Julien Seul is standing at my doorstep. The one beside my vegetable garden, at the back of the house.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen you in a T-shirt. You look like a young man.”
“And you, it’s the first time I’ve seen you in colors.”
“That’s because I’m at home, in my garden. No one comes across me behind this wall. Are you staying long?”
“Until tomorrow morning. How are you?”
“Like a cemetery keeper.”
He smiles at me.
“It’s lovely, your garden.”
“That’s down to the fertilizers. Close to cemeteries, everything grows very fast.”
“I’ve never known you to be so caustic.”
“That’s because you don’t know me.”
“Maybe I know you better than you think I do.”
“Poking around in people’s lives doesn’t mean you know them, detective.”
“May I invite you to dinner?”
“On condition that you tell me the end of the story.”
“Which story?”
“The one about Gabriel Prudent and your mother.”
“I’ll come and pick you up at 8 P.M. And whatever you do, don’t change, stay in colors.”