Children of War by Martin Walker

Author:Martin Walker [Walker, Martin]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Crime Fiction
Publisher: Quercus
Published: 2014-05-21T14:00:00+00:00

17

The sun was still warm in mid-afternoon and Bruno was in his garden wearing a polo shirt and shorts when he heard a car lumbering up the lane. Gilles had called to say he was on his way. Balzac darted off down the drive to investigate the new arrival. Bruno had been weeding his vegetable patch and filling a wicker basket with tomatoes that he would turn into a compote for freezing. Some olive oil, garlic, chopped onion and balsamic vinegar and he’d have more than enough to keep him through the winter. And there’d still be plenty of tomatoes left over for the tarte he planned to make for dinner.

He stood, stretching his back, put the basket by the kitchen door and went in to take some beers from the fridge and glasses from the freezer. Gilles had taught him that trick, and Bruno was looking forward to seeing him, although not to fulfilling Pamela’s request to probe him about the stalled affair with Fabiola. Once the Brigadier had told him to leave the château for the rest of the day and concentrate on Gilles, Bruno had called Pamela and Fabiola and invited them to supper.

‘You’ve lost weight. You’re even thinner than you were in Sarajevo,’ Bruno laughed, welcoming his friend with a hug. He shook the hand of the photographer who accompanied Gilles, an unshaven young man in jeans who looked too frail for the big camera case he carried. He was introduced as Freddy, and his eyes darted inquisitively around Bruno’s property, the restored old cottage, the line of truffle oaks, the chicken coop and potager.

‘I don’t think Freddy is quite used to the countryside. More of an urban guy,’ said Gilles, fondling Balzac’s long ears, which always made the puppy roll onto his back to have his tummy scratched. ‘He’s going to leave us to talk, and if you can show him the château on the map he’ll take some exterior shots if that’s OK.’

‘We might be able to do better than that,’ said Bruno, handing each of them a cold beer. ‘We can arrange for you to have an exclusive: photos of Sami and his family, the scars on his back and as much of an interview as you’re likely to get from an autistic young man who’s been through hell.’

‘You’re kidding.’ Gilles looked amazed.

‘No, we thought it was time to tell Sami’s full story, including the way he was let down by one of France’s biggest mosques, run by two of France’s most respected Imams. But you and I need to talk anyway and the full photo shoot can’t be till tomorrow, so let Freddy go and take his exterior shots and maybe he’d like to join us for dinner.’

Freddy declined, blushing, saying he had a date with one of the girls who had checked him into their hotel. Quick work, thought Bruno, but his absence would make the dinner conversation easier. Gilles’s rental car map didn’t show the château, so Bruno lent Freddy his local map and marked his own house, the hotel and the château.

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