Bruno had been surprised when Isabelle had emailed him to invite herself to join him at Arcachon. He knew she stayed in close touch with her old colleagues in the Police Nationale in the region, so he might have guessed she would know of the operation. She had proposed their getting together in a way that suggested he would be doing her a favor, rescuing her from spending more time than she could stand at a family Christmas with her father and his new wife, whom Isabelle did not like. Bruno had been delighted at the prospect.

Bruno arrived on foot at Bordeaux Saint-Jean station as the clock struck eleven, feeling his skin tingle with anticipation at seeing Isabelle again. He had time to smooth down his hair and slip a mint into his mouth before reaching the Relay newspaper kiosk where they had arranged to meet. He scanned the crowd from Paris, looking for that familiar face, and was surprised when a slim figure, head wrapped in a woolen scarf, slid out of the throng and into his arms.

“I almost didn’t recognize you in all that wool,” he said, and kissed her. “It’s so good to see you.”

She returned his kiss with enthusiasm before saying she’d checked the weather forecast and knew it would be cold. Arm in arm, Bruno carrying her overnight bag, they headed for the platform where the train for Arcachon was waiting. They took their seats in an almost-empty car, facing each other and holding hands, her eyes alight as she slipped off the scarf. Then she turned serious.

“I checked around a little bit,” she began. “You’ll have to watch Commissaire Pleven. He’s a guy with political ambitions who’d clamber over dead bodies to get ahead. That’s why he’s called in cops from all across the region. It’s not only because he can’t afford a failure. You and all the rest of them will start receiving New Year’s cards, phone calls on your birthday, invitations to meet for a drink when he’s touring the prefectures and the mairies. He’s a brilliant networker, and he’s not just after your vote. He’ll try to turn you cops into his local organizers. I hear he’s on the list for the regional government, probably planning to be deputy head before angling for a ministerial job in Paris. It’s up to you whether you back him, but don’t get in his way.”