The Coldest Case by Martin Walker (mobi reader android txt) 📕

the delicious smell of fresh croissants. She must have been to the Moulin bakery nearby.

‘I was trying to remember someone I know I’ve seen but I can’t remember where.’ He showed her the photo on his phone.

‘I know what you mean,’ she said. ‘I get the same sense that I’ve seen him before, maybe at a market stall, or a brocante, trying to sell antiques, or a jumble sale – that sort of thing. There are so many of these events it’s hard to place him. Could it have been one of the antique book sales?’

None of them felt quite right to Bruno. He sent the Mayor a copy of Henri’s photo, suggesting that he print it out and show it around the Mairie. No sooner had he done so than his phone buzzed again. Once more it was J-J to say that Tante-Do had declared Yves’ composite photo to be the very image of her lover of thirty years ago.

‘See if your friend Gilles can get that photo into Paris Match,’ J-J went on. ‘We’ve got our press office trying to get it on the TV news bulletins and promising them photos of Virginie’s skull. And now is the time to use that local reporter of yours, Philippe. This is going to work, Bruno!’

Bruno thought it best to coordinate all this from his office so he kissed Pamela goodbye and went to the Mairie. There he called Gilles and Philippe before printing out an image of Henri larger than the one he had on his phone.

‘Here’s that story I promised you, Philippe,’ he told Delaron. ‘We’ve called in an expert who works with that woman you photographed at the museum who rebuilds faces from prehistoric skulls. She’s currently building a face from the skull of a man who was murdered in St Denis thirty years ago. I can let you have a photo of the man and of a friend of his we very much want to interview, and we want you to run it in the paper tomorrow to see if anyone recognizes him. How does that sound as a story?’

‘You mean you think he was the killer?’

‘No, that would be premature. Let’s just say we want to identify him very urgently.’

Philippe nodded and asked Bruno to make sure J-J let him into the police lab to photograph Virginie and her skull. He would leave for Périgueux right away.

No sooner had Bruno put down his desk phone than his mobile buzzed again. This time it was his cousin, Alain, saying that he’d managed to obtain a weekend leave pass for him and Rosalie. Would it be convenient for the pair of them to visit Bruno, arriving late this afternoon? Of course, Bruno replied automatically, not letting himself worry about what threatened to be a weekend consumed by the hunt for Henri. He’d make it work somehow. They had a car, there were caves to see and it was perfect weather for Alain and Rosalie to take a canoe trip down the Dordogne. He would prepare a welcome dinner Friday evening and on Saturday maybe visit the marché nocturne at Audrix, where they could buy their food and wine at the stalls and dine in the open air in the medieval square. The next call that interrupted him came from Sabine on her personal mobile, not from the Gendarmerie. She had just heard from Tante-Do about the photo of Henri. Had Bruno seen it? He told her he had. She sounded excited.

‘The thing is, Tante-Do says it’s him for sure. So what happens now?’

‘J-J is organizing a media blitz, TV and newspapers, national and local, millions of eyeballs and all being asked the same question – do you know this man?’

‘But do these things work? We’ll get hundreds of false leads, all over France. The chances of this working can’t be good.’

‘It’s a standard tool of police work and it has worked before. All those false leads will be checked, certainly, but we might just get the one we want. It’s the best chance we have, Sabine.’

‘What happens then?’

‘Any good prospect will have to be seen in person by Tante-Do. If she still says this is the man, J-J will not only interrogate him round the clock, he’ll go through the guy’s life with a fine-tooth comb. J-J has been looking for this murderer for thirty years. He’s got almost as much invested in this as you do.’

‘Could this put Tante-Do in danger?’ Sabine asked. ‘I really wouldn’t want that to happen. I couldn’t live with myself . . .’

‘J-J can organize a police guard for her, but we’re not at that point yet, and you’ll be with us every step of the way. J-J will listen to you. He’s a good cop and a decent man.’

‘There’s something else. I’d like to know what I’m expected to do next, beyond introducing you to Tante-Do.’

He picked up Sabine’s frustration; she was feeling under-used. ‘I’ll talk to him. I’m sure he has you in mind for the crucial phase, checking out the leads we get from the public and being there with Tante-Do when she verifies Henri’s identity.’

‘Right, I get it. I’m babysitting the key witness.’

‘We wouldn’t have her, if not for you, Sabine. Remember that.’

‘Okay, Bruno, thanks. If there’s anything I can do . . .’

‘I’ll let you know.’ He stayed on the line for a moment, hoping for some clue as to her mood. He heard her sigh before she put down the phone. He must keep an eye on her. With a team of gendarmes to run, Yveline had only limited time for Sabine.

Bruno sighed too, making a note to call J-J about it. Then he sat back and considered what to cook for dinner with Alain and Rosalie. Since it was still so hot, he’d start with a cold soup and then a light main course. It was Friday and although he had no idea whether Rosalie was religious or not, French tradition still called for fish. They’d be