Death on the Marais

CHAPTER FOUR

Rocco knocked on the rear door of the cottage Claude had directed him to the previous day. It was on the outskirts of the village, along a narrow lane leading out into an open expanse of rolling pastureland. A sign pointed to the next village, Danvillers, five kilometres away, along a surface which looked little used and was dotted with cowpats drying in the early morning sun.

The house was small and sturdy, surrounded by flower and vegetable beds with barely a spare centimetre of unused space. The earth had been tilled to a fine grain, the borders straight as a city block and without a weed in sight. A large chicken run stood at the end of a long garden, but the inhabitants appeared to have free roam of the place, with one old hen nestled contentedly by the back door in a small dust bowl of her own making.

The air smelt gamey, buzzing with a swirl of fat, lazy flies. Rocco had passed two farms on his way down here, both with large manure heaps inside enclosed yards and crawling with chickens, so he was hardly surprised by the insect life. It wasn’t unpleasant, though, and certainly better than the noxious air in the cafe where he’d forced down the half-baguette and bowl of hot chocolate which passed for breakfast, topped off with toxic tobacco fumes from the patrons at the bar.

The cottage door opened to reveal an elderly woman with white hair and thick glasses. She was of medium height and compact, dressed in a blue apron over a grey dress, with a triangle headscarf pinned carefully in place.

‘You’re the inspecteur?’ she said, and motioned him inside.

‘That’s me.’ He was no longer surprised at the way information was circulating in this place. There was no telephone wire to the cottage, so he put it down to some secret sort of underground network known only to the locals. Or maybe they had a team of fleet-footed kids doing the rounds, letting everyone in on the latest news as it happened.

The cottage kitchen was clean, simply furnished and like walking into a museum. But it was homely and neat, a small oasis of tranquillity hung with the smells of cooking and soap. Fading photos of a large man in cavalry uniform sitting astride a huge white charger were dotted around the room, and Rocco recognised the atmosphere of widowhood.

Mme Denis went to a sideboard and pulled open a drawer, extracting a small bundle of keys. She dropped them on the heavy table, then went to a stove and picked up a coffee percolator.

‘I brewed this fresh for you,’ she said. ‘Big man like you needs a stimulant to keep going. My husband was a big man.’

Rocco didn’t really want more coffee. But he sensed a ritual about to unfold and that he was a central part of it. A refusal might offend.

She produced two heavy, brown cups and filled them with coffee, then took an aluminium jug of milk and a cardboard box of sugar cubes, and slid them across the table, motioning him to sit. She had strong hands, Rocco noted. It explained the orderly garden.

‘The house next door,’ she said, sitting down with a sigh, ‘is available. It’s clean and dry, although you’ll have to put up with the fouines in the attic.’ Lucas must have looked blank, because she said, ‘Fruit rats. They’re everywhere in these parts. You don’t get them where you come from?’

He shook his head. Paris had plenty of rats, both two- and four-legged. But not the fruit variety.

‘They’re harmless,’ Mme Denis assured him. ‘They make a bit of noise in the attic at night, scrabbling around up there, but as long as you don’t leave food out, you should be fine.’

He drank his coffee, which was as strong as boat varnish, but good. He added sugar cubes and milk. Then he began the negotiation for the rent. If he stayed at the local bar-tabac, where the regional HQ in Amiens could get hold of him easily by telephone, they would pay his board. Opting to get his own place meant he would have to pick up the bill himself.

He decided that if all he had to worry about was a few fruit rats, he could put up with the expense. A telephone, though, was a must. He mentioned it to Madame Denis.

She pursed her lips. ‘There aren’t many in the village, although they put up the wires. The mayor, of course — he’s got one. And the garde champetre.’ She smiled. ‘Be warned, though: you’ll get a lot of visitors if you have one of those put in.’

‘But I’m a policeman — a flic.’

‘Doesn’t matter. When people want to call friends and family, you’d be amazed how forgiving they can be. What about your laundry?’

‘No problem. I used to be in the army. I’ll manage.’ It wasn’t something he had given much thought to.

She cast a critical eye over his clothes, which consisted of a long, dark coat, dark cotton shirt and charcoal trousers — the latter Swedish imports and expensive — and his shoes, which were from London. Good-quality clothing was one of Rocco’s few luxuries. ‘Those fine fabrics won’t last long out here, not if you pound them to death in a sink. There’s a laundry service calls by twice a week. Leave it in a bag with Francine at the co-op and they’ll pick it up and return it in two days, sometimes three. You’ll need to plan what you wear.’

