Malniveau Prison by Ariel Winter

Author:Ariel Winter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Titan

9.

The Assistant Warden

Pelleter realized that Fournier must have been waiting for him since before he arrived, which meant that the assistant warden had been able to watch the inspector turn through the paper unobserved. Pelleter had done nothing inappropriate, but he was still rankled at being caught unawares. There was nothing to be done about it now.

“Yes,” he said, and with a false bow, he invited Fournier into the dining room. “Let’s talk.”

Fournier refolded the paper, taking care to pull at the end of each crease so that when he was finished the paper appeared brand new. He stood, left the paper on the seat, and led the way into the dining room.

Once inside, Pelleter took his seat so that he faced the door, and spread his napkin in his lap as though he were simply sitting down to dinner. He looked uninterested, a man at the end of an exhausting workday, when in reality he was watching Fournier’s every movement.

The assistant warden took the seat opposite, where Clotilde-ma-Fleur Rosenkrantz had sat two nights before. His face was set, as though he were determined to say what he had come to say without being waylaid.

As he prepared himself, the girl from the counter approached behind him.

Fournier began, “You can not come and go as you please at the prison. It’s unacceptable!”

“Monsieur Inspector?”

Fournier jumped, and turned in his seat to see the girl who was leaning in towards them with her hands clasped.

“The phone…”

“Ah, yes,” Pelleter said, bunching up his napkin. “You’ll excuse me, Monsieur Fournier, of course. It’ll only be a moment.” Pelleter stood, pushing back his seat, and extracting himself from the table. “And you should let the chef know that it will be two of us for dinner.”

Fournier looked frightened by this sudden turn of events, looking at the girl and then Pelleter and then the girl again. “No, I’m not staying for dinner.”

“Of course you are. You’ve had a very trying few days, after all. I won’t be a minute.”

Fournier’s fear had converted to frustrated anger, but Pelleter passed out of the dining room, and went to the phone that had been left on the front desk for him.

He picked up the receiver:

“Lambert? It’s me…Yes, I need you to locate somebody for me…” He gave the name. “Check the hotels… He’s with his wife, so he shouldn’t be hiding too carefully…Call me when you’ve found him, either at the hotel or through Letreau. But don’t lose sight of him…Very good…Yes.”

He hung up, and went back into the dining room.

Fournier was sitting facing forward, his back to the door. He sat up straight, his shoulders squared. Pelleter spoke before Fournier could see him, but the assistant warden did not act startled. He’d regained his composure.

“Sorry about that. The telephone must not be ignored. Never know when it’s going to be something important. Or when you’ll be able to get in touch with the other person again, the chances of you both being at the phone at the same time…” He resumed his seat, and replaced his napkin.

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