Presumed Dead, page 6
‘What about the helicopter?’ Ross asked. ‘Have you called that in yet?’
‘The helicopter has done one flight along the length of the Mer de Glace and up the Charpoua Glacier, but the visibility became too bad to continue so it has returned.’
‘Yes, I caught a bit of that weather on my way into Geneva this morning. Any idea how long it’s forecast to be bad?’
‘This time of year, Monsieur, it can last for days or even weeks. The weather in the mountains is very unpredictable. This morning when my men set off it was bright sunshine, now they are reporting blizzard conditions on the Mer de Glace with heavy snowfall higher up.’
‘But they’re still up there searching, aren’t they?’ Ross asked anxiously.
‘Yes, but not for much longer. The fresh snowfall makes it very dangerous because the snow that is already up there cannot support the weight of the new snow, then we have avalanches. Your wife is classified as Missing at the moment, so we go on searching, but if she is not found by nightfall, I will have to reclassify her as Missing, Presumed Dead, and call my men back.’
‘But you can’t just give up!’ Ross protested. ‘She may be lying hurt somewhere. You must go on searching!’
‘Look, Monsieur,’ Batard said sympathetically, taking his seat again and leaning across his desk. ‘If your wife was hurt sometime yesterday on the glacier and spent the night up there in the open without special clothing, she is very unlikely to have survived.’
Ross bowed his head and looked as sad as possible, but inside, his brain was working overtime. The spot he’d original chosen to dump Alice had been perfect. She would have hit the steep mountainside directly above a treacherous, high level path, then bounced and slid another eight hundred feet down into a rocky ravine, where her broken, twisted body would have come to rest among the boulders near a well used trail. Whoever found her there would assume she’d fallen from the upper path. But something had gone wrong.
Just as he’d been sliding her out of the door, her rucksack had caught in the doorframe and with all her kicking and fighting it had taken precious moments to free her, during which time the autopilot had flown the plane more than two miles. He’d worked out she must have ended up somewhere near the Charpoua Glacier, but God alone knew exactly where. I’ve got to get them to carry on the search, he thought, before she gets buried under all the new snow. No dead body means no official record of death, no reading of the will, no probate and no money. If they don’t find her now, it won’t be until the spring thaw next year, which will be much too late. I want that money now!
Batard was speaking again. ‘I am afraid I can not order my men to continue the search in these conditions, but if they choose to volunteer, then that is a different matter. They may want to stay out for a little longer, they are very dedicated.’
Ross’s head snapped up, ‘Volunteers! I think you’ve got it! There must be plenty of guides and climbers around here who would be willing to search if I put up a big enough reward, but it would need coordinating properly.’
‘If you can get me the men, I am happy to organize the search for you,’ Batard said. ‘But I must warn you, the longer she is out there, the less chance we have of finding her alive.’
‘I understand,’ Ross said sadly, ‘but I can’t just do nothing, can I?’ Then, after a short pause he rubbed his hands together and said, ‘Now, to business. What’s the best way to get our volunteers?’
Batard thought for a moment then said, ‘I will telephone La Compagnie de Guides, they will let all their members know. To reach other climbers it would probably be best to make an announcement on CHUT FM, the local radio station, I will call them also. How much were you thinking of offering as a reward?’
‘I want as many men as possible… and dogs, we must have lots of dogs. Let’s say ten thousand Euros. Do you think that would be enough?’
‘Ten thousand Euros?’ the officer spluttered. ‘For that kind of money Monsieur, you will have every person in the valley volunteering!’
‘Maybe so, but we need to cover every inch of that glacier in the shortest possible time, so I want at least a hundred good men,’ Ross commanded, the old military training beginning to show. ‘I’ll leave it up to you to choose the ones you want, just make sure they’re the best.’
‘Leave it to me, Monsieur. I will start making calls right away.’
‘Right, I’m going to check into my hotel, then I’m going to the bank to get the money transferred, then I’ll be back.’
Batard was picking up his phone as Ross left to make the short drive through pouring rain to the Jardin du Mont Blanc Hotel, where he was welcomed by the grief-stricken manager and handed the key to Madame’s room.
.
The call for help and the mention of a reward had been made on CHUT FM during the traditional French two-hour lunch break, and the response had been phenomenal. By three in the afternoon all the roads leading to the PGHM headquarters on the north side of Chamonix were gridlocked, with the local gendarmes running back and forth, blowing their whistles.
Fortunately, Ross had decided to walk up there after he’d left the bank, but still had to fight his way past hundreds of young men who were milling around the building, pushing and shoving in the closest Frenchmen could get to an orderly queue.
Many of them had brought their dogs; Labradors, Huskies, St Bernards, who were adding to the mayhem by barking, howling and whenever the opportunity arose, snapping at each other. He finally managed to find Batard, who was looking very harassed. ‘How are we doing?’ Ross asked.
‘As you can see,’ he said, raising his hands in typical Gallic fashion, ‘we have far more people than we can use. The problem is that many of those I am rejecting say they are going to search anyway. Everyone wants that money.’
