Chapter 18The week progresses quietly with nothing major being reported. Although Marjorie has become like a permanent fixture in our home, as she cannot bear to sit in an empty house and Francis is spending more and more time with Monique. Friday arrives, and I am hopeful of having Saturday off, when two things happen to spoil my plan. Firstly, Marjorie telephones to tell me that Francis is in hospital with a suspected heart attack. I offer to drive her to see him, but she politely refuses, and instead asks me to call in a couple of hours, by which time she'll know more about what's happening.
Then, without prior notice, Valentin Foret arrives in the office.
“I believe you wish to speak to me,” he says, offering me a limp, sweaty hand to shake.
Everything about him is unsettling, from
