Read Online Missing Person by Patrick Modiano, Daniel Weissbort - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Patrick Modiano, Daniel Weissbort
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below the shoulders. The one I used to bring along to Freddie's château? In another photograph, she is leaning her elbows on the railings of a veranda.
A postcard addressed to "Mr. Robert Brun, c/o Howard de Luz, Valbreuse, Orne," showing the port of New York. It reads:
"My dear Bob. Regards from America. See you soon. Freddie."
An odd document under the heading of:
Consulado General
de la
Republica Argentina
No. 106
The Consulate of the Republic of Argentina in France, in charge of Hellenic interests in the occupied zone, certifies that the archives of the Municipality of Salonica were destroyed by fire during the 1914-18 War. Paris, 15 July, 1941.
Consulate of
the Republic of Argentina
in charge of Hellenic Interests.
A signature, and under it:
R. L. de Oliveira Cezar
Consul General.
Me? No. His name is not Pedro.
A small newspaper cutting:
H OWARD DE L UZ F ORECLOSURE :
At Valbreuse (Orne) Château Saint-Lazare
7 and 11th April,
By order of The Estate Management
Sale by public auction
of an important collection of
Objets d'art and furniture
antique and modern
Pictures - Porcelain - Ceramics
Carpets - Bedding - Household linen
Érard Grand Piano
Frigidaire etc.
Viewing: Saturday, 6th April, 2:00-6:00 P . M .
and 10:00-12:00 on the days of sale.
I open the envelope with the four-leaf clover. It contains four passport-size photographs: Freddie, myself, Gay Orlov, and the fair-haired young woman.
I also find an uncompleted passport of the Dominican Republic.
Casually turning over the photograph of the fair-haired young woman I discover the following, written in blue ink, in the same untidy handwriting as on the postcard from America:
Pedro: ANJ OU 15-28.
13
How MANY engagement books still contain this telephone number which used to be mine? Was it simply the number of an office where I was to be found only one afternoon?
I dial ANJou 15-28. It rings and rings but no one answers. Are there any traces left of me in the deserted apartment, the room uninhabited for a long time, where this evening the telephone rings in vain?
I do not even need to call information. All I have to do is flex my calf muscle and spin Hutte's leather chair. In front of me, the rows of directories and year-books. One of them, smaller than the others, bound in pale-green goatskin. This is the one I need. All the telephone numbers in Paris for the last thirty years are itemized here, with the corresponding addresses.
I turn the pages, my heart thumping. And I read:
ANJou 15-28 -10 A , Rue Cambacérès, 8th arr.
But the street directory for the year does not list this telephone number:
C AMBACÉRÈS (Rue) 8th.
14
A MAN WHOSE Christian name was Pedro. ANJou 15-28. 10 A , Rue Cambacérès, eighth arrondissement.
It seems he worked for a South American legation. The clock Hutte had left on the desk points to two in the morning. Down below, in Avenue Niel, only an occasional car passes and I can hear wheels squealing from time to time at the red lights.
I leaf through the old directories in the front of which are lists of embassies and legations, with their numbers.
Dominican Republic
Avenue de Messine, 21 (Vlllth). Tel. CARnot 10-18.
N ... Special Envoy and Plenipotentiary.
Dr. Gustavo J. Henriques. First Secretary.
Dr. Salvador E. Paradas. Second Secretary.
(and Mrs.), Rue d'Alsace, 41 (Xth).
Dr. Bienvenido Carrasco. Attaché.
R. Decamps, 45 (XVIth), Tel. TRO 42-91.
Venezuela
Rue Copernic, 11 (XVIth). Tel. PASsy 72-29.
Chancellery: Rue de la Pompe, 115 (XVIth). Tel. PASsy 10-89.
Dr. Carlo Aristimuno Coli, Special Envoy and Plenipotentiary.
Mr. Jaime Picon Febres. Counsellor.
Mr. Antonio Maturib. First Secretary.
Mr. Antonio Briuno. Attaché.
Colonel H. Lopez-Mendez. Military Attaché.
Mr. Pedro Saloaga. Commercial Attaché.
Guatemala
Place Joffre, 12 (Vllth). Tel. SÉGur 09-59.
