The Hanged Man's Tale by Gerald Jay

Author:Gerald Jay [Jay, Gerald]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 2021-12-07T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

—

Mazarelle emerged from the balcony to see the apartment door closing. And now he had a decision to make. He could follow the dirty cops. They were clearly up to something illegal. But it didn’t seem to be murder. And with every fiber of his six-foot-three-inch frame, Mazarelle wanted the killer.

Staring grimly at Claire’s lifeless body, he did the thing he knew a detective is never supposed to do. He blew past the evidence, the meticulous review of data, and went right to the list of suspects. The tarot card clearly put Alain Berthaud’s murderer at the top. Frank Nash was on the list. And, frankly, he had to admit that, to others in the department, he would soon be on the list as well.

Mazarelle tried to take a breath. Angelique, his physical therapist, was always talking to him about breathing. As if he didn’t breathe all the time. A deep cleansing breath she called it. This one felt soiled all the way down. But he couldn’t duck his next call anymore.

The patron was astonished when he learned that Claire Girard, the editor in chief of the popular Paris-Flash, had been murdered.

“What the hell is going on in this city anyhow!” Coudert exploded. “How was she killed?”

Mazarelle said that it looked like she’d been strangled. Visible bruises around her neck. A violent murder.

“Who discovered the body?” asked Coudert.

There was a momentary pause before Mazarelle told him that he’d discovered the corpse. “Madame Girard”—he volunteered, to avoid interruptions—“has a pied-à-terre. A small private office on the top floor of the Hôtel Château Saint-Germain. It’s far from the brouhaha of her magazine’s editorial offices.”

She’d called him early that morning, Mazarelle explained. She had something to tell him about the case of the Canal Saint-Martin’s hanged man. And considering the sensational nature of that story, she preferred to give it to him in her private office. Mazarelle understood that completely.

“Yes, yes, of course,” Coudert acknowledged. “Go on.”

“That’s it.”

“You mean she was dead when you got there? She left nothing?”

“I didn’t say that. I haven’t begun my investigation yet. But I can tell you this. Madame Girard had clutched in her hand a tarot card of the Hanged Man that appears to be identical with the one we found on the body of Alain Berthaud.”

“Aha! I see. Do we have a goddamn serial killer on the loose?”

“Much too early to tell.”

“What else?”

“Nothing. Except that I’ve informed the PS to set up a crime scene, notified my team to meet me here, and before doing anything else called you to learn if this will be part of my case too.”

“Of course it will. Don’t be ridiculous. Now get started and keep me fully informed of your progress. Understood?”

“I’ll do my best, chief.”

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