Lovers and Liars (66 page)

tthe whole world was ready to explode. James got caught in that a bit, I think, the fervour, the excitement. He went kn one or two marches with other students from the Sorborme. Ut come May, of course, he had rather more pressing conOrns.

‘ ‘Such asT

,‘He fell in love.’ Kent gave an amused shrug. ‘And, being James,

1,hit him hard. The French have all the best terms for it - un coup de lucre, a thunderbolt. He was turned inside out and upside down. IOU evers6. But then you have to remember/ he glanced at her, ‘we Pere two English schoolboys, brought up like monks. Both of us Orgins, alas. And we yvere only eighteen years old.’

He broke off, and glanced toward the door. Pascal had just entered, and was making his way towards their table. Kent gavee a sigh.

‘Damn. A friend of yours. And I was just working up to that dinner invitation again. Pity. I don’t think I’ll mention it just now. I get the feeling it might not go down too well. Does he always frown that way, or only when men with pony-tails buy you large gins you don’t drink? Oh, hi … ‘ He rose to his feet, was introduced, and sat down again. He looked at Pascal closely, as he drew up a chair.

‘Well, well, well/ he said. ‘Pascal Lamartine. Poor James. What on earth has he been up to? James doesn’t chase movie-stars, ass far as I know. I didn’t realize you were working with the heavy brigade, Genevieve. If I had, I think I’d probably have fled.’

Pascal began to speak, and Gini kicked him hard under the table.

‘Oh, Pascal’s just a friend/ she said. ‘We’re having lunch, that’s all. Nothing to do with this story or you.’ She smiled at Kent. ‘Really. He won’t mind waiting a while, will you, Pascal?,

‘Not at all.’

‘It’s just that you’d reached a very interesting part of your story. Won’t you go onT

‘I’ll get us a drink.’ Pascal rose. ‘Gin and tonicT

Jeremy Prior-Kent hesitated, then shrugged. ‘No. I’ll switch back to beer, thanks. A Corona with lime. Cheers.’

Pascal withdrew. Kent lit another cigarette. He paused, looking at Gini, then smiled.

J wonder why I’m getting the feeling that there’s more going on here than meets the eyeT

‘It’s those paranoid tendencies of yours - you mentioned them, rememberT

‘Maybe. Maybe. Still, what the hell? This isn’t a state secret. You really want me to go onT

‘Yes. I do. Take it from where you left off. Paris nineteen sixty-eight. May nineteen sixty-eight. James McMullen fell head over heels in love. He embarked on his first love affair … ‘

‘Slow down.’ Kent lifted a hand to stop her. ‘I said he fell in in. love. I never said he had an affair. I had affairs - lots of them. But not James. This was strictly platonic, as far as I know, and all the more intense as a result. James is a bit like that. He liked to put women up on a pedestal, and then worship them, serve them. A very parfit gentil knight. Deeply medieval, and rather

dangerous in my opinion. It breeds all sorts of unhealthy illusions. But James, of course, wouldn’t agree.’

I I ‘So who was this woman? How did he meet herT

, ‘Well the awful part is, I can’t remember her name. I met her a couple of times. She was older than James, around twenty-two, or twentythree. She was half-French and half-Vietnamese. Very beautiful, a tiny thing, very fragile-looking, with this astonishing long jet-black hair. She was Madame Gravellier’s niece, and she didn’t live in Paris. She was visiting, there was some conference #ung going on, and her father was over for it, or her uncle … I tan’t remember the details. It’s so long ago. And I don’t see that it can be of any relevance now. I mean James never mentions her, ever. He’s probably forgotten it ever happened.’

‘She was half-Vietnamese?’

‘That’s Tight. Well, Vietnam was a former French colony and )Madame Gravellier’s family had connections there. A rubber plantation, I think - something like that. Madame Gravellier grew Op in Indo-China, and came back to France eventually. But one

9f her sisters stayed on out there, and went native. Married a Vietnamese. I’m pretty sure that was the connection. Anyway,

e point is., this girl turned up one day at one of the Gravelliers’ azy evenings, when there were about three thousand people ng about, students and artists and actors and writers and

cafL6 intellectuals, and Christ knows what, and I was introduced to her and James was introduced to her - and the next time I looked round, I realized he was still sitting in the corner talking to her. And they’d been there for four hours.’

‘That was how they met?’

