Ahead were more bomb-scarred tenements, ruins, and beyond open fields. There was a river in sight to the right. A few people were in view, moving listlessly in the morning heat. They seemed to ignore the hubbub within the walled town. I couldn’t risk asking any of them for the place I sought; I didn’t know who might be a police informer, or a cop, for that matter. They had been ready for us, I realized.
Gros wasn’t as well-hidden as he had thought. Probably the police could have cleared his outfit from the palace at any time; I suspected they had tolerated them against such a time as now. The ambush had been neat. I wondered if any of the boys had made it through the gate.
Apparently word had not gone out to be on the alert for a man impersonating an officer; I didn’t know how much Mauri
