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CHAPTER 1
Never Sleep in a Bed Facing a Mirror
Alone in the four-poster, she glanced up from her book and saw in the mirror a little old woman sitting beside her. She shut her eyes, looked again, saw an empty bed, neatly made with fresh linen. The hotel staff, summoned by her screams, found no one, not even herself.
A Spot of Folly
The other delegates to the sales conference were spending the evening at the Folies Bergère and going on afterward to some night club. Unless he could scrape up an acquaintance in the bar, which the language barrier made unlikely, there would be no one to whom he could relate his experience of the past few hours. As he drove the Renault into the underground car park, Sandy Vaughan considered this with a shade of bitterness that threatened to eclipse his triumphant mood. To tell his sort of story when it is fresh in the mind — and the body — is everything. Much is lost by waiting till next day. A gloom descends on it in inverse ratio to the brightness of the morning light, and that which has evinced one's worldly wisdom and conquering charm at midnight becomes stale, flat and unprofitable at 7:30 in the morning.
The foyer of the Hotel Toronto, to which Sandy ascended by elevator, was dimly lit. The night porter sat behind the reception desk reading France Soir and smoking a small black cigar. Sandy asked for his room key and was going back to the elevator when he noticed there was still a light on in the bar. A little nightcap — a double whiskey, say — would send him to sleep and console him for the lack of companionship. The bar seemed to be empty except for the barman, a sullen-looking youth, occupied precisely as was the night porter.
Sandy pushed open the double glass doors. He got halfway to the bar and then saw that the place wasn't, as he'd first believed, deserted. At a table in a far corner, an empty glass and a full ashtray in front of him, sat Denis Crawford looking, Sandy thought, as if he'd lost a thousand francs on a dud lottery ticket. But this did nothing to deter Sandy. He was delighted to find so unexpectedly a friend and a listener. He charged across the room, waving jovially as if he hadn't seen Denis for a year.
'Well, well, well,' he chuckled, slapping Denis on the back. 'Fancy finding you here!'
'I'm staying here,' said Denis.
'I know you are, old man, but I thought you'd gone off with the boys to the Folies.'
'I don't much care for that sort of thing.' Shoved, dug in the ribs, Denis edged away along the upholstered seat.
'Didn't you go?'
Sandy had been hoping for just such an opening. Slightly lowering his voice, leaning closer, he said, 'I've been having a little spot of follies on my own account.'
Denis said nothing. His look indicated that he thought Sandy had been to a strip show, a misapprehension Sandy intended to dispel. 'Wait till you hear, old man,' he said. 'But a drink first, eh?'
'I don't want another, thanks, Sandy.'
'Nonsense, of course you do.' He shouted, 'Garçon!' to the barman whose face became even more sullen at this term of address. 'Deux whiskey sours,' and he held up two fingers in case there should be any doubt.
Denis said, 'I don't think he much cares for being called that.'
'Then he must lump it, old man. My French may not be up to your standards — I didn't have the advantage of going to school in France — but I flatter myself it's adequate, perfectly adequate.'
'I'm sure you manage, Sandy.'
Here was another excellent cue. 'I do that all right, Den, old boy. My not parlez-ing like a bloody French dictionary didn't stand in my way tonight, I can tell you. There is one activity you can get by in with a universal language, and you won't need three guesses to tell me what that is.'
The barman slapped down the whiskey sours and while Sandy muttered a curt 'Merci,' Denis let forth a flood of which Sandy caught the gist, that he was apologizing for keeping that sulky boy up so late. The barman's face registered a slightly warmer expression. Sandy shrugged impatiently at the diversion. He took a swig at his drink and tried again.
'By God, I need that after what I've been up to.'
'Well, what have you been up to?'
Sandy didn't much care for the way Denis had said that, with a half sigh as if he were bored. Denis Crawford had better remember he was a junior executive of the firm, that he'd been with them only nine months, and that it was only because of his French and Sandy's kind string-pulling that he was here in Paris at all. 'I'll tell you, my lad. I've been up to what I get up to whenever I find myself at a loose end in a big city — to wit, passing a highly enjoyable evening in the arms of a very sweet chick.'
'You what?' said Denis.
'Come on now, laddie, you heard. I was all set to go along to the Folies with the boys, but I had ten minutes to kill so I popped into this bar in Montmartre for a quick one. The next thing I knew there was this chick giving me the eye. And was she an eyeful herself!' Sandy chuckled reminiscently.
'We went back to her place, a lovely little flat right up at the top of Montmartre, and then — well, you can imagine. I don't need to go into details.'
But he went into a few just the same. 'I'd have stayed all night, as a matter of fact, but she was expecting her boyfriend home at half-past eleven. I didn't fancy any rough stuff, and he's of a jealousy formidable, she said. But it was a real wrench tearing myself away from a chick like that.'
To Sandy's amusement Denis had flushed darkly. He seemed quite upset, almost as if he'd had a shock, and when he reached for a cigarette his hand was unsteady. At last he said in a very low voice, 'Do you make a habit of this sort of thing?'
