A Very Long Engagement Page #6

- He's with a boy who's worse off.

- Desrochelles.

- They're off to first-aid.

- With German boots!

Long Live Anarchy!

Anarchy.

What's happened, Matti?

What did l say?

Open up!

Be reasonable.

- What did you do?

- Nothing.

You've known he's dead

for three years.

l call that stubbornness.

No, l call that hope.

Poux has just killed it.

lf l can do anything...

You can.

Take me to Bingo Crpuscule.

An lndian princess on her elephant.

With her hunters,

on the Trail of Sorrow.

It was there!

Right there!

At a hundred yards, facing Bingo,

was Erlangen, the Jerry trench.

Where's the burnt tree trunk?

All the stumps and debris

were used to fill in the trenches.

We found the five over there,

under a tarpaulin,

covered with earth.

- Not a pretty sight.

- No doubt!

The youngest was only a boy.

Was he wearing a glove?

A red, woolen glove?

They all had

one bandaged hand, but...

nothing on the other.

I can't remember seeing a glove.

Athos!

I don't like him digging like that.

Around here,

you never know what junk

you might come across,

that can blow off an arm or a leg.

It's the crypt!

There was a chapel

between the two trenches.

lt was in ruins.

Incredible.

l don't recognize a thing.

Could Manech have lost the glove

as he fell?

It was tightly knitted

and tightly fitted.

I used the other one in the kitchens

until the end of the war.

Maybe he took it off to carve?

I couldn't say.

But I don't think so.

What sort of red was it? Bright red?

A flashy red.

With white dots.

Looked like maggots on an apple!

Sorry to disturb you like this.

My husband's family

suffered greatly in the war.

I didn't want to go over

to a French soldier's table

in front of him.

What can you tell me?

Before dying, my brother Gunther

saw your fianc carve

those three letters on a tree.

He was wearing a red, spotted glove.

A comrade of Gunther's

told me the story.

When our plane

shot down your fianc,

they were sick to the stomach.

After that,

it was a nightmare.

God spared

that French soldier twice.

Then... your side attacked.

They killed my brother.

He was 23 years old.

I came to see his cross

at the cemetery.

I'm sorry.

Time heals all. You'll see.

I'll get back,

he'll be getting worried.

Seems l haven't killed it.

Pardon?

Hope!

What now?

Tina Lombardi.

She's going to the guillotine!

They call her the "Officer Killer".

She's killed Lavrouye and Thouvenel.

And planned to kill Marchal Ptain.

When I think you sat in a wheelchair

to soften me up!

I'll talk only to you,

because I know we're very similar.

We'll leave them alone.

What I did,

you could've done, too.

l don't think so.

I'd be too scared.

I'm not scared.

And l regret nothing.

Except my hair.

I'll be treated to a bowl-cut

before the execution.

I'll look like Joan of Arc

when I see my Angel!

Why did you want to kill Ptain?

Throwing mutilated soldiers

over the top was his idea.

Why not Poincar?

He refused them a pardon.

You don't know?

He did pardon them.

All five!

lt's just a leave.

Lavrouye kept the paper for himself.

Why did that dog Lavrouye do that?

Because dirty dogs play dirty.

That's all.

Trust me on this.

l took care of him!

You and I have been running

the same investigation.

Each in our own way.

Looking for survivors from Bingo,

I picked up a male nurse

who'd treated Angel and the others.

This guy, Phillipot,

was sure he'd seen one of them.

A big man, with a head wound.

He was a big man.

Head wound, German boots...

He wore German boots and

was carrying a thin-built soldier.

l think that's about right.

l'm even sure of it.

A big man, head wound...

His superior told him

to keep his mouth shut.

You can imagine

how overwhelmed with hope l was.

And then, l met the man

who shattered my dreams.

Chief Sergeant Favart.

He told me how that pig Thouvenel

had shot my Angel, just like that!

Like taking a leak.

l took care of him, too!

lt was an obsession.

Kill all those who hurt my man.

Your Angel left you this.

"Vengeance is pointless.

Try to be happy,

"and don't ruin your life for me.

"Your Angel from Hell."

Departure for Paris,

Platform 2.

Gordes, the one who switched boots

with Bastoche...

was he big?

Biscuit? He was no athlete.

Just a guy like you or me.

And you have no news

of Desrochelles?

He didn't make friends easily.

He lived alone with his mother.

l must go. I'm boarding in an hour

for Venezuela.

Good luck, Clestin!

To you too!

When I think

you hid Poincar's pardon!

l didn't want to throw salt

on the wound.

I'd like one last favour.

I suppose it concerns Bingo-thingy?

Son of bookseller,

Desrochelles Paul,

born in Sarreguemines,

died in February, 1897...

That's it, Desrochelles Jean!

What?

ln Saintes.

In the Charentes.

Tell me, Mr. Pire, Tina Lombardi...

You had an inkling

of what she was up to.

Luckily, your paths didn't cross.

He who pries, flies,

when danger lurks.

He who pries, pries,

but, from a distance.

I've a new lead for you.

Jean Desrochelles. Evacuated from

the Front on the 7th of January '17.

His only next of kin was his mother,

the widow Desrochelles.

She lives at 22 rue de l'Abbaye.

Saintes, in the Charentes.

All the work's been done!

You've tried to reach me?

My brother's comrade,

the one l told you about...

He remembered something

that might interest you.

The two French soldiers

escorting him that morning,

wanted to go back through

no-man's-land.

They saw the prisoners' bodies.

One was in a kind of small cellar.

The French soldiers

seemed surprised.

I don't know if that can help you.

Thank you.

"Tell old Bernay

l want to settle up by March.

"His manure's too costly,

watch out for him."

"His manure's too costly..."

There must be a code.

Your Mr. Pry called!

He's run into a dead-end in Saintes.

I know!

Hello! Go ahead.

Yes, Miss. I remember you.

Old Bernay? No, never heard of him.

Benot Notre Dame

used the manure from his animals.

He never bought it!

Thank you, Father.

l must decode this letter.

I think we're getting hot.

Will be - Bernay - March

Sell - Everything

Say - Nothing

Listen - No one

Benot

Excuse me,

the "End of the World" farm?

The last house

at the end of the road.

And if he doesn't come?

He'll come, don't worry.

Come back in two hours.

Hello, Mathilde.

It's dangerous

to want to bring back the dead.

When l saw your ad in the paper,

l knew, in time,

the gendarmes would come.

Don't worry.

l had the chance

to do away with you...

l let it go.

We knew you were a thief.

But a pyromaniac?

I couldn't kill you.

Now, even the rabbits and chickens,

my wife has to do it.

The war's taken it out of me.

You know what l want to hear.

Is he alive?

The last time l saw him,

he wasn't doing well.

But he's stronger than he looks.

Don't stay together.

When things calmed down,

I tried to get some sleep.

- Gaignard!

- You think we're at the whorehouse?

- Bouquet!

- What now?

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