Aventure malgache Page #3

I spent 35 days

in solitary confinement.

The 36th day,

bored of playing with my little mouse,

and having caught all the flies,

counted all the cockroaches...

- Ah, it's Mr Pannis.

- Yes, it's me. Hello, dear sir.

My dear colleague.

If only you knew how grateful I am.

You're my first contact

with the outside world.

Dear sir, the entire colony

is sorry to learn of your arrest.

- All the lawyers too.

- All of them? I doubt that!

You've always been good to me

and I felt it my duty

to offer you my services.

That's very kind of you.

Oh, I must admit,

the idea of defending a cause clbre...

Naturally.

What exactly

have you been accused of?

I have no idea.

I've not even been questioned.

What are they saying in town?

Resistance, I think,

conspiracy to escape too.

Really, and you'd be willing

to defend me

despite the seriousness

of the charges?

That's very kind of you.

They organised a court martial.

The first in Madagascar,

it's very serious.

Michel must have sworn

to get me this time.

He won't get us, believe me.

I say us, I mean, if I defend you.

Do you think we have a chance

against Michel?

What proof could Michel

have against you?

That's exactly

what I was wondering.

No doubt you were clever enough

to burn any compromising documents.

Dear Pannis, my documents

were not compromising.

All the better. Give me

all the details of your story.

The tiniest of details... I need to know

the pitfalls so as to avoid them.

Of course.

No doubt, you must have

letters and telegrams.

Telegrams? I sent many.

In our profession, indeed.

It might be used against you,

by claiming, for instance,

that they have a double meaning.

Michel is capable of anything.

You will need all the details.

I only have my memory

to help me in here.

When would you need

all these details by?

As soon as possible.

I brought you everything you need.

Here.

Excuse me.

I don't have anything to write with.

You'll have it

by tomorrow morning.

I'll work straight through.

Perfect.

Goodbye, kind sir.

Goodbye, dear colleague.

Dirty scoundrel, rotten sneak.

Turncoat!

I would have thought

Michel was too intelligent

to think you'd have fallen

for the trap.

For, I understand him very well now,

the chap.

I see him, very clearly.

I too saw him very clearly.

What I saw clearly was

that my Michel was very troubled.

First telegram:
"Your sister Wilbur".

Clearly!

"The chestnuts will ripen

on the 35th April."

- There are no chestnuts in Madagascar.

- There's no 35th April either.

Is that all you've found?

Sir, I did 10 years at the

ministry in Paris, I know my job.

It shows.

- May I suggest an explanation.

- An explanatory explanation?

The telegrams are on two levels.

Once we've deciphered them,

we have to uncover the meaning,

providing we find the code.

My role is restricted

to the first level, sir.

Basically, we still need to find the code.

Pablo, I suspected this a long time ago.

Do you have the information I wanted?

Yes, on your orders,

I checked all the bookshops in Tananarive.

Impossible to find a copy

of Les Fables de La Fontaine.

Yes, they've all disappeared.

They were sold suddenly three months ago.

No one knows why.

They couldn't tell me who to,

but mainly to children and natives.

But someone sent them.

But I get exactly the same information

from each and every town in the colony.

This time I think I've got them.

The key is in La Fontaine.

That was quite risky sending

all those coded telegrams.

Oh yes, I admit I was more

of an amateur conspirator back then.

I'd never make such mistakes now.

I can just see that toad Michel

at the court martial,

laughing, triumphant,

gloating at his success.

No, his attitude was rather different...

more, let's see, how should I say...

So, gentlemen,

you have the 132 decoded telegrams,

either sent or received

by the accused.

And these telegrams prove, irrefutably,

that Clarus was one of the organisers,

if not the head of the Resistance.

Therefore, I would like to request

capital punishment against Clarus.

Does the defence

have anything to say?

The court should note

my client's honesty,

for he says,

yes, I sent the telegrams,

yes, I knew about the escape

but I defy anybody to prove

that in the last three months,

he took part

in the Resistance movement.

Here then, is the crucial point

the prosecution must prove.

Otherwise, you should acquit my client,

or, at the very least,

allow for extenuating circumstances.

The Court Martial gives Paul Clarus

the death penalty.

He is to be executed 24 hours

after the ruling.

So, you were killed.

Luckily I was a Verdun war veteran.

Apparently, Marchal Ptain

himself sent a cable

to have my sentence reduced.

Ptain, such sweet irony.

Take note, angel Gabriel.

Yes, they gave me

five years forced labour.

And what of the Resistance?

- I was still in touch with the Resistance.

- Really?

Yes, even from my small cell,

with my alarm clock pressed to my ear.

Michel never found out

about the alarm clock.

My little alarm clock!

You were just a radio transmitter

but I liked you very much.

Your murmurs were sweeter

than any lover's.

Tell me,

did Michel lose interest in you?

Oh no. It took him nine months

to come up with something.

Take the handcuffs off.

That'll be fine, leave us.

Come closer, Clarus.

See the trust I'm showing you.

It may well be the last time

we meet, Clarus.

I'd like us to talk, man to man.

Come on, a glass of rum.

It won't hurt.

I have bad news for you.

You're leaving. To the labour camp.

Trans-Saharan railway.

It's deeply regrettable, Clarus.

A man such as yourself,

to lose everything

in this whole business.

Tilting at windmills.

To end up in a forced labour camp

when you could have...

Well, I feel pity, not for you,

but to those closest to you,

all those you care about,

and that you've sacrificed.

It doesn't matter to me

if you don't believe me,

but I'd like to give you

one last chance.

I can prevent your departure.

To keep you in Madagascar,

make your five years more bearable,

let you see your family more often

and give you regular news of them.

Go on, drink.

So, the cards are on the table,

old boy.

I can cancel your departure, if...

naturally, there's an "if"...

If you tell me

where your secret transmitter is,

the operator's name,

and the code used.

So, are you going to spill the beans?

Will you come clean?

Go on, drink, it sobers you up.

The condemned man's last drink.

To your health,

rotten old hypocrite, crook.

A little overdramatic, my character

would never react in such a way.

Your character?

What are you talking about?

I'm speaking of my role, my guy.

Ha! He's pinched your Michel from you!

If you want any news of him,

I'll know who to go to.

So your only hope was for

the Resistance to break you out.

And all the boats transporting

smuggled goods.

And for the one in a million chance that

the British Navy intercepts your convoy.

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