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After giving Magali a brief account of her talk with Captain Praud, and knowing full well that he expected nothing of any consequence from her, Sophie had no compunction in beginning her ‘observation’ by climbing back into bed and falling asleep. At least her body did, while her mind slipped into a semi-conscious state of fever and fatigue, where weird thoughts and images hovered like fantastical fish in an ocean trough, staring blankly as they loomed into her vision, then slowly drifting away. A bubble emerged from Tyson’s gaping mouth and turned into one of Dali’s melting clocks, draped over the bench. ... a matter of minutes ... ninety seconds to walk up the path ... anyone could have done it ...
At one point she became aware of Luc on the bed beside her, lips touching her forehead, then Chloé coming in with her nature box. Silence again as she tumbled back through a whirl of shifting shapes, frames within frames, sinuous patterns slithering through an orchard, till she came to a bench where Wise Wally sat with a pipe of precious metal extracted from the sands of Cameroun. I want you to write a report...
‘Feeling better?’
‘Much. Heat fever, Luc says. Not drinking enough water. I’ve just drunk about ten gallons.’
Magali rolled her eyes. ‘There I am phoning my mum every hour to tell her to stay hydrated and you’re wasting away right in front of us.’
‘And what’s more, I’ve missed a whole morning’s precious observation for Plodder Praud.’
‘You missed Cyril too. Quite a spectacle. He arrived mid-morning looking as if he’d seen a ghost.’
‘He probably had, knowing Cyril.’
‘Volatile to say the least. He promptly had a row with Praud about the interviews, demanded a file on Escarola which Praud was supposed to get, and when Praud said he didn’t have it, he zoomed off. I think what upset him most was learning that Praud had recruited you. In his view it’s a trap. Praud’s only buttering you up – me as well as a consequence – because he’s understood Pico thinks highly of you.’
‘Quite possibly. But a trap? That’s paranoid.’
‘He says Praud won’t hesitate to denigrate you to Pico as soon as he gets the chance.’
‘Oh, dear.’ Sophie sighed. ‘Sounds like he still hasn’t got over the snub. I thought a night’s sleep might calm him down.’
‘I don’t want alarm you, but he looked more like he’d been up all night plotting revenge. Mind you, Praud’s almost as bad. When Cyril had gone he told Bondy that if Cyril was going to be like that, he could bloody well wait for his file.’
‘Oh god, it’s like Spy versus Spy. And somehow I’ve landed in the thick of it. Maybe Luc’s right – stick to something harmless. Like you.’
‘Speaking of which, I asked Cyril about the mysterious Viviane that Maya mentioned to you. Viviane Mevel – she was Maya’s dealer in Paris but she sold her gallery, which is why Maya had her paintings in L’Ophrys.’
‘She wanted to know if Cyril had got in touch with her.’
‘No, he hasn’t. Maya’s paintings don’t interest him – what he wants is a link to that mining scam in Cameroun. But he gave me her number, so I did. Guess who she sold the gallery to? Mickael Durvez.’
‘Er... Right.’ Sophie gave her a quizzical look. ‘Am I supposed to have heard of him?’
‘See what happens when you fall asleep? You wake up Sophie Van Winkle.’ She laughed. ‘It links to my Granet enquiry. Xavier got back to Luc – Mickael Durvez is the dealer the Borellys bought their picture from. But there’s an extra touch to the story I didn’t know about. Apparently, the Granet Museum initially thought the painting might have come from a theft which occurred some years previously – various paintings disappeared from the Zamini gallery in Marseille when it was under renovation. It’s still there, run by the daughter today. So I phoned them and got a list of the stolen paintings. Twelve, all from the early Provençal School: Granet, Guigou, Monticelli, stuff like that which no one has ever heard of, unless you’re a specialist. The paintings were never found.’
‘But if the one in Xavier’s parents’ house came from the theft, that would make it genuine, wouldn’t it?’
‘Right. It turned out it was a different one, so that was a bit of a dead end. But it’s partly what led the museum to decide theirs wasn’t genuine. I’m just getting the feeling it all links up somehow. Viviane, Durvez, Maya – the link there has to be Escarola. When I told Praud and Bondy, they questioned me quite closely. Bondy did anyway, so it must be relevant to his arson investigation. What I can’t make fit is Granet. The only connection there is Durvez, so the question is whether he’s dodgy or not. Apparently Viviane’s sale of the gallery was sudden, but I couldn’t draw her on the reason.’
‘Maya knows more than she’s letting on. Perhaps you could get more out of her than I did.’
‘No smoke without fire, anyway. Whether five thousand hectares of Sainte Victoire or a heap of leaves next door. All we need now is to get the full picture.’ Magali pressed the tips of her fingers together. ‘Preferably one that’s genuine.’
