J. Janes - Tapestry

‘I’m not a member. That’s only for …’

‘Of course you aren’t. You don’t need to be. It’s for businessmen, bankers and others of the establishment whose private lives you and that agency are paid to pry into and they know it, too, some of them, probably. Hey, it’s good for business to sit here, especially over the cinq a sept . Don’t try to tell me it isn’t. While you’ve been keeping an eye on me and another on Bob, you’ve been nodding to friends and acquaintances, male or female, and worrying over what they might be thinking or might have overheard. You’ve been taking in the whole of this place, especially its entrance and coat check. Who’s with who, who’s leaving a little early or hasn’t yet shown up, who’s staying a little longer than usual and not with you-know-who. That’s an art, my friend, and as a detective of long standing, I have to admire it. Now give. I want some answers.’

Had Gestapo Boemelburg not warned Kohler to leave the Agence Vidocq out of things even if he and that partner of his did happen to stumble on to something-had they?

‘You live with two women, Kohler. Surely you are concerned about them?’

‘Is that a threat?’

‘Not at all. It’s merely a statement of fact.’

Giselle … Delaroche hadn’t touched his aperitif . One of the girls came with cigars and automatically he started to make a selection only to think better of it.

‘You and Judge Rouget are members of the Cercle de l’Union Interaliee, Colonel.’ This wasn’t known for certain but …

‘That’s no concern of yours. Surely you’re not so stupid as to suspect anyone who belongs to the Interaliee?’

‘We’ll get to it, won’t we? Vivienne Rouget hired you to watch over her Hercule. If you ask me, I think that woman knew all about his philandering but things had gotten out of hand. He was spending far too many evenings and nights away from home and not just with Elene Artur. The Folies-Bergere, the Casino de Paris, the Apollo, the Naturiste and Chez Eve-it’s interesting that bare breasts keep cropping up, isn’t it? Especially at La Source de Joie in Pigalle.’

The bordel of Regine Trudel. How had Kohler found out so much in such a short time? ‘Hercule is under a great deal of stress.’

‘ President du Tribunal special …’

‘ Resistants, Terroristen . Their sentencing. Vivienne …’

‘Was it that Elene reminded him of a petite amie he’d once had?’

The framed poster above the mantelpiece, the constant reminder of a stunning conquest and possession: Une nuit a Chang-Rai, 7 March 1926, at the Magic City . Kohler had definitely been to the flat.

‘Hercule is at that age,’ said Delaroche. ‘The libido doesn’t fade, n’est-ce pas, but as one grows older, one can no longer command that same stiffness nor does the erection last. A remedy is needed. That’s all that girl ever was. A reminder of how things once were.’

‘That other showgirl. The one in that poster.’

‘ Oui, oui . What has happened to Madame Artur, Kohler? Come, come, don’t be so free with the insinuations and the veiled threats. Karl Oberg is a member of the Interaliee, Walter Boemelburg not quite yet, but on the list and likely to be voted in at …’

‘ Ja. Ja, mein lieber franzosischer Privatdetektiv , the avenue Foch and the rue des Saussaies are using that agency of yours and Louis and me have been told to go carefully. Point is, you’d best help us out, or is it that you want us to go right back to Boemelburg and dump the lot of what we now know into his lap?’

Kohler would do it too. Boemelburg would then have to go to Oberg and hadn’t that one insisted that Hercule be totally above all such extramarital activities and hadn’t Vivienne, foolish as her little outburst had been in front of this one, been only too aware of what the Hoherer SS und Polizeifuhrer expected of Hercule and desperately afraid of what must happen should he not see the error of his ways and fall from favour?

Elene Artur’s fitted case was set on the table, Kohler gripping its edges before springing the catches-why hadn’t it been taken? Why had it been left for this one to find? ‘Bob, stay. STAY , Bob. There’s my soldier.’

The half of a carrot stick was found. To be fair, what with all the other smells of pate, et cetera, around them, Bob couldn’t be blamed for not refusing it and was one damn fine dog. ‘Was Elene really the wife of a POW, Colonel? Let’s get that straight, just for the record.’

Had the salaud not even known? ‘ Oui, I … I believe she was. Did she suffer?’

No answer was given. The case was opened, Bob watching closely. A hand mirror and comb and brush were deliberately set to one side, Kohler watching, Kohler knowing that they couldn’t see what was still in the case unless they got up and came round the table.

Beneath these items and such others, there would be the felt-covered pasteboard tray to which they’d been fastened. This tray was hinged and Kohler now lifted it up and out of the way.

‘Judge Rouget knew that wife of his was having him followed, Colonel. Maybe it had happened before, maybe someone was kind enough to have told him. Point is, he backed off and left that girl alone. Elene didn’t know what the trouble was. She knew, though, that she had done something that must have upset him, but didn’t know how he could possibly have found out about it.’

‘Go on. Please continue, since you seem to know everything.’

‘He’d taken to giving her his little gift beforehand in the Lido here and then not showing up at that flat of his. Kept her waiting night after night. That’s not good for a girl, is it?’

‘Get to the point.’

‘Certainly. When Lulu was taken, that daughter of his had come down here to ask if he would like a lift home, which he damned well should have done had he any sense. They argued-they must have. Maybe Elene caught sight of them and put two and two together, maybe Denise Rouget stormed the dressing room to confront the girl first. Something delayed Denise and gave Elene time to move. Germaine de Brisac got impatient and left the car running and Lulu alone in the backseat while she came here to find out what was the matter.’

‘And Elene knew where that dog would be because she had seen it often enough. You should be working with us, Kohler, but I won’t try to buy you off, since there is no need.’

‘You let the judge know that wife of his had hired you to follow him.’

Must Kohler continue to look for trouble? ‘Once I knew the extent of the problem, I felt it my duty as a friend and fellow member of the Interaliee to inform him of Vivienne’s concerns. Life with Hercule hasn’t been easy. That girl was but one of many.’

‘But he agreed to back off?’

‘For the time being, yes.’

‘Are you familiar with that flat of his on the rue La Boetie?’

There must be no hesitation. ‘Certainly, but are you aware that Judge Rouget has put it on the block and offered it also to our friends-your fellow countrymen? I, myself, was with him when he handed a set of keys to the estate agent.’

Louis would have appreciated the attempt. ‘Which one?’

‘I’ll have to ask our secretary. She’ll have gone home by now, but you can have it first thing on Monday.’

And no problem. ‘That’s good of you. I’ll keep it in mind.’

A change of blouse and slip, still neatly folded and beautifully laundered by the girl’s mother, were taken out of the case, a change of underwear and pair of white woollen socks, slippers, too, that Elene Artur had sometimes worn between sets and sometimes even in that flat, but had Kohler found the two thousand francs Hercule would have given her? Had the girl put it there and trusted that the others wouldn’t steal it? Had she done so in haste, realizing that it had to be saved and would be taken from her?