Gauguin Connection, The Read Free Page B

years.”
    “Greed, one of man’s greatest weaknesses.” Humans disgusted me.
    Manny nodded. “By the time this came out into the open, it was four years after the deputy chief had left and the EDA was only a year old. It took Eurocorps three years of layoffs and rigorous PR to recover some of the ground it had lost in the public eye. It was shocking how many soldiers had allowed greed to destroy their morals. Leon transferred from the EDA to Eurocorps and was instrumental in rebuilding its reputation.”
    “Who’s Leon?” I asked.
    “Oh, he’s the Deputy Chief of Staff for Training and Resources at Eurocorps. Major-General Leon Hofmann.”
    This was interesting, but I was getting impatient. “The suspicion?”
    “When Leon started looking into this weapons theft, he discovered something else. Every time there had been any tampering, at that same period there was a joint EDA-Eurocorps meeting or conference here in Strasbourg. The coincidence of the stock-take manipulation at the same time as EDA-Eurocorps meetings makes both of us wonder if there are insiders on both sides.”
    “And if an investigation was to start at one of the agencies, the other might get wind of it.”
    “Hence the need for an outsider.” Manny was the only other person, aside from myself, whom I had ever heard use the word ‘hence’. I liked him a fraction more. He cleared his throat and faced Phillip. “I trust you with this.”
    Phillip waved away the sentiment. “Are you sure about an insider in your office?”
    “Unfortunately yes. The Head agrees with me about this.”
    “Who knows that you’re asking for our assistance?” Phillip asked.
    “Only Sarah Crichton, the Head of the EDA, Frederique Dutoit, our Chief Executive and Leon. To quote the Chief, ‘I want this annoying case to close as soon as possible’.”
    “As soon as possible or as thoroughly as possible?” I had experience enough to know that those two concepts were more often than not worlds apart.
    “The Chief wants it closed as soon as possible.”
    “And you?” I asked.
    Manny took a moment to answer. “I want this bastard caught and locked up for a long time. I despise people who use their positions of power to further their own agendas. Especially when their agendas lead to this.” He pushed the closed folders far away from him. His anger and earlier displeasure at the whole situation won him points in my book. It was indeed a very interesting case and my curiosity was piqued. For a few moments all three of us contemplated the situation.
    “Thank you for trusting me with this.” I knew how difficult it could be for people to trust and also knew that I should be honoured by Manny’s trust. Even when it was begrudging. “I need time.”
    “You what?” Manny’s eyebrows drew closer and the corners of his mouth pulled down. He looked at Phillip. “She what?”
    “Genevieve—”
    I got up. “It was interesting to meet you, Colonel Millard.”
    I picked up the sheets of handwritten music, slung my handbag over my shoulder and walked out of the conference room. I needed the safety of my viewing room filled with monitors where I could control the speed and frequency of the behaviour of the people on the screens. In the conference room, human behaviour was all too real. I preferred keeping it confined inside the monitors. In real life, people’s behaviour disconcerted me far too much and far too often.
    The expensive carpets in the corridor muted the staccato of my medium-sized heels and I was glad that the other office staff seldom frequented this corridor. The last thing I wanted was to produce a social smile and force myself to practice small talk. I needed a moment alone. At least I was honest enough with myself to acknowledge that my behaviour at this moment was pure avoidance. I was running away.
    Change had never been easy for me and Phillip’s cantankerous friend was about to throw my safe routine completely off its tracks. I liked coming