The Beast of the Camargue Read Free

point. When can I see you?”
    He felt like saying that people seldom asked him questions that were more like barely concealed orders, that he had no idea why this man was calling him and that he did not want to see anyone except Anne Moracchini. Instead he replied perfunctorily:
    â€œMonday, 4 p.m. in your office? Does that suit you?”
    â€œToday’s Saturday so … yes, that will be perfect. I’m at 58 cours Pierre-Puget. I suppose you know where that is.”
    â€œIndeed, not a very original address for a lawyer.”
    â€œNo, you’re right. Next door to the high court!”
    â€œSee you on Monday, then.”
    He hung up without a goodbye. Moracchini walked over to him, holding her glass of champagne.
    â€œI suppose that horrible ringing means that the interval’s over? And are you planning to let me go back to seat number 35 all on my own?”
    â€œNo, Anne, certainly not!”
    He slid a hand around her waist.
    It was 2 a.m. when de Palma drew up in front of the little house Moracchini owned in Château-Gombert, at 28 chemin de la Fare, the last remainder of her marriage.
    â€œHow about a nightcap?”
    The air was alive inside the car. She looked at him hard. He lowered the window for a breath of air.
    â€œNo, I’m going home … I need to sleep. I don’t feel so good. In fact, I’ve …”
    â€œYou’ve got another of your migraines. Come here and I’ll give you a massage.”
    She laid her long fingers on his temples and rubbed gently.
    â€œWhat does your doctor say?”
    â€œHe says he doesn’t know, like all the doctors!”
    Moracchini continued her massage, tracing small circles above his eyebrows, then she withdrew her hands like a caress, took hold of his temples and squeezed them gently.
    â€œDo you remember, Anne?”
    â€œYes, I do, but I don’t want to talk about it …”
    â€œNowadays, I think about it less, but a month ago I kept on playing the film in my head like a loop from hell. Non-stop.”
    She pressed the top of his skull softly and raked through his hair with her nails.
    â€œI can still see myself going into the Le Guen cave and reaching the bottom. I’ve never told anyone, but if you only knew how frightened I was. Guts in a knot, balls on the ground.” *
    â€œThat’s pretty …”
    â€œSo to speak.”
    He breathed deeply and shut his eyes.
    â€œI can still see those marvelous paintings, how impressive they were. I can’t describe how I felt, seeing the hands of prehistoric men. And then I saw her. And he was behind me. I turned …” De Palma’s breathing speeded up. He closed his eyes and turned his head in a circle. “I can see myself spinning round on my left leg, and firing at him … Then he hit me smack on the forehead. It was like being struck by lightning.”
    â€œIt’s made you into a top cop, with a medal and accolades andall. Plus a good deal of jealousy. Well done. And I might add it’s not done away with your charm.”
    â€œHis strength was superhuman. I often think about that. My aim was straight, I can see myself lining it up … I’ll never get it out of my mind that he managed to dodge a bullet. He had the reflexes of a great prehistoric hunter, I’m sure of it. He was stronger and quicker than a normal man. Compared with him, we’re all degenerates.”
    â€œYou’re talking as if you admired him!”
    â€œHe dodged a .38 bullet! Lightning versus lightning. At incredible speeds. You can’t help respecting something like that. Do you see?”
    â€œWhat I see is that he’s going to go down for life, and that it’s thanks to you.”
    â€œYou could also say that I missed him!”
    â€œI’ve never said that.”
    â€œIn any case, I didn’t arrest him on my own.”
    â€œThank you, from all the little cops like me,