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Back The Frenchman
Chapters (76)
  1. COVER PAGE
  2. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  3. DEDICATION
  4. AMIN
  5. PARIS
  6. … TWO YEARS LATER
  7. CHAPTER ONE
  8. CHAPTER TWO
  9. CHAPTER THREE
  10. CHAPTER FOUR
  11. CHAPTER FIVE
  12. CHAPTER SIX
  13. CHAPTER SEVEN
  14. CHAPTER EIGHT
  15. CHAPTER NINE
  16. CHAPTER TEN
  17. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  18. CHAPTER TWELVE
  19. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  20. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  21. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  22. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  23. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  24. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  25. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  46. CHAPTER FORTY
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  55. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  56. CHAPTER FIFTY
  57. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  58. CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
  59. CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
  60. CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
  61. CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
  62. CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
  63. CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
  64. CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
  65. CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
  66. CHAPTER SIXTY
  67. CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
  68. CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
  69. CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
  70. CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
  71. CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
  72. CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
  73. CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
  74. CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
  75. CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
  76. EPILOGUE

De Payns recognised the tone women took with men whom they assumed knew nothing about their child’s daily life.

‘Ana,’ she said, offering her hand.

‘Pleased to meet you,’ said de Payns, and they shook. ‘Is Charles in this group?’

‘No, five is the minimum age for John’s class, but Charles turns five in a couple of months. Romy said Patrick was in this class and I should come down and check it out.’

‘I don’t think I’ve met Charles yet—or maybe I know him from his surname?’ said de Payns.

‘Homsi,’ said Ana without hesitation. ‘Charles Homsi.’

It sounded Lebanese but de Payns avoided the cliché. ‘Syria?’

‘Ha!’ she said, perfect white teeth lighting up her face. ‘Well done, Alec. My husband is going to like that.’

By the time the kids had finished their stretches and were running to their parents, de Payns knew the husband’s name was Rafi and he was an engineer with a big firm in Paris, and that the Homsis also lived in the Montparnasse area, slightly north of the de Payns.

He was still thinking about Ana a while later, when the family was eating dessert. ‘I met Charles’s mother tonight,’ said de Payns, while the boys hacked at their bowls of ice cream. ‘When he turns five, he wants to do karate with sensei John.’

Oliver looked surprised. ‘But Charles already does taekwondo.’

De Payns could sense Romy glaring at him and he forced himself to tamp down his suspicions. He wasn’t going to interrogate his son.

As the moment passed, his personal Nokia phone buzzed against his leg. He glanced at it. There was a text message from ‘T’ which simply said: S is thirsty. Big Nose 2100?

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER

FIFTEEN

The Croix de Rosey wasn’t a bar that Paris guidebooks recommended to tourists. It was in Le Marais district on the right bank, but it was off the main boulevards, set back in a small street that ran north–south from the Seine—no outdoor tables, no cute umbrellas advertising Campari. As he walked down the cobbled street towards a glowing Kronenbourg sign, de Payns was reminded of what inner Paris must have looked like before various kings and emperors cleared the slums. There were smells and sounds in these streets that had taken centuries to create.

He pushed through the heavy mahogany door at 9.01 p.m. and took in the scene—a bar that might have been built in the 1700s and perhaps updated two or three times, the last of which was probably 1972. Low beams, a combo of accordion player and guitarist in the corner and a series of round tables spread around in the dimness. Framed photographs on the walls—black-and-whites of Catherine Deneuve, Charles de Gaulle, Jean-Luc Godard and Alain Prost. An eclectic mix of French heroes for a bar that didn’t have a brand or an image.