All the Devils Are Here
- Автор: Пенни Луиза
- Серия: Chief Inspector Gamache #16
- Год: 2020
- Язык: английский
- Год: St. Martin's Publishing Group
- ISBN: 9781250145253
- Жанр: Другие детективы
Электронная книга - «All the Devils Are Here». Краткое содержание книги:
On their first night in Paris, the Gamaches gather as a family for a bistro dinner with Armand's godfather, the billionaire Stephen Horowitz. Walking home together after the meal, they watch in horror as Stephen is knocked down and critically injured in what Gamache knows is no accident, but a deliberate attempt on the elderly man's life.
When a strange key is found in Stephen's possession it sends Armand, his wife Reine-Marie, and his former second-in-command at the Sûreté, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, from the top of the Tour d'Eiffel, to the bowels of the Paris Archives, from luxury hotels to odd, coded, works of art.
It sends them deep into the secrets Armand's godfather has kept for decades.
A gruesome discovery in Stephen's Paris apartment makes it clear the secrets are more rancid, the danger far greater and more imminent, than they realized.
Soon the whole family is caught up in a web of lies and deceit. In order to find the truth, Gamache will have to decide whether he can trust his friends, his colleagues, his instincts, his own past. His own family.
For even the City of Light casts long shadows. And in that darkness devils hide.
“So why’s a plant still necessary?”
“To be safe.”
“Really? How long have you been in private industry? Since when do they do things to be extra safe?”
“What’re you saying, Séverine? You need to be absolutely clear. Tell me.”
“Have you looked at the equipment going to Chile, and what’s being shipped back?”
“No. Why would I? And even if I did, I wouldn’t know what’s needed.”
“Well, I do. There’s mining equipment mixed in with gear for the treatment plant.”
Beauvoir noticed Loiselle turn very slightly toward the elevator. And the stairs.
Had he seen something? Sensed something?
Beauvoir had brought them to the top of the Eiffel Tower so they wouldn’t be overheard. They were now far too high up, and there were far too many people, for anyone to eavesdrop. Even drones would have a hard time getting up this high, certainly without being spotted.
And if anyone was following them, they’d be mighty conspicuous on the small platform.
They were safe. Unless, Beauvoir thought as he watched Loiselle, they’d brought the threat with them.
“They reopened the mine five years ago,” said Madame Arbour.
“Why?”
“Have you ever heard of rare earth minerals?”
“No.”
“Well, that’s what they found when they tested to see what pollution they’d have to treat. In the tailings GHS found evidence of a rare earth mineral.”
“And that’s an important find?”
“Well, yes. Why do you think they’re called rare earth minerals? Because they’re rare.” Beauvoir knew that tone. The “numbnuts,” while not said, was implied. “But, more than that, they’re versatile. Different ones are used for different things.”
“Like?”
“Like batteries and cell phones, magnets. Some next-generation telecommunications, I think.”
“What kind did they find in the Patagonia mine?”
“I don’t know. I’ve tried to get the water samples, but I can’t find them.”
“But if there was something that valuable in the mine,” said Beauvoir, “why was it abandoned?”
“The original owners were mining silver. When it tapped out, they walked away, not realizing what else was in there.”
“So then GHS buys the mine to close it, but discovers these rare earth minerals. Why hide it?”
“You really are thick, aren’t you.”
“Just tell me.”
“It’s obviously not that they’ve found a rare earth mineral,” she said. “It’s what they’re doing with it.”
Beauvoir felt himself get very still. Very alert. “What could they be doing with it? Can it be used in weaponry? Munitions?”
“Not that I know of. Unless they’ve come up with a new use, it’s all fairly benign.”
“You mentioned next-generation telecommunications.”
“True, but again, not illegal.”
“But it could be worth billions?” asked Beauvoir.
“If it works, yes, and if that’s the type they found.”
“People have killed for a lot less.”