‘Yes. She didn’t speak a word of English, but they were both uent in French. So there they were, talking away. She was earing this white jacket thing which buttoned all the way up

to the neck, and one of those sort of sarong skirts. Her hair was loose. She was very tiny, very quiet, very self-contained. Well, I was curious. James wasn’t very good with women. He ‘was shy. Usually he wouldn’t speak to them at all. So I was curious what line he was taking. I stood there, sort of hovered around - I don’t think either of them even saw me. My French Wasn’t too good, so it took me a while to understand what in hell they were discussing … ‘

He stopped, and grinned. ‘You know what it was? Politics. Can u believe it? This really amazing-looking woman, and what’s Tries discussing? The thoughts of Ho Chi Minh.’

He broke off as Pascal quietly rejoined them, then shrugged. ‘So, end of story. James went on seeing her, I know that much. She was in Paris around two months. Then she left, went back home. James and I split up then, around July, August. I didn’t see him again until we went up to Christ Church that October.’ ‘And he never mentioned her thenT

‘No. Not one word.,

‘Could he have remained in contact with her?’ ‘I guess so.’

‘Did it ever occur to you that the change that came over him then, at Oxford, might have been connected to herT

‘Not really. To be perfectly honest, I’d almost forgotten her. You know, it was amusing, watching James in the throes, in Paris. But that was months earlier. I assumed he’d come to his senses. I mean, we were eighteen. She was just another girl.’

He took a large swallow of his beer, glanced at the silent Pascal somewhat warily, then tapped his watch. ‘Look, I’m sorry, but I have to go now. I’d better put in an appearance at this lunch of mine, at least.’ He rose, and looked down at Gini in an uncertain way. ‘James is OK, is he? I mean - he’s not in trouble of any kind? I’m fond of James. We go back a long way . He glanced at Pascal. ‘You’re not hounding him, I hopeT

‘Not hounding him, no.’

‘Well, if you really do need to find him, I’ve thought of someone you could try.’

‘YesT ‘Her name’s Lise Hawthorne. You know, the American Ambassador’s wife. I met her with him once - ran into them in some dimly lit restaurant. She might know. They’re very close friends . ‘He smiled.

‘When was thisT

‘Last spring some time.’

‘Did James McMullen say they were friends?’

‘Yes. Subsequently … So he claimed. That wasn’t exactly the impression I had at the time … ‘ Kent paused. He had been turning away. He stopped, looked back, gave Gini a meaningful look, and then grinned.

‘Put it this way. They were holding hands under the table at the time. At least, to be charitable they were holding hands. She was looking flushed. James wasn’t pleased to see me. Very bad timing on my part. But there you are - if people will carry on that way in a public place, what can one doT He lifted a hand. ‘Nice to meet

both. Remember my white-haired mother, Genevieve. Bye.’ e door to the bar swung closed behind him. There was a brief ence. Pascal and Gini looked at each other.

“Well, well, well/ Pascal said. ‘So. Are they friends, the way ‘cMullen claimed - or are they loversT

‘I know what Jeremy Kent was implying and so do you. Lovers. t Kent spent most of the past hour explaining how straight-laced uIlen was in that respect.’

‘That kind always fall the hardest. When they fall.’

‘Indeed. What’s more, Kent isn’t just McMullen’s old schoolnd. I recognized him, Pascal, the second he walked in. He s that escort agency I went to, he’s one of its owners.’

‘He admitted thatT

Yes. And, furthermore, James McMullen knew about that ency. He questioned Kent about it within a month of his July fing with Lise.’

‘So you think McMullen could have been planning to use that ort agency? As a way of setting up Hawthorne?’

‘It is a possibility, Pascal.’ Gini closed her notebook. ‘If Lise McMullen are lovers, it does mean we have to look at this erently. Just for a start, it means they’ve both lied.’

‘I do realize that.’ Pascal rose. ‘Come on, Gini. We have an pointment with that Suzy woman, remember. We meet her at ree. I have the bike outside. Let’s hear the call-girl’s side of the ry.,

‘You think that’s what she is? A call-girl?’

‘Gini, this is a story about sex, yesT He took her arm. ‘Other i stoo - love, maybe. War, maybe. Lies, certainly. But sex,

142ngitely. Of course I think she’s a call-girl, don’t youT

PASCAL HAD booked a room in a large, discreet Knightsbridge hotel. It overlooked Hyde Park to the rear. They arrived there after taking their now-usual circuitous and time-consuming route, with some forty-five minutes to spare. Pascal had coffee brought up. He lit the first of several cigarettes, and began in his habitual way to pace the room.

