An Oddity of Some Consequence by Gary Dickson

Author:Gary Dickson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gary Dickson
Published: 2020-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Fourteen

Inès and Alexis took the same train to Geneva that Robert had taken three days earlier, arriving in the late afternoon, checking into the hotel just in time to change clothes and have dinner at Le Gentilhomme, a renowned restaurant at the nearby Le Richemond.

Inès turned out to be great company and very different from the rigid career woman that Alexis might have expected. Naturally they discussed Robert at some length, and Alexis, given her years of experience with counseling and therapy, knew how important it was for the therapist—or in this case, the detective—to know as much as possible. What seems incidental and unimportant to the patient can be of seminal importance to crack a neurosis, or in this instance, the case. Was this the time to tell him about Robert talking in his sleep? She hoped that M. Hibou would find information that would reveal to her the importance of the mention of Henri. She had a desire to crack the case herself. It might be a secret so horrible that she wouldn’t want it known by anyone but herself.

Their conversation jumped around. One minute they were talking about Robert’s home in Los Angeles and his extensive collections of various oddities, and then they moved on to trends in fashion and what they might be wearing in the upcoming spring and summer. Under the circumstances, Alexis was certain that she said more than Inès, and that was a role reversal for her; most of the time, she was the one doing the listening.

Alexis was curious about Inès and her background. M. Hibou had only given her the highlights when legitimizing Inès for this assignment.

“It must have been a difficult decision for you to leave your position in the French intelligence service to join your father,” Alexis said.

Inès let a small chuckle escape. “It was never a decision. He is more subtle than that. He asked my opinion when he was investigating an embezzlement case, and predictably, I took the bait. I was partly showing off and partly fishing for his approval. Do we ever outgrow that, in respect to our parents?”

“Not ever,” said Alexis. “The only slight improvement is that we begin to recognize that it’s part of the relationship, as expected by one side as it is the other. I still act out this charade from time to time with my father, Martin. And he loves it when I do.”

“Next, Émile was solicited by one of my supervisors at the agency to work as a contractor on a case of a mole inside the army. He was hired to pose as an arms dealer, seeking small arms and munitions for a sub-Saharan terrorist group. My supervisor thought it would be a good idea if my father had an assistant, preferably a female, since the suspect, a lowlife, fancied himself a ladies’ man. The agency volunteered my services, and my father accepted with a knowing smile.”

“It must have turned out all right?”

“Wildly. Plus, through a piece of good

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