After much careful deliberation and with the first chapter of his book firmly under Harry's belt, both friends thought it was time to move on. Nice was an enjoyable town, but as irritation sparked his ageing eyes, Harry sniffed with distaste at the sight that now caught his attention. 'What on earth is that?' he said, pointing to what at first glimpse looked like a scruffy bundle of rags. It was hunched to one side of the narrow laneway as they began driving out of the hotel car park. Harry had engaged the gear stick into drive and started to pull out of the garage when he looked out of the side window. The site that met his eyes was immediately troubling. The bundle of rags was partially covered in blood and started to resemble a body as he looked more closely. The unfortunate person could have been badly beaten because of the way he was lying. His legs were tucked up and his back curved as though defending himself. There was also a small pool of blood lying beside what was now obviously the body of a man - unmoving. Harry's face clouded over with realization as he started to shake inside.
'I don't know dear boy, but you need to turn right here,' Tony wasn't really paying attention at first, hoping his friend was concentrating on them departing the town of Nice on the correct roads. He indicated with a nod of the head which way they needed to go - but Harry's mind was now fixed on what lay before them, nudging and trying to draw Tony's attention toward what he had just noticed.
At that moment, two people were approaching the bundle, curiously - it was lying hunched against the doorway of a small restaurant. The pair stood motionless for a moment, then looked down wondering with equal distaste what it was, and what to do about it. Then immediately one of them became animated, agitated with concern. The young woman looked shocked.
Harry almost ran into the curb.
'Hey... careful!' cried Tony, grasping the door handle on his side of the car in sudden fright, a worried look on his face.
Harry braked immediately, staring horrified at the sight before them, noticing at the same time someone disappearing down a narrow lane up ahead. He sat stunned momentarily, then turned to face his friend. 'Did you see that man running away just now? he asked, while frowning, then turning back to gaze out of the front windscreen at the gathering crowd. 'I just saw a suspicious looking older man hurrying off - looking over his shoulder like a scared rabbit. For a moment I thought he looked familiar.'
'Yes, I did too, come to think of it, although not paying a great deal of attention at first. We should call the police immediately.'
Tony started fumbling with his mobile phone - then looked up surprised. 'How familiar...?' he asked. But his question faded into the background as life around them was no longer normal, but taking on an air of alarm and curiosity.
In a very short time the scene began to buzz and hum with movement. This sort of thing just didn't happen in their town. Nice was on the French Riviera, supposedly chic with tourists and local people going about their every day activities.
Two more people had wandered up wondering what was amiss and more being attracted by the frenzied activity. The area near the hotel was filling up quickly with onlookers.
They didn't need to call the police. Two burly men in uniform stood barring their way, trying to discipline the gathering crowd surrounding the body.
Tony's face twisted in a grimace. 'Oh dear, I don' think we will be leaving for a while. This looks serious.' He sat back in his passenger seat sighing, mouth taught.
Harry looked out of the driver's window briefly, still frowning. 'Think you're right, I'm afraid. This doesn't look good and I hope we don't get caught up in it either,' he added somewhat ruefully.
The two policemen ordered the crowd to stand well back as they called for back-up. No doubt the area would be sealed and questions asked very soon. One policeman turned, noticing them waiting to exit the car-park. At first he spoke in French, then realized they were English because of their registration plate. Although both friends spoke some French, the conversation was directed in English.
'Did you happen to see anything suspicious earlier?' asked the uniformed policemen, bending down to Harry's side of the car, looking very serious, his eyes penetrating. Harry had already opened the window immediately and responded cautiously at first, becoming considerably nervous. 'Err...well yes, yes I think I did,' he answered, worrying about the consequences of his answer. 'It appears we both did.' The policeman's expression was one of serious consideration. 'I'll need to ask you more questions, I'm afraid.'
Tony's insides lurched, knowing where this was leading - hearing the policeman address Harry, his heart sinking low.
'You'd better come with me. This is a serious matter and looks as though a crime might have been committed.'
'Damn and blast', thought Tony. 'That's torn it! Now we'll never be able to leave.' Luckily they didn't have anything booked for the next few days, so resigned himself to staying in Nice until this business was dealt with. Goodness knows how long it would take.
It was obvious they couldn't leave the car in the hotel car park, but the policeman instructed them to follow him to the police station. He took a few details first, before walking off to his car nearby. Harry was beginning to shake more as he was directed where to drive. His heart was pounding as they pulled out of the hotel car park. They'd only driven a short distance before this discovery was made.
'It's a pity we can't answer his questions here in the laneway. Then we could leave. Bad timing I call it.' He was starting to despair.
By now, Tony's look was one of resignation at what they were letting themselves into. 'Oh well,' he sighed again. 'Never thought we'd see the inside of a police station when we got up this morning.'
