Night Watch Read Free Page B

eighties, after a long time away. He wanted to see a lot of acquaintances, so he made his contacts and people agreed to meet all together, for dinner,even though they didn’t know one another. By the time François assembled his list, there were too many of his friends to fit in a restaurant or home, so he suggested they meet at the Bois de Boulogne.
    “Everyone was to bring not only their own food but also tables and chairs, wine and glasses, silver and table linens. And all were to dress entirely in white, so the two hundred or so guests could spot one another inside the park.”
    Jacques inhaled and raised his eyebrows. “That’s legal, in an historic landmark?”
    “
Je ne sais.
François made the rules. The hell with the law. He just wanted everyone to enjoy themselves.”
    “It worked?”
    “So well that it’s grown to incredibly larger numbers each time. Four thousand people in the plaza at the Cathedral of Notre Dame two years ago. Last August, when I was invited for the first time, six thousand showed up in the courtyard of the Louvre.”
    “That’s astonishing. And not mobbed by outsiders?”
    Luc smiled. “Only friends, and friends of friends. Each time there is a different organizer, deciding who is in and who is out.”
    Jacques blew smoke rings in Luc’s face. “Clearly, I was out when you drew up your list.”
    “
Alors
, my pal, you don’t Tweet, do you?” Luc waved the smoke away with his iPhone.
    “I’m too old for that bullshit,” Jacques said. I guessed him to be a decade older than Luc, who was forty-eight. “That’s how you invite?”
    “Till the very last minute, the Parisian organizers never revealed the location of the dinner. Part of the fun, I guess. Then on the actual day of, they blast out the landmark—whatever it is—and people descend on their Metro stations with all their gear.”
    “So for you, Luc, the place was la Porte Sarrazine?”
    “Exactly. The peak of Mougins, with that spectacular vista over the valley. I broke the rules and provided all the food and drink fromthe restaurant. Guests just had to bring a blanket to sit on. The classic French
pique-nique
, full of romance and mystery, no? Ladies in white dresses and men in linen shirts. Pâté de foie gras, poached salmon a la Relais, cheeses, and chocolate truffles. The very best wines and a night of great
amitie
, great friendship.”
    “I hope you saved me something,” Jacques said, rubbing his belly, which protruded over the belt of his uniform. “White’s not my best look.”
    Luc was reliving the magical evening he had created, while I was fixed on the body across the shore.
    “And you, Alexandra, did you enjoy?”
    “Very much so. Until this news. Until now.”
    “How many guests?”
    “Sixty in all,” Luc said.
    Jacques snorted. “I didn’t know you had that many friends in town.”
    “I don’t,
Monsieur le Capitaine
, but some of my friends have friends,” Luc said, laughing at Jacques’s candid remark. “The only three-star joint in a resort filled with restaurants, a mecca for gourmands? Yes, there has been some pretty fierce competition for me these last few years.”
    “Not to mention that you got your stars the easy way.”
    “How so?”
    “You inherited them from your father.”
    Jacques’s comments were getting to Luc. “When my father hung up his toque for good and retired, everyone thought the glory days of Le Relais were over. He had created the most acclaimed restaurant in the region, only to lose two of his stars in the last five years while he tried to hold on to the place.”
    “Too much time chasing tail, eh? Those were still the rumors when I got to town.”
    “Give it up, Jacques. That’s rude. I’ll invite you to next year’s dinner, okay?”
    “You inherit that, too?”
    “What?” Luc was fuming. I could see the muscles in his face tense up.
    “That philandering thing. Is that why your wife split?”
    “If you’re not going to be respectful to Luc,” I