“Send our men down there again?”
“No, we’ll go, you and I. It’s too important to leave to others.”
“But—”
“I tell you we’ll go. Our whole business in the Southwest depends on our acting quickly and efficiently. This time we won’t give Lachetez warning. We’ll take a plane and be there in three hours.”
They arrived at Nimes, via a rented car from Marseilles, in good time. At the bank they asked for the manager. “M. Lachetez isn’t here,” the assistant cashier told them.
“Not here? What do you mean, not here? Where is he, then?”
“He left for a short trip. Just a while ago. A young lady came for him and they both left. He explained that he had some business to do and would be back tomorrow.”
“A young lady... a short trip. Who was the young lady, and where did they go?”
“I don’t know, Monsieur.” The cashier looked puzzled. “Is there something I can do?”
“What trains are leaving?” Duvernois asked, grabbing hold of the man’s lapel. “We must speak to Lachetez before he leaves.”
“He might have got a train already,” Bourdely said.
“No, there would be no train after the ten o’clock until the Catalan for Geneva. Probably M. Lachetez is taking that. It is due in about seven minutes.”
“The Catalan... Geneva... that’s it,” Duvernois said, releasing the man. “The station, Bourdely. Get a cab.”
The cashier gestured. “I don’t think you could possibly make it. The station is too far away.”
“Give me the phone,” Duvernois said hoarsely. “Quick! Give me the phone.”
“But I don’t understand,” Auguste Lachetez said with tears in his eyes. “I do not understand at all. The gendarmerie at the station, and all those people staring at me.”
“I’m afraid it was necessary, Lachetez,” Duvernois said shortly. “Who is this young lady, sir?”
“My daughter, Eloise. She was raised by my sister in Arles, since my wife passed away. I was going to take her to Geneva to a boarding school. Now I have missed the train. Monsieur, please tell me: why was I prevented from taking the train and brought back here?”
Duvernois’ jaw fell. “Your daughter?”
“Yes... say ‘bon jour’ to M. Duvernois, Eloise.”
“And you were taking her to a boarding school?”
“Yes, there is a fine one, managed by the sisters. It’s an excellent school and not too expensive for a man who is not rich. I had intended to take the night train back.”
Duvernois looked at Bourdely, who looked quickly away. “I regret very much,” Duvernois said with a sense of growing uncertainty. “We would like, that is M. Bourdely would like to look at the books. He might as well, now that we’re here, and I’ll explain later. I assure you that I’ll explain everything. Bourdely?”
“The books? Again?” Lachetez’ face went stony. “But of course, Monsieur, the books.”
“Since we’re here,” Duvernois said uneasily.
“I don’t know what to say, Lachetez,” Duvernois muttered miserably. They were in his hotel room at the Cheval Blanc. Lachetez was seated in a leather chair, a broken man.
“I am finished,” he said, bowing his head. “I might as well go to America. Arrested at the train station by gendarmes, taken forcibly back to the bank, with my young daughter. It is too terrible!”
“I know, I know. This is a nightmare. M. Bourdely says that your management appears to be in excellent shape. In excellent...”
“Of course, Monsieur. I have been working in your bank for twenty-three years. And you thought something was wrong. That’s why you had examiners here only a short while ago, and now you come personally. Why, Monsieur? Why?”
“I can’t explain, Lachetez, not right now. I will later. But I sincerely hope that you will allow me to compensate for your... unh, inconvenience.”
“Inconvenience, M. Duvernois? That is indeed a mild word. L Auguste Lachetez, arrested at the station like a criminal! Of course it is all over town by now that I’ve done something frightful. No, Monsieur, I will have to leave the city; the country.”
“You will do nothing of the sort, Lachetez,” Duvernois said sternly. “Nobody around here will think ill of you, believe me. After all, I don’t make a promotion... manager of the Nimes Branch of the Merchants Trust... unless that someone is absolutely and irrevocably of the first quality.”
“Manager...” Lachetez stammered, somewhat lost for words.
“Yes, manager, of cause. You should have had the designation long ago. And the salary. Never too late, eh, Lachetez?”
“I don’t know what to say.”
Say nothing. Just enjoy it. We will let everyone know immediately. That will quiet any rumors. I think you need a vacation. I’m sure someone here can take your place for a week. You come to Paris with us as our guest. You and your lovely daughter. Yes, that’s what we’ll do. It fits in too. We will let it be known that you weren’t arrested, of course. I had to prevent your leaving for Geneva because we needed you in Paris for an important conference. The new manager of the Nimes Branch was asked to attend board meetings. How does it sound, Lachetez? You show your daughter around and then you can take her to Geneva from Paris, at the end of the week. It’s only an hour by plane.”
M. Lachetez’ color began to return. “It sounds wonderful, M. Duvernois,” he said gratefully. “Did you hear that, Eloise? We are going to Paris! Notre Dame, the Louvre... and I, to be the new manager of the Merchants Bank in Nimes, I don’t know what to say!”
“Say nothing,” Duvernois repeated. “You deserve it,” he added expansively. “Indeed you do.
“How do you like Paris, Uncle Auguste?” Arlette asked. They were having dinner at her tiny apartment in Neuilly.
“It’s astounding,” Lachetez said, hungrily eating his oeufs tapenade. “A miraculous city. And Arlette, my dear, how can I ever thank you for all you have done?”
“It was nothing. A pleasure, dear Uncle. We were all outraged that you were shown no recognition, after three years! But it was your plan, after all. What a clever man you are, Uncle Auguste.”
Lachetez beamed. “I think, too, it was an ingenious scheme,” he agreed complacently. “I wasn’t too sure about the first letter, but I knew the second one would bring real results. I didn’t know exactly what, but I felt fairly safe, knowing that you would get word to me what Duvernois meant to do about it.”
“It was easy,” Arlette crowed. “It was I who had to make their plane reservations to Marseilles, and he told me, without my having to ask, that he would be doing business in Nimes. It was almost too simple, Uncle.”
“As soon as I got your call I had Pepe check the plane at Marseilles and he saw them renting the car. It was child’s play from then on. I had Eloise pack the suitcase and fortunately it worked out perfectly, with the Catalan leaving around that time. It was even better that they didn’t have a chance to go to the station themselves. Having them call out the gendarmerie made it so much more dramatic.”
“Have some more sauce,” Arlette said. “You too, Eloise. I’m a good cook, yes?”
“Magnificent, cherie. Say, isn’t this a funny life? I wrote letters and letters telling him what an honest and efficient man I am and I didn’t even have an answer to any of them. But when I finally told him I was a scoundrel and a thief, he made me a manager.”
“To your health, Uncle,” Mile. Arlette said, raising her glass of vin rosé. “A votre bonne santé.”
The Awful Experiment
by Michael Zuroy
Our quest for immortality utilizes today — in lieu of sacrificial rites — devices such as discovery and fame. Though such pursuits may warm the scientific heart, there are some experiments best left unconducted.