The Resistance Man (Bruno Chief of Police 6)

the
Police Nationale
from Périgueux.’
    ‘Call me back in an hour, and tell those people in Paris that if they don’t have a decision by then, I start putting bullets into hostages. I’ll start with feet and knees, unless I think you’re dicking me around and then I’ll get serious. One hour, Bruno.’
    ‘Don’t make this worse …’ Paul had hung up. Bruno rang the Mayor to pass on the message.
    ‘I spoke to Isabelle,’ the Mayor said when Bruno had finished. ‘She had a copy of the will in her emails and she said to tell you she’s sorry she’d forgotten to pass it on. Apparently the will was changed very recently. Fullerton’s estate goes to any natural child of his own, and failing that to Yves Valentoux to be held in trust for a girl called Odile. Who on earth is she?’
    ‘I think she might be the key to all this, and that’s exactly what I needed to know. Thank you and thank Isabelle for me when you speak again. What do you think the chances are of the Elysée intervening?’
    ‘Very slim. It would mean taking responsibility for the death of Crimson and the others. The fact that there’s a vacuum at the top of the Interior Ministry is just the kind of escape clause politicians like.’
    Bruno rang off and instantly called Yves Valentoux. From the background sound, he was in a bar or restaurant.
    ‘Yves, this is really important. Lives may hang on it. How serious was Francis about asking you to marry him?’
    ‘He was planning a trip to the States for both of us to do it there, where it’s legal. I hadn’t agreed but he was always so confident about everything …’
    ‘Would it be legal for a non-American?’
    ‘He was American, or at least he’d taken out US citizenshipwhen he lived there in the Nineties. Apparently it was quite easy before nine-eleven. He always said the Queen wouldn’t mind and he also kept his British passport.’
    ‘And you told me he wanted to give Odile a little brother or sister. What about his HIV?’
    ‘He said he’d researched it and there were ways to sanitize his sperm. I never took it that seriously but he certainly did.’
    ‘I think this plan to marry you and have a child was what got Francis killed. It would have changed the inheritance.’

31
    J-J closed his phone with a snap. ‘They won’t make any decision in Paris and they won’t authorize using the
Jaunes
. I guess it’s down to you now.’ He looked with sympathy at Bernard Ardouin, the
Procureur
, who had joined them at Sergeant Jules’s Gendarmerie van. It was the nearest they had to a mobile operations room until the real one arrived from Périgueux with reinforcements.
    ‘You could order the Gendarme general for the
Département
to send in the
Jaunes
,’ J-J went on. ‘But he’d probably refer back to the defence ministry and we’d be back where we started. The only people you can be sure will carry out your orders are my team and Bruno here.’
    Ardouin’s own boss, the chief
Procureur
for the
Département
, was at a gala dinner and opera in Bordeaux along with the Prefect. Their phones were turned off.
    ‘I have to call Paul again in ten minutes,’ said Bruno. ‘Dammit, does nobody have the balls to make a decision?’
    ‘I’m sure they’ll find him soon,’ Ardouin said, trying to sound decisive. ‘There must be an intermission coming up.’
    Bruno had expected better from Ardouin. He turned away to hide the disgust on his face and called the Mayor.
    ‘Nobody wants to take a decision. Will you authorize me to go in? I think Paul will be prepared to speak to me.’
    ‘Bruno, whatever you decide to do will have my full support and Roberte who’s sitting here heard me say that. Just remember the oath you swore when you took office, “to defend the constitution and the laws of
la République
and the citizens of St Denis”. I don’t have to remind you that Florence is indeed a citizen and her children need her back.’
    Bruno was dialling Crimson’s number when a shot came from inside the house followed by the piercing note of a woman shrieking, once, twice, and then the sound bubbled away into silence.
    ‘I’m sorry I had to do that,’ Paul said as he answered Crimson’s phone. ‘I warned you this would happen.’
    ‘I have no news and no official response from Paris on your conditions but a superior officer is now here, Commissaire Jalipeau, head of detectives for the
Département
. The
Procureur
is with him and he wants to talk to you.’
    Bruno