Dead Horsemeat

Tuesday 26 September 1989

‘Gentlemen, now it’s all hands on deck. No more leave, no weekends, until we’ve cracked this case. Let’s begin with the easy bit: Rouma. The autopsy report confirms Le Dem’s account. Rouma was indeed murdered. We even have a lead. We’ve identified the murderers’ Mercedes. It belongs to the Vincennes racecourse operating company. We checked it out and the company states that the Mercedes didn’t leave the car park last Monday. But the new boys have established that the car park is unsupervised and that any smart employee of the racecourse could have taken the car. Conclusion: the first place to look for the killers is among the racecourse personnel. Any suggestions? Yes, Romero?’

‘I know someone who’s a regular at Vincennes who I could ask to be a grass. At least he’ll be able to tell us how the racecourse operates.’

‘Very good. Go ahead. Let’s move on. Why was the farrier killed? We have no idea. But our theory is of course that the murder is linked to cocaine smuggling. Perhaps his supplier panicked after he heard about last Thursday’s search. I shall put that in my report, and I’m going to ask for an investigation to be opened – investigating magistrate, search warrants, the usual routine, we’re soon going to need them. There’s still one little problem. I have to explain how we got onto the Mercedes. We can’t mention Le Dem’s ghost kid. I need someone who will state they saw the registration number. That’ll be you, Lavorel. Any objections, Le Dem?’

‘Yes, Superintendent. I’d rather it was me.’

‘Why?’

‘Lavorel was by the forge the whole time, and a lot of people can testify to that. From there, he couldn’t have seen a car on the road. But I could.’

‘Are you aware that would be giving false evidence?’

‘That’s not how I see it. I owe it to the boy.’

‘As you wish. Let’s move on to the next point: the murder of Berger and Moulin. Much more complicated.’ A pause. ‘Three deaths in ten days, right under your nose. Lavorel, you bring bad luck.’

‘That’s not funny.’

‘No, all things considered, perhaps not. Let’s recap. Berger and Moulin were murdered. Indisputable, according to the gendarmes’ report. A powerful explosive… Detonator wired to the ignition. They had no chance of survival. Apart from that, nothing is certain. The car could have been sabotaged between eight o’clock, when it was left in the car park, and midday, the time of the explosion. A lot of comings and goings in the car park, people very busy with their horses. Or sleeping. Don’t get mad, Lavorel, I couldn’t resist that one. Result: no description and no prints. Worse: we don’t know who the target was or why.’

‘Let’s take Nicolas Berger. Two possibilities. One: he’s eliminated because of some cocaine trafficking mix-up, which links his murder to that of Rouma who was involved in the same network. Two: he was blackmailing Thirard with that list of horses which seems to point to an insurance fiddle which Pama was the victim of, and Thirard gets rid of him.’

‘That seems rather drastic by way of response.’

‘Maybe Thirard is hot-tempered.’

Scepticism.

‘Or else it’s Moulin who was the target.’ Daquin turns towards Le Dem. ‘Who could have known that Moulin had sold a horse in Italy for two hundred and fifty thousand francs?’

‘Thirard most definitely. Horses are often paid for in cash, on the basis of a simple verbal agreement between the parties. So, to find out the price, you have to ask the buyer or the seller. The buyer is Italian. Thirard virtually has a monopoly on the sale of French horses in Italy. So he has the contacts to find out how much Moulin had sold his horse for. And a good reason from wanting to stop him from competing with him in the Italian market.’

‘Good enough to kill him?’

‘Not necessarily. The tax inspection should have been sufficient.’

A silence.

‘Odd character, this Thirard. He could pull enough strings to influence someone in the Ministry of Finance. That must be rather unusual for a horse dealer. Moving on: according to Madame Moulin, her husband had made several trips to Italy to drum up business and had come back more than a little intrigued by Thirard’s activities there. He didn’t tell her much, but he had talked at length to Berger. Then he’d let it drop, until this tax inspection business that had infuriated him. The most likely theory is that Berger and Moulin were both blackmailing Thirard who did away with the pair of them in one go.’

More scepticism.

‘I’m obviously not getting anywhere today. Too bad. I shan’t report on this aspect of our investigation at this stage. Too vague, too muddled. But my idea, Le Dem, is for you to go and get a job with Thirard, so you can tell us what goes on there.’

Le Dem turns pink with pleasure.

‘I’d love to, but it’s not easy to get taken on by a posh livery stables.’

‘Leave Romero and me to take care of that side of things. There’s still Pama. Berger and Annick Renouard who work there are both coke addicts. Thirard’s swindling the company. I’ll take that piece of action on myself.’