by Louise Penny
Jean-Guy lapsed into silence, and went back to reading the documents Madame Gossette had given him when they’d boarded. About coral, and currents, and buoys. About shipping lanes and something called anthropogenic disturbance.
Finally, nine hours into the ten-hour flight to the Maldives, he’d asked the question he’d been dying to pose but was a little afraid of the answer.
“Why did you hire me? I’m not an engineer. You must’ve known that I can barely read these.”
He held up the sheaf of paper. Part of him suspected they’d hired the wrong Jean-Guy Beauvoir. That somewhere in Québec there was a highly trained engineer wondering why he hadn’t gotten the job with GHS Engineering.
“I was wondering when you’d ask,” said Madame Gossette, with a hearty laugh. Then, still smiling, she looked at him, her eyes keen. Intelligent. “Why do you think?”
“I think you think there’s something wrong in the company.”
That, of course, was the other possibility. That she had hired the right Jean-Guy Beauvoir. The senior investigator with the Sûreté du Québec. Skilled, trained. Not in engineering, but in finding criminals.
Madame Gossette sat back in her seat. Examining him. “Why do you say that? Has something come up?”
“Non,” he said, careful now. “It’s just a thought.”
To be fair, it wasn’t something that had occurred to him until he’d said it. But once it was out, he could see that it might be true.
“Why else would you hire a cop to fill a senior management job when clearly it should be taken by an engineer?”
“You undervalue yourself, Monsieur Beauvoir. We have plenty of engineers already. They’re thick on the ground. Eh bien, another engineer was the last thing we needed.”
“What did you need?”
“A skill set. An attitude. A leader. You convinced men and women to follow you into life-and-death situations. I’ve read the reports. I’ve seen the online videos.”
Beauvoir bristled at that. Those stolen videos should never have been posted. But they had been, and there was no undoing the damage.
“You’re not expecting me to do the same for you,” he said, managing a smile.
“Lead us into battle? I hope not. I’d make quite a target.” She laughed and put her hands on her substantial body. “No. You’re heading up a new department, created to provide another level of scrutiny. Each project is carefully evaluated before we choose to bid on it. It must be both profitable and have some benefit to the larger population.”
He had noticed that. It was one of the reasons he’d accepted to work for GHS. As the father of one child with another on the way, he was waking up to certain frightening truths about the state of the world.
GHS designed dams and highways, bridges and planes.
But at least half of its projects were water treatment plants, anti-erosion methods, reforestation. Alternatives to fossil fuels. Disaster relief modules.
“But,” said Madame Gossette, breaking into his thoughts, and leaning forward, “it’s always wise to have disinterested observers making sure all is going according to plan. That’s your department.”
“Then nothing’s wrong?” he asked.
“I didn’t exactly say that.” She was choosing her words carefully now. “It’s one thing to have a philosophy. It’s another thing to follow through. That’s what we expect from you. Not to come up with the plan, others will do that, but to make sure it doesn’t … what’s the word? Corrupt.”
“You suspect corruption?”
“No, no, not that sort of corrupt. Our concern is that, with all good intentions, some project managers might start cutting corners. It’s easily done. Don’t be fooled by the trappings.” She glanced around the cabin of the corporate jet. “This sort of success comes with a lot of pressure. There’re deadlines, penalties, bank loans, violent regime changes. And our people are stuck in the middle. Priorities can become muddy. It would be natural for some to feel that pressure and choose speed over quality. And try to hide it when something goes wrong. Not because they’re bad people, but because they’re people. That way lies tragedy.”
“Which isn’t good for business,” he said.
She spread her hands. It was a simple truth. She reached for her tea. Then, after taking a sip, she said, “Are you familiar with the poet Auden?”
Oh, shit, Beauvoir thought. Not another one. And here he was, trapped at thirty thousand feet. What was it about bosses?
“I’ve heard of him.” Her?
“And the crack in the tea-cup opens / A lane to the land of the dead.”
“Is there a crack in your cup?” he asked.
She smiled and put it down. “Not that I know of. If one occurs, it’s your job to find it.”
He understood then what she meant. And, miraculously, what Auden meant.
“But how can I tell if something’s wrong if I don’t even know what’s ‘right’?”
“That’s why you have a department full of engineers, including Séverine Arbour. She’s a first-rate engineer. Use her.” Madame Gossette’s eyes held his. “Trust her.”
Beauvoir nodded, but quietly wondered why, if Arbour was such a great engineer, she was in his department instead of working on actual projects.
