Page 32 of The New Girl

“Nothing. Same for the passport.”

Gabriel went to the window and peered around the edge of the blinds. “Which building is Villard’s?”

“Number twenty-one.” Mikhail handed Gabriel a Zeiss monocular. “Third floor, right side of the building.”

Gabriel scanned the two street-facing windows of Lucien Villard’s flat. He saw a sparsely furnished bachelor’s sitting room but no sign of Villard himself. “Are you sure he’s there?”

Mikhail raised the volume on the laptop. A few seconds later Gabriel heard the opening phrase of Coltrane’s “I Want to Talk About You.”

“What’s the source of the audio?”

“His mobile phone. The Unit got the number from the school’s internal directory. By the time I’d landed this morning, the phone was hot and we were reading his e-mails and texts.”

“Anything interesting?”

“He’s leaving for Marrakesh tomorrow afternoon.”

Gabriel aimed the monocular at Mikhail. “Is he really?”

“He’s booked on Lufthansa with a brief stopover in Munich. First class all the way.”

Gabriel lowered the glass. “When is he coming back?”

“The ticket is open ended. He hasn’t booked the return yet.”

“Now that he’s no longer working, I suppose he has a lot of time on his hands.”

“And Morocco is lovely this time of year.”

“I remember,” said Gabriel distantly. “Was the Unit able to see his file?”

“They grabbed a copy on their way out the door.”

“Was there any mention of the fact he was run out of the SDLP for having an affair with the wife of the French president?”

“He seems to have neglected to mention it when he interviewed for the job.”

“Any black marks?”

Mikhail shook his head.

“How much were they paying him?”

“Enough to rent a flat in a chic Geneva neighborhood, but not enough for the little things.”

“Like a long trip to Morocco?”

“Don’t forget the first-class air travel.”

“I haven’t.” Lucien Villard’s music filled the silence. “What about his private life?”

“He was married once a hundred years ago.”

“Kids?”

“A daughter. They exchange the odd e-mail.”

“Nice.”

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