Body on the Rocks: Crime in the south of France (Madame Renard Investigates Book 1)

by Rachel Green

“Here comes Bunny,” Marielle muttered.

  Across the living room, the office door had opened and Crystal was heading their way.

  “Do you think she’d look so cute if I boiled her head in the microwave?” Marielle said, but Enzo ignored her and went out.

  He intercepted Crystal in the living room, having had an idea. If money didn’t work there was something else that would.

  “Hey.” He tipped his head and steered her clear of his wife’s line of sight. “My brother’s just got here. He’ll be having dinner with us later. But when we’re finished, I want you to come and join us.”

  “Is she going to be there?” A poison dart shot in the direction of the kitchen.

  Enzo sighed. Jesus, what was it with these women? “She’ll be out. It’s her book group tonight. But look, I need you to cheer him up.”

  “Why does he need cheering up?”

  “It’s a long story, but listen. When Marielle goes out I want you to put on your bikini and come join us out by the pool.”

  Crystal rolled her eyes. “I’m not your whore, you know.”

  “Don’t worry,” Enzo winked. “He likes to look, not touch.” He reached around and cupped her left buttock. “Unlike me.”

  Chapter 24

  The skylight in Margot’s cabin was directly over her head and during the night she had a bad dream. In the dream she’d woken up to find a man’s face staring down at her. After several long minutes he’d tried to break in and she’d reached up to the skylight and pulled it shut, but the man was too strong and tore it from its fixings. She woke up for real, hot and panting.

  It was five a.m. and the harbour was quiet. The dim light from a passing fishing boat crossed her window and when Margot peered out she saw that it was misty. For the first time in a long time she had little desire to go swimming, but she packed her bag and put on a swimsuit. There was something she wanted to speak to Raymond about first so she left a note for Raul and then snuck out before it had even got light.

  Le Paname didn’t open until six-thirty so Margot waited outside, smoking her first cigarette of the day. Ten minutes later, the feeble bleat of a low-powered engine preceded the arrival of a moped into the square. Its wheels bounced up onto the kerb beside her and the rider hoicked it up onto its centre stand. Seeing that it was Margot waiting by the café door, Raymond quickly removed his helmet.

  “Good morning, Margot,” he said, a little bit red in the face. The leather jacket he was wearing was a little too big for him and he didn’t look anywhere near as cool as he probably imagined, poor thing. “We don’t normally see you here so early.”

  “I couldn’t sleep.”

  “I was sorry to hear about your house.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Do you need any help fixing things up?”

  Margot shook her head. “That’s very kind but it’s all taken care of.”

  They stood in silence for a moment, face to face in the café doorway. Margot fixed him with a winning smile. “There is something else you can help me with though.”

  “Oh?”

  “I wanted to pick your brains.”

  The young man’s eyes widened. Margot touched his arm reassuringly. “Don’t worry, it’s an English expression. It means I want to ask your advice.”

  “What about?”

  The café door opened just at that moment and the owner looked out, mumbling a bonjour. He grumbled on to himself as he went back inside.

  “Is there somewhere private we can talk?”

  “There’s the yard at the back.”

  “Okay.”

  Raymond led her through three interconnecting rooms to a storage area at the rear of the café where he quickly stowed his helmet and jacket. He tilted his head and opened a dusty glazed door. “Sorry about the smell.” He wrinkled his nose as they stepped into the courtyard. The odour coming off the overflowing bins was pretty foul.

  Margot passed him a cigarette and struck a match. She lit his first and then managed to light one for herself before the dying flame nipped her fingertips. She dropped the match onto the concrete. “You’re good with technology, aren’t you?”

  “I’m okay, why?”

  The back door was still open so she reached across to close it, checking first that no one was listening. She turned back to Raymond and moved a step closer. “Do you know of any eavesdropping devices that are easy to get hold of?”

  “Eavesdropping devices?”

  “You know – a bug.”

