LITMIR.BIZ

      Chapter 19

      MADAME SAVY AND MONSIEUR HODOUL

      Raymond Hodoul had paid an early-morning visit to Madame Savy’s office at the archives.

      “I do not know, Monsieur Hodoul!” Madame Savy was waving her small hands in the air like two startled birds. “I do not know what could have happened! You are right, there has been a break-in and it does look like an inside job. But I didn’t call the police because I thought it was that silly child who caused all the trouble. You know what young people are like these days, but it was Abraham’s child.”

      Monsieur Hodoul was trying his best to reassure the keeper of the archives. He knew her well: she was a great friend of his mother. Although an extremely disciplined and orderly woman, she could get very emotional when something happened that upset her quiet life.

      “Anna told me all about it – she came straight to me after she left here. She and that gigantic servant they keep at Monpetit.”

      Madame Savy nodded. “Oh yes, he was here too. He came to fetch her. I didn’t like him much.”

      “Anna told me what happened here, and she showed me the dagger she found in the sea.”

      “Ah! That dagger belongs to your family, Monsieur Hodoul, I am sure of it! Nevertheless, it was good of her to take it directly to you. Maybe I was wrong. I hope she had nothing to do with the disappearance of those precious papers.”

      “My dear Madame Savy, I do believe the child is innocent. She was merely playing at treasure hunting, and by chance she came upon something that seems to be of interest to somebody else as well. Now, I wonder who that could be …”

      “Mon dieu!” Madame Savy was looking very worried again. “Who indeed!”

      “May I have a look at your register, Madame?” Raymond Hodoul asked. “I’m sure you keep a register of all visitors, as well as the material they look at?”

      “But of course. I will get it for you right away.” Madam Savy hurried to the front desk and retrieved a thick blue book. She started paging through it as she walked back to her office.

      “But this is terrible! Sacrilege! The second-last page had been torn out – see, here is Mademoiselle Anna Atom’s entry from yesterday. I didn’t notice then that the previous page was missing!” Madame Savy was now close to tears, and she shrunk under Monsieur Hodoul’s stern glance.

      At that moment he closely resembled his ancestor: a fierce pirate ready to launch a murderous attack. But then he shrugged and smiled. He wasn’t going to get anything out of this poor lady by scolding her for her incompetence.

      “Are you sure, Madame, that nothing else is missing? No valuables?”

      “I am sure, Monsieur. I have checked and rechecked. It is only the pirate’s papers.”

      Again, a sudden scowl darkened Monsieur Hodoul’s face. “He was no pirate. He was a privateer. He had letters of marque issued by the King of France to attack enemy ships on his country’s behalf. He was a soldier fighting for France.”

      Madame Savy’s eyes were large and round, and she started to tremble very slightly. Monsieur Hodoul turned on his heel, and stormed out of the archives.

      “But, Monsieur Hodoul, I do not need the register!” Madame Savy called after him. “I do not need it because I know precisely who visited two days ago and looked at Hodoul’s boxes. I never forget, and I am a good archivist!”

      But Raymond Hodoul was already gone.