Scene 2

The next morning, as Maille made his way to the quarter where the Deuxième Bureau was located, he had to sidestep puddles and little canals created by the rains and the mini-fountains that sprang up as the cars swished through them. Previously, May had been a dry month. But in recent times, on the most wonderful spring days clouds could be found suddenly blocking out the skies – appearing straight out of nothingness.

The offices of the Secret Service were housed in a building whose facade bore lightweight, continual diagonal cornices which made it difficult to discern where the different floors began. Its outer walls bent slightly inwards, something that, from the street level, made it seem as though the house was continuously retreating as one approached it.

Naturally, the elevator was out of order. As Maille trudged up the stairs, he felt as though his rain-splashed trousers were getting tighter and tighter. He felt a pain in his neck, his ears stung and buzzed, and his hands felt unpleasantly dry. He often felt that way when he entered that building. But at least today he was able to resist the temptation to lick his fingers moist. Nevertheless, he would rather have been elsewhere – for example in Murcia, where it almost never rained.

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