'When I'm out of England, I told you. What's so terrible about that? A man needs a bit of comfort after a hard day's work.'
'I never knew. I hadn't the faintest idea.' Really, you'd have thought Sandy had confessed to some crime, some nasty perversion. Sandy started to laugh at the man's naivety, but Denis' next question made him almost cross. 'What does Diana say about these — these goings-on?'
'You don't suppose I let my wife into secrets of that sort?'
'But she loves you, she's devoted to you.'
'So she should be,' said Sandy, peeved by this censorious inquisition. 'I've given her two smashing little kids, haven't I? And a damn sight better house than her father ever had, and a car of her own and whatever she likes to spend on clothes. What more does she expect?'
Denis Crawford hadn't yet touched his drink. He raised his right arm now in a funny gesture as if to ward off a blow and in letting it fall across the table as he uttered the single word, 'Fidelity,' he swept his glass and its contents to the floor. There was a tinkling crash and a little pool of liquid on the carpet. It was, of course, pure accident, as Sandy, not sorry for this interruption, hastened to say.
The barman put down his paper, got off his stool, and came over to pick up the broken glass. He regarded the carpet in gloomy doubt, thought better of any notion of swabbing up the liquid, and instead smudged it further in with his toe.
'Encore, un whiskey sour,' said Sandy.
'Not for me. I'm going to bed.'
Sandy watched him go. He didn't cancel the order but drank it himself. Well, he'd know better than to confide in Denis Crawford again, the miserable milksop. Sandy liked this alliterative combination so much that he repeated it several times under his breath — miserable milksop, miserable mealy-mouthed milksop.
Of course all that sort of moralistic disapproval could be put down to envy. Denis might be tall and dark and good-looking and only twenty- eight, but he hadn't the faintest idea how to go about life. And Sandy remembered how dim he'd been when he'd first come to London and had stayed with him and Diana before he'd found a place of his own. Even then he'd refused all Sandy's friendly overtures and offers to show him the town, preferring to go to those way-out cinemas or stay in with Diana and the kids. Poor old Diana, she must have got pretty fed up with him following her about like a little dog.
Yes, Denis Crawford was a poor thing. Couldn't drink, never had a woman, didn't know he was born. Might even be queer. This thought cheered Sandy so much that he condescended to say a jolly 'Bon soir' to the barman before going upstairs and falling into a heavy sleep.
On the following day they got up from the conference table at lunchtime, and Sandy, not at all anxious to join the others in an organized trip up the Eiffel Tower, made for the telephone. First he called his wife. He knew his duty. It was one thing to have a bit of fun when one was off the leash, quite another to neglect one's wife. Sandy had nothing but contempt for men who neglected their wives. Poor old Diana worried herself sick about him if he didn't call regularly.
'Hello, darling,' he said in hearty cheerful tones when she answered. 'How's tricks?'
Funny creatures, women, you never quite knew how they'd react. She'd moaned like hell when he'd told her the conference was going to last a whole week this year, yet now her 'Oh, it's you' sounded disappointed. For some reason. But it was no good letting them rile you and useless to probe into the causes of their funny little moods.
Instead he chatted breezily about Paris, giving her the impression he'd been out to Versailles and into some of those art galleries. When she'd told him the kids were all right and she was all right and he'd promised to bring her back some Rochas perfume, he hung up, his duty done. Now for pleasure.
Marie Laure's phone number was jotted down in the back of his address book, disguised under the clever code he always used. You took the two pairs of digits and subtracted ten from each pair. Simple, my dear Watson. I am Hawkshaw, the detective, and no one can pull a fast one on me. Sandy added the tens and dialed the decoded number.
She was in. Evidemment, she would love to see Song-dee that night. Would seven o'clock suit him? He understood, n'est ce pas, that the boyfriend would be home by ten, so he must be gone early, but if three hours of her company would suit him ... ?
Immensely pleased with himself, Sandy went up to the reception desk, asked to have his car washed, and cashed some traveller's cheques. In cataloguing Marie Laure's charms to Denis Crawford, he had omitted to mention that they were expensive. He went into the Avenue Kleber and bought a bottle of champagne. Then he had a bath and a little nap.
Sandy never went anywhere without having a quick one first. In the bar he encountered Denis Crawford drinking lager with Malcolm Shaw, the firm's marketing manager. Denis gave him such a cold truculent look that Sandy couldn't resist the temptation to tell them where he was going.
'That's my boy,' said Malcolm. 'You only live once.'
'If you call that living,' said Denis.
The other man winked at Sandy behind Denis' back. 'I'd have done the same myself, Sandy, a year ago. Still, I have my compensations.' He looked at his watch. 'Which reminds me it's time I gave her a call.'
Sandy watched him leave and hurry to the telephone.
'You see,' he said. 'I'm not the only one.'
'He's not married,' said Denis Crawford.
'Oh, you're too pure to live! No wonder the good people of Paris called a suburb after you. Saint Denis.' He laughed heartily at his joke. 'Personally, I prefer Montmartre and the Rue Ninon de l'Enclos.' And he got off his stool. 'See you.'
