loyal, protective sort of man, but as far as I could see he was a fanatic, an attractive but temperamental guy, who wouldn’t let anyone near her. He watched over Sophia, guarded her, kept her close. Until, that is, she met Pierre and walked out on her guardian angel. Evidently this caused the most awful drama, and Stelios tried to kill himself, or something like that. Yes, that’s it, he tried to drown himself, but it didn’t work. Then he ranted and raved and made threats, but finally he went off and she didn’t hear from him again. That’s all. Nothing really remarkable. Except the way Sophia talks about him. She never seems to feel safe. She thinks one day Steliosis going to come back, and that will mean big trouble. She says he’s “very Greek”, brought up on Greek tragedies and that’s something that never goes away. Sophia says we forget that in the olden days the Greeks were really a big deal. And then, oh, about three months ago, or a bit more, she showed me a postcard she’d had, from Lyon. It just had a star drawn on it, not even very well drawn. I couldn’t see what was wrong with it, but it upset her. I thought it meant a snowflake or Christmas, but she was convinced it meant Stelios, and that it wasn’t good news. It seems that Stelios was for ever drawing stars, because the Greeks had been good at astronomy and all that. But nothing happened, so she forgot about it. That’s all. But now I’m wondering, well, whether she’s had another card. Maybe she was right to feel afraid. Things we can’t understand. The Greeks, after all, they were something special.’
‘How long has she been married to Pierre?’ asked Marc.
Oh, a long time, fifteen or twenty years. Frankly the idea of someone wanting revenge twenty years on seems pretty far-fetched to me. Life’s too short, to nurse a grudge so long, you know what I mean? If everyone who’d ever been jilted plotted their revenge for years, we’d all be at each other’s throats, wouldn’t we?’
‘Well, you can go on thinking about someone for years, you know,’ said Vandoosler.
‘Killing someone right away, OK,’ Juliette was going on, without hearing him, ‘I know these things happen. A sudden rage. But getting murderous twenty years later, no, I can’t see it. But Sophia does seem to believe in some sort of delayed reaction. Perhaps Greeks are like that, I don’t know. But if I’m telling you all this, it’s because Sophia took it very seriously. I think she’s rather sorry she let her Greek go, and since Pierre’s turned out to be a bit of a disappointment, maybe this is her way of remembering Stelios. She said she was afraid, but actually I think she rather likes thinking about Stelios, the long-time lover.’
‘Pierre’s a disappointment?’ asked Mathias.
‘Yes,’ said Juliette. ‘Pierre takes no notice of anything any more, that is, he doesn’t take any notice of her. He just says yes and no, that’s all. He converses, as Sophia puts it, he reads the paper for hours on end, and doesn’tlook up when she goes past. Apparently that’s how he is from first thing in the morning. I told her it was pretty normal, but she thinks it’s sad.’
Oh well,’ said Lucien, ‘if she’s decided to run off with her Greek, what’s that to us?’
‘Well, for a start, there’s the veal and mushrooms,’ insisted Juliette obstinately. ‘But anyway, I’d just like to know what’s happening. I’d feel better about it if I know.’
‘It’s not so much the lunch that bothers me,’ said Marc. ‘It’s the tree. I don’t know if we should just do nothing, when we have a wife who disappears without warning, a husband who doesn’t give a damn, and a tree popping up in the garden. What do you think, commissaire?’
Armand Vandoosler raised his finely wrought profile. He was looking like a policeman now. He had a concentrated expression which seemed to draw his eyes in under his eyebrows; his nose appeared somehow more
‘How long has she been married to Pierre?’ asked Marc.
Oh, a long time, fifteen or twenty years. Frankly the idea of someone wanting revenge twenty years on seems pretty far-fetched to me. Life’s too short, to nurse a grudge so long, you know what I mean? If everyone who’d ever been jilted plotted their revenge for years, we’d all be at each other’s throats, wouldn’t we?’
‘Well, you can go on thinking about someone for years, you know,’ said Vandoosler.
‘Killing someone right away, OK,’ Juliette was going on, without hearing him, ‘I know these things happen. A sudden rage. But getting murderous twenty years later, no, I can’t see it. But Sophia does seem to believe in some sort of delayed reaction. Perhaps Greeks are like that, I don’t know. But if I’m telling you all this, it’s because Sophia took it very seriously. I think she’s rather sorry she let her Greek go, and since Pierre’s turned out to be a bit of a disappointment, maybe this is her way of remembering Stelios. She said she was afraid, but actually I think she rather likes thinking about Stelios, the long-time lover.’
‘Pierre’s a disappointment?’ asked Mathias.
‘Yes,’ said Juliette. ‘Pierre takes no notice of anything any more, that is, he doesn’t take any notice of her. He just says yes and no, that’s all. He converses, as Sophia puts it, he reads the paper for hours on end, and doesn’tlook up when she goes past. Apparently that’s how he is from first thing in the morning. I told her it was pretty normal, but she thinks it’s sad.’
Oh well,’ said Lucien, ‘if she’s decided to run off with her Greek, what’s that to us?’
‘Well, for a start, there’s the veal and mushrooms,’ insisted Juliette obstinately. ‘But anyway, I’d just like to know what’s happening. I’d feel better about it if I know.’
‘It’s not so much the lunch that bothers me,’ said Marc. ‘It’s the tree. I don’t know if we should just do nothing, when we have a wife who disappears without warning, a husband who doesn’t give a damn, and a tree popping up in the garden. What do you think, commissaire?’
Armand Vandoosler raised his finely wrought profile. He was looking like a policeman now. He had a concentrated expression which seemed to draw his eyes in under his eyebrows; his nose appeared somehow more
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