The Body in the Castle Well by Martin Walker

Author:Martin Walker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2019-06-03T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

As Bruno left, he saw that Claire had returned and was standing close to the door, one hand in the open filing cabinet as if searching for something. It was her usual eavesdropping pose. He hit his button to answer the phone.

“Yacov, thanks for returning my call. I just had a meeting with a formidable woman called Madame de Breille from Hexagon who says she knows you. Is that so?”

“Yes, and ‘formidable’ is the word. We often work with Hexagon in doing due diligence reports for clients, and she’s the dynamo in their Paris office. She started out in the douanes, investigating customs fraud, and was then put on a task force the finance ministry set up to investigate the collapse of Crédit Lyonnais and the fuss over their payments to Bernard Tapie over the sale of Adidas. She was hired by Hexagon when they opened their Paris office.”

“She’s down here claiming to represent Abraham Muller.”

“He’s the head of Muller Investment Trust. We’ve done a lot of work with his venture capital operations in Europe and Israel. Madame de Breille told me about the death of his daughter, and since she knew I’d spent time in the Périgord, she asked for some contacts. I gave her your name. Is there a problem?”

“No, I was just checking. How’s your arm?”

“I’m doing a lot of physiotherapy and it’s getting better, but it will never be a hundred percent. That AK-47 bullet did a lot of damage. I’ll be seeing you this summer when I bring a scout troop down to the camp.”

“I’ll look forward to it. And you know Amélie is coming down as well? I’ve lined up some concerts for her.”

“That’s great, but we’re not seeing that much of one another these days. We’re still friends but no longer lovers. I was probably too long in the hospital. C’est la vie.”

Bruno made a sympathetic grunt, thinking how difficult it was for male friends to talk with each other about their love affairs or their feelings, at least unless they were face-to-face with a glass in their hand and one bottle already empty on the table between them. He groped for some way to change the subject.

“Another thing before you go,” he asked. “Could you ask your physiotherapist if she knows of anyone who could act as a guide in Paris for someone in a wheelchair?”

“Will do, but have you tried the tourist office of Parisinfo.com? You’ll probably find something helpful.”

Ten minutes later, Bruno called Bourdeille to give him the name and number of a young woman who had passed the two-year course and the challenging test to be a licensed Paris guide and specialized in guiding disabled people. She could be hired by the day and had planned her own tours for people restricted to wheelchairs.

“She’ll even meet your train at Montparnasse with a suitable vehicle, arrange a wheelchair-access hotel and restaurants, book opera and theater tickets,” Bruno said. “It sounds perfect for you.”

“This is very kind of you, Bruno.

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