  His eyes widened. “Why do you want a bug?”

  “It’s better you don’t know. But with all the wonderful tech around nowadays there must be something people use.”

  Raymond filled his lungs with smoke while he gave the question some thought. “There’s the bugE.”

  “The what?”

  “It’s basically a flash-drive with a microphone built in.”

  “How does it work?”

  “It picks up sound and then stores them as files on the flash-drive. The files gets transferred to a server and then transmitted to your phone. All you need is a 4G signal and an app.”

  “How big is it?”

  He shrugged. “The size of a button.”

  “And can you buy them around here?”

  He raised his eyebrows. “My friend works in an electronics shop. He could probably get one.”

  Holding the cigarette between the centre of her lips, Margot reached into her bag. She took out her purse and then removed the cigarette. “If I gave you some money do you think you could buy one for me?”

  He shuffled his feet. “I suppose so.”

  She pulled out some cash. “Will this be enough?”

  His eyes lit up. “That’s far too much. They’ll be no more than a hundred.”

  Margot pressed it into his hand anyway, and then leaned forward conspiratorially. “This is just between you and me, okay?” She winked.

  Raymond blushed. “I’ll go in my break.”

  “Text me when you’ve got it.”

  ***

  It was eight-thirty when she got back from her swim. There was no sign of movement from Raul’s cabin so she had a quick shower, put on some clean clothes and went straight back out.

  She spent an hour wondering around the museum and then went down to the bench at the end of the promenade to watch the children play on the swings. Raul phoned at ten.

  “Is everything okay?”

  “I’m just running some errands. I’ll be back soon.” She wasn’t going to tell him about the bug. He would only try to talk her out of it.

  “Could you do me a favour while you’re out?”

  “Depends what it is.”

  “Could you pick up a couple of bottles of perry? I’m cooking pork chops and morcilla for dinner. I thought a dry white perry would go nicely with it.”

  Margot rolled her eyes. He’d only just got up and already he was thinking about dinner? The pork chops did sound rather nice, though.

  “Anything else?”

  “No. That will do. Just be careful.”

  “I will.”

  Raymond texted at 11:30 – its ready

  ***

  He was outside, serving tables, when Margot entered the square. He quickly finished seeing to the customer he was with and then nipped inside, gesturing for her to follow. Margot stood waiting while he saw to another customer, and then, when the coast was clear, went with him into the yard. Raymond closed the door quietly behind them and then drew a small plastic bag from the front pocket of his apron. Margot opened the bag without speaking; inside was a small white cube of a box. Inside that, the bugE was packaged up with the finesse of a product that had been designed in California. Raising her eyes, she found Raymond looking on in anticipation.

  “These are legal, aren’t they?”

  “I think so.”

  “I wouldn’t want your friend to get into any trouble.”

  “He won’t.”

  Margot released the little black button fr
om its clip and balanced it on the tip of her index finger. It was amazing that so much technology could be packed into such a small space. “What’s its range?”

  “It depends on the environment, but at least ten metres. You can adjust the sensitivity in the app.”

  “How do I get the app?”

  He took out his phone. “Here’s a link.” He tapped and swiped. “Download it. The first time you open the app you’ll have to pair it with the device. Then just follow the instructions onscreen.”

  “And what do I do when I want to listen?”

  “Just open the app. It doesn’t have to be live at the time. The files will stay on the server until you’re ready to download.”

  “And my phone will download them automatically?”

  Raymond nodded. “You won’t miss a thing.”

  “How long will the battery last?”

  “A few months.”

  Margot tingled with excitement. She wasn’t entirely sure what she was going to do with it yet, but the possibilities seemed endless. She clamped an arm around his neck. “You’re a genius. Muah.” She gave him a big wet kiss on the forehead. “I owe you one.”

  The poor boy blushed as red as a strawberry.

  Back at the yacht, Raul was in the deck salon, polishing the table with a soft white cloth. “I was about to send out a search party.”