The Rue Ninon de l'Enclos was packed with cars, but Sandy managed to find a parking space. Marie Laure was waiting for him, his money, and his champagne, and gave him the sort of evening that always put him in high spirits. It was 9:55 when he came out into the street again and went back to his car.
A couple of yards from it he stopped short. There was a long jagged scrape on one of the Renault's fenders. He let out a gasp of anger and plunged forward, narrowly missing falling under the wheels of a taxi. The driver swore at him and Sandy swore back, shaking his fist. At close quarters the scrape was even worse than it had at first appeared. No doubt about it, that couldn't be merely sprayed. He'd have to have a new fender.
Sandy cursed richly. The French were wild drivers. Some madman, of that taxi-driver's type, had torn down the Rue Ninon de l'Enclos while Sandy was with Marie Laure and passed just too close to the Renault.
It wasn't until he was in the car, in the driver's seat, that he saw the note, a small scrap of paper held against the windshield by one of the wipers. Sandy put his hand out the window and took it, tearing it slightly as he pulled it from under the wiper. It read: Thousand apologies. I will pay the damages. Meet me tomorrow 1900 hours Le Garage Rivery, Rue des Chattes, XVIIIme Arrondissement.
There was no signature, no phone number. Still, it was enough. It slightly consoled him for the scar on the Renault's virgin, jewellike bodywork.
He found Malcolm Shaw sitting in the hotel lounge when he got back, and he showed him the note. 'Come and see what Monsieur Thousand Apologies has done,' he said, and together they went down to the car park. Denis Crawford would have to choose that moment to come into the car park and get something out of his own Mini. Sandy ignored him, even when he came up to them.
Malcolm made sympathetic noises. He agreed that the scrape was an eyesore, and together they prodded at the flaking paint. Denis wondered if the blow to the fender had upset the alignment, and although Sandy scoffed at this, he let Denis get into the car and shift about at the steering wheel, squinting absurdly through the windshield. Anything to keep him quiet. Malcolm made a few helpful suggestions and assessed the damage at about £50.
'You should get that out of him, Sandy,' he said. 'You always were lucky.'
'Better be born lucky than rich, eh?'
'You're lucky and rich.'
It was just like Denis Crawford to get out of the car at this point and interrupt their merriment with a grave, 'Has it occurred to you that this could be a trap?'
'A what?'
'A way of getting you on your own and beating you up. Maybe rob you as well.'
'And just why should Monsieur Thousand Apologies want to beat Sandy up?' asked Malcolm.
'Because the chances are he's the jealous lover of Sandy's lady friend.'
'Oh, you're crazy,' said Sandy. 'You go to the cinema too much.'
'Just think about it, Sandy. Why didn't he leave a name or a phone number on that note if he's honest? And why write in English? Yours is a French car.'
'He saw the G.B. plate, of course,' said Malcolm.
Denis shrugged. He scrutinized the fender. 'That wasn't made by another vehicle. It looks to me as if it was done with a hammer.'
'For God's sake!' Sandy exploded. 'How would you know? Since when have you been an insurance assessor? You've got an overdeveloped imagination, laddie.'
'All right. But I've warned you. You'd just better be careful.'
What a feeble character the man was! Neurotic, really. Sandy, who prided himself on his guts, felt rather stimulated than otherwise by Denis' forebodings. Not that he believed in them. But if there were something fishy about Monsieur Thousand Apologies, what an adventure, what a story to tell the boys! He pictured himself recounting the sort of experience that only a red-blooded man could have.
'Did I ever tell you about the time I had this French girl in Paris and her boyfriend came after me?' That was how he'd begin it. Savouring this story in anticipation, Sandy couldn't resist telling a good many of his colleagues about it on the following day. But in forecasting his own tactics he left out the gun.
The gun was a Luger that Sandy's father had taken off a dead German in 1940. His attitude toward it was much the same as other people's attitude toward sleeping pills. Though he had never used it, it was a comfort knowing it was there, and he never travelled without it. Ever since that time when he'd been threatened by a hitchhiker he'd picked up in Turkey, he'd taken the gun with him on his foreign trips, concealing it from the Customs by keeping it in a pocket under the passenger seat of the Renault. No one knew of its existence, not even Diana.
It often made Sandy chuckle when he thought of his car sitting in the garage at home, so innocent-looking, yet harbouring a lethal weapon. It was even more uproarious to recall that, out of the kindness of his heart, he'd lent the car to Denis a couple of times while he was staying with them. That miserable milksop would have turned even paler if he'd known about the gun.
But by the time he came to leave the hotel for his assignation, Sandy had decided that all danger lay in Denis' imagination. He'd telephoned the Garage Rivery during the day and found it to be authentic, and his first sight of it confirmed his own belief that it was respectable. It stood in one of the narrow dark streets that lie behind the Sacré Coeur; it wasn't small or dark but a modern well-it establishment with the usual row of gas pumps and behind them a store and the sheds where repairs were made.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "A Spot of Folly"
by .
Copyright © 2017 Ruth Rendell.
Excerpted by permission of OPEN ROAD INTEGRATED MEDIA.
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