Lorraine Connection by Dominique Manotti

head, the same old nagging doubt: What am I doing here? Talking to a cop. A police view of History. That fat Valentin, coarse and probably incompetent. I’m a fish out of water here. I’d do better to try and cover my arse rather than get deeper into this mess, in bad company.
    ‘Yes, it makes a lot of difference. The Prime Minister keeps his decision secret for months on end, not sharing it with his ministers , and lets the governmental departments carry on as if the whole process were being conducted under normal conditions. The natural suspicion is that if this decision is secret, it’s because the plans to restructure the industry are covering up some highly compromising flaws. If I manage to uncover those flaws, then I don’t need to worry about deadlines or authorities, I have the power to get the Prime Minister to change his mind. It’ll be up to him to worry about how to save face. Finding motives, gathering evidence … In other words, this will turn into nothing more than an ordinary police investigation.’
    Benoît-Rey, tense, listens attentively, is almost calm.
    ‘Why didn’t we think of that sooner?’
    ‘I spoke to the chairman about it quite early on. He didn’t agree. He believed in the integrity of the process and the viability of his industrial proposal, and was confident of winning the bid. He was probably alluding to our conversation when he told you to come up with something new.’
    ‘I find that assumption and the implied method of working rather exciting. And of course, you already have a few concrete leads …’
    ‘There are two avenues to pursue, although one is more interesting than the other. The first and most obvious is the Taiwanese arms market which Thomson and Matra have been involved in for five or six years. We don’t know much about what’s behind these deals, other than that billions of commission handled by Thomson have vanished. There’s talk of a sum of five billion. When that sort of money’s involved, nobody plays by the rules. Matra and Thomson have both benefited and could have a common interest in eliminating all those not in the know in order to protect their secret. Alcatel is a newcomer. Its intrusion could increase the risk of a leak and will be perceived as dangerous by many insiders.’
    A breather. Valentin sips his beer. A bubble surfaces in Bentadj’s memory, a few snatches of conversation overheard in the corridors of the Defence Ministry.
    ‘A captain in the Taiwanese army who was investigating the terms of a sale of frigates to Taiwan by France, was assassinated …’
    ‘Correct. Unsolved murder.’ Valentin allows the corpse of the Taiwanese captain to haunt the meeting room for a few moments, the blood, the death so far away, so close to the world of big business. He sighs. That case is a tough one. Too big, too heavily protected, too dangerous. Disappointment, relief among his audience. Even if I’m convinced it played a part in the Prime Minister’s decision. I propose that we only use what we know for certain. Gomez, Thomson’s boss, has stored up a few time bombs against Lagardère, Matra’s boss. If we find the right way to ask him he’ll sell us a few, and even if they’re fabricated we can use them to destroy the life and reputation of Matra’s boss. That’s useful, has to be done, but it won’t be enough.’ Valentin tilts back in his chair and looks at them with a half-smile. Know-all . I’ve got an excuse, they’re so exasperating. ‘Second avenue. Isuggest that the Prime Minister’s key concern over the privatisation of Thomson isn’t arms, but the multimedia subsidiary. Of course, you guys dream only of arms and find that hard to swallow . Let’s go back to square one. The government’s first decision was to sell off the military division, which is in excellent shape, together with the multimedia operation, already up to its ears in debt. Observers all believe this strategy is financially unsound. Everyone else forgets