Paris: The Novel

Lieutenant.”
    “A sharp object?”
    The fellow looked embarrassed.
    “A knife. When the guard brought her breakfast.”
    They showed him. She had slit her wrists, in the correct manner. She had bled to death in minutes.
    Schmid cursed and cursed, in fury. Then he ordered a car to take him to her house. That must be closed and sealed. At least he’d have her pictures.

    As Thomas sat in his usual place by the bar, he supposed that he should be grateful. Luc hadn’t much wanted to have Charlie’s body in the cave at all, but as Thomas pointed out, it was less likely to be found there than anywhere else they could think of.
    After that, he’d made his way home, where Édith had been more than relieved to see him. In the middle of the morning, Michel Dalou had come by to let him know that everyone had gotten back safely from the operation.
    “Do you think anyone was identified?” Thomas asked.
    “No. We all had face covering of some sort, and before the police recovered from the racket we made, we’d all run off.”
    “That’s good.” Thomas didn’t tell him about Charlie. He’d have wanted to know what they’d done with the body.
    “I heard we were set up,” said Michel Dalou.
    “Maybe. Leave that to Max. He’ll work it out.”
    “Are we safe?”
    “Yes. Nobody got captured, and you say no one was seen—so the police and the Gestapo have nothing.”
    “That’s good,” said Michel Dalou, and left.
    But Thomas Gascon was thoughtful. The events of last night were forming a pattern in his mind. And it wasn’t a pattern he liked at all.

    Corinne was Louise. He knew Louise: the girl that Luc had set up, long ago. She’d paid his brother too, for years, before they’d had a falling-out.
    He remembered also how his brother had been so anxious that he should not go on the mission last night.
    And what about the cave? He’d said he’d been preparing it as a hiding place for him. Yet he’d never mentioned the fact until last night. Did that make sense?
    Stranger still, now that he thought of it, had been Luc’s reaction when he and Max had arrived with Charlie. At the time Thomas had been so concerned about Charlie that he hadn’t paid much attention. But what had Luc said? “They’ll know my hiding place.” But who? Max; Charlie, if he’d lived. Why was that so terrible? Was he planning to hide from them?And then that final little cry: “Brother, you’ve just killed me.” He wasn’t just planning to hide from the Resistance. He thought that one day they’d kill him.
    He remembered how Max had already been suspicious of his brother. And how he himself had made no comment, because, alas, he knew Luc’s character.
    Luc had known that last night was a trap.

    It was early afternoon when Max stopped at the bar.
    “Louise has been arrested. Midnight last night. I think I’ve figured it out. There are two alternatives. They may have used her to lure us into a raid, so that they could capture us. But I don’t think so.”
    “Why?”
    “Because they failed to catch us. They could have had plainclothesmen hidden around the place. They didn’t. So that wasn’t their object.”
    “Go on.”
    “I believe they set up Louise. Fed her false information that she passed on in good faith. They wanted to know if she was Corinne. By taking the bait, we confirmed it for them, and they arrested her. We just destroyed Louise.”
    “So someone must have informed the Gestapo that Louise was Corinne,” Thomas reasoned.
    “I think that must be it. One of her girls, perhaps.”
    “Perhaps,” said Thomas.
    Then he was very sad.

    Luc was sitting alone in the room that gave onto his garden when Thomas arrived. He looked up a little anxiously when Thomas came in, and seemed relieved when he saw that his brother was alone. Thomas had a knapsack on his back. He put it down and went to sit beside him.
    “I have a message from Max. He says thank you.” Thomas reached into his pocket and pulled out a flask of brandy. “We need a drink.” He poured two glasses. “What shall we drink to?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Well then: To us.”
    They drank. Thomas waited a little while.
    “There is one thing more.” He paused. “I need you to tell me something.”
    “Whatever you want.”
    “I’ve been thinking about last night. I didn’t understand at first. Then I remembered how you had tried to stop me from going. You said you’d been having bad dreams. And you reminded me I could hide in the