The Paris Architect: A Novel

Messier was a gangster the Gestapo used to hunt down Jews for a bounty. With a gang of about twenty petty criminals, he had a unique knack for rooting out Jews and Resistance men in Paris and the surrounding suburbs, like a pig sniffing out truffles. It bothered Schlegal that he had to use such scum of the earth, but they were very effective, especially as informants. Messier had provided lots of valuable information that had led to many arrests. All they wanted in return was a cash bounty and the opportunity to loot the apartments and country houses of Jews and other enemies of the Reich.

Although Germany counted on the treasure of the Jews to enrich its war chest, it allowed men like Messier to share the wealth. Messier was said to have raided a house in the sixth arrondissement and stolen two million francs worth of jewels. Schlegal was surprised to find out that Messier was a former policeman who had been forced to resign because of extortion before the war. But it was his policeman’s instincts that made him so good, plus he employed other disgraced gendarmes to help him. This came in handy for Messier’s additional line of work—impersonating German policemen to rob people or extract bribes from people involved in the black market. The underground economy had blurred the lines between respectable and non-respectable Parisians, making it easy to use blackmail. Schlegal heard that Messier had even extorted money from a priest who was dealing in black-market butter. The Gestapo never asked questions unless it seemed as if they were getting cut out of the loot.

“Keep looking. Someone is building these hiding places all over Paris. Sooner or later, he’ll slip up,” said Schlegal. “And what about our friend Janusky? We’ve placed the highest priority on this man’s capture. It’s not only his fortune and that art collection everyone raves about, he’s a political enemy as well.”

“He’s one slippery Hebrew, I’ll give him that. He was at a place on the rue Saint-Hubert for a few weeks, then lit out in a hurry.”

“How do you know someone inside your outfit isn’t tipping him off? The garbage you use would sell out their grandmothers for a franc. This Jew’s rich as Croesus.”

Messier burst out laughing. “You’re absolutely right, Colonel; anyone can sell out anybody.”

“Just make sure you don’t sell me out.”





36





“And this will be your room. There’s an armoire over there in the corner, and this will be your own desk.”

Pierre sat down on the bed and ran his hand over the embroidered bedspread.

“I used to have a blue bedspread.”

Lucien was pleased that the boy was happy with his new room. He had had the spare room cleaned from top to bottom and had bought a secondhand rug for the wooden floor. Now that he was sure Celeste would not return (he had no idea where she went), it made sense that Pierre move into his apartment. It had been almost two weeks since Father Jacques brought the boy to his office, and making him live in the office seemed cruel—such a good kid deserved better than that.