Read Online The Grave of Truth by Evelyn Anthony - Free Book Online

friends, there were no stormy quarrels, no jealousy. At the end of their first two years together, they had gone through a ceremony of homosexual marriage, and both men wore wedding rings on their right hands.
    The plane landed on schedule at Geneva airport; they met in the car park, where the car hired the previous evening was waiting for them. Kesler paused with his hand on the door. ‘To be on the safe side,’ he said, ‘let’s just check it, shall we?’ Franconi crouched down and opened his handcase. He took out a small pencil torch with a surprisingly strong beam and, getting his knees dusty, inspected the underside of the chassis by both front and rear doors. Kesler said, ‘We may as well make sure of the rest of it. No harm in being careful. I’ll do the top half if you’ll get underneath.’
    Franconi nodded and smiled at him. He had fine white teeth, and when he smiled he was handsome. He stripped off his jacket and crawled under the chassis. Kesler checked on everything above; the boot swung open when he was sure the lock was clean; it was empty. The wipers satisfied him, so did the bonnet. He opened the passenger door and checked that the mechanism for opening the bonnet was free of even a hair-trigger wire, and then opened it, so that the engine could be inspected. He was looking inside when Franconi came up from underneath. He had dirtied the back of his shirt and trousers, and there was a smudge on his face. ‘Nothing,’ he said. ‘Did you find anything—’
    â€˜No,’ Kesler said. ‘Turn round and I’ll brush you down. The car’s all right.’
    â€˜You don’t trust anybody do you?’ Maurice said.
    â€˜That’s why I’m still alive.’ Kesler helped him put on his jacket. ‘I’ve checked cars ever since we started working for them. I don’t say for a moment they’d get rid of us—we’re much too useful—but you never know. There was a man used to work for Gabriel—the drug boys got a lead on him and he made a deal. Somebody passed Gabriel the word, and they fixed his car for him. He’d been told to check but he forgot one thing. The cigarette lighter.’
    Maurice got in and started the car. ‘I’m hungry, aren’t you, Stanis? I could do with a good lunch. I suppose the restaurant will be closed by the time we get in.’
    Kesler looked at his watch. ‘Nearly four—yes, I’d think so. But we’ll get something sent up. We can nibble away while we count the money.’ He put back his head and laughed. Then he placed his hand lightly on Franconi’s knee.
    â€˜You were great today,’ he said. ‘It was a beautiful job. One of our best.’
    Maurice frowned. ‘They didn’t tell us there’d be another man with him,’ he said.
    â€˜Don’t worry about that,’ Kesler said. ‘He saw the same as everyone else. Two men in dark glasses. We’ll listen to the radio and it’s sure to be on the TV now. We’re out and clear, like we always are, eh? And this time, we’ve got enough to give up working.’
    Franconi glanced at him and flashed the gleaming smile. ‘You’d get bored, Stanis. You love working.’
    â€˜I love you,’ Kesler said. ‘I don’t want the luck to run out. I want to go and live in the sun with you; you’d love Tangier. We’d be very happy there. And we could always take a trip if you wanted a change.’
    â€˜I’d be happy wherever we went,’ Franconi said, ‘so long as we’re together. That’s all that matters to me.’
    The hotel had a two-star rating; it was comfortable and catered for businessmen and families. Kesler and Franconi had stayed the previous night there and found the food excellent. Franconi parked the car at the rear of the hotel, while Kesler went to the reception desk.
    â€˜Good afternoon,’ he said to