Sunday, May 25, 1941
In Bruz
Raymond, Norris and Laurent were at the Abbey Arms Inn in Bruz. Laurent was attacked by the Fallen Angel, which was clearly not a ghost and was probably not an angel either, in the ruins of the old abbey. Several farmers showed up at the last minute and rescued them.
Returning to their car, the team and their rescuers were accosted by a German patrol investigating the gunshots. Raymond conveyed the “gored by a bull” story, and the farmers backed him up. The patrol was satisfied and let them go on their way.
Back at the inn, there were no Germans present. The innkeeper told them that they checked out that morning, and their replacements had not yet arrived. The three farmers were slowly come to grips with the notion that they had defeated to Fallen Angel, which had haunted the abbey for one hundred and fifty years. They celebrated in the taproom while the team tended to Laurent. They had been given the bedroom off the taproom as the innkeeper did not think Laurent would make it up the stairs.
Raymond did a superior job of immediate First Aid to Laurent’s wounds, but he needed proper medical attention to close up the punctures. The farmers sent for a local doctor. Doctor Rocher arrived promptly, and informed them that a police inspector and three gendarmes were in the taproom interviewing the farmers about what had happened at the abbey ruins. With Raymond and Norris assistance, Doctor Rocher closed and bandaged Laurent’s wounds.
While they were involved with the doctor, Raymond considered the thing that had attacked them. It reminded him of something he once read in an “uncommon” book back in Poland. He recalled mention of a creature known as a byakhee, which was said to be something that just beyond amateur sorcerers could summon with some practice. They were said to be extraterrestrial and flew through space without the need for air.
A Chat with the Police
Inspector Duranseau introduced himself to Raymond when he emerged from Laurent’s room. The Inspector did not want to disturb them while they were tending to their friend. He was advised by the German authorities of gunshots reported in the area near the abbey ruins. He then received reports of the Fallen Angel attacking someone at the Abbey ruins from several distraught farmers. The gunshots were later reported by the investigating German patrol to have been in response to a Laurent Gilbert being gored by a bull.
Raymond interjected citing that given the rumors about the abbey, the sight of blood might had led the simple peasants to jump to conclusions. The Inspector nodded in agreement. However, he said that as the district inspector of police for this area, he was obliged under the terms of the armistice to investigate any incidents involving firearms. The citizenry was only granted the possession of any firearms at the sufferance of the German authorities, so he was required to ensure that any use of firearms by civilians was justified.
To this end, the Inspector had a few questions, strictly routine of course, that he had ask them.
- What brought you to Bruz? Raymond told him they were investigating stolen art from Rennes and thought that it might be hidden in the abbey ruins using the stories of the Fallen Angel to scare people off. He added that they had been told that the locals actively discouraged people from going there.
- Where did they encounter the bull? Raymond said that they were at the ruins and heard a sound over the hill. They went to investigate. Laurent climbed over a fence, and then he was set upon by the bull. The farmers arrived and shot their guns into the air to scare off the bull.
- The Inspector said that Raymond’s story agreed with what he had heard from the farmers in the taproom. The hysterical farmers said it was the Fallen Angel and it came out of the sky. The men in the taproom said it was a bull from the Artois farm on the other side of the hill that had escaped from its paddock.
- What happened to the bull? Raymond said that he did not notice. He was more focused on tending to his injured friend. The Inspector mentioned that the hysterical farmers said that the other farmers shot the hovering creature and it disintegrated, leaving no way to prove or disprove their story. The more rational farmers said that they fired their guns in the air and drove the bull back to the Artois farm.
- The Inspector noted, however, that no one at the Artois farm was aware of the bull escaping. Raymond responded that they were probably embarrassed and fearful of litigation or negligence claims by the wounded man. He added that they had no intentions of pursuing legal matters, but it was reasonable that the farmers might think that they would.
At the conclusion of their conversation, the Inspector suggested that if they were planning to return to Rennes, they should do so soon in order to avoid the curfew. Raymond explained that the doctor had said not to move Laurent until tomorrow, so they would be staying the night.
After he interviewed Raymond, the Inspector asked Norris the same questions.
- What brought you to Bruz? Norris said that he was doing a religious anthropological review of the area.
- Why was he at the abbey? Norris said that he was researching the Fallen Angel myth.
- Where did they encounter the bull? Norris said they came upon it in the field. An open field? Yes. The open area around the ruins.
- The Inspector asked him what he thought of the hysterical farmers’ claim that it was the Fallen Angel and it came out of the sky. Norris said that it was due to mass hysteria, a group hallucination in clinical terms, and that they had imagined that the bull was the Fallen Angel. The Inspector added that the rescuers said it was a bull from the Artois farm on the other side of the hill that had escaped from its paddock.
- What happened to the bull? Norris said that he did not know. Perhaps someone saw the wounded animal and carried it off.