‘And so,’ he said, ‘I collected the keys for the St John’s Wood house. We can move in, and I can start setting up my cameras tomorrow. If this damn meeting of Hawthorne’s actually does take place, it could be at any point from midnight Saturday on. I want to have everything ready well before. I want to be certain that no-one can enter or leave without my seeing them, even after dark.’

He broke off, and shrugged. ‘After that, I spent an age checking those gun licences and that was not straightforward at all. In the end with the aid of someone from the firearms division at the Metropolitan police, I finally traced it. McMullen’s guns are registered as being held at his London flat - and that’s surprising. The regulations are very strict now. Guns have to be kept in a locked gun cabinet and the police check that they are. McMullen has no gun cabinet at that flat - we’d have seen it. But that’s where the guns are registered. Two shotguns, and one rifle. The shotguns for sporting use, the rifle because he’s a registered

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member of a gun club. According to the records, it’s outside Oxford. He regularly uses its range.’

He stopped and turned back to Gini. ‘So, there you are. No Trogress on his army career. I drew a blank there. So that’s the ,surn of my achievements. Then I came to collect you. I thought that man Kent would be long gone by then. And I’m afraid I interrupted you at a bad moment, yes?’

‘A bit. It was all right. He finished his story finally. And it looks as it you were right, Pascal. There really is a link between .McMullen and a woman in Vietnam.’ Quickly, she told him the details of her conversation with Kent. Pascal listened intently.

‘I sce. I see,’ he said, when she had finished speaking. ‘That could be possible if McMullen was living there with an ex-colonial family. Also there were always strong links between the left in France and Vietnam. And all the peace negotiations between the Americans and the North Vietnamese took place in Paris. Nineteen sixty-eight was a crucial year - it was the year Lyndon Johnson called a halt to the bombing of North Vietnam. It was the year of the Tet offensive. I think it was the year the final peace negotiations began - though they dragged on for years afterwards. I’d have to check that … ‘He glanced at Gini. ‘Kent mentioned a conference? He said that was why the woman was thereT

‘He did. He didn’t mention what conference. He was vague in some ways, specific in others. He could remember how she looked, this woman, but not her name.’

‘How did he describe her?’

‘As tiny. Very fragile. Quiet. She spoke fluent French. When he met her she wore white. She had long black hair.’ Gini hesitated.

1t did cross my mind, Pascal-!

‘What?’ ‘Well, the way in which types of women seem to recur on this story. First there are the blondes - all the women Hawthorne allegedly meets. Then Lorna Munro. Now Suzy. Then, suddenly, their very opposite: two women, poles apart in many respects, and Yet they both share the same colouring, the same dark hair … ‘

‘Maybe. Maybe.’ Pascal shrugged. ‘I’d say it was just a coincidence. Lots of women have dark hair.’

I ‘Of course. But don’t you remember? In the car in Oxford, McMullen said he’d only loved two women in his life, so what he felt for Lise was not an inconsiderable thing. Don’t you see, Pascal, he might associate Lise in some ways with this other woman. And if he did it might explain a great deal. If she died - even if she

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didn’t die in the way he believes - he could have transferred all the feelings he had for her to Lise. It would intensify his commitment to Lise.’

‘Possibly.’ Pascal made an impatient gesture. ‘But I’m fed up with all this speculation. That’s where we end up, again and again. With speculation. I want some facts. Some nice simple straightforward facts. Like, for instance, are McMullen and Lise Hawthorne lovers? Yes or no. What are you doing?’

He turned around. Gini had just picked up the telephone.

‘I’m calling Mary. I agree with you. There’re a few details I’d like to know as well.’

‘Mary? Gini, I’m not sure that’s a good idea.’ ‘Why notT

‘Darling, she’s in constant touch with John Hawthorne, for one thing. This woman Suzy’s arriving any second, for another.’ ‘No, she isn’t. She’s not due for another ten minutes. I just have

time, Pascal. And I won’t tell Mary where I am, obviously. I can make it just seem like a casual enquiry. I haven’t spoken to her in days. She can’t get hold of me at my apartment … Quite apart from anything else she’ll start getting worried if she doesn’t hear from me. I just want to find out what she knows about James McMullen - whether she ever met him at any of Lise’s embassy parties, whether Lise ever discussed him. She could have, Pascal, and if she did, I want to know.’