Scene 3

21.45: Senpuav, «Maison Lara»

It was late when Odette Sissay reached the village Senpuav and, in most homes, the lights were out. Hektor Maille's little villa was also in darkness. Only those who looked closely could discern a subtle light emerging from a tiny basement window and casting a glow over the vegetable garden, immersing the cabbages and pumpkins in a ghostly light - making it appear as though they were lit up by the earth.

Odette drove through the garden gate into the parking lot and stopped the engine, which ran out with a low chuckle, whirring for a few seconds like an overstrained bow before subsiding into silence.

She grabbed the glass jar with the Turkish tripe soup and got out of the car. The grass was moist and, with every step she took, her feet unleashed a silver glittering cloud of water droplets that then sank like a cooling mist on her legs. She enjoyed every step. And God missed the opportunity to place a poisonous little snake in the grass - which might have seen the story coming to a happy ending.

And so Odette arrived unharmed in the kitchen, proceeded to heat the tripe soup in the microwave, pour it then into a bowl, put a piece of bread on top of it, unlock the cellar door, go down and say, «Well, how are you, Daddy Koslow?»

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