The Devil's Cave: A Bruno Courrèges Investigation (Bruno Chief of Police 5)

against us, deliberately setting out to block one of the most important projects this
Département
has seen in years, maybe in decades. It’s worth at least twenty-five million in the first phase and probably a hundred million by the time they’re through. Why are you against it?’
    ‘But I’m not, I haven’t heard … I mean, it sounds like just the thing we’d want to support, since it’s backed by you as one of our most valued clients. Please, I’d like to know more.’
    ‘And they’re going to throw in Bruno’s sports hall for free, just like that. An asset for our youngsters that we’ve been sweating over for years. The bank, to whom we’ve been loyal for years, is trying to sabotage the whole deal. What can you possibly have to say for yourself?’
    The banker swallowed, apparently speechless, and waved his hands uncertainly in the air in appeal to whatever gods bankers worshipped.
    ‘Well, I suppose we’ll get some sort of explanation from the chairman of the board in Paris to this letter of complaint I’m writing him. We were at ENA together, you know,’ the Mayor went on, referring to the
Ecole Nationale d’Administration
, the elite graduate school founded by de Gaulle.
    The banker’s face was shiny with sweat and he seemed close to tears.
    ‘I really don’t understand. Please, tell me what’s wrong.’
    With narrowed eyes peering over his spectacles, the Mayor tossed a sheaf of paper onto the desk.
    ‘Read that,’ he snapped. ‘Just the first page will do.’
    Bruno recognized the petition that Gaston Lemontin had drawn up against the plans for the holiday village. He realized that the Mayor was out to make a very public and cruel example. Anyone who opposed one of his pet projects would regret it, a simple lesson in the iron laws of politics that the Mayor felt it necessary to teach every decade or so.
    ‘What is the first name on that petition against a project that is so important for the future of St Denis?’ the Mayor asked, in the tones of a schoolteacher with a particularly dense pupil.
    ‘Gaston Lemontin, followed by his wife Madame Lemontin,’ Valentin stammered. ‘I’m terribly sorry, there must be some misunderstanding, I shall take care …’
    ‘I didn’t ask you for the second name,’ the Mayor interrupted.
    Bruno pursed his lips but kept silent at the sight of his mentor behaving so badly. He had understood by now that he had not been invited into this meeting by accident, butbecause the Mayor wanted him to witness the slow and careful humiliation of a proud man. He wondered whether the Mayor was enjoying this, as he seemed to be, or simply exercising a political muscle that needed to be flexed occasionally.
    ‘And what can you tell me of this Gaston Lemontin?’
    ‘He’s the deputy manager of our branch in this town.’
    The Mayor picked up the petition fastidiously between finger and thumb and dropped it into his waste-paper basket. ‘Are you telling me he is
still
the deputy manager of your branch in my town?’
    ‘If you will excuse me a moment,
Monsieur le Maire
, please allow me to address this matter immediately, and then to wait upon you later today, at your convenience.’
    The Mayor nodded, and Valentin scurried out. Bruno leaned back in his chair and blew out a long breath, shaking his head at the same time.
    ‘Is that admiration or condemnation?’ the Mayor asked, with a twinkle in his eye and not a trace of the anger he had displayed to the banker.
    ‘A bit of both; I’m not sure yet of the proportions. That will wait until I learn Lemontin’s fate.’
    ‘This is France; they can’t sack him or demote him. I imagine he’ll be transferred to another branch. And I also expect us to get extremely favourable terms for our next loan, and as a taxpayer you should be grateful for that.’
    Bruno nodded. ‘There is one other thing that troubles me, the thought that Lemontin might have been on to something. He told me there were some real questions about this Paris investment bank we’re getting involved with.’
    ‘The bank will presumably do its own due diligence. That’s why we pay their fees,’ the Mayor said.
    ‘The economy of Europe is currently littered with the wreckage of banks and finance houses that we presumed to have done due diligence on American mortgages, Greek debt and Irish banks,’ Bruno replied.
    The Mayor nodded, looking thoughtful. ‘Might you make a discreet inquiry into just what has got Lemontin so