The Ghost Riders of Ordebec (Commissaire Adamsberg) Read Online Free PDF Page A

of the summer holidays, and in three days a third of the staff would be off on annual leave, so current cases had to be dealt with quickly. The woman understood that there wasn’t much time left. In Paris, you can’t hang about all day, the priest had warned her, even if this little police chief had been patient and kind to her.
    ‘It’s Lina, my daughter,’ she said hurriedly, ‘she saw him, Herbier. She saw him two weeks and two days before he disappeared. She told her boss, and in the end all Ordebec knew about it.’
    Danglard was back sorting out his files, a frown wrinkling his wide brow. He had seen Veyrenc in Adamsberg’s office. What the hell was he doing there? Was he going to sign up, join the force again? The decision was due that evening. Danglard stopped near the photocopier and caressed the big cat lying on top of it, seeking comfort from its soft fur. The reason for his antipathy to Veyrenc was not easily confessed. It was a persistent and nagging jealousy, almost like that of a woman, the need to keep Veyrenc away from Adamsberg.
    ‘We have to be quick, Madame Vendermot. Your daughter saw him, and something made her think he was going to be killed?’
    ‘Yes, he was shrieking. And there were three others with him. At night.’
    ‘There was a fight? Because of these does and fawns? A meeting, a hunting supper?’
    ‘No, no.’
    ‘Well, look, just come back tomorrow,’ Adamsberg decided, moving towards the door, ‘when you feel able to talk.’
    Danglard was waiting for him, standing up and looking cross, leaning on the desk.
    ‘Have they found this little girl?’
    ‘The searchers found her hiding up a tree. She’d climbed very high, like a wild cat. And she was holding this gerbil in her hands, she didn’t want to let it go. But the gerbil seems to be OK.’
    ‘A what, Danglard? A gerbil?’
    ‘It’s a little mouse thing. Kids love them as pets.’
    ‘And the child? What state is she in?’
    ‘She’s like your pigeon. She’s starving hungry, and thirsty and tired. She’s been taken to hospital. One of the nurses won’t go in because of the gerbil – it’s hiding under the bed.’
    ‘And can the little girl tell us what this is all about?’
    ‘No.’
    Danglard was only giving his information out with some reluctance, still preoccupied with his own thoughts. It wasn’t a day for chatting.
    ‘She knows her great-uncle has survived?’
    ‘Yes. She seemed both relieved and disappointed. She’d been living with him, just the two of them, for goodness knows how long, never set foot in school. And we’re not at all sure now that he’s actually a great-uncle.’
    ‘Right, tell the Versailles police to follow it up. But tell whoever is in charge not to kill the gerbil. Have them catch it, put it in a cage and feed it.’
    ‘Is that so urgent?’
    ‘Obviously, Danglard, because it may be the only thing in the world this child has. One second.’
    Adamsberg hurried over to Retancourt’s office. She was getting ready to swab the pigeon’s feet.
    ‘Have you disinfected it, lieutenant?’
    ‘Just a minute,’ said Retancourt, ‘we had to rehydrate it first.’
    ‘Good, don’t throw the string away, I want it analysed. Justin’s got hold of the technician, he’s on his way.’
    ‘Damn bird just crapped on my hand,’ said Retancourt coolly. ‘What does that little woman want?’ she asked, pointing to his office.
    ‘To tell me something she can’t tell me. Indecision personified. Either she’ll leave of her own accord, or they’ll have to chuck her out at closing time.’
    Retancourt shrugged a little disdainfully. Indecision was something foreign to her way of life. Hence her powers of propulsion, far exceeding that of the twenty-seven other members of the squad.
    ‘And what about Veyrenc? Is he still undecided too?’
    ‘Veyrenc made his mind up long ago. Cop or schoolteacher, which would you choose? Teaching is a virtue that brings bitterness, police work is a vice