'Let's hope it won't take long, eh? All we need do is tell them exactly what we saw and didn't see and hey presto, we'll be on our way again,' Harry said hopefully.
'By the way, why did you say you thought that chap who was running away, looked familiar?'
Harry pondered for a moment. 'Oh, I don't know, there was something about his eyes, height and colour of hair. It was not for long really.'
'So you did see his face then?' Tony asked, amazed, as he had only caught a brief glimpse of the man himself.
'Not for long,' repeated Harry, still wondering exactly what it was he did see. 'He disappeared fairly quickly around the corner of that narrow alley, a bit further up,' he indicated with a quick jerk of his head. 'The one with a small shop on the corner.'
They followed the policeman around several narrow one-way streets before reaching a long road, winding around several corners before arriving at the police station. Above clouds were gathering, a certain gloom blocking out any late summer sun.
Harry pulled into a spare park, bringing the Mercedes to an abrupt halt. 'I'm not going to enjoy this,' he told his friend, unbuckling his seat belt.
'Me neither, but let's get it over with as soon as possible, eh?'
Harry thought for a moment. 'It might not work like that Tony,' he replied, scratching the back of his head and grimacing. 'We might be stuck here for some time.'
'I certainly hope not! Don't know about you, but the quicker we leave here the better.' This is a nasty business and I for one, don't want to get too involved.' Tony wasn't at all happy about the unplanned interruption to their holiday.
They followed the policeman through the main doors, down a long corridor and into an interviewing room. He shut the door firmly behind them. Tony shuddered slightly with the suddenness of it.
'Please have a seat gentlemen.' The tall, burly, serious-looking policeman gestured to the seats on the opposite side of his desk. He had a brisk, business-like manner as he took out a clean sheet of paper from his desk - then made a few adjustments on his computer screen. He looked directly at Harry first. 'So you admit to seeing someone running from the scene? Is that correct?'
Harry gazed back at the policeman, immediately wrong-footed at the bluntness of his question. 'Y...yes sir.' He thought it best to come clean straight away - get it over with, then move on.
'And can you describe this person? Male or female?'
Harry felt suddenly nervous, the palms of his hands beginning to sweat. Tony steepled his fingers in the chair beside him, in order to master his thoughts on how this might resolve itself.
'Male...definitely male - and possibly an older man.' Then he hesitated.
'An older man you say? So you did see his face?' The policeman was unrelenting. Harry gritted his teeth before answering.
'Err...yes...yes I did, but only briefly.' He shifted in his seat, as the policeman's stare began unsettling him.
Tony was almost certain this was going to take some time. He was resigning himself to the fact that any chance of them moving on along the coast today was diminishing with every passing minute. He sat motionless, eyes fixed on the policeman opposite.
Rain had begun to beat upon the window of the interviewing room - as persistent as the policeman's questions. There was a sudden boisterous melee going on outside, momentarily taking his attention off the tension surrounding them. He was filled with unease, as the weather turned autumnal for a while, the wind waving through a tree outside, a gloom hanging in the air when the policeman turned to face him.
'Did you see this person running from the crime scene?'
'Perhaps, very briefly,' Tony replied.
The policeman turned back to Harry. 'Could you describe this man for me?'
There was a considerable pause while Harry thought carefully, then proceeded to answer what it was he saw - again thinking he may have seen this person before somewhere. It puzzled him, but he said nothing, preferring only to describe any features he remembered.
The interview went on for a considerable time before they were allowed to leave after statements were signed. They were told not to leave Nice for the time being, as more questions might be ongoing. Both men groaned to themselves, wondering where they would be staying. They had checked out of the hotel this morning. Then as they were almost at the car, the same policeman caught them up, informing them of a hotel he'd managed to book for a few days.
'Bet you it's only two star,' muttered Tony, grimacing at the thought.
Harry shut the car door before replying under his breath. 'All bets are off. I agree, but let's find out first.'
They followed the brief instructions they had been given, slowly making their way across Nice.
Some time later they were amazed to find the hotel was actually five star. They had checked in looking somewhat astonished at their surroundings.
Sinking into a sofa in the middle of the room, Harry chuckled. 'I should have held you to that bet. This isn't going to be quite as gruesome as we thought, huh?'
'But we only have one room,' moaned Tony. 'Oh well...at least there are two beds! Don't think I could put up with you again as per Port Grimaud.'
Harry was indignant. 'What about Port Grimaud? You were the one to avoid...all that nakedness. Ugh! Never a night like it old boy.'
'Don't "old boy" me,' replied Tony, raising his eyebrows. 'You are the most frightful snorer!'
Harry extracted himself out of the comfy sofa. 'Alright, you win,' he said, pulling a face then grinning at his friend, who started to unpack a few things into a large cupboard. Tony was always particular about his clothes, taking care to look smart as often as possible.
