Never Forget by Michel Bussi

Author:Michel Bussi [Bussi, Michel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Europa Editions
Published: 2020-08-17T22:00:00+00:00

I darted through the gap between two carriages on breeze blocks, and ran to the abandoned railway line that stretched into infinity like a huge zip fastener a giant had closed over secrets buried underground.

“Hello, Mona?”

For the first time, I had decided to lie to her. At least by omission. I wasn’t goiong to tell her that old Denise Joubain couldn’t remember the accident two days ago . . . but that she had a perfect memory of the murder of Morgane Avril ten years before.

That she muddled everything, including the day when she had met me.

That she thought I was someone else.

That she was, quite simply, mad.

The phone rang out. The sleepers passed beneath my feet like an endless ladder to hell. In a hundred metres or so I would have to leave the abandoned railway to venture among the sloping fields of the Pays de Caux. The drizzle had turned into a cold fog that froze my skin, but at least it meant that if there were any hikers about in this weather, all they would see of me was a vague silhouette.

I was alone.

Christian Le Medef had disappeared. Denise Joubain was mad.

I was the only witness to the death of Magali Verron.

I nervously gripped my phone in my hind.

The only witness, apart from the cops. Apart from Piroz, his deputy and all the officers from the Fécamp brigade who had bent over that corpse.

No reply. Try again.

I pressed the green button on my iPhone.

“Hello, Mona?”

She picked up.

“So? Did you find your old woman?”

“No. Or rather yes, but it’s complicated . . .”

“Tell me!”

“Later, Mona.

I stopped under a hazel tree. Thick cold drops fell from the branches and then exploded on the synthetic fabric of my jacket.

“Can I borrow your car?”

For a few moments all I could hear at the other end was the sound of pebbles rolled by the sea, then Mona’s playful voice asked,

“To hand yourself over to the cops?”

“No, Mona. To go to Neufchâtel.”

“What?”

“To Neufchâtel-en-Bray. Carmen Avril, Morgane’s mother, still runs her holiday home there, the Dos-d’ne. It’s less than an hour’s drive away. I need check all the details. Mona . . . I need proof, I need you to . . .”

“O.K., big man. Don’t get overheated. Take my car if you like. It isn’t going anywhere, it’s parked on the sea wall by the casino . . .”

I didn’t even try to put into words the gratitude that I felt for Mona.

“By the casino? Damn! There’s no way I can go anywhere near Yport beach in broad daylight, even in this weather. They’d nab me straight away . . .”

Mona sighed like a mother who has no choice but to yield to her little boy’s whim.

“You’re a pain, Jamal! I’ll leave my Fiat by the road out of Yport, past the campsite, near the tennis courts. I’ll leave the ignition key inside. The door and the trunk haven’t closed properly in years . . .”

“Thanks, Mona. I’ll prove to you that you’re backing the right .

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.