Mr. Adam Maurisque Rios. Chargé d'Affaires.
Mr. Ismael Gonzalez Arevalo. Secretary.
Mr.
A postcard addressed to "Mr. Robert Brun, c/o Howard de Luz, Valbreuse, Orne," showing the port of New York. It reads:
"My dear Bob. Regards from America. See you soon. Freddie."
An odd document under the heading of:
Consulado General
de la
Republica Argentina
No. 106
The Consulate of the Republic of Argentina in France, in charge of Hellenic interests in the occupied zone, certifies that the archives of the Municipality of Salonica were destroyed by fire during the 1914-18 War. Paris, 15 July, 1941.
Consulate of
the Republic of Argentina
in charge of Hellenic Interests.
A signature, and under it:
R. L. de Oliveira Cezar
Consul General.
Me? No. His name is not Pedro.
A small newspaper cutting:
H OWARD DE L UZ F ORECLOSURE :
At Valbreuse (Orne) Château Saint-Lazare
7 and 11th April,
By order of The Estate Management
Sale by public auction
of an important collection of
Objets d'art and furniture
antique and modern
Pictures - Porcelain - Ceramics
Carpets - Bedding - Household linen
Érard Grand Piano
Frigidaire etc.
Viewing: Saturday, 6th April, 2:00-6:00 P . M .
and 10:00-12:00 on the days of sale.
I open the envelope with the four-leaf clover. It contains four passport-size photographs: Freddie, myself, Gay Orlov, and the fair-haired young woman.
I also find an uncompleted passport of the Dominican Republic.
Casually turning over the photograph of the fair-haired young woman I discover the following, written in blue ink, in the same untidy handwriting as on the postcard from America:
Pedro: ANJ OU 15-28.
13
How MANY engagement books still contain this telephone number which used to be mine? Was it simply the number of an office where I was to be found only one afternoon?
I dial ANJou 15-28. It rings and rings but no one answers. Are there any traces left of me in the deserted apartment, the room uninhabited for a long time, where this evening the telephone rings in vain?
I do not even need to call information. All I have to do is flex my calf muscle and spin Hutte's leather chair. In front of me, the rows of directories and year-books. One of them, smaller than the others, bound in pale-green goatskin. This is the one I need. All the telephone numbers in Paris for the last thirty years are itemized here, with the corresponding addresses.
I turn the pages, my heart thumping. And I read:
ANJou 15-28 -10 A , Rue Cambacérès, 8th arr.
But the street directory for the year does not list this telephone number:
C AMBACÉRÈS (Rue) 8th.
14
A MAN WHOSE Christian name was Pedro. ANJou 15-28. 10 A , Rue Cambacérès, eighth arrondissement.
It seems he worked for a South American legation. The clock Hutte had left on the desk points to two in the morning. Down below, in Avenue Niel, only an occasional car passes and I can hear wheels squealing from time to time at the red lights.
I leaf through the old directories in the front of which are lists of embassies and legations, with their numbers.
Dominican Republic
Avenue de Messine, 21 (Vlllth). Tel. CARnot 10-18.
N ... Special Envoy and Plenipotentiary.
Dr. Gustavo J. Henriques. First Secretary.
Dr. Salvador E. Paradas. Second Secretary.
(and Mrs.), Rue d'Alsace, 41 (Xth).
Dr. Bienvenido Carrasco. Attaché.
R. Decamps, 45 (XVIth), Tel. TRO 42-91.
Venezuela
Rue Copernic, 11 (XVIth). Tel. PASsy 72-29.
Chancellery: Rue de la Pompe, 115 (XVIth). Tel. PASsy 10-89.
Dr. Carlo Aristimuno Coli, Special Envoy and Plenipotentiary.
Mr. Jaime Picon Febres. Counsellor.
Mr. Antonio Maturib. First Secretary.
Mr. Antonio Briuno. Attaché.
Colonel H. Lopez-Mendez. Military Attaché.
Mr. Pedro Saloaga. Commercial Attaché.
Guatemala
Place Joffre, 12 (Vllth). Tel. SÉGur 09-59.
Mr. Adam Maurisque Rios. Chargé d'Affaires.
Mr. Ismael Gonzalez Arevalo. Secretary.
Mr.
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