Salamander by J. Robert Janes Page A

of the Kripo, the most ignored and insignificant of the Gestapo’s subsections. Common crime.
    â€œRight now we could use a place to eat and spend what’s left of the night,’ said Kohler blithely.
    Without another word the préfet walked away into the deepest shadows of the basilica.
    â€˜It’s all right, Hermann. Really it is. I think I have exactly the place. The address on this card our girl with the bicycle dropped in the place Terreaux.’
    â€˜What card?’
    â€˜A little yellow card.’
    â€˜You’re full of surprises. Gabi won’t like it but you can trust me, Louis. I won’t breathe a word of it.’
    â€˜If you do, Giselle and Oona will be bound to hear of it. Me, I would not like to cause disruption in your little ménage à trois , especially when you’re being sued for divorce!’
    They shared the Calvados in crystal glasses Kohler had borrowed from the bishop’s study. They wished each other a Happy Christmas, then asked, How can it be?
    â€˜The Salamander is out there, Hermann. Having given us the scare of our lives, he or she or they, for some reason, failed to strike the match.’
    â€˜Perhaps I scared them off?’
    â€˜Perhaps, but then … ah, I do not know, Hermann. The cross leads us to the bishop and what do we find but everything in place for another major fire, a priest who messed about with spinsters, and a storeroom full of valuable paintings. It is a puzzle when puzzles are not needed.’
    Louis always liked to take his time. The bugger enjoyed nothing better than a damned good case, murder especially!
    â€˜Three fires in the Reich, Louis. A pattern. Same method, same reason, eh?’
    Good for Hermann. ‘Yes, yes, and now that same reason again—is that so? The trigger for madness, the willingness to sacrifice so many perhaps all because of only one person.’
    â€˜Our priest?’
    â€˜Did the Salamander know him, Hermann, or better still, know of him?’
    â€˜Of that woman who was tied to her bed? The priest wouldn’t have worn that cross if he was only going to fuck about with Mademoiselle Aurelle, Louis.’
    â€˜The priest received a telephone call of some urgency.’
    â€˜And that, then, caused him to wear the cross.’
    â€˜And attend the film.’
    â€˜Then he knew the Salamander, Louis, and was aware of what might well happen.’
    â€˜He had been warned but not by Mademoiselle Aurelle, by someone else.’
    â€˜But could not stop the fire and chose to die instead.’
    Silently they toasted each other. Kohler refilled their glasses, draining the bottle and then tossing it over the edge to smash and tinkle and make its music somewhere below them.
    â€˜Our fire chie’s no collaborator, Louis. The préfet’s been having Robichaud tailed ever since friend Barbie came to town. Our Klaus suspects the pompiers of being in league with the cheminots , but Robichaud swears it isn’t true. Not yet anyway.’
    â€˜Fireman and railwaymen, Communists and Resistants … That’s a bad combination for the Occupier, Hermann.’
    Kohler quietly confessed to everything he had found in the toilets at the cinema. He felt he had to do that. Things had become too rough as it was. ‘I’ve got all the schedules and papers on me, Louis. I couldn’t bring myself to burn them, and want to hang on to them for a bit. Okay? There’s another thing. Klaus Barbie is a fanatic when it comes to hunting down Jews and terrorists. The bastard has a mistress, one of the locals, but visits the best houses as well. That’s where he must have been heading after dinner, otherwise he’d have been here with the préfet.’
    St-Cyr fingered the card the girl had dropped. ‘Not at this house, Hermann. It’s not one that is reserved for officers of the Wehrmacht and now the SS. How things have changed, eh? The SS and the Army, who