A Very Long Engagement Page #4

Etienne Morillon, teacher,

3rd of August, 1920.

He always had us laughing.

He had even trained

the company's mascot for us!

Good morning. What weather!

Germain Pire, private detective.

Mathilde has spoken of you.

Sylvain!

Tell Mathilde to come down.

That Mr. Pry is here to see her.

Poux's been hopping around.

Two days in Dreux,

then Troyes, Castre,

five days in Ste.

It'll take luck and patience

to land him.

Too bad.

Hlne, some savoury biscuits.

Taste them.

Tell me what you think.

The kitchen's more comfortable.

Thank you, Bndicte.

l'll leave you.

Poux can't stay in one place,

whereas Tina Lombardi...

she's got us running in circles.

I know.

And she's the queen of disguise.

Anything new on Biscuit?

That's Benjamin Gordes.

The day he won

the Carpentry Prize

for the sixth consecutive year.

That's right.

Biscuit,

Bastoche's best friend,

is none other than Benjamin Gordes.

A soldier from their company

said they were like brothers

before it went sour.

- Why won't you tell me?

- Stop it!

Tell me!

l don't want to fight you,

so stop it!

Why won't you talk?

Whose idea was it?

Mine?

No, it was your idea!

Bastard!

lt was his idea!

All because of a woman!

Vronique Passavant

finished with Bastoche in June '16.

And just after, he fought like

a mad dog with Benjamin Gordes.

Don't need to be Pythagoras!

They didn't meet again

before Bingo Crpuscule?

Where it all ended!

No, where it all begins, Mr. Pire.

Where it all begins...

Tina Lombardi is sure

Bastoche is alive.

What made him different

from the others that evening?

He was the only carpenter?

Something made Bastoche

different from the others.

His German boots!

He was the only one

with German boots!

Of course. You're right!

Tina Lombardi's discovered that

a man with German boots survived!

l bet he was seen with a comrade!

I saw two soldiers

who looked like tramps.

One wore boots taken from a Jerry.

He was holding up the other.

We also know Bastoche had patched

things up with his best friend!

Exactly!

Did it change the course of events

that night?

lf l don't break the peel,

Gordes managed to save

Bastoche and Manech.

I'm never going to get that pie

in the oven!

I must go back to Paris.

Again?

That money's going up in smoke.

"Ashes to ashes..."

Pilot fish!

Excuse me, Elodie Gordes?

Over there, selling carrots.

Thank you.

Never seen him!

Which one don't you know?

Him, by any chance?

Why did Bastoche and Biscuit argue?

Was it over you?

I have nothing to say!

- l want to know!

- Leave me alone!

They last met at Bingo Crpuscule.

My fianc was also there.

With Bastoche.

ln that shithole of a trench!

l want to understand.

l want to understand!

lt's not what you think.

I can't talk about it.

Give me your address.

My spelling's terrible

but I'll explain it all in a letter.

l promise.

Go ahead! My gravel!

Nothing for me?

What?

Nothing for me?

Just the newspaper.

They talk about everything

except Elodie Gordes.

Very funny!

You should read it,

one can learn things!

Has the President opened an inquest

on Bingo Crpuscule?

He might have done,

if he hadn't fallen from a train

in his pyjamas.

Well, he wears pyjamas!

He wears pyjamas!

We recovered five stiffs.

Conclusion...

We knew you were a thief.

But a pyromaniac?

All for me?

No. Just this one.

lf l'm not picking up gravel,

l'm picking up the postman!

The gravel's gone? A fair fight.

Fighting is never fair.

- Can l offer you a short one?

- Won't say no.

Miss, l beg you to keep my secret

to yourself.

When l met my husband,

he already had four children.

None were his.

Out of kindness,

he'd married a widow with TB.

She was Polish, like me.

He adopted her children

before her death.

l was also an unmarried mother.

He then found himself

the father of five,

though he couldn't have any

of his own.

You're going to run me over!

We had four years of tenderness.

We had plans.

We dreamt

of seeing the sea together.

Then the war came.

l thought Bastoche

would take care of him,

their being posted together.

But during his leave,

in September, 1915,

just after the battle of Artois,

l knew

nothing would ever be the same.

Over there,

it's all we have to keep going.

Once, in a burning field,

I saw some comrades...

Their cartridge belts

exploded like fireworks.

Once, we even had to use

the body of a friend

as a shield.

There had been something

on his mind.

He came out with it

on the second night.

If I desert, the gendarmes

will come and get me.

My only way out

is to have a sixth child.

If you have six children,

they send you home.

As l said,

he couldn't have children.

l didn't dare think

what was on his mind,

but he just wouldn't let it go.

It's not betrayal if I'm asking you.

Especially if it's with Bastoche.

Don't touch!

The five aren't mine,

so why not a sixth?

You'd have nine months to wait.

The war will be over by then.

lt will never be over. Never!

They'd be nine months of hope.

Have you no heart?

And then one day, l found a note

from Klber Bouquet,

known as Bastoche,

saying to tie a coloured cloth at

the window if he wasn't to come up.

Coffee?

I'd love some!

- After you.

- Please.

Thank you.

Sugar?

No, thank you.

lt's mother of pearl?

Yes, Benjamin made it.

- lt's odd...

- How strange we never met.

The children aren't here?

Yes, but...

they're playing outside.

- A pick-me-up?

- Please.

No, no... Sorry.

l don't fancy one.

Neither do I.

Elodie, we'll say we've done it.

It'll calm him down.

It will make things easier

for you, for me...

for everybody.

Funny how your smile

opens the parentheses.

l'll close them

as late as possible...

ln two days, at the train station.

Come on...

give me one last smile.

To close the parentheses.

l didn't even get pregnant!

But soon, fear no longer tormented

my husband.

lt was jealousy.

"Where? When? Often?

Which positions?"

"Did you enjoy it?" lt became

a living hell for both of us.

Now, Bastoche is dead,

as you know,

and my husband was killed

in a hospital bombing.

lt's a relief to confide in you.

At times, l think l'm going mad.

Elodie Gordes.

Matti! Hurry up.

Mr. Rouvire is on the phone.

He's waiting.

Come on!

Mathilde? Pierre-Marie here.

l have some bad news.

Not really bad... News you're

already supposed to know.

But news you can no longer ignore.

You were right about one thing...

Manech and his four comrades

were in that absurdly named trench.

They were buried

in the Herdelin cemetery,

after being temporarily buried

under a tarpaulin in a bomb crater.

That's that, my dear Mathilde.

ln June, 1909,

Mathilde is 9 years old.

Manech Langonnet is 10.

Does it hurt when you walk?

lt's Friday, or Saturday...

Mathilde can't remember.

Do you have any friends?

l can be your friend.

Do I stink of fish?

Ever been

to the top of the lighthouse?

l can carry you

to the top of the stairs.

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