Moon in a Dead Eye Read Online Free Page A

mad. You’ll see, soon it won’t be safe to walk anywhere.’
    They were having a drink on the deck at the Nodes’ place. The two women were indoors. You could hear the low murmur of their voices, the occasional word or burst of laughter ringing out clearly. It had not yet quite become a ritual, but they were going round to each other’s houses more and more often, and the mood was ever more relaxed. They had a good time, talking about everything and nothing, especially Maxime, who always had something to say whatever the subject. He found silences oppressive and was compelled to fill them. This suited Martial down to the ground, since he had spent his life cultivating the art of making conversation by nodding and smiling in agreement. Yes, it was nice, watching the sky turn mauve, then from mauve topurple, the stars coming out unnoticed. They had good weather almost every day now. Everywhere they looked, it was turning green. Everything they touched was sticky. Spring was in the air.
    ‘Top-up, Martial?’
    ‘No, I’d—’
    ‘Go on, let your hair down!’
    ‘OK then, just a drop.’
    Martial and Odette hardly ever drank, even with dinner. They had had to stock up in time for the Nodes’ first visit and since then, Martial had not been averse to the odd glass when the opportunity arose, as it did more and more often. It had not escaped Odette’s notice, and she had brought it up with him recently. Well, he was hardly going to become an alcoholic at his age. There was no harm in loosening up and letting that warm fuzzy feeling come over him now and then. Odette took those pills every night, after all …
    ‘And what about this black beast that’s been seen prowling around the dunes near Calais? They’re saying it could be a panther. Did you see it on telly?’
    ‘The photo the police showed wasn’t very convincing. It looked more like a large cat.’
    ‘Judging by the paw prints, they reckon the animal weighs about eight stone. That’s one hell of a moggy!’
    ‘Do you know the Côte d’Opale?’
    ‘No. I know the Basque coast very well though. I spent six months in Biarritz in ’56 … no, ’57. That was the life! One night, at the casino …’
    Martial sucked his ice cube. The Côte d’Opale, the dunes studded with with marram grass which scratched at your calves, the cliffs, the wind … Wissant, between Calais and Boulogne,where he had spent his holidays as a little boy … So long ago … He would go out fishing for crabs and winkles with Nicole, a girl of his own age from Lille … Back then, he had no idea he was destined to spend his life behind a desk – he wanted to be a deep-sea diver when he grew up. It had been centuries since he last visited Wissant, even in his thoughts. The beast in the dunes took him back. It must have changed there too, no doubt about it … At low tide you could walk along the beach for miles with your eyes closed, without bumping into anything at all … Straight ahead …
    ‘What do you mean, “straight ahead”?’
    ‘I’m sorry?’
    ‘You just said “straight ahead”.’
    ‘Did I?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Sorry, I must have been daydreaming out loud.’
    ‘That’s all right. One more for the road?’
    ‘No, I won’t, thank you.’
    ‘If you’re sure … So, she’ll be here tomorrow!’
    ‘Who?’
    ‘The newcomer, of course, the single lady.’
    ‘Oh yes, that’s right.’
    ‘What do you think she’ll be like?’
    ‘I don’t know. Odette thinks she’s a widow.’
    ‘How funny, that’s what Marlène says too! She could just be divorced.’
    ‘Or she might never have married.’
    ‘Exactly! Why do they insist on her being a widow?’
    ‘I don’t know. Maybe the thought reassures them; it implies someone respectable and dignified.’
    ‘Dignified? Please! I knew a widow in Limoges, by God, she was a feisty one! Listen to this, one day I got back to my hotel and …’
    After casting a furtive glance towards the house, Maxime leant close to