Paris: The Novel (85 page)

Luc was waiting for him at the restaurant. The restaurant didn’t open on Sundays, so the shutters were closed.

It was strange for Thomas to realize that his brother was a man in his thirties now. He hadn’t changed that much. His pale face was a little more fleshy. Thomas’s short brown curls had thinned, but Luc had exactly the same dark hair falling handsomely over his forehead. He looked like an Italian restaurant owner.

And his small restaurant, though it wasn’t making him rich, was undoubtedly providing him with far more income than Thomas could ever earn in manual work.

He still hadn’t married. But Thomas had seen his brother with a succession of handsome women.

The object to be moved turned out to be something more mundane than the
Mona Lisa
. It was just a carpet.

“I thought it would be a good idea when I put it down,” Luc confessed, “but it wasn’t, and we’re tripping over the edges. I’m going back to a bare floor, and I’ll use the carpet for my own house.” The tables had already been moved to the side and the carpet lay rolled and tied in the center of the floor.

“It’s heavy,” said Thomas as they began to drag it out to the cart.

“It’s good quality,” said Luc. “That’s why I’m taking it for the house.”

They had quite a job getting it onto the handcart, and a section stuck out at the back, but Luc supported it and pushed while Thomas pulled the cart from the front.

“We need Robert,” said Thomas.

“We’ll be all right,” said Luc.

It was a long, slow climb up the streets toward Luc’s place. Years of manual work had given Thomas the strength of an ox, but he was grunting, and Luc was sweating profusely. Finally, however, they reached their destination.

Luc’s house lay at the end of a narrow street that was nestled against the hillside of Montmartre. It had belonged to a builder before Luc bought it. There was a small yard at the front, with bushes on one side and trees on the other. Behind the house lay a small garden. On the left rose the steep slope of the hill covered with shrubs. At the end, a wall. On the right, another wall, and the back of a shed belonging to another house. Against the slope, there was a wooden hut containing a privy, with a small garden shed adjoining it.

They got the carpet into the house, down the narrow hallway and into the main room. At the end of that, they needed a break.

“I’ll get you a beer,” said Luc, and Thomas nodded gratefully.

As Luc poured their beer, Thomas said, “The carpet’s too big for this room, I think.”

“I’m going to cut it down.”

“Do you want to open it out and see? I don’t mind helping you.”

“Not now. I’m too tired.”

“What was it you wanted to talk to me about, then?”

“Oh. I just wanted to know if you needed any money. I have quite a bit put by.”

“That’s kind of you, Luc. But we’re all right. If I’m ever in trouble, I’ll tell you.”

“Just so long as you let me know.”

They drank their beers in silence, until Luc got up to use the privy.

Thomas measured the carpet with his eye. He wondered how much too big it was. It suddenly occurred to him that if there was a spare strip, he might take it for the passage in their lodgings. Taking out his knife, he cut the string that was tied around the carpet, and began to unroll it.

Then he stepped back, and stared in horror.

Luc gazed at him sadly.

“Why did you do that?” he said.

Thomas did not answer.

“I was only gone for a moment.” Luc sighed. “I never meant you to see. I didn’t want you to know.”

“What happened?”

“An accident. It was awful.”

“Didn’t you get the police?”

“I couldn’t. They mightn’t have believed it was an accident.” He shook his head. “It didn’t look right.”

“You killed her?”

“Of course not.”

“People will look for her.”

“I don’t think so. She was just … a young lady of the night. If they asked me, I could say that she left. But I don’t think they’ll even ask. I just have to get rid of the body.”

“Why did you kill her?”

“I didn’t. I swear it. There was an argument … She fell. It was an accident. That’s all.”

“Oh mon Dieu!”

“You mustn’t tell anyone, Thomas. Not even Édith. Especially Édith.” He paused. “Unless you want your brother …”

Executed. Or at least in prison.

“And now I’m party to it,” said Thomas.

“You opened the carpet. I never meant that to happen.”

“How will you dispose of the body?”

“That’s a secret. Unless you want to help me.”

Thomas was silent. He had two choices. One was to go to the police at once, and betray his brother. The other was not to betray him. If the latter, then he wanted to be sure the body was never found. The poor girl was dead anyway.

He weighed the options.

“I never knew what was in the carpet. You understand? If you’re ever caught and it’s discovered I brought the carpet up here, I had no idea what was in it.”

“That was always my plan.”

“How will you hide her?”

Luc glanced out of the window. Dusk was already falling.

