A Death in Time, page 38
‘Thanks, man.’
‘I report that we have listened to some of your music, too. It’s impressive.’
Sue’s face lit up. ‘Really? You think so? What in particular? Tell me. I’m vain.’
‘We loved your suite for the quartet. And the solo piano pieces. Especially the one called Glade.’
Sue and Inès shared a meaningful if uninterpretable look. ‘Yes, I must say Glade is a favourite of mine. Isn’t it, Inès?’
‘Oh yes.’
On another day in another place Darac could have spent an enjoyable few hours talking music with the talented and amusing Sue, but there was another point to his visit.
‘Inès, if I may call you that?’
‘You may.’
In preparation for their conversation, Darac had looked up a number of key terms in his dictionary. ‘Shall we continue in English so you both… understand at the same moment?’
‘Thank you, yes. Go for it.’
Sue squeezed Inès’s hand, Darac noticed.
‘So... I saw your mother last week, Inès.’’
Tears came immediately. Darac let them run their course before saying anything further.
‘I understand you are in touch with her every day so you know she is well.’
‘As well as could be expected under the circumstances.’
‘Indeed.’
‘Do you have any news on a date for her trial?’
‘No. But I have to tell you that whenever it does, she is certain to receive a life sentence and that however… I’m sorry… Elle se comporte?’
‘She behaves.’
‘She behaves – yes, thank you – there will be no possibility of parole for 18 years.’
‘The lawyer told me that, too.’
‘I’m sorry.’
Sue drew her fiancée to her and some moments elapsed before Inès felt able to continue.
‘Captain, I am so desperately sorry that in order to punish my shit of a father, my mother saw fit to commit the horrible crime she did. There is an explanation for it, of course. An explanation rooted in things I care about. But there can be no defence, clearly. None. I know that. She knows it. I want you to know that we know that.’
‘I do.’
‘And I also want to thank you – we want to thank you – for what you did to ensure that I received no more than a caution for my part in what happened that night. I had no idea what my mother was planning to do and you believed that. And then you made the public prosecutor believe it.’
‘Justice was done, Inès. That’s what matters. And on that note, I must go.’
They shook hands and at the door Sue followed suit before thinking better of it and kissed Darac on both cheeks.
‘Strange… circumstances in which to meet a fellow musician, Sue.’
‘True. But I’m glad we have.’
‘Moi aussi. See you later.’
SEVENTY-FOUR
The sound check completed, Joe Henderson’s ‘Inner Urge’ struck up on the PA as the band began to file back through the concert room to the bar.
Alto sax ace Trudie “Charlie” Pachelberg turned to Darac. ‘The place is a different shape but steps down from the street to the foyer, lowish ceilings and soft lights? Reminds me a bit of the Blue Devil.’
‘Proper cellar jazz clubs. There’s nothing like them for vibes, is there? Great sound in here, too.’
Luc Gabron had a typically wry observation to add. ‘Check out the chairs. I reckon there’s a good few gardens around where there’s nowhere to sit.’
As they headed for the bar, Sue Talbot and interpreter-in-chief Dave Blackstock were the group’s tail-end Charlies.
‘First alcove on the right is for the band!’ she called out as they crossed the foyer. ‘Do you think they will have got that?’
‘Leave it to me,’ he said, masterfully. ‘Mecs? A droite! That should have done it.’
Once ensconced, the talk was all music, clubs and tours and it almost came as a surprise when fast-moving club MC Steve Randall shot by, radio mike in hand.
‘Dix minutes to show time, Didier.’
‘Ten, Steve? Super.’ He turned back to Sue. ‘I will send you this file and if you… moment, Dave? Comment dit-on, envoie-moi le tien?’
Dave leaned in. ‘He’s basically saying he’ll show you his if you show him yours.’
‘Got you.’
Show time. As Darac checked his tuning, Steve began his spiel to the sell-out crowd.
‘Welcome everyone to the fourth of this season’s gigs here at The Vault. I was lucky enough to catch the DMQ on their previous tour to this country. They knocked us out then and if their sound check just now was anything to go by, they are going to reach even greater heights tonight. First – a spot of housekeeping. The music is sure to catch fire but in the unlikely event the venue goes up in flames, your exits are…’
As the announcements continued, Darac completed tuning and with the volume control on his instrument still turned to zero, he ran through a few phrases of his go-to warm-up piece, Limehouse Blues. All set, he picked out Ridge in the audience, chatting and laughing – laughing? – with Sue in the second row. Luc had spotted this too and catching Darac’s eye, the pair shared an incredulous look.
