Read Online Speak Softly My Love by Louis Shalako - Free Book Online

couple of years after
that, she gave up the job. Started having kids and
such.”
    That’s
why he typed them up as quick as he could while they were fresh.
Never tear them out of the notebook, and even then number your
fucking pages.
    “ Oh, yeah. They went for a two-day honeymoon in Brittany, and
it was a nice little mom-and-pop maison where they stayed. Ah…”
Tailler shuffled through the papers. “They have a little boy, Jean,
and a girl, she’s the younger, named Lise.”
    Gilles
nodded thoughtfully.
    Tailler
went on.
    “ Okay. The gentleman has a sort of routine but not exactly a
schedule. Oh. We told her we needed to verify that she was sole
next of kin in the event we got any information—Hubert emphasized
that it was pure routine…”
    Tailler cleared his throat and Gilles nodded. One way or
another, they needed everything and sometimes getting it took a little finesse.
Hubert had some strengths, while Tailler had skills in other
areas.
    “ Did you ask about a marriage certificate?”
    Tailler
shook his head, a bit ruefully.
    “ No. Sorry. We don’t even have that for the Monique
woman.”
    “ Go on.”
    The
young fellow nodded, Adam’s apple bobbing.
    He’d
give his left nut for Hubert to show up right about now. There were
days when he was barely hanging on, by the skin of his teeth
sometimes.
    “ Okay, sir. He goes out of town on a long road trip. Sometimes
it’s only a few days, sometimes a week. Sometimes its ten days. It
depends where he’s going. He can spend two weeks in Bordeaux, but
according to the lady that’s like two, three times a year max. The
company is located in Paris. She’s saying that when the gentleman
goes to Paris, it’s only for two, maybe three days at a time. There
are sales meetings, there are a lot of shows and exhibitions in
Paris. But the guy is a sales rep; he’s just as likely to be
knocking on doors in some small town in the Beauce according to
her. It’s always sell, sell, sell with them guys.”
    “ How much time does he spend at home? In Lyon, I
mean?”
    “ She’s saying two, three nights a week, most of the time.
Sometimes only one night a week. There was some hesitation. But she
understood before she married him, ah. That he was on the road a
lot.”
    Maintenon nodded
    “ We need to ask the same questions everywhere—the one in town
here.” He sighed. “It’s like we no sooner walk away, and we think
of another question.”
    Gilles
wasn’t trying to be overly critical, but neither one had that much
experience.
    Tailler
nodded.
    “ Absolutely.” He rapped his pen on the desk. “You know what?
She’s just going to say exactly the same thing.”
    Gilles
thought about it. The schedule was supremely flexible. Two
wives—one in Lyon and one in Paris.
    “ Yes. But we need to hear her say it.”
    There
were footsteps in the hall and Hubert came in. His eyes came awake
when he saw Maintenon and also the cigar, the squint, and the
characteristic position.
    “ This one is like all mixed up, like a dog’s breakfast. Dead
body gets up and walks away—one too many wives.” Tailler tried to
get his notes in order again.
    He had
been about halfway through typing them.
    “ And what about Monique?”
    Tailler’s gaze slid around to his partner.
    “ Yeah—what about Monique?”
    Hubert
slid smoothly into the breach.
    “ Well, sir. She wasn’t home yesterday. Where the hell she
would go when her husband’s missing is a good question. Just
sitting there would be pretty intolerable, I have to admit. We went
around there and got no answer. She didn’t answer the phone when we
called later. Maybe that’s for the best. We thought we’d consult
with you first. But I was thinking of getting a list of
names.”
    “ Names?”
    Hubert
shrugged.
    “ Names. Every person we can find who knew him, spoke to
him…shit, bought wine from him, sold wine to him…other than that,
without a body this really isn’t going too far.”
    Tailler
nodded.
    “ Nothing