merely for the patient to trust the doctor: a doctor who secretly dislikes or disapproves of a patient cannot effectively treat that person’s ills.
In the past I have told her that she is thinking of witch doctors; but that evening she was obviously in no mood for levity. While she swam to and fro I recalled the standard professional arguments on the subject.
None of them was needed. When she had showered she sat down beside me in the darkness, still drying her hair, and began to cross-examine me about my interview with Gillon.
‘What role did he adopt?’
‘Role?’
She snapped her fingers impatiently. ‘What was his manner, his approach? Surely you understand what I amasking. I don’t suppose he bullied you. You may be a foreigner but you are also, after all, a doctor and a respected member of the community. But these types have ways of saying things. The words they use may read harmlessly enough when they are transcribed from a tape recording, but the tones of voice in which they have been said, the manner and gestures which accompanied them, can sometimes mean more than the actual words.’
‘Was he unpleasant, do you mean? No. At times he was quite amiable in fact. Of course, he mentioned at one point that if and when I apply for naturalization his office will have to pass on the application.’
‘Ah.’
‘I imagine that’s normal when they want you to do something for them that they know you won’t like.’
‘The spying you mean.’
‘He didn’t call it that, but it was plain what he meant. He was firm but, as I say, not unpleasant. Anyway, what difference does it make?’
But she wasn’t yet prepared to explain. ‘Did he in fact tape the conversation do you know?’
‘If he did, I didn’t see the microphone or the recorder. I would be inclined to think not. He was quite chatty and informal at times. He even admitted at one point to having used a false analogy.’
‘Did he tell you why Villegas has moved his base here?’
‘He said that Villegas has applied for permission to stay here temporarily – vacation and health reasons. I told you.’
‘But surely you didn’t believe it. Didn’t you ask him for the real reason?’
‘He didn’t give me a chance. The decision to let Villegas come here was made in Paris, he said. He also said that
why
the permission was granted was none of his business and none of mine. He also, by the way, advised me not to speculate about or discuss it – not in fact to do what we are doing now.’
She waved the objection away. ‘In other words all thisstuff about vacation and health is just the formula he’s been told to use by Paris.’
‘Probably. If Villegas had a health problem which could be helped by a change of climate of this sort he could have moved somewhere else in Mexico. They have climates of all sorts there.’
‘Then Paris wants him here for some other reason?’
‘It looks like it.’
She put her towel down. ‘Aren’t you going to ask?’
‘Ask?’
‘What possible use could Villegas be here – or anywhere else for that matter – to Paris?’
‘As you obviously think you have an answer, all right. I’ll ask. But what do you mean by Paris? The Quai d’Orsay, the Minister for Overseas Departments and Territories, the Prime Minister, the President?’
‘Being facetious never suits you, Ernesto, but, since you ask, more likely the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs – eventually. But from the way Gillon spoke to you, and from some of the things he said, I would think that, at the moment, S-dec is handling this one.’
I sighed.
‘S-dec – SDECE. Service de Documentation Extérieure.’ She made a slightly obscene island gesture normally used for warding off the evil eye. ‘Secret service.’
‘Oh, those.’
‘Yes, those. They need a success. You must remember the Ben Barka scandal – I showed you that piece about it in
Paris Match.
’
‘I remember.’
‘Of course you do. And so does everybody else.
In the past I have told her that she is thinking of witch doctors; but that evening she was obviously in no mood for levity. While she swam to and fro I recalled the standard professional arguments on the subject.
None of them was needed. When she had showered she sat down beside me in the darkness, still drying her hair, and began to cross-examine me about my interview with Gillon.
‘What role did he adopt?’
‘Role?’
She snapped her fingers impatiently. ‘What was his manner, his approach? Surely you understand what I amasking. I don’t suppose he bullied you. You may be a foreigner but you are also, after all, a doctor and a respected member of the community. But these types have ways of saying things. The words they use may read harmlessly enough when they are transcribed from a tape recording, but the tones of voice in which they have been said, the manner and gestures which accompanied them, can sometimes mean more than the actual words.’
‘Was he unpleasant, do you mean? No. At times he was quite amiable in fact. Of course, he mentioned at one point that if and when I apply for naturalization his office will have to pass on the application.’
‘Ah.’
‘I imagine that’s normal when they want you to do something for them that they know you won’t like.’
‘The spying you mean.’
‘He didn’t call it that, but it was plain what he meant. He was firm but, as I say, not unpleasant. Anyway, what difference does it make?’
But she wasn’t yet prepared to explain. ‘Did he in fact tape the conversation do you know?’
‘If he did, I didn’t see the microphone or the recorder. I would be inclined to think not. He was quite chatty and informal at times. He even admitted at one point to having used a false analogy.’
‘Did he tell you why Villegas has moved his base here?’
‘He said that Villegas has applied for permission to stay here temporarily – vacation and health reasons. I told you.’
‘But surely you didn’t believe it. Didn’t you ask him for the real reason?’
‘He didn’t give me a chance. The decision to let Villegas come here was made in Paris, he said. He also said that
why
the permission was granted was none of his business and none of mine. He also, by the way, advised me not to speculate about or discuss it – not in fact to do what we are doing now.’
She waved the objection away. ‘In other words all thisstuff about vacation and health is just the formula he’s been told to use by Paris.’
‘Probably. If Villegas had a health problem which could be helped by a change of climate of this sort he could have moved somewhere else in Mexico. They have climates of all sorts there.’
‘Then Paris wants him here for some other reason?’
‘It looks like it.’
She put her towel down. ‘Aren’t you going to ask?’
‘Ask?’
‘What possible use could Villegas be here – or anywhere else for that matter – to Paris?’
‘As you obviously think you have an answer, all right. I’ll ask. But what do you mean by Paris? The Quai d’Orsay, the Minister for Overseas Departments and Territories, the Prime Minister, the President?’
‘Being facetious never suits you, Ernesto, but, since you ask, more likely the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs – eventually. But from the way Gillon spoke to you, and from some of the things he said, I would think that, at the moment, S-dec is handling this one.’
I sighed.
‘S-dec – SDECE. Service de Documentation Extérieure.’ She made a slightly obscene island gesture normally used for warding off the evil eye. ‘Secret service.’
‘Oh, those.’
‘Yes, those. They need a success. You must remember the Ben Barka scandal – I showed you that piece about it in
Paris Match.
’
‘I remember.’
‘Of course you do. And so does everybody else.
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