In my novel, The Coin, Richard gets help from a French intelligence officer he’s worked with before. Maurice was given life after I created Richard. I wanted someone who had passed the line of no return, where his faith in humanity and his cynicism about life couldn’t be altered, although he could understand it in others. Unlike Richard, Maurice was beyond saving, but he
could be someone who understood what was happening to Richard and would also be a friend. I also wanted Maurice to have an easy camaraderie with Richard, often bantering with him about the situation. This is not unlike policemen and people in the military who, because they are faced with such harshness in the world every day, they lighten up at the most unexpected times.
I want to share one moment between Richard and Maurice.
“Maurice?” An affirmative grunt on the other end was all the answer he got. “Glad to see you’re still on duty.”
“The American has a sense of humor. What took you out of your warm bed?”
“Annoying wrong numbers. I’m taking the phone off the hook so I can finish my beauty sleep.”
Another grunt.
“If you need me for anything, come on over,” Richard said.
“And have a party.”
“Yeah.”
