The Resistance Man (Bruno Chief of Police 6)

of it and instead sipped his drink. Fullerton had been Yves’s lover, after all. He liked Valentoux and did not want to offend him, so how did one embark on a discussion of Fullerton’s other affair? And how far should he allow for some jealousy on Yves’s part?
    Valentoux noticed Bruno’s hesitation and smiled. ‘You’re very polite for a policeman. I knew Francis was never faithful to me and I accepted that. I fell in love with him and I was very attracted to him. He was a wonderfully handsome man, full of energy and
joie de vivre
. There were times I thought I’d found the love of my life; times when we both thought that. But I think I always knew or perhaps feared that he was a bit of a rogue, not someone to rely on.’
    A parallel with Isabelle came into Bruno’s mind. He’d trust her with his life but he wasn’t sure that he could rely on her, not if it came to a choice between her career and her heart. He dragged himself back to the conversation with Yves.
    ‘When you say Murcoing was mercenary, you mean he went with older men for money?’
    Valentoux shrugged. ‘Perhaps, I don’t know. But I’d imagine it was mainly for presents, expensive clothes and trips, always at the best hotels, perhaps the occasional painting. I can’t see Francis being involved with someone quite so crude as to demand cash.’
    Suddenly Valentoux took a notebook from an inside pocket and handed Bruno a small colour photograph. It showed a dark-haired little girl in a light blue dress sitting on the lap of a strikingly pretty woman. The picture had been taken in a garden, an ivy-covered wall behind them and another rather older woman stood beside them.
    ‘You may be surprised but that’s Odile, my daughter, and those are her parents, Francine and Hélène, an actress and a set designer whom I’ve known for years. They initially wanted to adopt, but when that proved difficult, they asked me to help and I was honoured to do so. Odile calls me
Tonton
, Uncle Yves.’
    ‘Congratulations,’ said Bruno, his eyes lingering on the little girl, looking for a resemblance. ‘I think she has your eyes.’
    ‘I have a whole photo album: her birth, her birthdays, going on holidays together at the beach in Normandy. Here’s one of Francis with Odile, in my apartment in Paris. He thought she was marvellous and I think he fell in love a little with Francine and Hélène, just as I had.’
    ‘She’s lovely. How old is she?’
    ‘She was four when that was taken, last summer, in my garden. Francine and Hélène are very kind, they make a lot of room for me to share in their joy. Perhaps they may have had some room for Francis as well. I know Francis hoped that might happen. That was something he wanted to talk about on this holiday we had planned. He was beguiled by his fantasy of giving Odile a little sibling.’
    ‘She’s a lovely child. You’re a lucky man,’ said Bruno, and meant it. He pushed the photo back across the table, poured two more drinks and asked: ‘Did you know that Francis had another house not far away, in the Corrèze? That’s where I was this afternoon.’
    ‘I knew he had a place somewhere in the south, but he made it sound more like Languedoc or Provence. I had no idea it was so close.’
    Bruno described his meeting with Francis’s brother, the trip to the farmhouse and the loot he had found there. He didn’t mention the guns or the shrine but he spoke of Francis’s interest in his grandfather’s wartime exploits and his obsession with the Neuvic train.
    ‘On the evening we met he talked to me about his grandfather, Sergeant Freddy he called him, and his work with theResistance. I thought he might have been inventing it, a convenient chat-up line to attract a Frenchman. He sometimes talked about this mythical train with its billions of francs. I’d never heard of it and I’d thought it might be another of his fanciful stories. He had quite a few, about his wild times in Los Angeles and New York in those halcyon days before the plague came, before AIDS.’
    ‘Did you know he was HIV-positive?’
    ‘Yes, he was honest about that from the beginning, and absolutely assiduous about safe sex. That’s why I was reluctant …’ Yves checked himself. ‘Francis was interested in gay marriage. I think it was as much the hope of having a child like Odile with Francine and Hélène as any great urge to settle down with me. But I was worried about the HIV being passed on.’
    Yves passed his hand