34 - Dubai, United Arab Emirates recently

LA CUISINE ALGÉRIENNE

The lawyer Gérald had traced Kloch to Dubai.

They were sisters. Jean-Marc had met Férial at Charles de Gaulle Airport during an interminable wait for a delayed aeroplane, there was a bonding as happens after hours of boredom in a departure lounge. But her sister Selma had real magic in her, it was sad that she ended up choosing the wrong path in her life, going to America with her CIA lover instead of running to Italy with the man she really loved. But the years had passed and tempered disppointments and deceptions.

Thanks to the internet Jean-Marc was always in touch with the sisters, they frequently met in Paris and he knew that, when the time came, they would help him in every and any way. Jean-Marc called them and exposed his plan

Maybe it was in her smile Maybe just the way she stood It could've been what the future held And we know we never really should Sometimes magic moments come Most to be ignored If you never say what you really feel You can end up getting bored The plane trips and the weeks ahead Were tiring and took the toll I just remember what nature said We're all just getting old, not new I just don't know what to do

Her sister was a lovely girl I'd met her on the street Sometime you know straighaway You're inevitably bound to meet Her husband was a gentle man But simply never there The kids were great, the house was nice But she wanted to be elsewhere We met on the roof of a Spanish place I remember it so well Sangria and canapés So many thing to tell, yet so few I just don't know what to do

Ups and downs and roundabouts I got her a job nextdoor I needed to be close to her I needed to be sure Little smiles and messages Dangers from the deep Will she plunge or will she not Dreaming in my sleep She took my arm and said to me Walking through the sand Are you from another world? I said nothing so grand, but it's true I just don't know what to do

Férial tracked down Kloch at the Fairmont. Kloch was having lunch with his Russian girlfriend and her father at the Italian poolside Restaurant on the 6th floor, Selma walked in looking like an advert for "Wonderbra", she looked stunning and all eyes turned to her as she walked the length of the restaurant. Without being invited she sat down at the empty chair on Kloch's table. "Jean-Marc Sands has sent me" she started. Kloch turned pale but the Russian had heard enough and he asked her to stay, despîte Kloch's vehement objections.

Selma had been well briefed by Jean-Marc and she recounted the whole story of the internet identity theft, the "fake" Jean-Marc Sands, the dodgy Captan Marco's Gourmet Foods Inc., and she even told through in the story about the trip to Tijuana and Jean-Marc's first meeting with Kloch in the toilet in Cannes in the early 1980's.

It was this last detail that rang alarm bells in the Russian's memory. Kloch's girlfriend perked up, "Cannes? Wasn't that where Uncle Ilya was shot?"

Charles Kloch's protests were in vain and he decided to make a run for it. He jerked up the table sending most of their lunch over Selma and the Russian girl, and he made for the door.

"Look what that arsehole did to my dress" cried Selma to which the Russian responded "Don't worry we'll find him, meanwhile do you have Jean-Marc Sands' phone number? I have a proposition for him."

Walking Through the Sand (mp3)