Missing Person by Patrick Modiano, Daniel Weissbort Page B
Authors: Patrick Modiano, Daniel Weissbort
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of the magazine, behind Denise Coudreuse.
The second photo shows him standing up, wearing a double-breasted white suit, striped shirt and a dark tie. His left hand clasps a knobbed walking stick. His right arm, folded across his chest, and his hand, half open, lend him an affected air. He holds himself very stiffly, standing almost on tiptoe in his two-tone shoes. Gradually he detaches himself from the photo, comes to life, and I see him walking down a boulevard, under the trees, and limping.
23
7th November 1965
Subject: S COUFFI , A LEXANDER .
Born in : A LEXANDRIA (E GYPT ), 28th April 1885.
Nationality: G REEK .
Alexander Scouffi first came to France in 1920.
He has resided successively at: 26, Rue de Naples, Paris 8
11, Rue de Berne, Paris 8, in a furnished apartment
Hôtel de Chicago, 99 Rue de Rome, Paris 17
97, Rue de Rome, Paris 17,5th floor.
Scouffi was a man of letters who published numerous articles in various periodicals, poems of all kinds and two novels: At the Golden Fish Residential Hôtel and Ship at Anchor.
He also studied singing and although he did not work as a professional concert performer, he did make an appearance at the Salle Pleyel and the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels. In Paris, Scouffi attracted the attention of the Vice Squad. Regarded as an undesirable, his deportation was even considered.
In November 1924, when he was living at 26, Rue de Naples, he was questioned by the police in connection with an attempt to commit an offense against a minor. From November 1930 until September 1931, he lived in the Hôtel de Chicago, 99 Rue de Rome, with a young man, Pierre D, twenty years old, a soldier in the 8th Engineer Corps at Versailles. Evidently, Scouffi frequented the homosexual bars of Montmartre. Scouffi had a large income which came to him from property he had inherited from his father, in Egypt.
Murdered in his bachelor's flat, 97, Rue de Rome. The murderer was never found.
Subject: De Wrédé, Oleg.
AUTeuil 54-73
It has so far been impossible to identify the person bearing this name.
It may be a pseudonym or an assumed name.
Or it may belong to a foreign national who stayed only a short while in France.
The phone number AUTeuil 54-73 has not been assigned to anyone since 1952. For ten years, from 1942 to 1952, it was assigned to:
T HE C OMET G ARAGE
5, Rue Foucauld, Paris XVIth
This garage has been closed since 1952 and is shortly to be replaced by a residential development.
A few words, appended to this typewritten sheet:
"This is all the information I have been able to gather. If you need more information, do not hesitate to ask. And please convey my best wishes to Hutte.
Yours, Jean-Pierre Bernardy."
24
B UT WHY does my clouded mind retain the image of Scouffi, this fat man with his bulldog face, rather than anyone else? Perhaps because of the white suit. A bright spot, like a burst of orchestral music or the pure sound of a voice amid the crackling and interferences when you turn the knob of a radio ...
I remember the bright patch made by this suit on the stairs, and the dull tap-tap of the walking stick against the steps. He used to stop at each landing. I passed him several times when I was going up to Denise's apartment. I have a clear vision of the brass hand-rail, the beige-colored wall, the dark wood, double doors of the apartments. The glow of a night light on each floor and this head, the gentle, sad look of a bulldog emerging from the shadows ... I believe he even greeted me as we passed each other.
A café, at the corner of Rue de Rome and Boulevard des Batignolles. Summer, the terrace spills over on to the pavement and I am seated at one of the tables. It is evening. I am waiting for Denise. The last rays of the sun linger on the façade and the glass-fronted doors of the garage, over there, on the other side of Rue de Rome, by the railway track...
Suddenly, I see him crossing the boulevard.
He is wearing his
The second photo shows him standing up, wearing a double-breasted white suit, striped shirt and a dark tie. His left hand clasps a knobbed walking stick. His right arm, folded across his chest, and his hand, half open, lend him an affected air. He holds himself very stiffly, standing almost on tiptoe in his two-tone shoes. Gradually he detaches himself from the photo, comes to life, and I see him walking down a boulevard, under the trees, and limping.
23
7th November 1965
Subject: S COUFFI , A LEXANDER .
Born in : A LEXANDRIA (E GYPT ), 28th April 1885.
Nationality: G REEK .
Alexander Scouffi first came to France in 1920.
He has resided successively at: 26, Rue de Naples, Paris 8
11, Rue de Berne, Paris 8, in a furnished apartment
Hôtel de Chicago, 99 Rue de Rome, Paris 17
97, Rue de Rome, Paris 17,5th floor.
Scouffi was a man of letters who published numerous articles in various periodicals, poems of all kinds and two novels: At the Golden Fish Residential Hôtel and Ship at Anchor.
He also studied singing and although he did not work as a professional concert performer, he did make an appearance at the Salle Pleyel and the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels. In Paris, Scouffi attracted the attention of the Vice Squad. Regarded as an undesirable, his deportation was even considered.
In November 1924, when he was living at 26, Rue de Naples, he was questioned by the police in connection with an attempt to commit an offense against a minor. From November 1930 until September 1931, he lived in the Hôtel de Chicago, 99 Rue de Rome, with a young man, Pierre D, twenty years old, a soldier in the 8th Engineer Corps at Versailles. Evidently, Scouffi frequented the homosexual bars of Montmartre. Scouffi had a large income which came to him from property he had inherited from his father, in Egypt.
Murdered in his bachelor's flat, 97, Rue de Rome. The murderer was never found.
Subject: De Wrédé, Oleg.
AUTeuil 54-73
It has so far been impossible to identify the person bearing this name.
It may be a pseudonym or an assumed name.
Or it may belong to a foreign national who stayed only a short while in France.
The phone number AUTeuil 54-73 has not been assigned to anyone since 1952. For ten years, from 1942 to 1952, it was assigned to:
T HE C OMET G ARAGE
5, Rue Foucauld, Paris XVIth
This garage has been closed since 1952 and is shortly to be replaced by a residential development.
A few words, appended to this typewritten sheet:
"This is all the information I have been able to gather. If you need more information, do not hesitate to ask. And please convey my best wishes to Hutte.
Yours, Jean-Pierre Bernardy."
24
B UT WHY does my clouded mind retain the image of Scouffi, this fat man with his bulldog face, rather than anyone else? Perhaps because of the white suit. A bright spot, like a burst of orchestral music or the pure sound of a voice amid the crackling and interferences when you turn the knob of a radio ...
I remember the bright patch made by this suit on the stairs, and the dull tap-tap of the walking stick against the steps. He used to stop at each landing. I passed him several times when I was going up to Denise's apartment. I have a clear vision of the brass hand-rail, the beige-colored wall, the dark wood, double doors of the apartments. The glow of a night light on each floor and this head, the gentle, sad look of a bulldog emerging from the shadows ... I believe he even greeted me as we passed each other.
A café, at the corner of Rue de Rome and Boulevard des Batignolles. Summer, the terrace spills over on to the pavement and I am seated at one of the tables. It is evening. I am waiting for Denise. The last rays of the sun linger on the façade and the glass-fronted doors of the garage, over there, on the other side of Rue de Rome, by the railway track...
Suddenly, I see him crossing the boulevard.
He is wearing his
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