D'Artagnan only had a vague idea of what Henri Odson looked like, based on Treville's description of him.
Had the Cardinal not procured an address for the mercenary, then even the King and Richelieu would have conceded that D'Artagnan would have no chance of success on the mission.
This would have been the time of the mission to covertly signal to Julien the location of where he would hide his first note for the young man, at a time predetermined before they parted company. No more need for all that.
D'Artagnan determined that a break-in of the mercenary's home, mid-day since the probability would be that he would be absent, was the best first course. A search for the incriminating letter would follow.
Absent a successful procuring of the missive, then an elimination of the mercenary would be deemed necessary.
D'Artagnan was no assassin- amongst all of the swirling emotions he had around the mission, was if he could even do this.
But then Athos' acidic words came back to haunt him. Yes, he could do this, if only to prove his worth in the eyes of his mentor.
However, an address wasn't going to be easy to find- he could get near enough, but absent numbers on a dwelling, he would need to enquire as to the man's home.
"Pardon me, monsieur," D'Artagnan asked a passer-by. "Would you happen to know a Henri Odson?"
"I know Henri," the passing man responded.
D'Artagnan flashed the man a bright smile. "I'm his nephew and am visiting. Would you know which is his house?"
"I do. His is the last house on the left down that street. But he will be working now," the man offered.
Hoping he wasn't pressing his luck, D'Artagnan smiled and said, "My sincere thanks. You wouldn't happen to know where he works, would you?"
Treville had told him that Richelieu had informed the Captain that Henri's 'respectable' occupation was that of a blacksmith.
"Come, I am headed in that direction and can even introduce you if you wish."
D'Artagnan froze. He tried to hide his terror at being formally introduced to someone not really his Uncle. Someone he may need to kill.
"I- My thanks, but first I wish to acquaint myself with his home, to commit it to memory, so that I can return to it later."
"No trouble at all. As it is, we pass his home on the way to his place of work. So you can take a look at its façade as we continue to his job."
D'Artagnan would simply need to think quickly is it came to him being introduced to the man he might need to end. He could walk away, right now, making a petty excuse not to follow. But a sudden refusal would then be creating suspicion as to his motives, and who knew if this man would later tell Henri that he has a nephew looking for him or not?
"My thanks."
Think, D'Artagnan, think. How are you going to get out of this? What will you say once introduced to your target?
Back at the Garrison, it was a long few weeks.
"If only we could coax out of the Captain how long the mission was due to take. Then at least we could gauge whether we should be worried or not," Aramis said.
"Treville's got too much of a poker face," Porthos admitted. "I say we confront him again, just to try to get somethin' out of 'im. What's the worst he could do to us? Yell?"
Absent a better idea, the three men climbed the Garrison stairs towards their Captain's office.
"Gentlemen?" Treville asked, knowing all too well what they wanted, but still unwilling to make it easy on them.
"Is D'Artagnan late? Telling us would in no way be providing us mission details," Athos said quickly.
Treville could answer honestly. Depending on the various ways D'Artagnan's mission could play itself out, and the logistics of his round-trip travel, he was not necessarily late.
"No. And you should consider yourselves fortunate that I decided to answer even that. Now if you'll excuse me…"
"So you're not worried yet?" Aramis asked, as they began to shuffle towards the door.
"No. Not Yet."
After arriving at the blacksmith shop, D'Artagnan found his legs feeling leaden, anticipating him meeting Henri Odson in a manner he never anticipated. He had to think quickly, as for any second now…
"Henri. Someone to see you."
D'Artagnan saw the man he recognized from the Captain's description.
D'Artagnan quickly said, "Uncle. It's been a long time. Do you even recognize your nephew Charles?"
The Gascon then walked swiftly up to him, grabbed his hand into a shake, and pulled him into a close hug, all the time smiling. He whispered to Henri: "Nod and smile. Is there a place we can speak privately?"
Had Henri not been a mercenary, D'Artagnan's greeting would have seemed so odd and out of the ordinary, that he would have blanched. But in his line of work, dealing with all sorts of intrigue, deception and misdirection, he picked up on this young man's declaration, and went along.
Clever, Henri thought. This stranger had just imparted enough information for the two of them to maintain the necessary fiction until they could be alone, away from prying eyes and ears. Whomever he was dealing with, it was not a rank amateur. This might actually be fun.
"It's been a long time, surely," Henri replied. He saw no downside to playing along- for now.
Luckily for the two of them, the neighbor who had introduced the two of them had moved on, satisfied once he saw the two being reunited. And no one else was around.
D'Artagnan quickly whispered, "Richelieu sent me. All is forgiven. He has another mission for you but we cannot discuss it here. When will you be done with work?"
Henri smirked. "Oh, he's forgiven me, has he? That is hard to believe given-"
D'Artagnan cut him off. "Once you hear what the new mission is, you'll see why he's desperate to- he has no choice. Believe me, he would be loathe to admit it, but it's good news as this can prove to be an extremely profitable endeavor for you."
Henri seemed to be considering D'Artagnan's words. Luckily for the Gascon, Henri never turned down a mission where coin would be involved.
"Come back here in three hours. Then we will both return to my home and have a discussion."
Perfect. With Henri unaware that D'Artagnan already knew where he lived, it would give him time now to go there, ransack his home for the letter, and if found, he could be back on his way to Paris before Henri would even know of it.
Getting into Henri's home was easy- Porthos' lock picking training had paid off. As his tracking expertise was quite good as well, he had determined that Henri's wife was not home at the moment.
Once inside, it became a furious task of assessing where the missive might be hidden. It took several minutes to establish the layout of the home; bedrooms, study, etc.
Soon a desk was found that contained papers. D'Artagnan hoped against hope that the letter from Richelieu might be easily available, not locked away somewhere. He realized that possibility would have a direct bearing on Henri's belief that someone would not be as brazen to break into his home, secured in this remote section of Gascony, where no one would care of his desk's contents.
Finally, after an intense few minutes, D'Artagnan recognized what might be a candidate for the letter. A quick search of the contents yielded spectacular results. All over the letter were the words 'item', and it was signed by none other than Louise De Metz.
Brilliant!
Until he heard a voice behind him: "Found what you were looking for, nephew?"