Gypsy by J. Robert Janes Read Free Book Online

at which only the wealthy would sit looked decidedly lonely.
    â€˜The bastard’s moving too fast for us,’ said Kohler grimly. ‘What’s next, eh?’
    â€˜He must have got in somehow.’
    Cartier’s were famous for their art deco approach and the mingling of precious and semiprecious stones. The style was simple, the lines straight, the pieces often one of a kind, exquisitely worked and fabulously priced.
    â€˜He can certainly pick his places,’ offered the Sûreté, hands jammed into the deep pockets of the decidedly shabby overcoat the Occupation and frugality had allowed, the brown fedora much damaged. ‘Please tell the boys in blue to wait outside in the cold.’
    Herr Max was grumpy – the lack of sleep perhaps, or still smarting from the Ritz, thought Kohler. ‘So, what is missing, ja ?’ asked the visitor from Berlin, distastefully taking it all in.
    There were travel cases, combs to fix the hair in place, beaded handbags and watches, and all had that decidedly bright, sharp, angular look. Frivolity in wartime, was that what was bothering Herr Max?
    â€˜The sous-directeur and his assistants are trying to tally things,’ said Kohler.
    â€˜ Und who reported the break-in?’
    â€˜ A flic found the front door open at 0127 hours.’
    â€˜Did he help himself before notifying others?’
    â€˜I’ll check.’
    â€˜You do that. He’s blown a hole in things, hasn’t he, our Gypsy? Here we were believing the woman had let him into the Generalmajor’s suite and had told him where the combination of that safe was kept, and now this. What are we to think?’
    Brushing the dribbled sparklers from a chair, Engelmann sat down to moodily soak up what had happened and to relight the stub of the cheroot that had steadfastly clung to his lips ever since leaving the Ritz at a run. Hell, the shop was just down the street anyway.
    â€˜ Sonderbehandlung , Kohler. That is what my superiors have insisted, and since they are also your superiors, you and that French fart will take note of it.’
    Special treatment … Verdammt ! ‘I knew there had to be something to bring the IKPK out of hibernation. What’s he done then, our Gypsy? Decided on an agenda of his own?’
    â€˜This we do not know. We only know that he was sighted in Tours on the fourteenth, boarding the train to Paris. He “surfaced”, Kohler, and my superiors want to know why he did so, how he got there, and what he has in mind.’
    â€˜And you can’t tell us who reported seeing him?’
    Must Kohler always be such a nuisance? ‘The same as notified us of the Ritz but failed entirely to warn us of this.’
    The mouton then, the informer. A woman the Gypsy obviously must know.
    The office was spacious, the desk immaculate. The cigarette case was of platinum, with an oblong, octagonally shaped plaque of Baltic amber raised at its centre and from which incised rays sparkled as if the amber was some sort of strange sun and the entrapped fly its prisoner.
    â€˜â€œTshaya”,’ said St-Cyr softly of the inscription. ‘ “Vadni ratsa” . The first is a woman’s name; the second means the gift is from the wild goose of Romani legend.’
    Agitated, the clerk blurted, ‘The client came in on Saturday, Inspector. He insisted it be ready for today – ah! for Monday, yes? It is now Tuesday. It’s not easy to acquire amber like that. We worked all day Sunday and half of Monday. Enslaved, that’s what we are. Enslaved .’
    â€˜Yes, yes, of course. A Hauptmann – you’re certain of this?’
    â€˜Herr Oberlammers. He … he has signed for it, yes? Everyone has to these days. It’s the rule.’
    â€˜And he was to pick it up yesterday afternoon?’
    â€˜That is correct.’
    â€˜At what time, please, did he come into the shop on Saturday?’
    The salesman’s