Chapter 30

By the time Helen returned to Cap d'Agde and home, Sandy was waiting for her. She had called ahead and he was waiting outside the store when she drove up and he climbed into the car to kiss her. Only a few minutes later, in her apartment, she had put her cases away, they had taken their clothes off. They made love passionately and with a degree of closeness they had seldom achieved.

Helen murmured into his neck. "Oh, thank you. I needed you so much." His hug returned her feelings.

"Okay," he said. "Debrief me. Tell me everything and don't leave out what comes next."

They were interrupted by the appearance of the orange cat, who jumped on the bed between them and delivered a lecture of great importance to Helen before settling down close to her.

As she rubbed the cat's ears, Helen told Sandy about their breakfast meeting and the call from Schellen. Sandy asked her for more details about the terrible afternoon the day before, holding her as she again shivered and sobbed through her horror and fear.

Afterward, she said, "I thought I'd gotten past that. Guess I hadn't."

"Not your everyday business trip, you know. How do you feel about Johannes's theories?"

"Pretty good, I guess. I'm pretty sure Dumont is only a front in this. He's a fairly decent guy, Sandy. I've never warmed up to him, perhaps because he's the one who brought Theo's name into the thing, but it doesn't appear to be his fault, except for letting himself be a tool."

"More like him being the screw instead of the screwdriver."

"Whatever. I do think he's not the guy I need to worry about."

"Who is?"

"Oh, Schellen, or maybe Sauter, as Johannes says. One of them, anyway. I really made someone mad with that stuff about not letting Sauter bid and then throwing him off the site. Whoever it is, he may be the kind of guy who holds grudges."

"Somebody is."

Helen sat up beside him, stroking his chest and belly. "Look, I'm going to call Johannes and see what he learned from Dumont on the way to Geneva. Then..."

Sandy reached for her and drew her to him, taking control over her breast and bringing her across his body.

"Oh," she said. "Yes. Later."

Later, Helen stood on the balcony with her telephone, silhouetted against the view of Sète in the setting sun. Sandy went home for a change of clothes. After a time, dressed and more relaxed, Helen walked to Sandy's store through the early evening sun, reveling in the peaceful bustle of the resort as all sorts of people, clad or unclad, went about their ways. Outside the gates, she walked along the avenue du Bagnas, her long, light shift swayed by the gentle breeze.

To celebrate, Sandy drove them to Sète for dinner at a restaurant overlooking the Vieux Port and the ocean.

"So?" Sandy raised his eyebrows as they were served a good bottle of wine at a table overlooking the quai.

"So, Johannes says that, on the way back to Geneva, Dumont agreed to cooperate fully in his investigation. That's the basic good news."

"And?"

"Well, on the other side, it seems Dumont doesn't know much. He was told to ask Rummy about Theo, about whom he knew nothing at the time."

"Isn't he an awfully good boy?"

"That's what Johannes said. Anyway, Sauter — not Schellen — also told him to ask Werner Siegmann — he's the site manager for Hoch und Tiefbau on the Freiburg job — about taking laborers and crafts at non-union rates."