  “Sorry. I got waylaid.” Margot kept her hand in her pocket, fingers wrapped around her little white box. When he looked at her, she smiled innocently.

  They went below and Raul retreated to the galley where a pot was simmering. She was surprised to see that the table had already been laid for dinner.

  “Did you get the perry?”

  She clamped shut her eyes. “Damn!” She was such an idiot. “Sorry. I completely forgot.”

  Raul looked so disappointed that she instantly offered to go back. But he arrested her by the shoulders. “Sit down. I’ll fetch it myself.”

  ***

  Margot sank deep into her cushions. Night-time had settled upon the harbour and she could happily have dozed for an hour, but she still felt bad about forgetting the perry so once they’d finished eating, she cleared up all the dirty crockery and carried it down to the dishwasher, leaving Raul to put his feet up. While she was down there, she rootled through his booze cupboard for something special: he had some rather nice Spanish wines hiding at the back; a bottle of rum and toffee liqueur that was tempting; a scarlet Aperitivo she’d never even heard of. She sorted through the collection of brandies and smiled wickedly as she pulled out a bottle of Cognac Grande Champagne. He had such good taste it would be criminal to make him drink it alone.

  Up on deck, Raul had lit candles and lined them up along the centre of the table. Margot placed the bottle between them and then re-made her nest of cushions. Raul, relaxing on the other side, heaved a sigh of deep satisfaction. “That was an excellent meal, even though I do say so myself.”

  Margot flopped down. “You’re a very good cook. If I owned a boat like this I’d hire you as my chef.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Have you had any training?”

  “No. I’m self-taught. But don’t all farmers love their food?”

  She raised her head to look across. “I had no idea you were a farmer.”

  “We used to have a cherry farm. My family owned three thousand trees in the valley de Jerte.”

  “That’s an awful lot of cherries.”

  “We grew Picotas. The blossom in spring was beautiful. People would come from miles around.”

  Margot sat up to the table. She uncorked the bottle of cognac and poured out two good measures. She could picture him as a farmer; tending to his trees in the blazing Spanish sun, an old straw hat on his head. “Why did you sell it?”

  “My daughters didn’t want to take it on. I don’t blame them. It’s a hard life. And when my wife died things were never the same.”

  He seemed happy to linger in his thoughts so she regarded him for a while without speaking. She’d often imagined herself and Hugo running a business together: a quaint B&B by the seaside, a boutique hotel in the centre of a grand old European capital. They’d been the kind of couple who would have worked well together, though hospitality was unlikely to have suited Hugo. He’d been a policeman through and through. She had a sip of her cognac.

  “Raul?”

  “Mm-hmm.”

  “Do you think we could go sailing tomorrow?”

  He slowly emerged from his reverie and moved into a seated position. When he looked over, his cynicism was clear to see.

  “Suddenly you’re keen to go sailing. I wonder why.”

  Margot regarded him from over the top of her glass. “You know why.”

  “Yes, and I like my life just the way it is, thank you very much.”

  “Oh, come on – where’s your sense of adventure?”

  “I’ve grown too old for adventure.”

  “Really? You’re the one who’s sailing solo around the world.”

  He opened his mouth to speak but failed to form any words. She had him there. He reached for his glass and had a good sip.

  “It’s not just about that house,” Margot went on. “Someone’s been watching me. It’s making me really uncomfortable.”

  “You don’t think you’re reading too much into it?”

  “No. It’s Enzo. He’s got someone keeping an eye on me. I’m sure of it. I can barely go into town without thinking I’m being followed.”

  Margot gave him a moment, but he still wasn’t swayed. She shrugged nonchalantly, and then drank the rest of her brandy.

  “If you don’t take me I can always find someone who will.”

  He held her stare for a few long moments and then let out a weary sigh. He pinched shut his eyes and rubbed his face. “All right. You win. I’ll sail you down the coast, we’ll look at the drug dealer’s house; I’ll say, ‘oh my, what a lovely big house he has there,’ and then we’ll come straight back. Understood?”