When he had finished his coffee, she led him out of the house and along the lane to the house next door. Rocco was pleasantly surprised: it was a large, villa-style property set back off the road behind a railed, overgrown garden. Outhouses and a garage stood off to one side, and the rear plot disappeared into the distance, sprouting a vast wilderness of unknown species.

‘Are you a gardener?’ she asked him, handing him the keys.

‘No idea,’ he said frankly, staring at the expanse of rampant territory waiting to be tamed. ‘I had some tulips in a window box once.’

She looked unimpressed. ‘Flowers. What happened?’

‘They died.’

She made a phuitt sound. ‘In that case, you’ll need the services of Arnaud.’

‘Is he a landscape gardener?’

She smiled indulgently at the term. ‘You’re a city boy, aren’t you? Arnaud pretty much lives at the cafe. He’ll do whatever needs doing. Just make sure he completes the work before you pay him, otherwise he’ll be drunk as a skunk for a month.’

She watched as he unlocked the door. It opened onto a large kitchen-cum-general room, with a small electric cooker and a separate wood fire and range with a water tank attached. There was a plain sink and drainer. The air smelt musty and dry from a lack of circulation. Another room lay at the back, leading, Mme Denis informed him, to the bedroom.

‘No running water?’ he said.

‘No. Along the main road, where they laid the pipes, but not down here. The toilet’s outside by the outhouse.’ She gave him a sideways glance. ‘There’s a pump, though. I presume you’re more familiar with pumps than flowers?’

‘Of course. Most good bars have them.’

She snorted. ‘Glad you have a sense of humour, Inspector. When it drops below freezing and you have to melt the ice first, you’ll need it. Come.’ She led him out to the side of the house, where a pump stood in the lee of a large wooden outbuilding. It had an elaborate, cast-iron handle and spout, with a metal cap on the top. A tall plastic jug stood beneath the spout. She lifted the hat. ‘You prime it with water, then jiggle the handle until it starts to pull.’

‘And when it freezes?’

‘Stack straw around the base and set fire to it. Works every time. Won’t boil the water, though.’ She lifted the corner of her mouth and chuckled at her own wit.

Rocco smiled and followed her to the front door. He remembered what Claude had said. ‘Has anyone died here recently?’

‘Not that I recall. Why — do you intend holding seances?’

He watched her as she pottered away, shaking her head. Then he stepped inside and inspected his new home. He found a scattering of dust-layered furniture, all plain and sturdy, but useable. Solid. Rodent droppings were scattered across the floor, and a bat was hanging in one corner, small and sinister. Something furry and dead lay beneath the kitchen table. The back rooms were large and airy, and apart from an ill-fitting French window in the back living room, it was pleasant and comfortable.

He went back outside and primed the pump with a slosh of rainwater from the jug; jiggled the handle which groaned like a donkey, then felt the pump stall before water began gushing out. It looked crystal clear. He tasted it. Not exactly Pouilly-Fume, but it would do.

Still better than the cafe, anyway.

After a brief tidy-up, which lifted more dust than it laid, Rocco walked back to the cafe to collect his car. The bar was empty, so he took advantage of the quiet to check in with his former office in Clichy-Nanterre.

‘What do you want?’ Captain Michel Santer, a tough, overweight man from the Jura, sounded harassed as usual. ‘I thought you’d be on a horse by now, chasing sheep rustlers.’

‘They don’t do sheep,’ Rocco told him. ‘Cows, though, lots of them. And village idiots with a death wish. Any news for me?’ A transfer back, he thought, would be nice.

‘No. I’m too busy trying to cover for you. Since you buggered off, we’ve had two bodies turn up, as well as twelve reported burglaries, two bank raids and one minor riot caused by students demanding better facilities. It’s like there’s been a mini-crime wave in celebration of your departure. Oh, and the mayor’s wife lost her chihuahua in the Rue de Bord.’

‘If it went missing down there, tell her to try the Korean restaurant at the end. What about my replacement?’

‘Hah! He didn’t turn up, did he? Seems the turnip got on the wrong train and ended up in Toulouse. I’ve told them they can keep him. Anyone who can’t navigate their way round this city is as much use to me as tits on a pigeon.’

Rocco laughed. ‘Not a good start, then.’ Like all ‘initiatives’ this one had begun with a shuffle of bodies all around the board, from the Med to the Channel ports, with movements in manpower creating gaps everywhere, not all of which could be filled quickly enough. A bureaucratic charade, in other words, a result of the Fifth Republic trying to prove it had more balls than the recently lamented Fourth had ever done by introducing new policing methods.

‘What about the new emperor?’ He was referring to the impending arrival of the new divisional commissaire. The officer classes were also part of the elaborate game of musical chairs.

