Intrigue

2/10/07
As I’ve told you, Malérargues is not stranger to international intrigue; it was a center for the French Resistance in WWII. But we have an international incident playing out here and now in the peaceful Cevennes.

For some time, Malérargues has hired a man (I’ll call him Jacques) originally from Algiers as a handyman around the place. Since I’ve been here, he picked me up at Nimes when I first came to France, fixed my gas heater when the flame blew out, and spent most of his days helping the stonemason who is renovating a chateau outbuilding into sleeping quarters for visitors. Apparently the Roy Hart folks have gone out of their way to help Jacques get his work permits and to help him while he’s been here. He’s very close friends with one member, and has keys to the member’s residences both here and elsewhere.

Last night Jay called everyone who lives in the Chateau (currently 8 of us; several others are traveling in the States or Europe right now) for a meeting. Apparently Jacques had stolen a checkbook from the Roy Hart Theater and hit the road. So far they’ve traced €8,000 that he’s stolen by forging checks. But the plot thickens. He’s apparently considered “armed and dangerous,” as he used to be a policeman in Algiers (where it’s hard to tell who the “good guys” are from the “bad guys,” as they’re all thugs. If you’ve seen Blood Diamond, which is a fictional narrative, but depicts historical events that are not fictional, you have a glimpse into how bad things are in some parts of Africa.) His ex-wife in Algiers was blackmailing him for something, and the French government had just given him papers saying he had a month to get out of the country. His girlfriend, who is in Romania, is trying to help him get there. He has ties to Romanian Gypsies in France (yes, this is true, it’s no Disney fairy tale) who are probably going to try to smuggle him over the border through the mountains. The Gendarme (French Police) and Interpol are both notified to detain him if he is found. Those of us in the Chateau have been ordered to keep all doors locked (such a shame—it’s been so nice to live somewhere where all the doors are kept open) and to call the police if we see Jacques or gypsies on the grounds.

Don’t worry—I’m taking this seriously, but I’m not too worried. There’s really nothing here that could help him, so I seriously doubt he’ll show up here. Plus, we have reason to believe he knows that we’re on to him and the police are looking for him, so it wouldn’t be wise for him to come here.