The Predators by Harold Robbins Page B

cabin and try to locate Armand.
    The purser opened the door to Jean Pierre’s quarters. He then put the key in the door to Armand’s room. He tried to open it. The door moved slightly, but not easily. The purser then threw his weight against the door. This time it opened enough to turn the light on in the room before it shut again.
    But it was Jean Pierre, whose eyes were younger and faster, who could see what had happened. Armand was lying on his stomach on the floor with a knife stuck through his heart from the back. The blood was still seeping onto the rug.

3
    The telegram came to Jacques at Plescassier’s sales office in Paris. It was from the executive vice president of the Irish Atlantic Shipping Lines.
    The message was simple:
    DEAR MR. JACQUES MARTIN: We are sorry to inform you that the tutor of your son, Mr. Armand LeBosc, has had an accident and perished. We are also pleased to let you know that your son, M. Jean Pierre Martin, is well and not very distressed by this sad affair. We have placed your son into the care of the purser, Mr. Benjamin O’Doul, who speaks French fluently and is the father of three sons of his own. I would like to ask that you please give me the information concerning your son’s care once we land in Quebec. Mr. O’Doul will be informing you about any news pertaining to your son.
    With all respect, sir,
    Thomas T. Watts
    Executive Vice President
    Waving the telegram, Jacques walked into his father’s office. He dropped the telegram on the desk in front of his father. He waited but one minute to complain to the old man. “Armand, the crazy asshole! You were the one that wanted him to take care of Jean Pierre!”
    Maurice looked up from his desk. “What are you complaining about now?” he said calmly. “He’s dead! There is no longer a problem.”
    “We don’t know what he may have taken with him when he got on the ship. He was always a crook and a thief,” Jacques said.
    Maurice waved his hand in annoyance. “Nothing,” he said. “Armand was not that crazy. He knew there would be a large bonus when he delivered Jean Pierre to Canada.”
    Jacques was silent.
    Maurice looked up at him. “Now give the information to the vice president concerning the location of the school in Montreal that we have arranged for him. The boy seems to be in very good care. We don’t have time to dwell on this. When you finish come back in here and we will find the money to buy the Cabernet farms and the winery that Prudhomme has offered to us this morning.”
    “Wine isn’t like water,” Jacques said. “We don’t have to grow the grapes.”
    “But wine brings more money than water,” Maurice said. “Water is only a franc a bottle. Good Cabernet can bring you ten francs a bottle.”

4
    “It won’t matter whether the British bring their entire army into France. They are all stupid. Hindenburg has been put in charge of the German army in the east of France. That means they will wipe out the entire French and British armies in France. The son of a bitch is a genius like Bismarck. What will we do when he occupies Paris?” Jacques was angry as he spoke to his father.
    Maurice smiled. “We’ll open more cabarets so the Boche can see the cancan. Then we will open more brothels and let them all get venereal diseases. Last but not least, we will give them all the sweet boys they love. They will not last long in Paris.”
    “Papa, you’re old-fashioned. The new German is not like that!” Jacques answered.
    “Maybe the army is more modern,” Maurice answered. “But the Germans never change.”
    “Regardless,” Jacques said. “I feel I must do something to help save our country. I’m going to enlist in the army.”
    Maurice was upset. “Now you’re being stupid. Do you want to get killed?”
    “That will not be a problem,” Jacques answered confidently. “General Pétain has offered a captain position in supplies. I will be in charge of all the wines and the champagnes. I will be