The Crowded Grave

the two of you concocted. How on earth do you know her?”
    “I don’t. I just dialed the main number and asked for the press office.”
    “She spoke as if she’d known you for years. She sent me a scan of the
Paris Match
article with that photo of you swinging out of the window in a ball of fire.”
    “It looked more dramatic than it was. Being in a car with you took a lot more courage,” he said. “But I’m glad you called. Teddy and Kajte have come back and surrendered themselves to my custody.”
    After telling her they’d be available for questioning, he explained that the corpse Teddy had discovered was his own father, shot by undercover Spanish cops in their war on the ETA movement.
    “He dug up his own father’s corpse? He must have known where to find it, which means … God, I’m not sure what it means. Is he connected to ETA?”
    “Only through his father. He’s helping us. But since you had opened that dossier on Teddy and his girlfriend, I thought I’d better tell you that they both are back in the district. Is it still open, on them and on Maurice?”
    “Along with my disciplinary proceedings against you, the Maurice matter was dropped on orders from my superior this morning, which means the dossier on those students is also closed. That was Duroc’s business, anyway. And have you heard that he’s been suspended?”
    “Suspended? What for?”
    “It happened this morning. I heard about it at the morning staff meeting because we’ll have to assign someone to the case. There was an internal investigation by the gendarmes, and they say he was fixing traffic tickets.”
    “I just know he fixed your speeding ticket.”
    “Yes, but I paid it, just like I paid your parking fine. I sent off checks that very night. But it seems there were quite a few tickets Duroc took care of, and some of the beneficiaries claim they paid him to do it.”
    “I don’t suppose they’ll assign you to the case.”
    “No. You’re getting another new magistrate. I’m being transferred to the Sarlat office, along with a formal reprimand for my TV interview.”
    “I can point you to one or two foie gras factories there that I’d like to see hit with a hygiene order,” he said.
    “I think I’ll stay away from that issue for a while. But look, thanks for what you did and please tell those two students and Maurice that the case is closed.”
    “Thank you,” he said. “But when you called me in to sayyou were launching disciplinary action against me, you said I’d helped those two students evade arrest. Wherever did that come from?”
    “It was a letter of denunciation handed in to the gendarmerie. It said you had treated the girl’s shotgun wounds in secret and then told them to bribe the farmers to stop them filing formal complaints.”
    “Was it signed?”
    “I don’t remember. That was Duroc’s big complaint against you, cheating him out of an arrest. Was it true?”
    “Yes, I suppose it was,” he said. “But I still think it was for the best.”
    “Maybe you were right,” she said, and hung up leaving him with the feeling that some little justice had been done. But who knew enough about what he had done to have written the letter? He couldn’t see Teddy and Kajte doing it. He’d have to find the letter. But that meant going through the gendarmerie, and the thought of Duroc’s suspension sobered him. It didn’t say much for Bruno’s skills that Duroc had been fixing speeding tickets under his nose and Bruno had known only about Annette’s. He called Sergeant Jules.
    “What’s this I hear about Duroc being suspended?”
    “First we knew was when a new captain came in this morning and told us. He’s just temporary, from Nontron up in the north of the
département
. Apparently they’d had their eye on him for some time. Some guy trying to talk his way out of a jail sentence for repeated drunken driving shopped Duroc a few weeks ago. We’re in deep mourning. Come by the bar this evening and you can share our grief. I’m buying.”
    “I’m tied up this evening,” said Bruno. “But drink a glass for me. This security stuff will be finished in a couple of days. One thing you can help me with. There was some kind ofletter delivered to the gendarmerie accusing me of secretly helping those two students evade Duroc. Do you know anything about it?”
    “Francette found it in the postbox, in a sealed envelope addressed to Duroc. Give me a minute. His office is empty so I can take a