‘… And the assembly point is outside the Friends’ Meeting House in Jesus Lane. So, without further ado…’
Steve gave Didier a nod and led by Luc’s walking bass, the band eased into a slow-cooking strut under the announcement.
‘… Please welcome Didier Mussso on piano.’ As the applause began, Steve glanced at his notes. ‘Jacques Quille on trumpet; Trudi Pachelberg on alto; Dave Blackstock on tenor; Paul Darac on guitar; Luc Gabron on bass; and Maxine Walda on the drums. That’s the seven, yes seven members of the fabulous… Didier Musso Quintet!’
As the welcome ovation rose a decibel or two, Darac had the happy thought that playing gigs on tour was the only time he knew he wouldn’t be hoiked off the stand to attend a crime scene. But then, with the applause still ringing out, Sue left her seat and slipped nimbly forward.
‘A message from Granny O, I think Mister Clay called her. I’m to tell you there’s been a murder upstairs.’
‘What?’
‘Yes, the coffee was not to his liking and he’d like you to go and investigate.’
Darac’s eyes met Ridge’s as Sue went to re-join him and with the band sharing the joke, Luc’s walking bass slowed to a stop, Didier counted them in, and they tore into their opening number.
It was around midnight when Darac climbed into bed and checked his phone. The hotel hadn’t lied. – the wi-fi password worked and the connection appeared strong.
‘How did it go today, darling?’
‘The meeting with Inès Laborde or the gig?’
‘Start with the gig.’
‘A triumph. We would still be playing for them now but for the local rules and regs. Sold a lot of CDs, too.’
‘I’m delighted. How wonderful to be able to bring such joy to people.’
‘I haven’t given up hope that you’ll join us for a number or two on the stand one of these days. Audiences would love you.’
‘As mother used to say – still says, in fact – we’ll see.’
‘Ah! Weakening.’
‘Paul? We’ll see.’
‘And how is our Lily-belle this evening?’
‘Don’t know. She’s out with Fabien and the boys. A rave up in Dignes, apparently.
‘That’s funny because according to my Cot-Cam link, she’s sleeping soundly no more than four metres away from you at this very moment.’
‘Really? Well, that’s the mothers of today for you.’
‘Seems so.’
‘Tell me about Inès.’
‘It’s obviously incredibly difficult for her. But I think she’ll get there. For one thing, she has the love of a good woman going for her – something I know quite a lot about.’
‘Sweetie... Ooh – speaking of good women, Agnès collared me on my way home. Come next January, I know who is likely to be stepping into her slingbacks, as it were.’
‘Our new commissaire? This is huge. Who is it?’
‘Wouldn’t you like to know.’
‘Yes. I would. Spill!’
‘Oh, was that Lily? Better go, darling. Love and big sloppy kisses!’
‘Not so fast!’
He switched back to Cot-Cam and as he suspected, Lily was fast asleep. Frankie appeared, smiled innocently and mouthed something that had no connection whatever with commissaires past, present or future.
Oh, me too, sweetie, he mouthed back.
But then she held up a handwritten card reading: And Agnès’s choice is… She turned it.
Darac stared at the reveal. Now that, he thought, might just work.
END
DARAC MYSTERY SERIES
BY PETER MORFOOT
AUTHOR’S NOTE
When I began devising what became the Captain Darac Mystery series, I knew what I didn’t want for my central character. To be authentic, any character must have flaws but I determined Darac would not be a slave to his. I determined he would not always make the right moves in an investigation; nor would he solve cases over a chat in a bar.
I conceived him as a strong-minded individual but, attesting to the essentially collaborative nature of police work, I needed him to be a whole-hearted team player, also; an interesting dynamic and one that gave me the pleasurable task of creating a permanent cast of supporting players for him. This led to Darac’s genesis as a “poète policier,” a term derived from a resonant assertion by award-winning writer and, to Anglicise his rank, chief superintendent of police, Philippe Pichon: “A poet can be a policeman and a policeman can be a poet.” But which art form for Darac? I felt that jazz with its tension between structure and improvisation would give me the most relevant and interesting possibilities.
The setting for the series? With its vibrant light, the spectacular Alpes Maritime mountain range at its back and that celebrated azure coastline at its feet, Nice is as beautiful as any Mediterranean resort. But it’s also a multi-ethnic city of almost half a million souls. And are there serpents in this particular paradise? Ask Darac, Commissaire Agnès Dantier and the other officers of Nice’s Brigade Criminelle.