  Margot made a movement with her head, vague enough to be mistaken for a nod.

  Chapter 25

  For once Raul rose early and Margot had only just come out of the shower when she heard him clattering around in the galley. Outside it was barely light. She put on a striped sailor shirt and a pair of white jeans and went out.

  “A sea dog never sets sail on an empty stomach,” Raul said, shifting pans on the gimbal with seemingly half a dozen dishes on the go at once. “And in honour of your English roots, I’m cooking eggs, bacon, sausage, fried tomatoes, mushrooms, and—” the microwave pinged “—good old-fashioned English baked beans.”

  Margot puffed out her cheeks. “I hope those pills work.”

  He dismissed her pessimism with a wave of his hand. “You’ll be fine. The weather forecast says light wind. At this rate we’ll be rowing there.”

  After breakfast they prepared the boat for departure. Raul uncoupled the shore power cable and untied the mooring ropes while Margot made sure everything below deck was secure. He attached the Spanish flag to the pole at the stern and then rolled back the canopy on the deck salon. Two identical consoles stood side-by-side, each with a big chrome steering wheel, and Margot sat on the right and watched Raul tap away at a touchscreen. When the engine fired up, he carefully manoeuvred Carpe Diem out of its berth, the steering wheel in front of her turning in tandem with the one he was controlling. They approached the turret at the mouth of the harbour and then headed out into open water. A tingle went down Margot’s spine as the sea opened up to them. There was something both noble and visceral about going to sea in a boat like this.

  They motored out for a couple of kilometres before Raul killed the engine. The boat began to pitch and roll, now in the hands of the mighty body of water. When Margot looked back to shore, Argents had been reduced to a toy-town nestled at the base of the craggy green hills. Raul handed her a yachting cap with the word CREW embroidered on the front.

  “You’ll need to wear t
his.”

  Margot gave it a dubious look but did as he said. “I’m not calling you skipper.”

  “You’ll be keel-hauled if you don’t.”

  “What’s my first job?”

  “The first job is to raise the mainsail. Would you like to do that?”

  Margot studied the mainmast, rising twenty metres into the air above them. It looked quite complicated with bundles of ropes strung left, right and centre but she nodded. “Shall I winch it up?”

  Raul seemed surprised. “You can if you like.”

  Margot rubbed her hands together, ready for the challenge. She gingerly worked her way around to the base of the mast where a small handle was hooked up next to a winch. “Is this the one?”

  “That is the winch for the mainsail, yes.”

  She bent over and inserted the handle. It took an awful lot of turns to move the sail just a small way, but she gripped the handle with both hands and gave it her all, determined not to be beaten.

  “Have you ever been sailing before?” Raul called out from his console.

  “Only once,” Margot called back. She paused for a breather, wiping the sweat from her brow. “On a loch in Scotland. Though it wasn’t actually a sailboat.”

  “Well, all I can say is you’re doing a wonderful job.”

  “Thank you.”

  “I mean, you can carry on raising it from there, if you like, and I’m sure if you put your back into it you’ll manage to get it all the way up to the top. Or—” He waited until she was looking at him and then made a show of reaching for a button at the base of his console. “I could just do this.”

  An electric motor started to whir, raising the sail effortlessly. Margot’s jaw dropped. When she turned back to Raul she found him grinning mischievously. Eyes narrowed, she pulled the handle out of the winch and held it upright. “Next time I’ll find somewhere else to insert this.”

  He laughed heartily.

  Raul spun the wheel. The boom swung out and the boat leaned sharply, turning on a sixpence. High above them, the sail began to inflate and Carpe Diem transformed into a completely different beast. Soon they were clipping along at a brisk pace, the only sound the hiss and splash of the hull cutting smoothly through the waves. Raul smiled happily, seeming in his element, while Margot installed herself in the tandem seat and held tightly onto the grab rail.