‘Do you know what that drawing on the door is, Max?’
‘It looks like a strange kind of star.’ As Max spoke Inky began snuffling around the bottom of the door to the lock-up garage. The wind and rain of many winters had rotted away the wood, but the door was still padlocked. ‘Look, Philippe! She’s showing you what she did before. She pushed her nose under the door and pulled the briefcase handle out with her teeth. She’s a very smart dog, you know,’ he added proudly.
‘Yes, I’m sure she is. Was this drawing on the door when you came here before?’
‘It could have been. Why’s it there?’
‘Well, that’s something I’m not sure about. But if I was to make a guess, I’d say it might be a way of showing where the money’s been hidden.’
‘But the money’s gone now, Philippe.’
‘Yes, and that’s a problem for someone – if that’s the reason for the drawing. Have you seen this kind of strange star anywhere else in your neighbourhood, Max?’
‘I don’t know. I might have seen a star like this before, but I don’t remember where. Do you want me to look for some more, Philippe? I could if you like.’ Max was really getting into this detective business now!
‘No, no, Max,’ Philippe said quickly. ‘That will be a job for Jacques, not you. Promise me you won’t go off on your own again, especially to any place that your parents don’t like. Although I really can’t see what’s wrong with here. Maybe it’s quiet, but it’s not deserted: there are people walking along the road at the end of this little… er… rue.’
‘I promise, I won’t, at least not without you or Jacques. And we call this a lane, not a little rue. Mum doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with this place really; it’s just that when she asked me to take a thank you note to her friend who lives on Burbage Road, she told me to go straight there and back. But then Inky got a scent of something and she was off. Not that we can blame her, because that’s what dogs do.’
‘Yes, of course, Max. We won’t blame Inky, and I will call it a lane too, because you know your Granny always says, ‘when we’re in Rome, we do as the Romans do’. Now let’s get you to school, I don’t want you to be late.’
When they arrived at the gate, Celia and Timmy had already gone off to their classrooms, but Megan was waiting for them with her car parked nearby.
‘I was about to send out a search party for the two of you,’ she exclaimed, as soon as she saw them. ‘What took you so long?’
‘Nothing that need concern you, ma cherie,’ Philippe said, winking at Max, ‘we were engaged in secret men’s business, weren’t we, Max?’ ‘I guess so,’ Max replied, although he hadn’t a clue what Philippe was talking about. Then he too, went off to class. But he went reluctantly: he would much rather have spent the rest of the day carrying out further forensic investigation on behalf of the French police.
On the drive back to the house to collect their overnight bags Philippe said, ‘Do you know what a pentacle is, love?’
‘Of course, I do! It’s one of the symbols that devil worshippers and other idiots use in their rituals.’
‘Yes, but only when it’s drawn with the point of the star downwards. The ordinary way, with the point up, is the symbol of witches, warlocks and their like. But the inverted pentagram, with the point of the star down, is apparently used to call up the powers of evil.’
Megan shivered. ‘I don’t know the difference between a pentacle and a pentagram, Philippe, and I don’t think I want to know.’
‘There’s a difference, but I can’t remember the details.’
‘Thank goodness for that! But why did you ask the question?’
‘Because I’ve just seen one, although whether it was a pentacle or a pentagram I can’t be certain. Not that it matters, I suppose, but I think it was a pentacle.’
‘Please tell me it was the right way up, Philippe.’
‘No, it wasn’t.’
‘But it had nothing to do with Max?’
‘It was at the place where he found the counterfeit notes.’
Megan shivered again and the car swerved violently, although the road ahead was clear.
‘Pull over to the side and stop the car,’ Philippe said firmly. ‘Do it, Megan! Do it right now!’
She stopped the car. He released his seat belt and leant across to switch off the ignition. Then he put his arms around her and kissed her.
‘Forgive me, darling,’ he said. ‘It was stupid of me to frighten you: there’s really no need for you to worry.’
‘But devil worshippers, Philippe, and Max is only a… ’
‘Ssh, I think the pentacle might just have been a way of showing where the money was hidden. I don’t believe that this has anything to do with Satanism, or anything remotely like it.’
You don’t entirely believe all of what you’ve just said, his conscience challenged. Not all of it, surely. No, not all of it, he admitted, but some of it.
‘But you can’t be sure, can you?’
Philippe sighed. ‘No, I can’t be sure,’ he conceded. ‘But it’s one of the things I’ll get Jacques to follow up. And if you knew him as well as I do, you’d know that there’s no better man for the job. Once he’s got his teeth into something he won’t let go until he’s got to the bottom of whatever it might be. I give you my word on that.’
‘You’re very good for me, Philippe Maigret; you always seem to know the right thing to say. I’m so happy you came into my life.’ ‘Me too, my love,’ he said, kissing her again. And inside his chest, his heart was performing a lively series of backflips and handstands!