Through one of the large windows beyond some elegant curtains, Harry spotted a balcony. 'Hey, look at this grandeur,' he said, with a sweep of an arm. 'This room gets better and better. I wonder if the hotel has a decent bar,' he added, wandering through the doorway onto the balcony.'
'There's only one way to find out.' Tony was still unpacking a few more items in the ensuite bathroom. 'I wonder how much longer we'll be stuck here for?'
Harry returned to their room, his mouth tight. 'Your guess is as good as mine I suppose. At least we have somewhere decent to stay. Could have been far worse.'
'Yeah,' admitted Tony, but I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the coast road and over into Italy before we need to turn north for Switzerland.'
Harry reluctantly began unpacking a few things also.
His friend suddenly stopped what he was doing. 'Why do you think you had seen that man before. Where exactly?'
Harry thought for a long moment, his mind going back into the past. 'I don't think it was all that long ago actually,' he considered. 'Mmm, something about his eyes and hair colour...' His mind kept returning to those particular features and why, he wasn't sure. He pondered still further - then shrugged. 'It possibly has no bearing on this crime anyway.'
'Not a pleasant thing to happen in Nice of all places. We were at the wrong place at the wrong time,' Tony concluded. 'What about we find somewhere nice to eat lunch? Put this business out of our minds for a while. What do you say old friend?'
'Definitely! I'm with you there. After that grilling earlier in the police station, I could do with a cold beer.' Harry finally finished organizing the contents of his suitcase and sighed heavily. 'Phew! glad that's done. We've only just packed this morning.'
The rain had eased considerably as patches of blue showed through the last of some grey scudding clouds, turning paler as the sunshine washed them whiter. Shadows slanted through the streets of Nice below, while both men took the lift to the ground floor.
Not really in the mood to do anything else, they managed to find a nice little restaurant not far away. After ordering a beer, the main topic of conversation was what had occurred earlier that morning. Tony sat forward in his seat looking directly at Harry opposite. 'I don't know about you, but this business doesn't look good. Could be very serious you know. Perhaps a murder even!'
Harry leant towards his friend and in low tones, answered dubiously. 'Quite possibly, and I don't fancy getting mixed up in it. Maybe we are already involved, although only witnesses to seeing a man looking suspicious - that's all,' he said with a shrug.
'That's all?' Tony wasn't convinced. 'If there was a murder committed, we could be here forever, witnessing what we did. He was beginning to feel nervous again, but when the beers arrived each took a long mouthful. 'Ahhh...that's better,' he said, sitting back licking the froth from his lips. 'Good for the nerves, eh?' As he took a further sip, Tony was noticing two rather good-looking women as they brushed past him to sit at a nearby. table. They turned and smiled. His thoughts turned briefly from the subject in question that had been troubling them.
Harry remained concerned, mindful of their present situation, his brain at present far from being able to concentrate further on his book he'd begun to write recently. Although he was an expert in procrastination, he'd hoped to return to it very soon.
The next morning they had a further summons to report at the police station by nine o'clock. After a certain amount of dithering over breakfast, they set off to arrive at the appointed time.
'What now?' grumbled Tony, as they pulled into the car park.
Harry went through the motions of locking the car. 'Don't know, but we're about to find out.' He sounded more than apprehensive.
After being met at the door and passing through a form of security, they followed on the heels of the same burly police officer, where once again they were ushered into an interview room. Harry was immediately aware of his lack of preparedness.
'Gentlemen, be seated please.' The policeman sat down opposite them, straightening his back and looking no less serious than the day before. 'I trust you have slept well?'
'Thank you,' answered Tony politely - 'yes we have.'
The policeman's expression looked grave, fingers thrumming on the paperwork littering his desk - 'it appears there's been a murder committed. We have been making many enquiries as you can imagine...' Tony worried where this was leading, meeting his hard stare, wondering if their previous answers had been adequate enough. The policeman opposite continued. 'This business will be ongoing until the person responsible is apprehended. We have your statements and if there is nothing further to add, you are free to leave Nice.'
Both friends were stunned learning this news, not at all expecting to be off the hook quite so soon. They tried hard not to look relieved, the tension leaving their faces. 'We also know where you can be contacted and if there are further questions...'
Tony couldn't help intervening. 'Of course sir, we will be pleased to answer any further questions - won't we Harry?'
'Of course - absolutely! It is alright to leave Nice then?' he asked quietly, needing reassurance. He was almost shocked with their immediate dismissal - which was most unexpected.
'That's correct.'
Feeling utterly relieved, they were shown out of the main door which was closed behind them.
'Phew! That's a relief.' grinned Tony, looking over at Harry as they reached the car. 'Most unexpected, eh old friend?'
'Definitely! And here we are thinking we'd be here for the duration. Let's head along the coast without further delay.'
Tony clicked into his seat belt. 'There's a little matter of checking out first.'
'Ah!' laughed Harry, 'so there is.'
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