This is an authorized translation in English of a post in French by Vincent Le Roy (@vincentleroy): LE DOSSIER VALMY (Thriller) : Chapitre 6
As my primary language is not English, there are probably some mistakes in my translation.
Remember that the person who speaks here is NOT me, Vincent Celier (@vcelier), but Vincent Le Roy (@vincentleroy), a French guy.
Chapter 6: There is no smoke-free fire
I understood the rules of the game of this interrogation. I swapped my tie and suit for a holey jeans and a white T-shirt. I forgot to shave too. The perfect thug. This image is more appropriate psychologically to their lawyer. This justifies his work. That will not change my answers, however, and he will fall into the trap again.
To understand the exchange, we have to go back a bit. June 2005, the company is doing well and CPCU gives us a first order. It is about to go down to 15 meters under ground, on the side of the place d'Italie in the middle of Paris and to inject the product on pipes. Everything is operational. I am very good in this kind of job. The logistics are refined down to the smallest detail.
I rented a truck in Amiens, put the machine and the cans of chemicals that we prepared in it. Around 15:00 I take the road to the Paris Region with the chemist. We spend the night at my place in la Celle Saint-Cloud or rather Julie's place.
The next morning we are on site at 7:00. The machine is unloaded. The street is blocked. Our contact at CPCU shows me the hatch and explains the instructions. At the bottom, it is 60 degrees Celsius, not more than 15 minutes at a time. OK, I understood and I equip myself. Full tyvek overall, helmet, glasses and gloves, I go down with the pipes. The chemist stayed on the surface to activate the machine and start the generator. We communicate by walkie talkie.
Arrived at the bottom of the hole, you have to get used to the darkness. I unroll my pipes and check my valves and manometers. The sulfuric acid circuit indicates 60 bars. I have no desire in taking that in the mouth. Above, a container of 200 liters of water is waiting for me, just in case. Slowly, I open the resin circuit and then the acid. The foam begins to form and I hear up there the pistons of the pump activate. The heat is choking me. The formaldehyde vapors sting my nose.
The guy from CPCU was right. After fifteen minutes, I go back. I must have lost ten kilos of water from sweating like a pig. After five descents at the bottom, the job is done. It is a success. All the big oils of CPCU came for the occasion and even the directors equip themselves to see the miracle at the bottom of the well.
Mathieu joined us. And everyone goes to lunch talking about prospects. What happiness ... CPCU has a big job for us in September. Back in the office and despite my 4 employees, it is me who tidies everything and rinses the mess. They are already with their family.
I'm calling Denis. We are as usual on the same wavelength. Amiens is expensive, each chemist costs ten thousand Euros a month including the charges and we have to find 80,000 Euros every month. If for the moment we live on the Canadian war chest, it will not last forever ... CPCU is a gold mine. Money galore, especially that the Canadian contract does not advance. Good stuff.
I edited the bill of 20,000 Euros. CPCU approves it without arguing. My contact sends me the papers to be approved in the security plan. And I'm going on vacation with Julie and the kids, full of arrogance and hope. Everything is fine in my business.
In September, CPCU confirms its big order. 80,000 Euros in one day. Place de la Madeleine, open sky. The injection goes as planned, without a hitch. All CPCU is on the sidewalk, leaning on the facades of Fauchon, to watch the wonder. Our subcontractor partner did the right thing. He is jubilant. He takes the pose on the foam with a shovel in his hand. Clic clac: photo souvenir. Promotional picture.
CPCU occupies us so much that we forget our friend Alex who does not advance a bit in his contract. Priorities are elsewhere. All my energy at this moment is turned towards the new product. And this can generate cash quickly. And yet like the milk in the pan, I should have watched my back.
Back in the office, I edit the bill. Two other commands crackle on the fax machine. And I come back from Amiens with a light heart. Until then everything is fine, everything is fine. My little company is worth a lot more than two millions. Even though I have invested 300,000 Euros and refused to pay myself for four years, there I feel good, the big reward is for tomorrow.
The next day, at 7 AM, and I'm already on the road to Amiens. The phone is ringing. What? Who is going to disturb me at this hour? I look at the number on the phone. It is the number 2 guy from CPCU. Ah ... bad feeling.
I pick up and the guy begins to bawl:
- You must go to the Madeleine, there was a fire last night, firefighters intervened ... We removed the foam. We are waiting for you at eleven o'clock on the spot.
End of the conversation. The descent into hell begins. But I have not said my last word. And it is there that their lawyer is waiting for me. He hopes to get me stuck on this case. I continue to explain.
In fact, that morning, it's a fucking Parisian traffic. I have only one desire, it is to be there quickly. Everyone is there. Low profile, I watch the massacre. Firefighters have removed everything and there are cubic meters of foam between the construction palisades. I have samples taken that would have burned around at one o'clock in the morning. This is not question. It burned in two places. Why?
Back in Amiens, the atmosphere is not good in the meeting room. The chemist is not very proud. And ends up telling us: it's punking ... What's that?
- Autocombustion of the product ...
Huh? This need to be explained. Back to the industrial lab, we redid the tests. The product is easily resistant to known tests. All this remains inexplicable. Technical or criminal incident? Everything is possible. There is no logical reason.
Looking closely at the recovered samples, we observe a molten mastic ... It is true that at each weld, there is a layer of mastic which we do not know. Co-reaction between the two products under the effect of temperature? Everything is possible.
Paradoxically, CPCU is as annoyed as we are. They are ready to repeat other tests in a safe site. If the test is successful, we will be paid. I organize with them the test on a field of Alsthom disused and squatted by all the drug addicts of Gennevilliers. Finished the golden showcases of the Madeleine, there we operate on a gutter with mud from which emerges syringes.
The foam was riddled with temperature probes everywhere and I went twice a day to record the data. Morning and evening. I remember that I spent hours in the car to access the site. It must be said that we did not choose either the right time or the place. My test is located 200 meters from the EDF location where a young has just burnt to escape the police.
Because of the riots, all the streets are blocked. France is on fire. Personally, I have other cats to whip. This fucking test has to work. And I have a hard time. The chemists do not say anything anymore. They work on improvements and the atmosphere in Amiens has deteriorated sharply.
At the same time, relations with Alex are also deteriorating. He wants and demands all extensions! At that time, this failure had not cooled him. On the contrary, he wants to be able to sell the technologies to his Canadian customers. Starting with Bombardier.
The stage is set. The war will begin soon. Kojak is missing in the landscape.
Continue to Chapter 7
Introduction
Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5
