object.”

  Guillermo seemed tired. Yes, he had information, but he wondered just how much he could trust Joanna and her filial bond. However, he continued before Joanna began to protest.

  “I’m not comfortable, Joanna. I think your brother is directly involved in Mélanie’s disappearance. Some colleagues are questioning him at this very moment to try to get him to confess where he is hiding her. We need to find her, you understand. If it’s not already too late.”

  “That’s... that’s impossible. Why would he have done that? It doesn’t make sense.”

  “She disappeared that very evening, when Cécile was wearing the bracelet”, Guillermo insisted.

  “So it’s her you should be grilling. She lied to you. You can’t believe her so easily. Incidentally, I remember, Joshua wanted to take Mélanie home but Cécile intervened. That’s what you told me. Or my mother... I don’t remember...”

  Everything was getting mixed up in Joanna’s mind. A visceral fear seized her. Her whole world collapsed around her. Guillermo wasn’t who she thought and Joshua seemed no longer straight as an arrow. Despite her denials, she knew it. Only Cécile seemed to be what she was: a beautiful and intelligent girl. A mysterious woman who came from nowhere. A young woman who one should watch out for. She wouldn’t let go of that.

  “It’s true; Cécile took her to the address that Mélanie gave her. We checked. She pretended. It wasn’t her parents’ house, as you know. And at the place in question, nobody knows Mélanie. We showed them her photo.”

  “So what, then?”

  “I keep asking myself that. It can’t be a coincidence, Joanna. I don’t know, perhaps Mélanie witnessed something. A heated argument between the two lovers that evening or something like that...”

  “About the bracelet, for example?” Joanna bounced back.

  “Why not. It could be enough.”

  “It was risky of her to wear it on her wrist like that”, Joanna answered, sure to be on the beginning of the trail. “And Cécile tried to get rid of poor Mélanie.”

  “Why had her car been broken into?” Guillermo asked still not satisfied.

  “I don’t know... To make it look like a mugging for example”, assured Joanna, getting caught up in the investigation and deciding to clear her brother. “Picture the scene. She takes Mélanie to the address she gave her. Then she lies low and discovers Mélanie trying to get back to her car. And there, she gets rid of her.”

  84

  Guillermo pinched his lips and moved towards Joanna, He sat in the empty chair at her side and took her hand.

  “We found your brothers’ finger prints on Mélanie’s door. None of Cécile Burnier’s prints. Neither inside nor outside...”

  Joanna was dumbfounded. Suddenly, she had no other trail. There was only a terrible emptiness in her heart and her head throbbed with the effort of trying to find a solution.

 
“Your brother recently sold off some stolen goods. I get the impression he needed a substantial amount of money quickly. If not, he wouldn’t have acted so recklessly.”

  “Money? Why would he need so much? Perhaps he’s in trouble. Perhaps he was simply betting then got caught up with a bad bookmaker.”

  Guillermo laughed briefly at Joanna’s elaborate whodunit scenario. She continued on her momentum whilst Guillermo indicated at which moment it had been done. She paled and stopped short during a new theory.

  “My mother! My mother needed money for her restaurant. She came to see me. I know she’d been to see Joshua, too... Do you think... he did that for my mother?”

  Then she changed her mind, affirming that it was impossible. Reluctantly she had to reveal her mother’s implication breaking into Rodolphe G. Gaspardin’s office.

  “I know, Joanna. I was in your father’s office at that time. I hid in a cupboard just in time.”

  “The more the merrier”, Joanna hammered, rattled by so many people being in the same office. It was like a vaudeville comedy.

  “Vaudeville is supposed to the funny”, Guillermo answered back, very serious.

  “I’m as worried about Mélanie as you are, if you doubted that”, Joanna retorted hearing Guillermo’s tone. “But I still believe that Joshua has nothing to do with it.”

  “I only need to get my hands on your brother’s stash. He still has stolen goods in his possession.”

  “My... brother’s stash! That’s going a bit far. So for you there’s no doubt.”

  “I told you, Joanna. I’ve got photos of your brother in full negotiation. I’ve got tapes...”

  He raised his hand to indicate that his file was solid.

  “Maybe Cécile will break. And confess everything?”

  “We are keeping Miss Burnier over night, but she’ll be freed quickly. Just a few routine details. We have nothing against her.”

  “My father’s lawyer is very good it seems”, cursed Joanna. “Shame my brother doesn’t have the same advantage.”

  “That’s got nothing to do with it, Joanna. I assure you.”

  “Can I see him?”

  Guillermo looked at Joanna.

  “Who?”

  “My brother. Of course. I need to speak to him.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “Do you want to move forward?”

  “And you think he’ll make an exception because you’re his sister?”

  “Why not? I can unsettle him.”

  “It’s risky, Joanna. You could get hurt. Morally I mean.”

  “You think I’m not already? Everything’s out of control!”

  Guillermo admitted defeat. He stood up and asked Joanna to follow him.

  “Do you have an idea in mind of how to reach him?”

  “I’ll decide. Could it get any worse, frankly?”

  “You’ve got guts, it’s undeniable.”

  “My mother thinks I’m a traitor.”

  Lorelli hadn’t used such vocabulary. But she had the impression that was what she thought of her.

  “We want the same thing, you and I.”

  “I’m not so sure, Guillermo. I don’t know where all this is going to take us. Too far, no doubt.”

  Silent again, he opened the door.

  “Joshua... Can I talk to you, in private?” she said, fixing an insistent look at the lawyer.

  “Joanna! What are you doing here?”

