Page 58 of Atlas: The Story of Pa Salt

‘Leave? Where?’

‘Monsieur Brouilly’s apartment in Montparnasse. He will take you in and you will be safe there until I can think of a solution.’

‘I’m worried that Toussaint will go to Elle. He’s her tutor. It is possible he knows where she lives.’

Evelyn closed her eyes and nodded. ‘I think you are right to be concerned. You must go to her first.’

‘But Evelyn, what about you? What if Toussaint does come back here?’

‘Let him come. I don’t think he wants anything to do withme. I will send for Louis tomorrow, and he will come to stay here. Now hurry up. You can make it to Elle on the Rue Riquet in under an hour if you jog. Go upstairs and pack some clothes – only the essentials. I will write down the address of Monsieur Brouilly.’ I scarpered upstairs and shoved some shirts and underwear into my leather satchel.

I took Brouilly’s address from Evelyn, and after a long hug, ran out into the night.

I arrived at Elle’s lodgings on the Rue Riquet drenched in sweat and panting after my seven-mile journey. Her window was at the very top of the house, and I cursed myself for failing to plan this far ahead. I had to resort to gathering some small pebbles from the roadside and launching them at the attic pane. It was a risky strategy, but I had little choice. After a minute or two, it yielded a result, and Elle’s sleepy face appeared.

‘Bo?’ she mouthed to me. I gestured for her to come downstairs. She nodded.

After a few moments, the front door opened quietly, and Elle stood before me in her white nightdress. She embraced me. ‘What’s happening, Bo?’

‘I will explain everything once we’re safe... but now I need you to come with me.’

Her face dropped. ‘Is ithim?’ she asked, fear in her eyes.

‘Not exactly. But I need you to pack a few clothes and come back down. We’re going to Monsieur Brouilly’s apartment.’

No further explanation was needed. Within minutes Elle had returned and we quietly navigated through the back streets to Montparnasse. Thankfully, finding Laurent’s address proved a relatively easy task, because his window was adorned with pink orchids... which I knew to be the national flower of Brazil. Several rings on the doorbell produced a bleary-eyed Brouilly,who, once he had registered that it was I on his doorstep, welcomed us in. He graciously brewed a strong pot of coffee, and I relayed the night’s events to both him and Elle.

‘My God! My God!’ Brouilly kept saying. ‘You are an enigma, Bo. The silent boy. Look how he talks now. My God!’

Elle held my hand, and her presence provided more comfort than I could truly express. ‘Thank you for coming for me,’ she said.

‘If only I hadn’t talked, Elle. I assumed it was Kreeg. I was trying to reason with someone who wasn’t even in the room...’

‘Of course you assumed that. I would have done exactly the same.’

I paused to look around Brouilly’s cramped apartment. A dim lamp served to illuminate his collection of semi-finished projects and half-baked ideas. Sculptures, canvases and tools literally littered the place. The chaos didn’t help my mental state, and I put my head in my hands. ‘If only I hadn’t woken up! Toussaint would have taken his vases and been on his way. I probably would have been none the wiser.’

‘I wish that Bel could hear you speak,’ Brouilly said melancholically.

I looked at him. Even after what I had just described, his mind was elsewhere. ‘Have you had any further contact, Monsieur Brouilly?’ I asked.

My former atelier partner had a haunted look on his face. ‘No.’

Eventually, Brouilly brought through some blankets. I insisted that Elle slept on the small sofa, and I placed a pillow on the floor. Elle dropped her hand down and I held it before exhaustion took a hold of me and I drifted off to sleep.

The doorbell rang early the next morning, and Brouilly opened the door to Evelyn.

‘My dears, it is good to see you.’ I raced over and hugged her tightly. ‘Hello, Elle. I am glad you are safe. I have contacted the gendarmerie.’

‘The gendarmerie?’ I said, horrified.

‘Yes, Bo. Do not forget that my employer’s house was broken into last night, not to mention the small matter of Elle’s drunken tutor trying to kill you. Toussaint needs to be apprehended and dealt with. After all, we cannot have a raving lunatic return to the Conservatoire de Paris to tutor vulnerable young people.’

‘But Evelyn, the gendarmerie will want to speak to me! They’ll have questions about the diamond. You don’t understand, I can’t—’

‘I do understand, Bo, perfectly well.’ She took my hand. ‘I have always understood, ever since that little boy knocked on my door for the very first time. You have known more terror in your life than any one human should experience, from forces far beyond the comprehension of a simple woman such as I. So yes, whilst the gendarmerie will wish to speak with you as a matter of urgency, luckily I do not have the faintest idea of where you are.’ She gave me a wink.

Elle spoke next. ‘When the police pick up Toussaint, he’ll twist the story and tell them about Bo’s outburst.’ She looked at me with sorrow. ‘Remember, last night you mentioned... killing a woman.’