“You’ll see soon enough,” he said.

It had been a year ago, Luc explained, that he’d been in the privy and heard a sound of rock and earth falling just behind him. Investigating afterward, he’d discovered that there had been a little landslide on the slope. And as he probed further, he realized that a small fissure, a few inches wide, had appeared. When he pushed a stick through, he found a
cavity. The rock was quite soft. Widening the fissure, he was soon able to step into the cavity, and the next thing he knew, he was in a tunnel.

“It wasn’t a great surprise. You know the hill of Montmartre is riddled with old gypsum mines.”

“So did you explore?”

“Oh yes. There’s a network of tunnels in there.” He nodded thoughtfully. So I rebuilt the privy with a shed beside it. The back of the shed slides open. The opening’s just behind it.”

“Did you tell anyone?”

“Not a soul, except you.”

Although the little garden wasn’t overlooked, Luc waited until darkness had fallen before he led Thomas out to the privy. He gave Thomas a covered lamp to carry. While Thomas waited, Luc entered the little shed beside it, and Thomas heard a wooden partition slide open.

“Bring the lamp,” Luc whispered. Thomas stepped into the shed and felt Luc’s hand guiding him through into the tunnel. “Turn left,” Luc whispered, “and walk twenty paces. Then you can uncover the lamp.” The surface under his feet felt stony.

When he uncovered the lamp, Thomas saw that he was in a high passage, about six feet wide, that led away into the distance. The walls were quite smooth and it was dry.

“Leave the lamp here,” Luc said. “Nobody can see the light from outside. We’ll go back for the girl now.”

She clearly had been in her early twenties. A fair-haired girl. She’d been hit in the face, but that hadn’t killed her. More likely the blow to the back of her head had done that. She must have fallen hard against something. Thomas wanted to ask, “How did it happen?” but he decided the less he knew the better.

There hadn’t been too much blood, and Luc had wrapped her tightly in several large tablecloths to keep it from spreading. The blood there was dry and black.

“You’ll have to get rid of the cloths. And the carpet might be stained,” Thomas said.

“I know,” said Luc. “If there’s a stain on the carpet, I’ll cut it out. Use the good bits. Burn the rest. No one will ever see.”

It was completely dark when they took the girl’s body out. They used straps to carry the corpse, which made it easier. It was a little tricky getting her into the shed and closing the door behind them, but they managed. Once they were in the passage, Luc closed up the entrance. After that, walking along the tunnel was relatively easy. When they reached the lamp, they put the body down. Thomas picked up the lamp and retraced their steps. He wanted to see if there were any drops of blood on the ground. He couldn’t find any.

“Where to now?” he asked.

Without a word, Luc looped the strap over his left shoulder and, holding the lamp in his right hand, led the way. They made three or four turns down similar passages before coming to a larger, higher one. It was hard work and they paused several times. Thomas wasn’t sure of the distance, but he thought they must have walked nearly three hundred yards.

“Are you sure people don’t come in here?” he asked.

“They can’t. I’ve explored it all. This part of the old mines has been sealed off for decades. The little landslide behind my house opened the only way in.”

“Then why are we going so far?”

“You’ll see.”

At last they came to a high chamber, almost like a cave.

“This is it,” said Luc. They put the body down. Then he raised the lamp high. And Thomas let out a cry of fear.

For they weren’t alone.

All around the walls, the skeletons lay. Some of them were propped almost in a sitting position, staring at them in their tattered clothes, as though at some final supper in the dark.

“Do you know who they are?” asked Luc.

“No.”

“At the end of the Commune, forty years ago, there was the famous last fight of the Communards at Père Lachaise. But before that, a party of Communards at Montmartre retreated into the gypsum mines. And instead of going in to finish them off, the army dynamited the entrance of the mine. They knew there was no way out of this section. I found other skeletons in the passages, but I think these fellows made a compact and
decided to shoot themselves all together.” He turned to the corpse of the girl. “Help me get her clothes off, then we’ll drag her over to the wall.”

It wasn’t pleasant work, but they did it. At one moment, Thomas gave a little gasp, and Luc said, “What?” and Thomas said, “Nothing.” When they had her propped naked against the wall, Luc carefully removed the tattered remains of a Communard’s coat and wrapped it around her.

“In a year or two, she’ll be a skeleton like the rest of them.”

“If anyone ever examines the shed …”

“I thought of that. I can cover the side of the hill up again. Close the entrance. It should be all right.”