Hands of the Traitor Read Online Free PDF Page A

for
general inquiries?"
    "Yes, but they'll still want to know who I
am. Anyway, I can't ask them if one of the Heinmans had his head
blown off in France."
    "What are you going to do if your
grandfather's guilty of murder?"
    Matt stayed silent for a moment. He'd
already thought of that one. "I just want to know whether he's
telling the truth or not. Maybe Granddad butchered everyone on the
site, and that's what screwed him up."
    Ken wiped the rim of his mug with his
fingers before taking a sip. "How about trying Louise?"
    "What for?" Matt started his coffee.
The French beans had kept considerably better than the
milk.
    "Louise works for the Chamber of Commerce.
Ask her to find an American trade organization. They should be able
to tell you if anyone called Heinman from DCI died in France in the
war -- if you write a confidential letter." Ken began to sound
unexpectedly keen. "Don't bother with emails. No one answers them.
Use Habgood letter heading. People respond to Habgood
Securities."
    "There is another avenue to
explore."
    "Go on." Ken put his mug down and
pulled a face. "This is terrible. Get some instant next time you're
at the shops and do us all a favor."
    Matt ignored the criticism. The coffee was
an expensive blend, bought by him with Ken's petty cash. "There's a
French girl -- Sophie Bernay. My grandfather thinks he killed her.
He keeps hearing a grenade going off in his sleep. If I could find
her, she'd maybe remember what happened."
    "Not if she's dead she won't remember
anything," commented Ken dryly.
    "If she's dead I don't have to tell
him."
    "Wouldn't any French woman do? Get
your Zoé to pretend she's Sophie. See if it helps your grandfather
remember a few more things."
    "I couldn't live with
myself."
    "And now you want to find a beautiful
French mademoiselle called Sophie? Isn't one enough for you?" Ken
gave a dirty laugh.
    "I'm not sure how Sophie Bernay would
look. Granddad says he has this memory of Sophie's face covered in
blood. He had a knife as well as a grenade, so he
may..."
    "I think I get the point," said Ken.
"And your lovely French girlfriend doesn't mind you chasing after
another woman?"
    "Zoé isn't my girlfriend. Anyway, Sophie would be in
her late seventies -- at best. Perhaps you'd like to be
introduced."
    Ken ignored the offer. "If you want my
advice I'd go for the French woman and leave the Heinmans alone. No
one messes with big American companies." He thought for a moment,
tapping his uneven teeth with a pen. Then he pointed the pen at
Matt. "I don't know if it will help, but I had an uncle who had an
urge to trace a family that sheltered him in the war. He wrote to
the mayors of a few French towns in the area."
    "And?"
    "He never heard anything more as it
happened." Ken sucked the end of his pen. "But we always thought it
was a good idea. Do you know where your granddad had his
ordeal?"
    "Near Calais. That's all."
    "And where was the weekend
massacre?"
    "Near Calais."
    "There you are then." Ken's face beamed.
"Get on the Internet and find the name of the nearest town to the
blood bath, and write a letter to the local mayor. Give him
Sophie's name and see if he can track her down for you. Your new
girlfriend can help you with the long words. I'm giving you the
rest of the day off -- with pay."
    "Thanks."
    "That's it, kiddo, look on the bright
side." Ken seemed to be playing the unaccustomed role of beneficial
uncle. "An Internet search could take hours. I need the computer
today, so nip on down to Mac the Hack at the Internet café. He'll
give you a special rate if you mention my name."
    Matt decided that Mac had every reason
to be generous. Ken's computer was unreliable and often in need of
Mac's expertise for finding lost files.
    "Things are fairly quiet here," Ken
continued. "We've cleared up that case for Tom Grieves, so you can
have a few days off to go to France."
    Matt nodded. This certainly wasn't the
Ken Habgood who usually sat at the desk.
    "And there's more good news,