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Authors: Aaron Elkins
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he? Maybe I've been giving him a bum rap. He's sharper than I remembered."
"Oh, Gideon!" Beaupierre had gone about ten paces and turned. "Which way was I going when we met?"
"Uh… the same way you are now."
"Ah, good," said Beaupierre, patting his belly. "Then I've had my breakfast."
When he stopped off at the Hotel Cro-Magnon before going to the staff meeting, Gideon was told by the clerk at the desk that an Inspector Joly from Périgueux had telephoned, asking him to call.
"Lucien, what's up?"
"Ah, Gideon, a little news. I've been speaking with the prefect in Les Eyzies about a fellow named Jean Bousquet, who disappeared from the village three years ago—"
"Wait a minute, I thought you told me there weren't any unclosed cases."
"This is a little different. Bousquet was never reported to the police as missing, he was reported as a thief."
By his landlady, Madame Renouard, according to whom Bousquet had fled after removing from a secret drawer in her cupboard 60 francs in cash, an antique lapel watch valued at 180 francs, and a treasured cameo brooch; one of a pair that had belonged to her grandmother. He had also left with his rent four weeks in arrears, a matter of some 600 francs. The municipal police, under Prefect Marielle, had mounted an unsuccessful search for him, concluding after a week that he had permanently left the area, and there the matter had lain. A few months later there was a brief flurry of speculation that he might have returned; Madame Renouard, discovering that her grandmother's
other
cameo brooch was missing, was convinced that the rapacious Bousquet must have slunk back to complete the heist. But there was no other evidence to support this, and it had come to nothing. Bousquet, having disappeared once, was not seen again.
"And so you think that might have been him in the cave?"
"I offer it as a possibility," said Joly. "He seems to have had no shortage of enemies. Apparently he was a drifter who had come to the area not long before and had found a job plying a shovel. He had had bad relations with several townspeople, and there are reports of some unpleasantness with a co-worker at his place of employment. I lack the details, but would you agree that it sounds worth looking into?"
"Yes, it does. Well, I'll be back at the bones this afternoon, Lucien. I'll give you a call and let you know what I have. You find out what you can about his physical characteristics and, who knows, maybe we can come up with a match."
"Very good. Oh, by the way, our police pathologist, Dr. Roussillot, is nominally in charge of the remains, so he is required to certify your findings. He may choose to join you at the morgue. I hope you don't mind?"
"Mind, why should I mind?"
"Well, I'm afraid Dr. Roussillot may be somewhat stiff-necked for your taste; a nice enough fellow to be sure, but fairly new on the job—he was a professor until last year, you see, and as a result has an inclination to be somewhat fussy and punctilious, as well as an unfortunate tendency toward tedious speeches. Ah, not, that is to say, that professors necessarily—"
"That's okay, Lucien, don't worry about it."
"You will try to get along with him, won't you?"
Gideon laughed. "I get along with you, don't I?"
"He spent two years at Cambridge, speaks a wonderful English."
"Lucien, don't worry about it, I'll get along fine with the guy."
"Excellent," Joly said, sounding relieved. "Oh, and perhaps you could also do me the service of seeing if there is anything to the story of this Bousquet's 'unpleasantness' with a co-worker? I'm sure that you could do it more smoothly, more in the natural course of events, than I could."
"I appreciate the compliment," Gideon said in all sincerity, "but how in the hell am I supposed to do that?"
"His place of employment," said Joly, "was the Institut de Préhistoire."
Chapter 8
Some things never changed.
So Gideon thought with a smile as he stood unnoticed
"Oh, Gideon!" Beaupierre had gone about ten paces and turned. "Which way was I going when we met?"
"Uh… the same way you are now."
"Ah, good," said Beaupierre, patting his belly. "Then I've had my breakfast."
When he stopped off at the Hotel Cro-Magnon before going to the staff meeting, Gideon was told by the clerk at the desk that an Inspector Joly from Périgueux had telephoned, asking him to call.
"Lucien, what's up?"
"Ah, Gideon, a little news. I've been speaking with the prefect in Les Eyzies about a fellow named Jean Bousquet, who disappeared from the village three years ago—"
"Wait a minute, I thought you told me there weren't any unclosed cases."
"This is a little different. Bousquet was never reported to the police as missing, he was reported as a thief."
By his landlady, Madame Renouard, according to whom Bousquet had fled after removing from a secret drawer in her cupboard 60 francs in cash, an antique lapel watch valued at 180 francs, and a treasured cameo brooch; one of a pair that had belonged to her grandmother. He had also left with his rent four weeks in arrears, a matter of some 600 francs. The municipal police, under Prefect Marielle, had mounted an unsuccessful search for him, concluding after a week that he had permanently left the area, and there the matter had lain. A few months later there was a brief flurry of speculation that he might have returned; Madame Renouard, discovering that her grandmother's
other
cameo brooch was missing, was convinced that the rapacious Bousquet must have slunk back to complete the heist. But there was no other evidence to support this, and it had come to nothing. Bousquet, having disappeared once, was not seen again.
"And so you think that might have been him in the cave?"
"I offer it as a possibility," said Joly. "He seems to have had no shortage of enemies. Apparently he was a drifter who had come to the area not long before and had found a job plying a shovel. He had had bad relations with several townspeople, and there are reports of some unpleasantness with a co-worker at his place of employment. I lack the details, but would you agree that it sounds worth looking into?"
"Yes, it does. Well, I'll be back at the bones this afternoon, Lucien. I'll give you a call and let you know what I have. You find out what you can about his physical characteristics and, who knows, maybe we can come up with a match."
"Very good. Oh, by the way, our police pathologist, Dr. Roussillot, is nominally in charge of the remains, so he is required to certify your findings. He may choose to join you at the morgue. I hope you don't mind?"
"Mind, why should I mind?"
"Well, I'm afraid Dr. Roussillot may be somewhat stiff-necked for your taste; a nice enough fellow to be sure, but fairly new on the job—he was a professor until last year, you see, and as a result has an inclination to be somewhat fussy and punctilious, as well as an unfortunate tendency toward tedious speeches. Ah, not, that is to say, that professors necessarily—"
"That's okay, Lucien, don't worry about it."
"You will try to get along with him, won't you?"
Gideon laughed. "I get along with you, don't I?"
"He spent two years at Cambridge, speaks a wonderful English."
"Lucien, don't worry about it, I'll get along fine with the guy."
"Excellent," Joly said, sounding relieved. "Oh, and perhaps you could also do me the service of seeing if there is anything to the story of this Bousquet's 'unpleasantness' with a co-worker? I'm sure that you could do it more smoothly, more in the natural course of events, than I could."
"I appreciate the compliment," Gideon said in all sincerity, "but how in the hell am I supposed to do that?"
"His place of employment," said Joly, "was the Institut de Préhistoire."
Chapter 8
Some things never changed.
So Gideon thought with a smile as he stood unnoticed
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