  Her brother looked stupefied. With fear then doubt. It was an unpleasant cocktail. Joanna felt like a disappointment.

  Guillermo spoke to the police officer who was questioning him for a few seconds then they left the room along with the lawyer.

  In the doorway, Guillermo turned back.

  “We’ll be the other side of the door if need be.”

  “My brother’s not going to hurt me”, Joanna defended, mortified.

  “You forget I’m in handcuffs, as if I were a criminal”, Joshua added with hostility pulling on the links.

  Joanna thought the metallic sound would last forever in the small interrogation room.

  She sat in the vacant chair which scraped along the floor when she moved it. Now she was alone facing her brother. The looked as if they were discovering each other for the first time.

  “Why, Joshua?” she asked, simply.

  “You are accusing me, too. You’re just like the others, then.”

  “The facts are there. And you can’t deny you had an affair with Cécile.”

  “She’s the one who sold me?”

  Joanna pulled a face at the comment. Joshua seemed furious. In Joanna’s mind, she understood there was no doubt regarding his guilt in the stolen jewellery affair.

  “Has it been going on for a long time, these jewellery thefts? Wasn’t the hotel enough for you?”

  “I’ve got nothing to say to you.”

  “And you’ve got nothing to say to me about Mélanie, either? She’s only 18 years old.”

  85

  Joshua remained quiet. In Joanna’s mind, it was another confession.

  “If you collaborate with them, they could make an agreement with you. It happens every day.”

  “In films, yes!”

  “Reality is harsh”, Joanna shot.

  “Did they send you? They hope I’ll crack because you’re my sister? Wishful thinking.”

  “What happened to you, Joshua?”

  Joshua remained disturbingly mute while Joanna spoke for them both. She defended Joshua’s reasoning, assuring that she’d do anything to help him.

  “Dad’s lawyer is better for that than you are.”

  “Thank you for the vote of confidence.”

  “What, maybe you think your Guillermo will burn the file and let me go just like that?”

  “That’s how it works for innocent people. You are innocent, aren’t you? You didn’t do anything to Mélanie?”

  “You should leave, Joanna. There’s nothing more you can do here. And you should stay away from that Interpol guy. He’s not the one for you.”

  Joanna attempted a few more tricks, trying to soften her brother, but she hit a blank wall. Tired, she stood up. Her sudden move made the chair fall over behind her. The metallic noise resonated in the confined room, just like her brother’s handcuffs had earlier. It was too much. She ran to flee the room.

  Guillermo joined her rapidly. She soon understood that he had witnessed the whole scene behind the two-way mirror. She should have guessed.

  “I thought I could help him”, she babbled, ruined and still shocked.

  “That’s what it takes so that he wants to be helped. But that was impressive, Joanna. Really, on top of your game.”

  Joanna didn’t think so. She decided to leave, she still had a pressing need to get some air, even if it meant going out in the storm that was still raging on.

  She met her father in the reception, but she settled for a simple nod of the head before moving away. She was already behind the wheel when Guillermo came running towards her. She half opened the window, sullen.

  “What do you want now?”

  “I just wondered if perhaps you knew of a particular place in the area where we found Mélanie’s car...”

  Joanna was about to say that there was nothing in it when she remembered something. A memory from their childhood. She turned her head towards Guillermo, ready to speak, but hesitated.

  “What? What is it?”

  “No... it makes no sense. I’m losing my grip.”

  “Say it anyway! Maybe Mélanie is still alive.”

  “My brother is not a murderer!” Joanna rebelled, furious.

  “Joanna, I’m not going to fight with you. I just want to follow up on any leads...”

  “There is a place”, Joanna finally announced. “But it’s ridiculous. We went there when we were little.”

  “I’ll get in with you.”

  Guillermo went around the car and got in next to Joanna. She explained that there w
as a blockhouse half buried in the sand.

  “We used to play hide-and-seek inside... Then my father found out. He forbade us to go back there. It wasn’t a safe place for children. For anybody, really. He explained there could still be bombs buried...”

  Joanna lost herself in her memories, perhaps to hold onto something tangible. Guillermo only interrupted her a little, looking outside, squinting to keep an eye on the road. The trees along the edge of the road were bowing; the wind blew and wailed in their ears despite the windows being closed.

  “We’re here”, Joanna announced.

  She parked in the same carpark where they had found Mélanie’s car. In Guillermo’s mind, there was no possible doubt. There was a link between Mélanie’s disappearance and the jewellery thefts. Was there still a chance of finding the young girl alive?

  “Which way do we need to go?” Guillermo shouted for make himself head over the storm.

  Joanna shielded her eyes with her hand to protect herself from the sand that was whipping her face as much as from her hair which was blowing all over the place. Guillermo moved closer ready to follow the young woman’s instructions.

  “Over there, I think”, she announced. “But the tide is coming in.”

  “Will the blockhouse be flooded?” asked Guillermo.

  “I’m afraid of that. Nature is raging today.”

  “We must be quick, then!”

  Perhaps it was already too late, thought Guillermo when he understood where Joanna was taking him. The water had already entered into the old German bunker partly hidden in the sand, with furious waves. The waves were crashing against the concrete walls. Guillermo held Joanna’s hand firmly to stay together. They almost fell several times. Joanna was still moving forward, dragged by Guillermo. He flashed his torch in all directions to try to spot something but there was only the water which was getting higher and higher.

  “We have to get out. We’re going to get washed away”, warned Joanna, conscious of the imminent danger.

  She knew the effect of the tide and its dangers. There was nothing to find here. Her idea was stupid. She had put them in danger, moreover.