Folly Du Jour

Two hearty Americans leapt to his rescue and dragged him backwards to safety into the café. All three of them were instantly caught up and struggling in the general surge towards the exit.

God! It was there! Joe hadn’t heard and really didn’t believe in Bo

‘Do you mind, Joe? Sitting in the back? Standard procedure when we’re carrying a dangerous prisoner. The lady took me for the driver. Understandable, as I was sitting at the wheel. Jumped in and told me to drive to the Gare de Lyon. In quite a hurry. Peremptory, even. Promised me a reward if I arrived on bald tyres! Another woman fleeing your company? What on earth do you say to them, Joe?’

He climbed in behind the wheel and turned off the engine. ‘Well now – what do you have to tell me, Joe?’

‘Four others on the premises, you say?’ Bo

‘I’m afraid so. One rather large casualty, bleeding copiously. Not our man – the doorman. Name’s Flavius. Not that he’s answering to it. Problem with his throat.’

‘It was self-defence!’ Alice spoke up firmly. ‘He was threatening me and the Commander had to shoot him.’

‘Much as I dislike contradicting a lady,’ said Bo

‘Luger,’ supplied Joe.

‘. . . Luger, yes. Wiped clean? Yes, of course. And we’ll establish that the fracas was no more than a fight over a girl. The usual. We’ll just have to wait and see which one confesses to what, won’t we? But I’m sure one of them will be only too pleased to assume responsibility. Do you want to stay and see the fun, Joe, or shall we take off for the Quai?’

‘Hold on a moment,’ said Joe, still getting his breath back.

Alice had shrunk away from him as he pushed himself into the back seat alongside her.

He stared at her and burst out laughing. ‘Two minutes ago this woman, you’d have sworn, was on her way to the Ritz, sporting the last word in cocktail frocks! And now look at her! Milady de Winter! Fully caped. Booted and spurred probably too if I could be bothered to check. And –’ he kicked a soft leather bag she’d pushed away behind her calves – ‘packed and ready for the weekend, I see. Now where were you off to, I wonder?’

‘Not pla

‘My exit bag. I always have it to hand,’ she explained sweetly.

‘And what were you intending to do at the Gare de Lyon, Gateway to the South? From where so many adventures start?’ Joe asked. ‘Return to your old haunts on the Riviera?’

‘Change taxis? Head north . . . or east . . . or west,’ she said, tormenting him. ‘You’ll never know. Not sure I do myself. Joe, are you ever going to introduce me to your charming young colleague? He seems to have the advantage of me.’

‘No. You don’t need to know him. You just need to do as he says.’

He had counted on a

A small black police car screamed to a halt a few inches in front of them.

‘Here he is,’ said Bo

‘How long will he be?’ Alice’s voice was strained. He could hardly see her face. She had flung the hood over her head and was shrinking down into the upholstery. Her eyes were sca

Joe was reminded of George’s remark about Alice’s strange behaviour. ‘. . . eyes quartering the room like a hunter,’ he’d said and then corrected himself: ‘No – more like the prey. There was someone out there in the auditorium . . .’

And there was someone out there at this moment on the pavement, coming closer. He began to catch Alice’s fear. He spoke softly to her. ‘Alice, we are surrounded by at least a dozen assorted flics. You’re quite safe. For the moment.’

She looked at him, incredulous. ‘You think that will stop him?’

Uneasy, he muttered, ‘Damn! I haven’t got a gun. I really did remember to wipe the Luger and drop it a suitable distance from the body. And – oh God! – I didn’t get my Browning back. No time, even if I’d thought of it.’

Alice bent and fished about in her bag. ‘Here. Take this. It’s only a .22 but it’s a little more effective than pointing a wagging finger.’

He took it warily, resting it along his thigh between them, finger on the trigger.

‘You make me nervous, Alice,’ he said finally. ‘As nervous as you made Sir George on Saturday night at the theatre? And for the same reason perhaps? I’m afraid for my life. Should I be afraid for my life? What are your instructions this time? The same as last? Kill the Englishman?’

She looked at him, eyes darkening with suspicion inside her silk hood. ‘What on earth do you mean?’

‘I mean that I know, Alice. I know that you’d gone to the theatre that night, not for the pleasure of seeing Sir George again, but to kill him.’

Chapter Twenty-Three

‘To kill him. At the very least, to participate in his killing.’

She swallowed but remained silent, still staring through the windows.

‘Sir Stanley Somerton was never the target, was he? His death has brought freedom, much relief and even unholy joy to a good number of people but it was never intended, was it? No one put cash in an envelope and asked for him to die? Am I getting this right, Alice?’

She nodded her head. ‘As usual.’

‘Do you want to know how I guessed?’

‘No. Not particularly. I assume you to be omniscient.’

‘Well, I’ll tell you anyway. Because I shall enjoy the satisfaction of making you and your filthy organization aware that you’ve been tripped up by no more than a couple of bystanders, neither of them co

Alice appeared not to be listening. ‘Where’s your friend? God! Now where’s he off to? Do we have to wait for him?’

‘The star of the show, Miss Josephine Baker,’ Joe pushed on, ‘was kind enough to grant us an interview. She’s a responsive girl who feeds off her audience, is aware of them and their moods. She remembers that evening particularly because the routine was broken. Lindbergh flew in and she took it upon herself, being from St Louis, to invite the audience to celebrate with her. She was aware of you, Alice, and your young employee in Somerton’s box. She was aware enough of the two men to tell me the boxes were a mirror image of each other. Two elderly gents, two blonde young women with them. She didn’t even know which man had died. Left or right, they were much the same to her. It made no difference to the star but it was life or death for one of those men. And then it struck me. For me, the kaleidoscope suddenly shifted and settled into a different pattern when she said that.