Read Online Assignment Madeleine by Edward S. Aarons - Free Book Online Page B

charming aide.” DeGrasse told the bearded
driver to go to the Marbruk Hotel and sank back on the hard seat of the jeep.
He slung his carbine around to hold it on his knees. “You will wish to refresh
yourselves first.”
    “Just what is your situation, captain?” Durell asked.
    “Are we cut off from the coast here?”
    “In most ways. Communication is impossible for the moment. I
had planned to send a military convoy with you, but I will not be able to spare
the men and equipment, after tonight. Not until things settle down, at any
rate."
    “When do you expect that to be?”
    “Two or three days, monsieur.”
    “Perhaps you can spare a single truck or car.”
    “I would not attempt the trip alone, m’sieu .”
    “I know the country,” Durell said. “I’ve been here before.”
    “Ah, I see. During the war?”
    “Yes.”
    “I shall give your suggestion serious consideration,”
DeGrasse said.
    It was only a ten-minute drive from the airfield to
the hotel. The streets were narrow, sometimes barely passable for the jeep, and
DeGrasse kept his carbine ready, his eyes on the dark, leani.ng walls of the
houses that loomed over them. No one moved on the streets except an occasional
hurrying figure, sometimes in burnoose and robe, sometimes in European
clothing. At frequent intervals they passed patrols of territorials or regular
armed troopers on guard.
    The bearded French jeep driver escorted Madeleine into the
lobby, carrying the small piece of luggage she had salvaged from the plane.
Durell halted DeGrasse on the silent terrace under the lights.
    “Could you spare a man or two for the next hour?”
    he asked quietly. “I would like to have the girl guarded.”
    DeGrasse looked mildly surprised. “But she is your
associate, monsieur.”
    “Not exactly,” Durell said. “She is suspect. I’ll explain
later. But it is important that she be prevented from making any local contacts
without my presence.”
    “You will return here for the night, however?”
    “I’d like to see Orrin Boston’s room first—the place
Where he lived and look it over. Then I’ll want to talk to L’Heureux.”
    DeGrasse’s face clouded. “I will be glad to get rid of that
one. I was fond of Orrin Boston, you know. He knew this country and the people,
and he was of great assistance to me in the matter of maintaining contact with
the local population. His death was a tragedy that never should have happened.”
    “What do you know about it?”
    DeGrasse shrugged. His youthful face looked tired in the
harsh glare of light from the open doors of the hotel. “L’Heureux shot him
twice, once in the lung and once more in the stomach. Monsieur Boston was dead
when we found him.”
    “And where was that?”
    “In the south quarter of the town. It is my belief that
Boston was negotiating with dissident elements among the rebels. He would not
tell me what the subject of his negotiations was, but for the last week he was
very cheerful and optimistic. He seemed to expect great things from his work as
mediator.”
    “Did he mention any particular sums of money being
involved?”
    DeGrasse looked puzzled. “No, monsieur.”
    “Did he tell you any of his thoughts about L’Heureux?”
    DeGrasse rubbed his smooth jaw. “I distrusted L’Heureux, you
know. This American had an undesirable reputation, you understand. But I had to
be tactful. Boston said he knew all about the man and was on his guard and
chose to employ him in his negotiations with the rebels. But evidently Boston
was not careful enough, eh?”
    “Why are you so sure L’Heureux killed him?”
    “He was caught on the spot by the locals. It was in Orrin
Boston's flat, behind a Moslem café run by a Kabyle who was friendly with
Boston. When they heard the shots they rushed in and found Boston dying and
L’Heureux with the gun in his hand. L’Heureux tried to maintain it was a
terrorist murder, but no one else was on the scene. He is guilty, monsieur. And
I do not envy