The door opened before they reached it and a large man with a grey beard and a belly stepped out, hostility in every bone. He was dressed in traditional blues and rubber boots, with white chest hairs sprouting from a grubby check shirt. Rocco judged him to be in his late sixties.
‘What do you want?’ he demanded, and stared at Alix. ‘Come back to show off your uniform again, have you?’ He sneered at Rocco. ‘Who’s your boyfriend?’
Rocco stepped forward and said, ‘My name is Rocco. Inspector of police. You are Thomas Portier?’
‘Yes. So what?’
‘Is your brother around?’
‘Not on this property, he isn’t.’ Portier gave a lopsided grin. ‘Haven’t you heard — we don’t really get on.’
‘So I gather. In fact, you don’t get on so much, you shot him.’
‘Rubbish.’ Thomas waved a work-calloused hand. ‘It was an accident, like I already told your lot. He happened to be standing on the edge of my land when I shot at a polecat. Serves him right. Anyway, he retracted the charge against me this morning, so there’s no case.’ He stepped back and began to close the door, but Rocco jammed his foot in the way.
‘Where is he now?’
Portier let the door open fully. ‘I don’t know. Who cares? He’s probably over at his dump of a house on the other side of the field, watching us through field glasses and hoping you’ve come to rearrest me.’ He jerked his head sideways, and Rocco looked to where the upper windows of a house showed just above a dip in the ground.
‘Would he come here if we asked him?’
‘I doubt it.’ Thomas turned and reached round the edge of the door. When he drew his arm back, he was holding a shotgun. He had a glitter of something malicious in his eyes. ‘I hope he does — then I’ll give him another taste of this. Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve got work to do, so piss off — and take the little girlie with you.’ He snapped the barrels shut with a loud click.
Rocco sighed. This one could run and run until somebody ended up dead. Probably somebody like Alix or Claude, called out to do their duty and running into a long-standing bitter feud between two men who would never give way.
‘I’m sorry to hear you say that.’ He took out his own gun and pointed it down at the ground, then pulled the trigger twice in quick succession. The reports were shockingly loud and scared up the clutch of pigeons on the roof in a rush of flapping hysteria and falling plumage.
Thomas stared, wide-eyed, and swallowed. But the gun barrels dropped. ‘Are you crazy?’
‘Far from it. I know at least three cops who would have already shot you dead for pulling that trick.’ Rocco stepped forward and took the shotgun from him, and handed it to Alix. ‘Consider it a lesson for the future. Now, let’s wait for your brother to get here, shall we? Something tells me he won’t be long.’
Sure enough, moments later, they heard the whine of a 2CV engine, and a small grey car came barrelling across the open fields towards the farmhouse, trailing a spiralling cloud of dust and grass fragments and veering from side to side.
Rocco nodded for Alix to walk out and show her uniform. He knew Hervé was nursing buckshot wounds, but he didn’t want to take the chance on the man being as quick-tempered as his brother, and to come out of his vehicle shooting.
The car stopped and a younger, carbon copy of Thomas climbed out and walked urgently across the yard, leaving two dark-brown spaniels jumping up and down in the back. He was dressed in boots and rough corduroy pants, with a greasy peaked cap on his head and a leather jacket. One arm was held tight in a sling.
Rocco was relieved to see that his other hand was empty.
‘What the hell’s going on?’ the newcomer yelled. ‘Have you shot my idiot brother?’ He gave a bark of laughter when he saw Thomas still standing, and nodded slowly when he spotted the gun in Alix’s hand. ‘That explains it. He pulled that on you, didn’t he? He thinks he lives in the Wild West.’ He stopped alongside Alix and shook his head. ‘So what brings you out here, officers? I dropped the charges, although I’m beginning to wish I hadn’t, now.’
‘You stole my cow!’ Thomas shouted, his face going deep red and revealing the extent of the passions between the two men simmering not far beneath the surface.
‘Why would I do that? You think I want your disease-ridden bags of bones?’
‘Because you’re greedy and always have been. You resent everything about me and you’re a thief into the bargain!’
Rocco stooped and picked up the two shell casings from his gun and dropped them in his pocket. Then he checked the magazine, making a series of loud clicks in the silence and deliberately ignoring the two men. They watched him, their argument momentarily suspended.
He put the gun away. ‘This has got to stop. I’ve got two murders to investigate, and a backlog of other cases, so I’d appreciate it if you two would sort out your differences without resorting to open warfare.’ He looked at Hervé. ‘Did you steal his cow?’
‘No! He’s lying, as usual. Go count them if you like.’ He pointed at his bandaged arm and added quickly, ‘He shot me for no good reason!’
‘You were on my land, that’s reason enough for me,’ Thomas retorted, but some of the wind had gone out of him.
Rocco said to Hervé, ‘How many?’
‘What?’
‘How many animals have you got, as a matter of interest?’
‘He’s got twenty-six,’ muttered Thomas, ‘because I went over and counted them last night while he was lying in hospital playing the wounded soldier. He only had twenty-five before. Go on, ask him.’ He glared at Hervé. ‘Or are you claiming a case of divine intervention made your herd grow by one overnight?’
Hervé pulled a face. ‘I’ve always had twenty-six and you know it.’
‘Really?’ It was Alix, stepping forward to join in the conversation. ‘Are you sure about that, sir?’
‘Huh?’ Hervé looked puzzled. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I came up here and visited both farms about a week ago with the government vet — to make sure he was safe. I had nothing else to do, so I helped him fill out some forms while he did his tests.’
‘Well, good for you. So what?’ Hervé, Rocco noted, was suddenly looking sullen, and rubbing his injured shoulder.
‘I distinctly recall you having twenty-five heads, and your brother having thirty-six. You and I counted yours together and you signed the form to confirm it.’
‘So I made a mistake. What are you going to do, lock me up for having a lousy memory?’ He gave a snort, but it lacked conviction.
‘See?’ Thomas crowed, pointing at him in triumph. ‘I knew it — he was lying! I want my cow back, officers!’
Rocco raised a hand to shut them both up. ‘Seems to me we have something of a trade-off.’
Both men looked at him. ‘What?’ muttered Thomas.
‘Thomas can be charged with using a firearm to intimidate two officers performing their duty, and Hervé can face a charge of cattle rustling.’
‘There’s no such charge,’ Hervé blustered. ‘That’s cowboy stuff from films.’
‘Yes, there is. It’s under an old land and properties act, I grant you, but it’s still enforceable and carries a prison sentence. Quite a stiff one.’
Hervé looked stunned and his mouth snapped shut like a trap.
‘The gun charge,’ Rocco continued, ‘is definitely current and also carries a prison term. Would you like me to arrange a shared cell? Or I can drop both charges on your personal assurances that you will stop arguing … and Officer Poulon and I can get on with finding out who murdered two people just over the hill from here.’
‘You’ve got it.’ Thomas was the first to speak. ‘I promise.’