A senior police officer who also plays jazz in a high-quality group, a significant player therefore in two different sorts of team, was someone I was looking forward to putting through his paces on the page. Unlike some of his fictional counterparts, Darac is a character drawn to living not so much on the edge as on the borderline; a man who chooses to position himself at points of junction or collision with the world. And in the six novels of the Darac Mystery series thus far, he has encountered plenty of both.
SOME BACKGROUND READING
French Criminal Justice
Jacqueline Hodgson, Hart 2005
Investigating Homicide Investigation in France
Charlotte Harris, Taylor and Francis 2013
The French Intifada, The Long War Between France and its Arabs
Andrew Hussey, Granta 2015
The Discovery of France
Graham Robb, Picador 2007
La Vie en Bleu, France and the French Since 1900
Rod Kedward, Penguin 2005
Past Imperfect, French Intellectuals 1944-1956
Tony Judt, New York University Press 2011
Hunting the Truth
Beate and Serge Klarsfeld, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2019
The Secret Life of France
Lucy Wadham, Faber 2013
Wild Words
Kate Hodges, Portico 2021
PLAYLIST OF ARTISTS AND NUMBERS
REFERENCED IN A DEATH IN TIME
Grant Green: ‘Idle Moments.’ From the album of the same name, this is the guitarist at his liltingly after-hours best.
Charlie Mingus: Black Saint and the Sinner Lady. Lush, raw, wild, sophisticated – Mingus’s complex compositional approach speaks to Darac’s instincts and this set for an 11-piece outfit is one of his favourite albums.
Clifford Brown: Killed in an RTA at the age of 25, Brownie’s influence on trumpet virtuosi is still felt 70 years later. Allying lyricism and adventurous improvising to a prodigious technique, ‘Joy Spring’ from the Alone Together album is a typical example of his genius.
Julia Hülsmann Quartet: En route to the scene of a brutal murder, Darac arms himself by recalling phrases from the atmospherically beautiful ‘Snow, Melting’ from In Full View.
Donna Summer: The disco classic ‘I Feel Love’ provides the seamy aural backdrop to Julien Baille’s encounter with Dilip Padar.
Françoise Hardy: An album of the beloved singer’s lower-octane hits is playing at the Labordes’ anniversary party. ‘Le Temps de L’Amour’ is in the air.
Joe Henderson: ‘Inner Urge’ was the title track of the 1966 Blue Note album which saw the tenor sax-man venture into more adventurous territory – an approach Darac always favours.
Bill Evans Trio: Blue Devil Jazz Club Supremo Ridge Clay is not alone in rating all three takes of Scott LeFaro’s tune ‘Gloria’s Step’ from Sunday Night at The Village Vanguard as a high-water mark in live trio jazz.
Kenny Barron and Dave Holland: The Art of Conversation. Piano and bass here combine to create an album Darac regards as superlative in every way.
Kenny Barron, Dave Holland, Johnathan Blake: Without Deception. For Darac, adding drummer JB to the mix “just made the magic happen in a different way.”
Django Reinhardt: inspirational swing era guitarist whose unsurpassable technique was honed in the Paris club scene of the 1930s. Darac warms up for every gig by playing phrases from Django’s ‘Limehouse Blues.’
Charlie Parker: Along with the unprecedented speed and precision of trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, alto sax legend Charlie laid all the groundwork for Bebop and built on it subsequently. The Didier Musso Quintet’s fleet-fingered altoist Trudi Pachelberg is nicknamed “Charlie” in his honour.
Erik Satie: pianist and composer whose spare lyricism continues to inspire many a jazzer. Nice’s own accordion king Richard Galliano has recorded his ‘Gymnopédies’ and ‘Gnossiennes’on more than one occasion.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Without the love and perceptive insights of my wife Liz, tackling this sixth Darac Mystery would have been a far tougher call. As always, Rob, Clare, Katey and Bryan proved ideal companions along the way. Beginning with the first novel in the series, Impure Blood, the sagacity and all-round support of Lisa Hitch, Susan Woodall, Alex Carter and that doyen of booksellers, Richard Reynolds, have been invaluable. A big thank-you also to David Gower and the team at Cambridge Modern Jazz Club.
Further afield, thanks are due to Boris Blouin and Jacky Ananou. I owe a particular debt of gratitude to Commandant Divisionnaire de Police, Jean-Baptiste Zuccarelli of Commissaire Foch in Nice. For her many kindnesses and for her translation work both from texts and during live interviews with officers of the Police Nationale, special thanks to Katherine Roddwell. Finally, warm thanks to my publisher Robert Hyde.
Peter Morfoot, A Death in Time
