I knew a retired army criminal investigator who had become a civil servant. When he wasn't arguing with me over various CID projects, he would tell of his days handling military investigations in France. He had a high regard for the French police and some of his most amusing stories were of the extraordinary precautions taken to protect President De Gaulle, whose ability to survive assassination attempts became legendary. He said it was not unusual for the French security services to prep a town for a visit from the President by rounding up potentially dangerous individuals and flying them to Corsica. Once De Gaulle had departed their city, the suspects were flown back.
The man was a novel. He had lived a quiet and extraordinary life around the world and followed a strict code of honor. It did not take long to note, however, that behind his gruff demeanor was a very kind fellow. I encountered a number of smooth operators in those days but the old curmudgeon would have been on my short list of people to call if there was trouble.
2 comments:
Great snapshot. I could hear Captain Renault saying "Round up the usual suspects!"
One of my employees was an illiterate loudmouth who had been fired from two other units by my boss, the district manager, who hated him because he was not subservient enough for the boss' ego. He was, however, hell on wheels when the place was busy and I never had to worry about the kitchen as long as he was on duty. I kept him as long as possible, partly because he did good work, and partly to spite the district manager whom neither of us liked.
(One of the pleasures of retirement, Mike, is airing frustrations like that without fear of recrimination. Woot!)
John,
Great example. I have a weakness for the mavericks.
Michael
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