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pursue the point with Lahaie. ‘There is no secret so close as that between a rider and his horse,’” she declared.
    Hay raised an eyebrow.
    â€œRobert Smith Surtees,” she said, then added helpfully, “1805 to 1864. But as it happened, I didn’t have to raise it with him at all.”
    â€œSo what did you talk about?”
    â€œPeacekeeping, mostly.”
    â€œPeacekeeping? The topic of choice among the horsey set?”
    Liz was pleased to see that the DCI had lost his earlier stiffness and was back to what she hoped was his usual self. “Quite interesting, really. Lahaie seems to be one of the few senior army officers to have managed a blemish-free service record. Quite a feat in the Canadian forces. Ever since that business in Somalia a few years back, the press has been out for blood. A Canadian soldier can’t sneeze the wrong way without making the front page and sparking a formal inquiry. It’s a true shame. Anyway, Lahaie seems to have maneuvered his way pretty effectively through that particular minefield.”
    For some reason, Hay was finding the virtues of Colonel Lahaie the tiniest bit irritating. “So he didn’t actually have anything interesting to say,” he observed.
    â€œWell, if it’s dirt you’re after, he did say there had been some trouble in one of the sectors while he was in command. Something about allegations of impropriety by Canadian soldiers in a Bosnian hospital and rumors of black marketeering. He didn’t elaborate much. He said there had, in fact, been a few disciplinary problems, but the culprits had been dealt with and sent home. It seems there wasn’t much to it, and he appears to have come out of it alright.”
    â€œNo doubt,” grumbled Hay.
    â€œHe also mentioned that Natalie had asked him about rumors of a Western drug-trafficking operation out of Bosnia, something about drugs transiting through Bosnia from Central Asia. There were some rumors flying about that as well, and the implication was that some of the Russian and even Western peacekeepers or other agencies might be involved. But those rumors only surfaced after Lahaie’s tour, and he was out of there by then.”
    â€œOf course he was,” said Hay. He was starting to look bored again.
    â€œOh yes, one other thing. I asked him if he knew what that notation ‘Spk Claude’ in Guévin’s appointment book might have meant. He said the only thing he could think of was that it might be connected with a horse show they planned to attend on the weekend. That she might have had a question about that.”
    â€œMmm,” said Hay, having heard enough about the colonel. “Anyway, I’ve a bit more information from forensics. They’ve catalogued a file drawer full of prints from the anteroom and the dining room. Nothing interesting at the moment, but at least we’ll have them for comparison purposes if we need them. We have a bit more on Guévin as well. One of your chaps from Ottawa called for Ouellette, but he was out with Wilkins at the time interviewing the eco-tourist.”
    â€œDon’t you mean eco-terrorist ?”
    â€œWhatever.” Hay smiled for the first time that day. “Anyway, for what it’s worth, that small dry-cleaning business the father started in Montreal has grown into something of an empire. He’s made a lot of money out of one-hour service, it seems. Moreover, it appears that Mr. Lukjovic is something of a Serb nationalist, very active in the Canadian Serbian community. He seems to be harassing your Foreign Affairs for early release and dispatch of the body back to Montreal.”
    Hay paused for breath. “And that club, the one used to bludgeon Guévin. Clean of prints, by the way. It was already bagged when Sergeant Carpenter went in to ID the body, so he never had a chance to see it. But he dropped by this morning and we had a chat. When I described it to