‘The more men we have on the job, the better chance we have of finding her,’ Ross said cheerfully. ‘What’s the weather doing up there now? How soon can we get going?’
‘The wind has dropped a little but it is still snowing hard higher up. The first team will be leaving in about an hour. We are just trying to get enough lanterns organized, so we can carry on after dark. I plan to set up a forward command post at the Montenvers Hotel as soon as I am finished here.’
‘Very good,’ Ross said. ‘I’ll make my way up there later and join you. I want to be there when they find her.’ With that, he fought his way out of the building and walked back to the hotel. Better have a bite to eat before I go, he thought. Can’t feign grief on an empty stomach.
.
Meanwhile, up near the summit of the Aiguille Verte, the soft snow coating the near vertical face that had broken Alice’s fall was becoming dangerously unstable with the added weight of the fresh snowfall. Here and there, huge areas, which had been clinging precariously to the rocks all summer, finally lost their battle with gravity and came crashing down the mountainside in spectacular avalanches, depositing tons of snow, ice and all manner of other detritus onto the Charpoua Glacier.
Chapter 5
It was nearly three hundred miles from Chamonix to the village just outside Nîmes, in the south of France, where Philippe lived. He’d been taking it easy on the autoroutes, letting the big BMW coast smoothly along under cruise control, a little below the speed limit. As they had come down out of the mountains and started heading south, they had left the bad weather behind and Philippe now had the air-conditioning on to keep them comfortable.
Alice had slept from the moment they left Chamonix, and sitting back with his feet off the pedals, holding the steering wheel between finger and thumb, Philippe had had plenty of time to relax and think during the long drive. He kept looking down at Alice, reclined in the seat beside him, thinking over and over again that she was the most, vulnerable creature he’d ever met. For some reason, he felt incredibly protective towards her. Every time he thought of her husband, his anger flared and he wanted to kill him with his bare hands.
He could vaguely remember a story he’d heard years before, something about an ancient belief that if you saved a person’s life, you then owned that person and were responsible for them forever. That first night, when she’d fallen through the cabin door at his feet and he’d bathed her wounds and cradled her in his arms, he’d allowed himself to believe that the gods of the mountain were somehow making recompense for Luba. The mountain taketh away, and the mountain giveth. Blessed be the name of the mountain. Looking down on her again he wished it were true, but he knew that in reality, as soon as she was physically fit and psychologically ready to face her husband, she would be gone from his life forever.
The late afternoon sun swept across Alice’s face as they turned off the autoroute at the Nîmes-East junction, stirring her from her slumber. At first she didn’t know where she was, then she looked up at Philippe and remembered.
‘Hello,’ he said, smiling. ‘Did you sleep well?’
Alice put her hands above her head and stretched like a cat. ‘Wonderfully,’ she said, with a dreamy smile. ‘Where are we?’
‘Nearly home, just another five minutes.’
Alice straightened her seat back and looked around as they followed a narrow road for about a mile before coming to the small village, which was nothing more than a church, a few houses, a general store, a boulangerie and a bar tabac. Carrying on out the other side, they were soon in an arid scrubland where the road carved a swathe through brown, sun-parched bushes and stunted trees. After another mile and a half, Philippe turned right into a driveway and pulled up at a set of iron gates, which were just swinging open under remote control, activated from the car. Once through the gates, they followed the driveway up hill slightly, around a curve to the left, then parked outside a single story, white stucco house with a red tile roof.
‘Here we are,’ he said, ‘home sweet home.’
‘It’s very pretty,’ Alice said, craning her neck to look around.
‘It used to be a hunting lodge,’ Philippe explained. ‘When I bought it, it had no electricity or heating, and the only water was from a hand pump outside the kitchen door. But now you will find all the comforts of home.’
Philippe jumped out of the car and went around to the passenger side to help Alice out. They were still wearing their thick jackets and the heat hit Alice like a hammer blow as he opened the car door.
‘Whew! It’s a bit warmer here than Chamonix,’ she exclaimed.
‘Come on inside, it will be much cooler there.’ Philippe opened the front door and they went in. All the shutters were closed and the inside of the house was cool and dark, lit only by thin shafts of sunlight penetrating the louvres. He led the way through a large kitchen and living room towards the back of the house, where there were two bedrooms, a bathroom and a toilet. He showed Alice into the back bedroom then opened the window and threw open the shutters. The room was fairly small and had two single beds, a small dressing table with a stool, and a chest of drawers. The window looked out onto a large back garden planted with pine trees, which cast patches of dappled shade onto the parched earth.
Turning back to Alice, Philippe said nervously, ‘This is my guestroom. It is yours for as long as you wish to stay. You are very welcome.’
Alice came to him and taking both his hands in hers, looked up into his dark eyes and said warmly, ‘You are the kindest person I have ever met, thank you.’
They smiled at each other for a moment, then Philippe broke away saying, ‘I expect you would like a nice long soak in the bath. I will run it for you.’ With that, he went along the passage and into the bathroom.
