Free The Grave of Truth by Evelyn Anthony

with every gadget that came on the market. She was a marvellous cook. He watched her while she got the cups and a plate of biscuits. He noticed that she looked very pale and tense. He told her about Walther’s assassination; without intention, he hardly mentioned the murdered man’s wife. She reached out and placed her hand over his. It was a touching gesture, and he squeezed it hard, nerving himself for what had to be said next. That was when she surprised him.
    â€˜Max darling, a man from the Sûreté came here this morning. He wanted to talk to you. He said we could be in danger; you and me and the children. He told me to take them and go away for a while. He said you should come too.’
    â€˜Why would the Sûreté send someone round here? And, for God’s sake, why would you and the children be in danger—’
    â€˜Because you saw the killers,’ she said. ‘He terrified me; he said the people who murdered Walther could be after you. We’ve got to get away—you’ve got to go to Jarre and tell him you want leave!’
    â€˜Wait a minute,’ Max said. ‘Wait a minute—this doesn’t make sense. I spent hours down at the Sûreté yesterday, making a statement—nobody said anything to me about any risk—as for seeing the killers, so did half a dozen other people.… Who was this man, do you remember his name?’
    â€˜Yes, Durand,’ she said. ‘Durand.’
    â€˜Christ,’ he said, ‘that’s like Smith. I’m going to call Regnier and find out what the hell they’re playing at.’
    Ellie stayed in the kitchen, setting the cups in the dishwasher; she heard Max’s voice and the ‘ting’ of the telephone. She stood by the kitchen door and listened. He hated anyone by his elbow when he was talking on the telephone; he had his back turned towards her. On the other end of the line, Inspector Pierre Regnier told Max to hold on, while he made inquiries. Certainly, he had not sent anyone to the Steiners’ apartment. Max turned round while he waited and saw Ellie in the doorway.
    â€˜He’s finding out about it,’ he said. ‘He didn’t send a man round himself.… Yes, hello—’
    Regnier’s voice was sharp. ‘We have no one called Durand on the Walther case,’ he said. ‘Whoever saw your wife this morning, he wasn’t one of our men. Could be some crank—but she says he showed a card?’
    â€˜He could have shown her a credit card for all the difference my wife would know,’ Max said. ‘Someone says they’re a policeman, you believe them. I’ll call you back when I’ve talked to her again.’
    He saw Ellie’s pale frightened face and his heart thumped when he thought of the man she had let into the flat that morning. He listened while she told him what the man had said, and fear began to prick along his skin. Whoever he was, and he didn’t accept Regnier’s suggestion of a crank, he had tried to prise information out of Ellie which she didn’t have, and then tried to panic her so that she in turn would panic him.
    â€˜I’ve booked for all of us on the first flight to London tomorrow morning,’ she said. ‘I’m not risking keeping the children here. If that man wasn’t from the Sûreté, then, for God’s sake, who was he? Oh, Max, I’m really scared!’
    â€˜You did the right thing,’ he said slowly. ‘He could have been some nut, trying to frighten you. But it’s better you and the children get out of Paris for a while.’
    â€˜You’re coming with us—you’re not going to stay here. If there’s any danger, we’ve got to be together!’
    â€˜I shan’t be in Paris,’ he told her. It was slotting into place, like pieces in a puzzle that was making a picture. ‘I’m going away on an assignment for Jarre. It’ll