A Darkening Stain by Robert Wilson Read Free Book Online Page B

Touré. The people who come to my office these days just don’t recognize their side of the desk. I got annoyed.
    â€˜Who the hell are you?’ I asked.
    â€˜You’ve been looking for someone. Have you forgotten already?’
    â€˜Well, you’re not Marnier, not with all that
ronronnement
in your voice.’
    â€˜Only cats
ronronnent.’
    â€˜You know what I mean. So who are you?’
    â€˜I’m representing Marnier. Jean-Luc’s not ready to come out into the open yet.’
    â€˜Well, that’s tough because I’m only going to talk to Marnier, the man himself. And while we’re talking about talking, you can do your talking from the client side of the desk and let me sit in my own chair.’
    â€˜I don’t want to be involved in this business. I’m doing a favour for Jean-Luc. I’d rather you didn’t see my face.’
    â€˜If you’re worried about your ugliness, don’t be. There’s plenty of that in this business.’
    â€˜What do you know about ugliness?’ he said, as if I was new on the playground.
    â€˜It’s not skin deep like yours probably is.’
    â€˜You’ve got a very strong backhand, M. Medway.’
    â€˜That wasn’t a compliment,’ I said, and nodded at him. ‘How’d you like my forehand?’
    â€˜
Vous êtes un peu fâché. M. Medway. ûa ne va pas en Afrique,
’ he said, imitating a French West African accent.
    â€˜It’s just been one of those days,’ I said. ‘The rainy season or my biorhythms, I don’t know which.’
    â€˜I don’t want to be here, you know.’
    â€˜Well, you are. So you’re in it.’
    â€˜I
have
to be here.’
    â€˜You owe Marnier?’
    He ducked his head as if weighed down by his dues.
    â€˜I’ve a feeling Marnier’s debts could run very deep, the kind of man he is,’ I said, and the man nodded. I sat down and put the whisky and the olives on the desk. ‘There should be a couple of glasses in the top drawer, help us relax a little in each other’s company.’
    â€˜C’est mieux comme ça,’
he said, and took out the glasses.
    I filled them.
    â€˜Olive?’
    We sipped whisky and ate olives, made mounds of pits on the desk top.
    â€˜What’s your task, Monsieur...?’
    â€˜Jacques will do.’
    â€˜Tell me, Jacques.’
    â€˜The name of your company is M & B. Who is the “B”?’
    â€˜Bagado. He’s a police detective. He lost his job a few years back and we worked together for a while. Now he’s back on the force. Been back three or four months now. So he doesn’t work with me any more.’
    â€˜What’s your involvement with him?’
    â€˜We talk. We like each other. We’re friends. My girlfriend likes him a lot too. They’re friends. We don’t talk about work. Not much, anyway.’
    â€˜Do you exchange information?’
    â€˜I don’t tell him about all my bad-boy clients, if that’s what you mean. If I did, I wouldn’t get any work, might even get myself uglied-up a little, like you or worse. You know what business can be like out here, Jacques.’
    â€˜I know,’ he said, sounding miserable about it.
    â€˜Does Marnier have something in mind for me? Something for me to do? I mean, I’ve already met his wife but maybe he doesn’t trust her opinion, maybe the words come out too small from that little mouth of hers. Yeah, he certainly didn’t seem to think much of her in one department.’
    â€˜I don’t know what Jean-Luc is thinking. He asked me to come and talk to you so I do. Carole? I don’t know what he thinks about Carole. I don’t know where she is any more. Maybe you coming along was all they needed to know that things were getting ... hot.’
    â€˜So now they’ve disappeared. They’re not at the office. I dropped by their home