Free The Three Evangelists by Fred Vargas Page A

things, that would certainly calm their suspicions. They know me of old.’
    ‘Why would you want to help me? What do you want from me? Money?’
    Vandoosler smiled as he shook his head. Obviously Relivaux was moderately stupid too.
    ‘Well,’ Relivaux went on, ‘it looks to me as if you people in that ramshackle disgrace you live in, forgive me if I’m mistaken, but you all seem to be …’
    ‘Hard up, ‘Vandoosler finished the sentence. ‘Quite right. I see you are better informed than you let on.’
    ‘I’m used to dealing with down-and-outs,’ said Relivaux. ‘It’s my job. Anyway, that’s what Sophia has told me. So what’s your motive?’
    ‘Let’s just say the police and I have had our little run-ins in the past. When they get a bee in their bonnet about you, it can go on and on. So I try when possible to help other people to avoid it. A small-scale revenge if you like. Anti-police protection service. And it keeps me busy. No charge.’
    Vandoosler allowed Pierre to reflect on this specious and poorly argued motive. He seemed to swallow it.
    ‘What do you want to know?’ Relivaux asked.
    ‘What they will want to know.’
    ‘Which is?’
    ‘Where has Sophia gone?’
    Relivaux stood up, spread his arms wide in a gesture and turned round.
    ‘She’s gone away. She’ll be back. There’s nothing to get steamed up about.’
    ‘They will want to know precisely why you’re not getting steamed up about it.’
    ‘Because I haven’t put the kettle on. Because Sophia told me she was going away. She said something about meeting someone in Lyon, if you must know. It’s not the other side of the world.’
    ‘They might not believe you. Be more precise, Monsieur Relivaux. Your peace of mind could depend on it, and I believe you do care about that.’
    ‘It’s really of no particular interest. On Tuesday, Sophia got a postcard. She showed it to me. It just had a drawing of a star and a date to meet at a certain time in a hotel in Lyon. Take such and such a train tomorrow night. No signature. Instead of keeping calm, Sophia got into a state. She had got it into her head that the card was from an old boyfriend, a Greek called Stelios Kutsukis. Because of the star. I had a certain amount of trouble from him, on several occasions, before we got married. He was the mad-rhino kind of admirer.’
    ‘I beg your pardon?’
    Oh, nothing. Anyway, one of Sophia’s admirers.’
    ‘A former lover’
    ‘Naturally, I tried to dissuade Sophia from going. If this card was from someone else, then God knows what she was letting herself in for. And if it was from Stelios, it wasn’t much better. But no, there was no stopping her, she packed her bag and off she went. I admit I was expecting to see her back yesterday. And that’s all I know.’
    ‘And the tree?’
    ‘What do you want me to say about the tree? Sophia made a huge fuss about it. I didn’t imagine she would go to the length of digging underneath it. What on earth did she think was there? She’s always making up fantasies. It can only be a gift from someone, what else? Perhaps you have heard that Sophia was quite well known until she gave up performing. She was an opera singer.’
    ‘Yes, I know. But Juliette Gosselin said that you told her that you had planted the tree.’
    ‘Yes, that’s what I told her. One morning at the gate, Juliette asked me about the new tree. Sophia having made such a fuss about it, I didn’t want to tell her that we had no idea where it came from, and then have that get all round the neighbourhood. As you guessed, I value my peace of mind. So I simply told her I had decided to plant a beech tree-to put a stop to the questions. That’s what I should have told Sophia too. It would have saved a lot of trouble.’
    ‘That’s all very well and good,’ said Vandoosler, ‘but we only have your word for it. It would be helpful if you could produce the postcard. So that someone could get in touch with her.’
    ‘Well, I’m