The explosion threw Bond down onto the pavement.
Then pieces of clothes began to fall around him. The clothes
were covered in blood. Black smoke filled the sky.
There was nothing left of the two men in dark suits.
When Mathis got to Bond, he was leaning against the tree
that had saved his life.
Ambulances and fire engines began to arrive. Mathis
helped Bond back to the Hotel Splendide.
In Bond's room, Mathis asked questions while Bond took
off his blood-spotted clothes. When Bond told him about the
two men, Mathis picked up the telephone.
' ... tell the police that Bond's not hurt,' Mathis said
quickly to the person on the other end of the telephone line.
'I'll explain everything to them. Tell the newspapers that it
was a fight between two Bulgarians. One killed the other
with a bomb. There was probably a third Bulgarian watching.
Say nothing about him. He'll try to get away. The police
must catch him.'
Mathis put down the phone and turned to Bond. 'You
were lucky,' he said. 'They wanted that bomb to kill you.
But something went wrong.' He smiled at Bond. 'Get a drink
and some lunch, then have a rest.'
Several hours later, Bond was drinking a whisky when the
telephone rang.
'This is Mademoiselle Lynd,' said the voice, quietly. 'Are
you all right?'
'Yes, thank you,' replied Bond.
'Good,' she said. 'Please take care of yourself.'