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

you might be able to clear it up.’
    Manfred nodded.
    â€˜Something in connection with the disappearance of Adèle Bedeau.’
    â€˜Yes?’ said Manfred.
    â€˜It seems that on the night of her disappearance, Mlle Bedeau was seen riding through town on the back of a scooter with a young man.’
    Manfred looked at his food.
    â€˜It’s significant because this is the last time anyone saw her. It seems that she left the restaurant, met this young man and rode off with him. Obviously, it’s important to ascertain exactly what her movements were on that night.’
    â€˜I understand,’ said Manfred. His lunch was getting cold.
    â€˜Of course there’s nothing unusual about a girl meeting a young man, but one detail puzzles me. She was spotted riding past the restaurant coming from the direction of Rue de Mulhouse. It struck me as odd that if she was going to meet this young man, why did he not wait for her outside the restaurant? Why would she have walked some distance in the opposite direction, meet the fellow and then ride off in the direction from which she had just come?’
    Manfred did not say anything. It did not appear that Gorski was inviting him to speculate on the matter.
    â€˜Coupled with the fact that this young man, who is the last person to be seen with Mlle Bedeau, has not come forward, it suggests to me that there must have been some reason for keeping their liaison secret.’
    â€˜I can assure you, Inspector,’ Manfred said, ‘that I do not own a scooter and do not even know how to ride one.’
    Gorski gave a little snort through his nose, as if acknowledging the punchline of a weak joke.
    â€˜That’s not at all what I’m getting at.’ He offered Manfred a thin smile. ‘I’m simply asking those people who were in the vicinity to cast their mind back to the night in question and think about whether they may have seen anything significant.’
    â€˜I didn’t see anything,’ Manfred said a little too quickly.
    Gorski raised a finger to silence him.
    â€˜On the night in question, you were in here in the restaurant playing cards with Messrs Lemerre, Petit and Cloutier. At the end of the game, you left, at about half past ten, I believe.’
    Manfred shrugged. ‘I couldn’t say exactly.’
    Gorski ignored his comment. ‘Did you go home directly?’
    â€˜Yes,’ said Manfred. He could see all too clearly where this was leading.
    â€˜And your route home, took you along Rue de Mulhouse past the little park at the Protestant temple?’
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜Well, I’m sure you can see what I’m going to ask you: Adèle left the restaurant only a few minutes after you and must have walked in the same direction to meet this young man. Just think carefully for a moment. Is it possible that you saw anyone, a young man, who might have been waiting for a rendezvous?’
    Manfred took his time. He had known as soon as he had seen Gorski what his answer to such a question would be. He shook his head slowly. ‘No, I’m sorry,’ he said, ‘I didn’t see anyone.’
    Gorski pursed his lips and nodded thoughtfully.
    â€˜I’m sorry I can’t be of more help,’ said Manfred. ‘Perhaps they met in a café or at the boy’s apartment.’
    He assumed that the ordeal was over and Gorski would conclude proceedings with an apology for interrupting his lunch.
    â€˜You know,’ he said, his tone suddenly more conversational, ‘I’ve been a policeman for twenty-three years. In my experience, when people say that they wish they could be of more help, they very often can be.’ He flashed Manfred his humourless smile. Manfred felt himself swallow. He told himself to hold Gorski’s gaze. After a few seconds, he looked down at his food. If he had nothing to hide, he would interpret Gorski’s remark as nothing more than a world-weary