- So the bull was wounded? Norris said that he assumed that it was based on hearing the gunshots, but was preoccupied with helping his fallen friend. The Inspector mentioned that farmers who came to their aid said that they fired their guns in the air and drove the bull back to the Artois farm. Norris said that this agreed with his story. He had assumed that they had fired at it, but perhaps he was mistaken.
- The Inspector asked how Norris could explain that no one at the Artois farm was aware of the bull escaping. Norris replied that perhaps the farmers were embarrassed or fearful on account of losing the bull.
- The Inspector asked why Norris thought that the farmers were armed when they came to their rescue. The abbey ruins were not especially close to any farms. There were large pastures in between. Norris replied that perhaps the farmers were wary of strangers, but when they saw the bull attack, the farmers came to their aid out of Christian charity.
A Familiar Stranger
Norris could tell that the Inspector was not convinced, but the gendarmes left at the conclusion of the Inspector’s conversation with him, leaving Norris alone at the corner table. As he was collecting himself, Norris recognized the driver of the truck in front of them at the checkpoint observing them through a window. The man ran off toward the rear of the building.
Raymond also noticed him and recognized him as among the farmers at the Abbey ruins who must have run off. He chased after the man out the front door. As he rounded the corner of the building, Raymond saw the man run around the back of the neighboring building. He sprinted after him and caught him trying to get into a van parked behind the building. He threatened him with baguette. The man turned on him wielding a large kitchen knife.
The man lunged at Raymond but missed. Raymond attempted to grab the knife, but failed. The man stabbed again and missed. Raymond nearly fell into the blade, and it slashed his shirt. Raymond tried to intimidate the man saying that he was going easy on him. The man paused for a moment.
Raymond asked why he was spying on them. The man replied it was none of Raymond’s business and attacked again. He missed and Raymond swung at him unsuccessfully. The man attacked again but the knife flew out of his hand.
Raymond hit his opponent in the right arm and it went numb. The man lashed out with his left fist and hit him in the right leg. Raymond hit him again, and the man fell down. He kicked at Raymond. Raymond stomped at him. The man rolled away under the van. Raymond grabbed the knife.
The man attempted to open the passenger side door, but it was locked. Raymond opened the driver side door and took the keys. The man then ran away behind the van. With his injured leg, Raymond could not pursue, so he searched the van.
The van had a refrigeration unit mounted on the ceiling above the cargo area. The rear of the van contained two large trunk sized refrigerated containers that filled the entire space. Inside, these containers had thick sides and moveable wire shelves. On the floor of the containers were removable spill trays. The trays had been washed but showed evidence of blood.
Searching the cab, Raymond found a hidden compartment between the driver’s seat and the cargo area containing a double-barreled shotgun, a box of shells, a flashlight, a map, something wrapped in a handkerchief (a translucent black disk), and a dead ink pen. He examined the map, but did not see any markings until he shifted it and noticed faint indentations.
Raymond also found a clipboard with a delivery schedule, as well as a toolbox under the front bench seat containing normal vehicle repair tools. He disassembled the shotgun and put the pieces and everything else in the tool box. Then he called Norris for assistance. He explained the events to Norris and asked him to drive the van so they could move it somewhere else. Raymond followed in their car and they hid the van in a convenient hiding place before the nearest checkpoint on the way back to Rennes. Then they drove in their car back to Bruz.
Examining the Clues
When Raymond and Norris returned to the inn, Laurent was sitting at the bar have some food. They had the tool box with them. They returned to their room where Norris and Laurent examined what they had found. Norris noted that the map was marked with delivery locations, including the airbase. All the routes seemed to start outside the village of Pont Pean, 3km southeast of Bruz.
Examining the delivery schedule, Raymond noted that the driver originated at the Louis Stephan farm outside Pont Pean, picked up meat from neighboring farms around Bruz, and delivered it to the Luftwaffe base. Laurent suggested supplying contaminated meat to the airbase.
Norris examined the bundle. Inside was a translucent black disk. Laurent noticed that it fit over the flashlight. Using the black light on the map revealed multiple locations around Rennes where the team had been seen, including the marketplace, the Rennes library, Rancourt’s building, the Hotel Royale, Gestapo Headquarters, and the most recent annotation, the abbey ruins outside Bruz.
Laurent asked what happened to the driver. Raymond said he ran off, but had had the kitchen knife, which was of the same manufacture as the meat cleaver from the attack in the marketplace.
By this time, it was getting close to curfew, so they went to the taproom for some dinner. There were several other guests at the inn then, all of whom were there for their meal. Raymond approached a pair of ladies, one of whom was quite friendly, though her companion was not.
Laurent took a seat at the bar. Olivier Pichette, the telephone repair man, joined him. Vincent remained in the room and examined the picture of the statue from the abbey. He noted that the statue was of early Christian origin. It was probably made of either bronze or marble. Since the drawing showed light features on a darker background, he imagined that it was probably bronze because a large block of dark stone would have been harder to come by.