Read Online The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau by Graeme Macrae Burnet - Free Book Online

accept, but she was unable to. Perhaps she was married and thought it would be improper to accept his invitation, that they would be engaging in something illicit. Or perhaps she had merely meant that she did not have time. In any case, she had not flatly refused. She had implied, clearly implied, that it was beyond her control and given a different set of circumstances, she would have accepted. And then, as if things were not already clear enough, she had added,
Another time perhaps.
Manfred had not detected any note of sarcasm in her voice. Of course it was difficult to imagine how ‘another time’ might come about, but even so he felt quite elated by the exchange. He should have asked her name. And he should buy some tea.
    Manfred fetched the ironing board from the kitchen cupboard, plugged in the iron and sat down at the table, waiting for it to warm.

Six
    W HEN M ANFRED ARRIVED AT the bank on Monday morning, the staff were talking animatedly about the disappearance of Adèle Bedeau. Mlle Givskov, the senior teller, was voicing the opinion that girls these days were asking for trouble the way they ran around. If this girl had got herself into trouble, she probably only had herself to blame. Mlle Givskov had been taken on by M. Jeantet a year or so after Manfred joined the branch. Her presence made Manfred uneasy and he kept his distance from her. Manfred bid the staff good morning and hurried past into his office. A few minutes later Carolyn brought in his coffee. She was a nice girl, nineteen years old, rather plain and slow, but with a cheerful disposition. Manfred liked her. She never seemed to be trying to impress him as some other new members of staff did.
    â€˜Terrible, isn’t it,’ she said, ‘this business with the girl.’
    â€˜I’m sure it’ll turn out to be nothing,’ said Manfred, a little brusquely. He had no wish to be drawn into a discussion of the matter.
    Carolyn placed his coffee on the desk. Manfred looked up from the papers he had been studying. She looked a little crestfallen. He had no wish to snub her. She was sensitive to such things. Once, she had burst into tears when Manfred had pointed out a minor error in a transaction.
    â€˜She’s only been gone a couple of days,’ he said. ‘She’s probably just gone off with some boy.’
    Carolyn appeared to take Manfred’s theory very seriously. ‘There was no mention of any boyfriend in the paper,’ she said.
    â€˜People don’t always advertise such things.’ He immediately regretted the remark. It made him sound like someone who routinely engaged in deception or at least expected others to do so. Because Manfred did not socialise with his staff or talk about himself, he was aware that his personal life was the subject of conjecture. He had overheard some of the girls speculate that he was homosexual. Sometimes when he came out of his office, the room fell silent. At the annual Christmas lunch, people jockeyed to avoid sitting next to him. It was the same at the biannual gatherings of local branch managers. When the time came to mingle informally, Manfred found himself on the margins, unable to break into any of the groups that congregated around the room.
    â€˜Did you know her?’ Carolyn asked.
    â€˜By sight,’ said Manfred. ‘I have lunch in the restaurant where she worked.’ It was about as revealing a statement as he had ever made to her. He realised he should not have used the past tense. It implied he had some knowledge that she would not be returning to work.
    â€˜What is she like?’ asked Carolyn, anxious to have some inside information to share with her workmates. ‘She looks very pretty in the picture in the paper.’
    â€˜Are we going to be doing any work today or are the wheels of the banking industry going to grind to a halt because some girl has disappeared for five minutes.’
    Carolyn looked hurt. ‘Sorry, Monsieur