Read Have Mercy On Us All for Free Online Page B

“
Commissaire Principal
Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg, at your service.”
    “Oh!” said Maryse in embarrassment. “Excuse me!”
    “No harm done, madam. Incidentally, what did you think I was?”
    “I don’t dare say.”
    Adamsberg led the way through his new warren.
    “Need a hand, sir?” asked a bleary-eyed
brigadier
on his way out to lunch. Adamsberg steered the woman gently towards his office and stared at the young man in an attempt to remember who he was. He still hadn’t really met all the juniors in his new squad, and he had terrible trouble remembering the names. They had all realised this early on, and now made a point of giving their names every time they said so much as good morning to the boss. Adamsberg hadn’t quite decided whether they meant to be kind or to take the piss – but he wasn’t very bothered either way.
    “
Lieutenant
Noël,” the man said. “A hand, sir?”
    “A young woman cracking up, that’s all. Some kind of silly joker in her block, or maybe just a wall artist. She just a needs a bit of support, that’s all.”
    “We’re not supposed to be social workers, are we?”
    Lieutenant
Noël curtly zipped up his bomber jacket.
    “And why shouldn’t we be,
Lieut
…”
    “
Lieutenant
Noël.”
    “…
tenant
Noël,” Adamsberg finished.
    He tried to register the face and the name: box-head, pale face, crew cut, and big ears add up to:
Noël
. Noël means
tired-out
,
touchy
and maybe
tough
. Big ears plus tough guy make
Noël
.
    “We’ll talk about that later,
Lieutenant
Noël. She’s in a hurry.”
    “If the lady needs supporting,” said another and equally unnameable
brigadier
, “I’m ready and waiting, sir.” Then with a smirk he stuck his thumbs in his belt. “I’ve got all it takes right here.”
    Adamsberg turned slowly towards the man.
    “
Brigadier
Favre, sir.”
    “While you’re here,
brigadier
, you are going to learn something that may surprise you,” Adamsberg said slowly. “In this branch, women are not just little dumplings with a hole in the middle. If this comes as news to you, as I fear it might, then let me encourage you to learn a little more about them. Women have legs and feet underneath; you will also find a torso and a head when you look at their upper parts. Think about that, Brigadier Favre. Assuming you have something to think with.”
    Adamsberg went through his mental memory routine as he entered his own office. Fleshy face, bushy eyebrows, prize hooter and birdbrain all add up to:
Favre
. Favre means
hooter
,
brows
and
birds
.
    He propped himself up against his office wall so as to face the woman who was now perching almost apologetically on the edge of a chair. “Now tell me all about it. You’ve got kids, you’re on your own. Where exactly do you live?” To calm Maryse down Adamsberg scribbled her name and address and other answers on a notepad.
    “So these 4s were painted on the doors, have I got that right? All in one night?”
    “Oh yes. Every door had a 4 yesterday morning. Really big ones, as big as this,” said Maryse as she showed Adamsberg a distance of maybe two feet between her two hands.
    “No signature? No initials?”
    “Oh yes, there was something. Underneath each 4 there were three really small capital letters: CTL. Sorry: CLT.”
    Adamsberg wrote that down.
CLT
.
    “In black like the numbers?”
    “Oh yes, black.”
    “Nothing else? Nothing on the front of the block, nothing in the stairwell?”
    “Just the doors. Black paint, like I said.”
    “The number, was it painted correctly, or was it a bit different or distorted? Like a logo, for instance?”
    “Oh yes. I’ll draw it if you like. I’m a dab hand at drawing, you know.”
    Adamsberg passed over his pad and Maryse concentrated on reproducing a large printed 4, with the downstroke splayed at the foot like a Maltese Cross, and two notches on the outer leg of the cross.
    “There you are.”
    “You’ve done it back to front,” Adamsberg said gently