Children of War by Martin Walker Read Free Book Online

up there. In the meantime,’ the Brigadier went on, ‘there’s a shrink we use, deputy head of the prison psychiatric service, name of Deutz, a very smart guy with lots of diplomas.’ Deutz, he explained, had noticed and then studied the way jihadis were recruiting in prisons. He had drafted profiles of the kinds of prisoner they recruited and proposed strategies to counter them.
    ‘He probably knows more about French jihadis than anyone else, but he’s also a top-notch psychologist. Or is it psychiatrist? I never know the difference. Anyway, he’s got all the necessary security clearances and I’d like him to look at Sami and see how much we can learn. He could be an intelligence gold mine and this fellow Deutz is just the man to get it out of him. Here, take a look at this analysis he wrote.’ The Brigadier pulled a slim, photocopied report from his briefcase and pushed it across to Bruno.
    ‘We might have trouble persuading Momu to cooperate,’ Bruno said, glancing at the report. It came with a Ministry of Justice heading above the title,
Challenges and Opportunities of Jihadists in the Penal System
.
    ‘That’s your problem, Bruno. Just tell Momu that this is the price he has to pay to get Sami back into France without trouble. If he doesn’t like it we can whip Sami straight into jail as a terrorist suspect. There’s a facility for psycho prisoners at Fleury-Mérogis just outside Paris, and it would be easier for Deutz to see him there. But I want Sami down here where the Toulouse jihadis know where to find him.’
    ‘So Deutz would stay here in St Denis?’
    ‘We’ll probably put him up at the
Ecouteurs
school up the valley; cheaper that way.’
    Bruno knew the place, an old château converted into a training academy for the translators who worked with French intelligence, monitoring phone and Internet traffic.
    ‘Be nice to Deutz, Bruno, he’s very well thought of. The Brits and the Americans both invited him over to talk about jihadi recruitment in prisons. He’s an athletic type, alpinist, a bit of a ladies’ man, I hear. You and he should get along well,’ the Brigadier said with the suspicion of a wink.
    ‘Sir,’ said Bruno crisply. He had learned in the army that this monosyllabic answer sufficed for most occasions, particularly when he had no idea what to say. Once again, Yveline’s face was impassive. New as she was to the Gendarmes, she must have become accustomed to the macho banter that had characterized police and military establishments throughout Bruno’s career and doubtless long before. Some policewomen tried to join in, which never worked. Some made waspish comments,which made matters worse. Most ignored it and developed the kind of blank, distant stare that Yveline had mastered.
    ‘Just to clarify, sir,’ said Yveline, addressing the Brigadier. ‘We have the murder of an employee of the French state on our patch. We know of two suspects, armed with a sniper’s rifle and a cattle prod, who also stole a car and got away from a pursuit by my Gendarmes. We have witnesses who can identify these two suspects, who also committed an assault on the chief of police here. We know they are based at this mosque in Toulouse but we do not seek to find or arrest them. Is that right?’
    ‘Absolutely,’ said the Brigadier, raising his eyebrows and studying Yveline as if for the first time.
    ‘And you agree with this, sir?’ she asked J-J.
    ‘The ministers of Justice and of the Interior have put the Brigadier in charge of this matter so, yes, I agree,’ said J-J, looking amused. He knew the form, as did Bruno. Yveline was about to be introduced to the way that French law really worked once the intelligence agencies were involved and the crime in question carried political overtones.
    ‘I’ll need that order in writing, sir, otherwise I’d feel it my duty to tear that mosque apart to find these killers.’
    She spoke with a flat, unemotional politeness that impressed Bruno. Once, he