‘Not yet here.’ Santer laughed. ‘It wasn’t personal, you know, moving you. I doubt someone saw your name pop up on a report and thought: I know — let’s have some fun and move that awkward bastard, Rocco, out to the sticks. It might mean disturbing the entire French police establishment, but what the hell — it’ll be worth it just to piss him off.’

‘You know that has the disturbing ring of truth.’

‘I already told you, it was a nationwide plan; our new boss was hauled out of Bordeaux and dumped on us just like you’ve been dumped on those lucky country folk in Picardie and so on along the line. When the top men at his level get moved, it sets off a ripple effect throughout the ranks. You and every other bugger who was moved got caught up in it like flies on dog shit.’

‘That’s all it was?’

‘That’s all. It’s about sharing services across the whole police network. We loan inspectors to the regions, they let us have some of their big farm boys when we need a bit of fresh muscle for the CRS, we all cooperate on forensic and cross-border issues, blah, blah, blah. It’s called “integration”.’

‘Sounds too good to be true.’

‘Amen to that. It’s the latest thing, probably copied from America, so don’t go and cock it all up by being awkward. You should think yourself lucky and enjoy the holiday. Oh, and don’t forget, you’re responsible to the local station, nobody else. No magistrates, no mayors — you go straight to the local commissaire.’

Rocco felt his spirits plummet. Reporting to the uniforms? That’s all he needed, being told what to do by brass buttons. Still, it might be an interesting departure from the norm. Initiatives came and went, whatever their names and aims. As for the high-level commissaire being hauled out of a distant regional office and slipped into an outer Paris district, that was a clear indication of impending elevation to a more senior post. All the grey beards at the top of the command structure were doing was making sure the incomer was sufficiently groomed and had the straw picked out of his ears before being allowed to mix with the nobs in the Ministry of the Interior. In the meanwhile, everyone else shuffled across the board like chess pieces, just to show they were cooperating.

He told Santer about his move to a house on the outskirts of the village, and that he would collect messages from the cafe until he got a phone fitted.

‘What’s wrong with the cafe?’ Santer demanded. ‘Christ, I’d love to be billeted in a cafe for a few weeks: drinks on tap, bar billiards to play every evening and out from under my wife’s reach? You don’t know when you’re lucky, you big ape!’

‘Yes, and everyone listening to every word I say,’ countered Rocco. ‘They already know more about me than I do. I want to keep some distance.’

‘Fair enough. Be a misery guts. Oh, a bit of advice: touch base with the local garde champetre as soon as you can. It’s a minor courtesy but worth doing. He’ll be your best source of information, in case you need it.’

‘What exactly does a garde champetre do? I’ve never met one.’

‘He’s a rural cop. Bit like the rangers in the USA, only without the bears — and he probably rides a bicycle. But keep him happy and he’ll look after you. And just remember that he’s all that keeps the peasants from marching on this city with pitchforks and tar barrels and wheeling out Madame Guillotine.’

‘Jesus, there’s a thought.’

Rocco cut the call and got through to the PTT service centre. He explained to three people in turn that he needed a telephone fitted urgently, and each time he was told to wait before being passed on. ‘It’s for official police business,’ he explained to the bored-sounding clerk who finally agreed to take some notes. He gave the man his new address.

‘There’s a cop in Poissons-les-Marais?’ The clerk sounded sceptical. ‘Mother of God. I was born near there. What have they done — decided to join the twentieth century?’

‘They’re working on it. How quickly can you do it?’

‘ Pfffff… You’ve no chance. You’ll have to join the queue like everyone else.’

Rocco bit down on a surge of impatience. Dealing with petty bureaucrats like this was the one thing guaranteed to spoil his day. ‘Let me speak to your supervisor,’ he snarled. ‘This is urgent!’

‘I am the supervisor,’ replied the man tersely. ‘And you’ll still have to join the queue like everyone else. If I let every person who claimed to be a cop jump the queue, we’d have rioting in the streets.’

‘Wha-? I am a cop, you imbecile!’

There was a click as the connection was cut.

Rocco slammed the phone down, nearly dislodging it from the wall. He swore at length, roundly calling into question the man’s family history, sexual proclivities and the likelihood of his ever fathering anything but deformed goats.

When he turned round, he found several customers — farm workers by the look of them — gathered in the bar behind him, listening in silent awe to his tirade.

‘Government business,’ he growled. ‘We talk in code.’ He strode from the bar, wondering just how much they’d heard and wondering how easy it would be to get them to take up pitchforks and tar barrels and march on the PTT offices.