The Resistance Man (Bruno Chief of Police 6)

helicopter with the
Gendarmes Mobiles
had beaten its way back and forth along the ragged edges of the woods and never seen a soul, let alone two cyclists. He grudgingly accepted the return of his revolver and flak jacket, listened to Bruno’s account of the conversation with Paul and only smiled when he saw Bruno’s bare feet. The ruined socks had been thrown away, but Balzac had gleefully rescued one and carried it dangling from his mouth.
    Jofflin drove Bruno and Crimson back to Crimson’s house, where Bruno borrowed a pair of socks and put his old shoes back on. Thanking Crimson for his trouble he drove back to his office to report to the Mayor, who warned him that Delaron was asking questions about unusual police activity.
    ‘You met this young man, Paul?’ the Mayor asked.
    ‘Yes, and we had an interesting conversation given that he was holding me at gunpoint. He wouldn’t explain what had really happened, just that he was at the scene but hadn’t killed Fullerton, despite “what he was doing to us”. That’s the bit I don’t understand. I’ve no idea what Fullerton was doing, norwho Murcoing meant when he talked of “us”. But he was very self-confident, as though he knew something that would ensure it all worked out for him. I never saw anyone who looked less like a hunted man on the run.’
    ‘What happens now?’
    ‘I tried to tempt him out of hiding and bring him in and it didn’t work. I suppose now it’s up to J-J and the
Mobiles
, which means there’s a strong chance that he gets killed and we never learn the truth.’
    ‘It’s out of your hands now. And I imagine you haven’t heard the news. The minister of the interior has resigned, pleading reasons of health, which is a most unusual development this close to the elections. Jacqueline is delighted and rang to say she’s putting some champagne on ice to celebrate. Gilles will be joining us, since she now sees him as a worthy fellow conspirator. She made a point of saying that you were also invited along with Balzac and what she called your various womenfolk. I think that was meant to be a joke.’
    ‘I suppose you can never be sure with a woman like Jacqueline.’
    ‘
Bien entendu
, it makes life much more interesting.’
    Back in his office, where a full in-tray and a pile of unopened mail awaited him, Bruno opened his computer and groaned as he saw screen after screen of emails. It would take him days to clear the backlog. He looked out of his window. The cars at the roundabout had stopped for a line of cyclists to pedal through. They were all on racing bikes with dropped handle-bars rather than mountain bikes and none of them was wearing a green vest, but he studied them anyway, wondering how far away Paul and Yvonne could have gone by now.
    His desk phone rang, and he looked at it glumly. What would it be this time? A lost cat, a denunciation of some poor unemployed guy working for cash, perhaps a complaint about the new parking restrictions.
    ‘Bruno, it’s Jack Crimson. I’m at home and Florence is here along with Brian Fullerton. But so are Paul Murcoing and his sister and they’re pointing guns at us.’ He was trying to make his voice sound calm, but Bruno could almost feel his tension through the phone line. ‘They’re holding us all hostage …’ Crimson’s voice cracked but he went on: ‘And he wants to speak to you.’
    ‘Bruno, I told you this wasn’t over,’ came the now familiar voice. ‘This is why.’
    ‘
Putain
, I didn’t think you could possibly get into worse trouble but now you have.’ Bruno’s mind was racing as he tried to recall the check-list of procedures for a hostage situation. ‘What do you want, Paul?’
    ‘A presidential pardon, a safe passage out of the country for Yvonne and me and the promise of a public inquiry into the Neuvic money. I’ll release Crimson when those conditions are met.’
    ‘What about the others, Fullerton and Florence? You don’t need them; you could let them go.’
    ‘After what you told me about the
Mobiles
? I don’t think so. Call me back on Crimson’s landline in one hour from now or things start to get unpleasant. I have three hostages, don’t forget, and I only need the one.’
    He rang off. Bruno immediately dialled J-J, walking briskly back to the Mayor’s office as the call connected. He saw the Mayor’s startled face as for the first time in his career Brunoentered without knocking. His eyes on his Mayor, Bruno said into the phone: