Chief Inspector Maigret Visits London Read Online Free Page B

days.’
    Nice try, lady, Andy thought, but we’re a step ahead of you. He handed her a business card which Scotland Yard had printed for him earlier that morning. It had both his actual mobile number, and a specially designated Scotland Yard landline number, which would be answered by a policewoman pretending to be his wife if Nicole called.
    Then they left, happy to escape the toxic atmosphere that seemed to fill the house, and desperate for a cup of coffee. But first they had to knock on the rest of the doors in that Maida Vale development, because this time they
knew,
without a shadow’s shadow of a doubt, that they
would
be watched.
    â€˜Phew,’ said Andy Gillespie when they were out of earshot, ‘I’m certainly relieved that’s over. I was worried about whoever was upstairs. I think we’re lucky to have escaped still wearing our skin!’
    â€˜Definitely, but it was worth it. I have lots of stuff to tell your chief inspector when we’re debriefed.’
    â€˜
Debriefed
,’ Andy repeated with a chuckle. ‘Hark at you! You need to mix with a better class of person, Megan, there’s far too much police influence in your life at present.’
    â€˜I’m afraid you’re right, Andy,’ she laughed. ‘But I fear it’s too late for me.’
    Once they were safely in Elgin Avenue again they fell into each other’s arms, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
    â€˜Oh my great-grandfather’s whiskers,’ Andy Gillespie said. ‘What a weird experience! I didn’t think she was ever going to let us in. Not even with my foot halfway in the door.’
    â€˜Why do you think I suddenly felt faint?’
    â€˜You’re a class act, Mrs Lisle.’
    â€˜And so are you,
Father
Gillespie. But let’s never, ever give an encore performance!’
    â€˜I agree!’
    However, before very long, they would be called on to do exactly that.

Chapter Five

    The car, with the two chief inspectors inside, was waiting for them around the next corner. They jumped in and the car sped off towards a coffee shop far enough away from Maida Vale to risk crossing paths with Nicole Vachon again.
    â€˜I tell you, boss, I’ve never met anyone with such cold eyes as that woman had. She gave me the screaming jimmies,’ Andy Gillespie confessed, between sips of cappuccino.
    â€˜Sounds like you met the real Nicole,’ Philippe said. ‘They thought I didn’t know, but at HQ they called her The Ice Queen, and never was there a more appropriate name.’
    â€˜Even the poor damn
dog
was afraid of her. She called him, but he wouldn’t come to her,’ Andy said.
    â€˜This is not a game, is it? I treated it as if it was one… but now I see that… it’s really, truly, real… ’
    Philippe was speaking to her but his voice was coming from a far-off planet. Or maybe, it was from somewhere deep under the sea. She couldn’t hear him properly, and it was hard for her to breathe. ‘Darling, are you alright?’ he asked again.
    â€˜The reason the dog didn’t come was because… and… of course that’s why she looked at me that way. How could I have been so stupid? Now I’ve put everyone in danger.’
    â€˜Megan, we’re not following you.’
    â€˜The dog wasn’t
afraid
of her, Andy. The reason he didn’t come is that his name isn’t Max!’
    â€˜But why would she say that it was, if it wasn’t?’
    â€˜She did it to warn me off. She must know who I am. For all I know she knows
everything
there is to know about me!’
    â€˜ Max is your grandson’s name,’ Philippe said.
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜But how could she possibly know that, or anything else about you and your family?’ Andy Gillespie asked.
    â€˜Perhaps she’s been in touch with your mother, Philippe, and… ’
    â€˜Never in a million years!
Maman
would never