paper, lÉquipe, Christine said. Contact the local sports federation to see if
they have any records. If you have the names of the players, or of the team, it
should be quite straightforward.
I only have one players name, but not the name of the team nor any other
information. The team played in an amateur youth league, and won a championship
in 1940 but I think their coach had been a professional player. I have his name,
Villanova.
It could be a long search, Bruno, Christine said. Regional papers like le
Marseillais tend to keep microfiche records, but Id be surprised if they have
been digitised and so you cant do an electronic search. You may have to go
through all the issues for 1940. But if they won a championship, that would
probably be at the end of the season, in the springtime, March or April. You
might try just looking for those months. Is this to do with that murder inquiry
you refused to tell us about when you were last here? We saw the reports in
Sud-Ouest.
Yes, poor old Hamid, as you know, was the victim, and nothing seems to have
been taken except his wartime medal and this old photo, so Im curious to see if
it might shed some light on the affair. Its just a chance he may have taken
the things down from the wall himself or thrown them away. We might be following
a false trail, but so far we dont have much to go on.
I thought I heard on Radio Périgord that some suspects had been detained, in
Lalinde, was it not? asked Pamela. They didnt give any names.
No, if theyre under eighteen, theyre juveniles and their names cannot be
released. Some local youngsters involved in the Front National have been the
subject of police inquiries, but so far theres no real evidence to connect them
to Hamids killing, or even to connect them with Hamid.
I dont know many young people around here, said Pamela thoughtfully. Perhaps
I should. Some of my guests here have teenage children and it might be a good
thing to introduce them to some young locals. We did that a bit last summer with
a young French couple who played tennis on the court here. Rick and Jackie, I
think they were called.
Rick and Jackie? Bruno said sharply. Could that have been Richard and
Jacqueline?
Pamela shrugged. I just knew them by those names. An attractive young couple,
about sixteen or seventeen. Shes a pretty thing, blonde hair, a very good
tennis player. Hes slim, maybe sixty kilos. I think he said his father is a
doctor around here. Why? Do you know them?
How did you meet them, Pamela? And when was this, exactly?
They said theyd been walking in the woods and noticed my tennis court. They
said theyd never played on grass before and asked if they could give it a try.
I had an English family with some teenage children and they spent the afternoon
playing tennis. They seemed very pleasant and polite, but I got the impression
they had been courting pretty energetically in the woods, rather than just
walking. It must have been late August, maybe early September last year. Rick
and Jackie came two or three times. I think she had a car, but I havent seen
them this year.
You say they came out of the woods and down to your property. Which woods,
exactly?
Those over that hill. She pointed. Over towards Hamids place. From the hill,
you can see both my place and his.
Did they ever mention Hamid, or meet him, or see him here when he came to tell
you how to prune your roses?
Not that I can recall.
When they came to visit you again, did they come the same way, from the woods?
No, they came up the road by car. I remember it well because she drove too fast
and I had to tell her to slow down.
Did they go walking off into the woods again while they were here?
Yes, I think they did, teenage passion and all that. Youre sounding very
policeman-like and serious, Bruno. Do you think they could be connected to
Hamids murder?
I dont know, but it suggests that they may have known the old man, or seen
him, or at least had the opportunity to do so, and other than that there is
nothing to connect them with Hamid.
They didnt seem like Front National types. They werent skinheads or thuggish
in any way. They seemed pretty well educated and had good manners, always saying
please and thank you. They even brought me some flowers once. They spoke quite a
bit of English, got on well with the English kids. They were really very
pleasant I enjoyed meeting them.
Well, it may be nothing, but since we have so few leads, we have to follow them
all. So I must say thank you for the game and get back to work. But Id better
stroll up to those woods and see whatevers to be seen before I go.
Can we come too? asked Christine. I have never seen a real policeman at
work.
Im not a real policeman, not in that sense, Bruno laughed. I wont be like
your Sherlock Holmes with his memory for a hundred different kinds of cigar ash
and his magnifying glass. I just want to take a look. Do come along if you
like.
It turned into a gentle Sunday stroll up to the top of the rise, perhaps a
kilometre to the first thin trees. Another hundred metres through the woods and
over the ridge line, and there was Hamids cottage, five hundred metres or so
away and the only building in sight. They walked along the fringe of the woods
and found a small clearing of soft turf, sheltered and private but with a
glorious view over the plateau a perfect place for a romantic rendezvous in
the open air, thought Bruno. He looked carefully around and found some old
cigarette stubs and a broken wine glass under a bush. He would have to send the
forensics team up here.
They walked back to Pamelas house mostly in silence, and quickly drank what was
left of the champagne. Then the Baron and Bruno took their leave. The pleasant
atmosphere after the tennis had become sombre. They made no plans to play
together again, but Bruno decided he could always call. Now would not be a good
time, not with the shadow of a neighbours murder hanging over Pamelas house
and the knowledge that the suspects had visited her, enjoyed her hospitality,
and played on the same tennis court where they had spent such an agreeable
morning.
CHAPTER
15
The Juge-magistrat, a dapper and visibly ambitious young Parisian named Lucien
Tavernier who might just have reached the age of thirty, had arrived on the
early morning flight down to Périgueux airport. Bruno took an instant dislike to
the man when he noticed the predatory way he looked at Inspector Isabelle at the
first meeting of the investigative team. It was just after eight a.m. and
Isabelle had woken him with a phone call at midnight to say his presence would
be required. Bruno had not wanted to go; he had a parade to organise for midday
and he was not a member of the investigative team, but
J-J
had specially asked
him to be there to explain the new evidence that put Richard Gelletreau and
Jacqueline Courtemine in the vicinity of Hamids cottage. Without Brunos phone
call to
J-J
on the previous day, Richard would already have been released.
What he said is that he used to go to the woods to have sex, and he hadnt even
noticed Hamids cottage since he had other matters on his mind, said
J-J
. With
his hair awry and his shirt collar undone, he looked as if hed barely slept as