The Grave Gourmet by Alexander Campion Page A

elevator.
    In the elevator she felt the same vague unease as after the call with Ménard. Had Jacques been just a little too glib with his facts or was that just part of his international spy persona?

Chapter 9
    B y the time she’d spent forty minutes waiting to see Florian Guyon, Jacques’ idea of inserting hot needles under his toenails had acquired a definite appeal. For the first fifteen minutes of the wait Guyon’s secretary had been sympathetic, apologizing repeatedly for the delay, attempting to ply her with coffee and cold drinks, insisting she wouldn’t be waiting more than a minute or two more. But as time wore on the secretary seemed to find the awkwardness of the situation contagious and averted her eyes whenever Capucine’s gaze met hers. Just as Capucine was about to stalk out and have the Quai order him down for an interview, the secretary’s phone buzzed and she sighed a little sigh. “He’s ready to see you now.”
    As she sat down in a stiff leather chair across from Guyon’s desk it was obvious that, like many moneyed Frenchmen, he held the police in considerable disdain. What surprised her was his obvious nervousness.
    â€œHow can I help you, mademoiselle?” Guyon asked, with undisguised condescension.
    Capucine stared at him levelly for an instant. “I understand that Président Delage had expressed an interest in having the DGSE investigate a leak from your department just before his death. Can you comment on that?”
    Guyon paled slightly and his breathing became more rapid. “I don’t know who told you what, but it sounds like a complete exaggeration. I attended a meeting of R & D executives in Korea a few weeks ago and had the impression that a few too many people were conversant with some of our development projects. Nothing more than that. I brought it up in an update session with Président Delage and we discussed the possibility of tightening our security systems.”
    Capucine stared at him for a moment. “Nothing more than that?”
    â€œNo. Not really.”
    â€œSo Président Delage just might have wanted to consult the DGSE in a general way about improving security. Is that it?”
    â€œProbably,” Guyon said with a smirk, relaxing a little.
    â€œBut I have it on good authority that the request was very specific. That it concerned a specific project.”
    Guyon became even more pale, breathing very quickly through his mouth. “Look, let me be clear: I have no idea even if it was a leak, but, yes, there were rumors floating around Seoul that were distressingly close to some of the work we are doing here.”
    â€œCan you be more specific?”
    â€œMademoiselle, there is no point to this conversation. The Seoul conference was about improvements to engine efficiency. I’m sure you can understand that with the current gasoline crisis that is the top concern of all the manufacturers. We have a number of engine projects ongoing. As it happens, the DGSE is already looking into the situation. Just yesterday an agent visited one of our test sites to ascertain if it was possible for any data to have been stolen.” At the sound of his own blather Guyon visibly relaxed, leaning back in his chair.
    â€œWell,” Capucine said with her best schoolgirl smile. “Can you be a little more specific about the project or projects that the DGSE are investigating?”
    â€œMademoiselle, you have to understand that these things are very technical. To be honest with you, most development projects are really just vectors for the marketing department. Something to build ads around. Sales gimmicks, really.” Guyon smiled and looked at Capucine to see if the explanation had satisfied her. She stared back at him without expression.
    â€œI’m going to insist you give me some details.”
    â€œLook, mademoiselle,” he said, fully intending the title to be disdainful. Then thinking