“Killed?” asked Arbour, and Beauvoir realized she didn’t know the whole story.
He told her about Alexander Plessner. About Stephen. About the upcoming board meeting.
By the time he stopped, Séverine Arbour was pale. “And you’ve now dragged me into it.”
“No, you were already in. If I found out about your snooping, they will, too. But if the issue is the mine in Patagonia, why are you so interested in Luxembourg?”
“How do you know I am?”
“I searched your files.”
“You what?”
“Look, let’s just assume you’re mad at me, I apologize, and you accept, okay? Let’s just skip to the important part. Luxembourg.”
Arbour glared at him and gave a curt nod. “Fine. Carole Gossette’s in charge of the Patagonia project. I’ve been digging and saw references to her and the Luxembourg funicular. But I can’t figure out the connection.”
“So Madame Gossette is involved?”
“Up to her neck, from what I can see. So much for your mentor.”
And my ability to spot wrongdoing, he thought. Still, if Madame Gossette was trying to hide what she and GHS were doing, why go all the way to Montréal to hire a senior cop, the former head of homicide for the Sûreté? Why not just go with someone dense and easily manipulated?
Though, come to think of it …
He put that uncomfortable thought out of his head.
Séverine Arbour was looking at Loiselle. “He works for GHS. Won’t he report back?”
“No. He’s with us.”
She nodded, but was deeply unhappy. Things were getting way out of control. Confusing. This was not at all what she’d signed up for.
“Mrs. McGillicuddy emailed me last night,” said Armand. “She should be awake now. Do you mind?”
“Non.”
He placed the call, pressing his phone to his ear in an effort to hear above the din of the restaurant. He said a few words, then listened.
Reine-Marie saw, for a split second, a look of astonishment on his face.
He hung up and stared into space. Then he made another call. This time to one of their neighbors in Three Pines.
“Oui, Clara? No, Stephen’s still in critical condition. Yes. I will, merci. But I have a question. Who do you know at the Louvre?”
Now it was Reine-Marie’s turn to look astonished.
“Séverine,” said Beauvoir. “What do you know about our company?”
“What do you mean? It’s a huge engineering firm. What else is there to know?”
He took another tack. “How could the Luxembourg funicular figure in?”
“Maybe payoffs, funds for the mine siphoned through the Freeport in the duchy. Or bribes for Chilean officials.”
Yes, thought Jean-Guy. That made sense. The financial angle. That’s how Stephen would have first suspected something was wrong.
Beauvoir put his hands behind his back and walked in silence, gazing out over Paris. The great monuments were spread out at his feet. The boy from East End Montréal, who played ball hockey among garbage cans in the alleyways, could see the curve of the earth.
And all he wanted to do was go home.
CHAPTER 30
The taxi on the way to the Louvre stopped briefly at their apartment so Armand could pick up the GHS annual report.
While he was upstairs, Reine-Marie called Daniel and convinced him to move with Roslyn and the girls to the George V. To join Annie and her family in Stephen’s suite.
“Shouldn’t we take another room?” he asked. “It’ll be a little tight.”
“You’ll be fine.”
She hadn’t told him about his name in the archive system. Not yet. Not while there was still a chance he’d go to Commander Fontaine and tell her all he knew.
Best he didn’t know that.
When Armand returned to the taxi, she told him of her success with Daniel.
“That’s good.” He sighed with relief, knowing if he’d asked, Daniel would never have agreed.
He gave the driver the directions.
“We don’t want to go to the main entrance. I’ll guide you.”
Ignoring the snorting and muttering from the front seat, Armand pointed out the way to the Porte des Lions.
“You won’t get in,” warned the driver when he dropped them off.
Armand and Reine-Marie stood between the two huge sculptures of lions, and looked up at the tall wooden doors.
“Do you think there’s a doorbell?” Reine-Marie asked.
Just as they began to think the surly driver might have been right, the doors slowly, slowly opened.