‘It’s been compromised,’ I admitted, thinking of Alphonse. My twenty-four hours would be up by then, and once he didn’t find me at work or home, he’d go to the bridge.
‘You sure know how to make life complicated,’ muttered Marcel, running a hand through his hair. ‘Meet me here instead.’
‘I need Odile and Rachelle safe as well,’ I reminded him.
‘Leave it with me. I’ll do everything I can.’
‘Thank you, my darling,’ I said, rising to my tiptoes to kiss him.
‘Please be careful, Nathalie. I want to see you again. To hold you. To make love to you. To grow old with you.’
I wanted to cry at his words. They filled my heart with so much joy and hope. ‘So do I.’
I was at work with five minutes to spare to take Kranz’s breakfast up to him. There was no sign of Tache and I hoped he was all right. The deputy manager was on duty.
‘Have you heard anything about Madame Bochette?’ I asked.
‘No change, as far as I am aware,’ he replied. ‘The police are coming today to take statements, so make sure you don’t go home before they speak to you.’
I didn’t let on that I was well aware of that, but I planned to be long gone by then. Before going to Kranz’s room, I ran up to Chanel’s floor and into the sewing room. The sketchbook was now face up and when I checked the back, I could see Tache had removed the last page.
Quickly, I gathered the original dress I had made, leaving the one I had been working on for Chanel hanging on the rail. It would be my parting gift to her– a way to thank her for having faith in me as a person and as a designer even though, ultimately, I was letting her down. I stuffed both the dress and the sketchbook into a laundry bag, together with the pen and vial of invisible ink.
I hurried down the stairs to where Kranz’s room was located and left the bag on the cleaning trolley. Checking no one was about, I opened the laundry cupboard and felt to the back for the pistol, before slipping it into my pocket. Steadying my breathing, I walked along to Kranz’s room.
There was no answer when I knocked, so I let myself in with the master key. The room wasn’t a suite like Chanel’s, but it had a sitting area on one side and a double bed on the other, with a bathroom beyond that.
The bed was empty, and I could hear whistling coming from the other side of the door. His briefcase was on the desk in the corner with the catches open. I’d grab that to give to Marcel once I had done what I came to do. I scoured the room for Kranz’s gun. It was there on the back of the chair, in its holster.
I moved across the room to the chair and took the gun from the holster. My fingers fumbled with the barrel and it took two attempts to open it and empty out the bullets, which I shoved into my apron pocket. I returned the gun to the holster.
The water running in the bathroom stopped and after a few moments, Kranz emerged from the bathroom, patting his face– the smell of spicy aftershave wafted around him.
He stopped in his tracks when he saw me. His eyes immediately went to the holster and although he tried to hide it, I didn’t miss the slight relaxation in his shoulders when he saw his gun still in place.
‘Good morning, Nathalie,’ he said. ‘This is a surprise. Where’s Collette?’
‘She couldn’t get in early today, so I’m here instead.’ My voice wobbled a fraction.
Kranz eyed me with caution for a moment, before tracking across the room and taking his tie from the end of his bed, looping it around his neck under his shirt collar.
‘I’m glad I’ve seen you,’ he said, adjusting the tie until he was happy with the length of each end. ‘How are you getting on with finding out the information I asked for? It’s been a few days now and I only have a limited amount of patience.’
I swallowed hard before I replied. ‘I need to know my cousins are safe first.’
He stopped in the middle of fastening the tie. ‘I’m not sure that’s how it works,’ he said, going back to pulling the end of the fabric through the knot at the collar. ‘You give me the information. If said information turns out to be unreliable, then I’ll instruct my colleagues to re-arrest your cousins.’
‘Re-arrest?’
‘Yes. They were released and if you provide me with the true identity of Marcel Reynard, they will not be bothered again. You have my word.’ I wasn’t sure Kranz’s word meant very much, but I kept my thoughts to myself. ‘So,’ he continued, ‘what have you found out? I trust that is why you’re here, really.’
‘I have found nothing out,’ I said. ‘And I have no intention of doing so.’
His eyes narrowed. ‘What do you mean?’
I had come too far to turn back, even though every nerve ending in my body was screaming with fear. I took the gun from my pocket and pointed it at Kranz. The end of the barrel wavered as my hand shook, unable to keep it steady.
Kranz looked at the pistol and gave a laugh. ‘I take it that’s the pistol from room 304. I thought as much. Do you really think I’d leave that there with live ammunition in it for you to pick up?’
