The Ghost Riders of Ordebec (Commissaire Adamsberg) by Fred Vargas Page A

their little game. I stand for order, they stand for anarchy. It won’t work. I’ve had to tell Martin off several times, for poaching. And the oldest brother, Hippolyte. He trained a gun on a group of hunters, he made them take off their clothes, he took away their shotguns and threw the lot in the river. He couldn’t pay the fine, so he was jailed for twenty days. They’d all love to see me go down in flames. That’s why I didn’t take it any further. So as not to fall into their trap.’
    ‘What trap?’
    ‘It’s quite simple. Lina Vendermot pretends to have a vision, and Herbier disappears. They’re all in it together. I start searching for Herbier, and they immediately complain to the authorities that I’m exceeding my powers and infringing their liberty. Lina’s studied law, she knows the rules. So let’s suppose I persist and go on looking for Herbier. The complaint goes up to the top. One fine day Herbier turns up again, right as rain; he adds his voice to theirs, and also lodges a complaint against me. I get a reprimand or a transfer.’
    ‘But in that case, why would Lina mention the names of the army’s two other hostages?’
    ‘To add credibility. She’s as cunning as a weasel, although she makes out she’s just a simple country girl. The Riders often seize several people, she knows all that. By naming a few others, she muddies the waters. That’s what I thought , anyway. And I was absolutely sure of it.’
    ‘But it’s not what happened.’
    ‘No.’
    Émeri stubbed out his cigarette against the wall, and dropped the fag end between two stones.
    ‘That’s enough now,’ he said. ‘Instead of that, he topped himself.’
    ‘I don’t think so.’
    ‘Bloody hell!’ exclaimed Émeri in exasperation, and moving to address Adamsberg familiarly as ‘tu’. ‘What have you got against me? You don’t know anything about this case, you don’t know the people around here, you waltz down from your capital city without warning and start giving orders.’
    ‘Not my capital city. I’m from the Béarn.’
    ‘I don’t give a damn where you’re from.’
    ‘And they weren’t orders.’
    ‘I’ll tell you what’s going to happen next, Adamsberg. You’re going to get back on the train, I’m going to file this as suicide, and it will be forgotten in a few days. Unless of course you’re determined to ruin my career with your suspicions of murder. Something you’ve conjured out of thin air.’
    Thin air: his mother had always said that a current of thin air went through Adamsberg’s head, from one ear to the other. With that kind ofwind blowing through, no idea can remain in place for a moment, let alone become fixed. Adamsberg knew that, and distrusted himself.
    ‘I have absolutely no intention of ruining your career, Émeri. All I’m saying is that if I were you, I’d get some protection for the next one on the list. The glazier.’
    ‘The stained-glass man.’
    ‘Right. Put him under protection.’
    ‘If I did that, Adamsberg, I’d be walking off a cliff. You still don’t understand? It would mean I didn’t believe in Herbier’s suicide. Which I do believe in. If you want my opinion, Lina had every reason to drive that guy to suicide. And maybe she did it quite deliberately. And there, yes, I could open an inquiry. Driving someone to suicide. The Vendermot kids have very good reasons for wanting Herbier to rot in hell. Their father and Herbier were such a pair of villains it was a moot point which one was worse.’
    Émeri had started walking again, hands in pockets, spoiling the cut of his uniform.
    ‘They were friends, you said?’
    ‘Like that,’ Émeri replied, showing two crossed fingers. ‘They say Vendermot père had an Algerian bullet lodged in his skull and that explained his outbursts of violence. But when he was with his pal, the sadist Herbier, they egged each other on, no question. So trying to terrorise Herbier and drive him to suicide would be a sweet revenge