The Mad and the Bad

36

Once Hartog and Thompson saw eye to eye, the killer washed, shaved, combed his hair, and donned clean clothes. In his closets Hartog kept regular-size garments not his own just in case the odd guest needed helping out. Thompson was provided with white pants, an operetta sailor’s jersey, and a blue blazer. He had kept a healthy mustache and a short beard and looked like a Royal Navy reservist-albeit an insomniac one on account of the bags under his eyes, the cavernous cheeks, and the dry skin.

Dédé the driver returned at nightfall and called Hartog on the intercom. The redhead emerged from his sequestration to get the red hen that his man had procured and carried it into the living room. Thompson took the fowl and shut himself up in the bathroom. Hartog made no attempt to monitor him. The killer had told him about his problems. Hartog had no wish to see this.

When Thompson reappeared, his face and clothing bore not the slightest trace of blood. As for the bird’s feathers and carcass, they had been gobbled up by the waste disposal unit.

As for Hartog, just imagining the business made him lose his appetite for quite a while. Along with Thompson he studied maps of southwest France. The killer and the redhead were at present not far from the Spanish border. They decided on the route they would follow to the Moorish Tower and reckoned the time it would take. They were agreed that they should move in at dawn. Hartog informed Dédé that he was taking the Fiat and would be gone until the next evening. Around ten o’clock the redhead and the killer went straight to the garage and set off.

During this time, in the labyrinth, Julie was sleeping peacefully.