Alice heard the water splashing into the bath and was just taking her jacket and fleece off, wondering what she was going to do for clothes when Philippe came back into her room with a pink toweling bathrobe. ‘Here you are,’ he said, handing her the robe. ‘I have put some clean towels in the bathroom and while you are having your bath, I will put some more of Louisa’s things out for you.’
‘Thank you,’ she said again. ‘I know how hard this must be for you. I’m very grateful.’
Philippe looked sad for a moment, then brightened and asked. ‘How about some dinner after your bath? You must be starving.’
‘Mmm, I could eat a horse!’
‘I don’t have a horse,’ he said seriously, ‘but I make a great spaghetti bolognese, if that would do.’
She laughed. ‘That’ll do fine.’
‘I’ll wait until I hear you get out of the bath before I start it, then you can take as long as you want.’
‘Okay,’ she said, ‘see you later, and thank you again.’
.
Alice sank down into the steaming bath water and started thinking about Ross again. The one thing she just couldn’t get her head around was the fact that he’d actually tried to kill her! Maybe I’m in denial, she thought, but I just can’t believe he would do such a thing! She went back over the years of their life together for the fiftieth time in the past two days, trying to find a reason.
She remembered how she’d been supremely happy during the first few months of their marriage, except in one important respect. As soon as she’d discovered she was pregnant, Ross had refused to share her bed on the basis that any marital activity, as he put it, might harm the unborn child. She’d found it very difficult to be angry with him because his motives had been so pure and noble, and she’d thought he was making such a supreme sacrifice. She’d been bitterly disappointed though, after such an active and exhilarating start to their married life. Every time she raised the subject, he’d promised that once the child was born, things would return to normal.
After Charles was born though, and the doctor had given her the all-clear, she’d gone to Ross, only to be disappointed again. Finally, she’d confronted him, and had been shocked when he’d broken down and wept. He’d told her it was the worry of not having any money that was preoccupying him, and that if only he didn’t have so many financial worries, he’d be a different man, the man she wanted him to be.
Although they’d never discussed it, she’d always assumed that he had a steady income from some source or other. He’d always seemed to have plenty of money. When he cried in front of her, confessing he was virtually bankrupt and up to his ears in debt, her heart had gone out to him. The following day, she’d cabled her lawyer in the States and made him a gift of half of her stocks and bonds, which had immediately given him a personal income of over a million pounds a year.
He’d been grateful and happy with that initially, and even made the occasional effort to visit her room, but it wasn’t the same as Monte. He started spending more and more time away. Before long his debts had mounted again and he’d come to her for more. She’d lost count of the number of times since then that she’d bailed him out of trouble with various gambling houses.
In the end, she’d been forced to accept that he just wasn’t interested in her physically. At first that made her question her own sexuality. Then it made her angry. Then she’d just been sad. But she’d stuck at her marriage and been faithful and giving, trying to make the best of it. In fact, she’d thought things had started looking up recently.
Just before the school holidays, Charles had asked if he could have two of his friends to stay, because their parents were abroad. The three young teenagers had arrived down from Eton like a whirlwind, and just as she’d been wondering how on earth she was going to cope on her own, Ross had cancelled all his gambling trips and stepped in.
He’d spent nearly the whole summer with them at the farm, swimming with the boys, carrying them around on his shoulders, wrestling with them and generally fooling about. They’d adored him, and he’d often taken them off for joyrides in his car or for flights in one of his planes from the private airstrip behind the house. And at night, he’d been more attentive towards her too, on quite a few occasions.
It had been a wonderful summer and she could see no reason why now, just as things were starting to come right, that he should dump her out of his plane like a sack of trash.
Alice stayed in the bath until the water was nearly cold, soothing her aching bones and soaking her cuts and bruises. Eventually, she let the water out then stood up and turned the shower on to wash her hair. She went back into her bedroom wearing the bathrobe and a towel wrapped around her head like a turban to find that Philippe had been as good as his word. On the bed were four separate piles of clothing. There were knickers and bras, T-shirts and blouses, jeans and trousers and some summer dresses.
On the dressing table, she found a hairbrush and comb, a hair dryer and some basic items of makeup and hair care. The makeup and hair things were all brand new. Tears came to her eyes as she looked at all he’d done for her. She was deeply touched.
After she’d dried her hair and tied it back in a loose ponytail, she tried to patch up her face a little with some makeup, then went through the clothes for something to wear. She was nervous of wearing Louisa’s clothes, conscious that although Philippe had given them to her, it might upset him, but she really didn’t have any choice. Most of the things looked like they would fit her okay, thought the trousers and jeans were too long and the bras were two cup sizes too small. I guess Louisa must have been taller and thinner than me, she thought.
In the end, she chose one of the simple summer frocks and wore it with clean knickers but her own bra. Although she hated putting something back on that she’d already worn for three days, it was better than going without because she certainly did not want to appear improperly dressed in front of Philippe.