“So ‘Quality Control’ is a bit misleading. It’s really policing. I’m an enforcer?” asked Beauvoir, cutting into his profiterole.
“You must’ve suspected that when we gave you those brass knuckles in your welcome basket.”
He laughed then.
“No, you’re not an enforcer,” she said. “You’re our safety net. Our last hope if things go wrong, to stop something horrible from happening.” She held his eyes, deadly serious. “I don’t expect it, don’t suspect it. But I need to be sure.”
It was interesting, thought Beauvoir, that she said “I,” not “we.”
“I’ve told you why I hired you, now you tell me why you took the job. You turned it down a number of times.”
She was right. He’d declined it twice, but finally relented. And the reason?
He was worn down, worn out by his work in the Sûreté du Québec. He’d headed up the homicide department after his mentor and chief, and father-in-law, Armand Gamache, had been suspended.
Beauvoir had watched the humiliation Gamache had been put through. The insinuations of wrongdoing. The failure by politicians to protect and defend Gamache. Though they knew he’d only acted in the service’s, in the citizens’, best interest.
Chief Inspector Beauvoir himself had been reinstated after an almost equally humiliating series of investigations.
Each day they tracked down killers. Each day they put their own lives on the line.
And in return they were scapegoated. Chained to the ground, food for politicians looking for reelection.
The salary was modest compared to private industry, the risks incalculable, the rewards harder and harder to find. Jean-Guy had a young family, who he hoped to see grow up. He had a daughter arriving who’d need both her parents.
And so the third time GHS Engineering had approached him, shown him the salary they were offering, told him the job was in Paris, he’d discussed it with Annie. And they’d agreed.
So Jean-Guy Beauvoir had left the Sûreté, just as Chief Inspector Gamache had returned. Beauvoir handed the job back to the once and future head of homicide.
But he wouldn’t tell Madame Gossette all that.
“It was time for a change,” he simply said as the flight attendant cleared their plates.
And change it certainly was proving. Though perhaps not quite as much of a change as he’d thought.
“What happens if I find something’s wrong?”
“You come to me.”
“How do I know the—how did you put it?—crack in the teacup didn’t come from higher up? It often does, you know. Start there.”
“Oui. I guess that’s where your investigative skills come in.” Once again she leaned forward, as the plan
e banked and prepared to land on the tiny island in the middle of the vast and impossibly blue ocean. “Voyons, I have absolutely no reason to suspect anything’s wrong. If I did, I’d direct you to it. You’re here to make sure we don’t, intentionally or not, open a lane to the land of the dead.” Her gaze now was hard. Almost fierce. “We design things that improve quality of life. But that, if they fall apart, take lives. We need to make absolutely sure. You understand?”
She stared at him so intently, he was taken aback. Until that moment he’d seen the job from his perspective.
A soft landing after the harsh realities of the Sûreté. A salary far in excess of anything he ever thought he’d make. They’d be safe. They’d be comfortable. They’d be in Paris.
Now he saw it from Madame Gossette’s perspective.
Lives were at stake. And his job was to make sure none were lost.
“I can’t possibly keep an eye on all the projects,” he said. “There are hundreds.”
“Which is why you have a staff. Don’t worry, once you get comfortable, you’ll be able to get a sense when something’s off. To sniff it out.”
Sniff? he almost said. What exactly did she think investigating was? And yet he had to admit when something went corrupt, there was a certain odor.
Jean-Guy Beauvoir had thought about that conversation a lot in the following weeks and months. And he thought about it again as he looked at his deputy head of department, radiating Dior and resentment.
“I think I can muddle through the Luxembourg plans, Séverine. Merci. How’s work going on the Patagonia project?”
A part of him sympathized with Madame Arbour. But if she hadn’t accepted him by now, hadn’t gotten on board with his leadership, then one of them would have to go.
And it won’t be me, thought Beauvoir.
“Patagonia? I know nothing about Patagonia.” She got to her feet. “I’m sorry. I was under the impression you’d want to talk about the Luxembourg project.”
“Why would you think that?”
“Well, the final safety tests are next week. Maybe you’d like to be there for that?”
“I don’t see why. Would you like to go? Is that why you’re here?”
“No, no. That’s okay.”
It was, even by Séverine Arbour standards, an odd and off-putting exchange.
“Is there something you want to say, Séverine, about Luxembourg?”
“No.”
As she left his office, Jean-Guy considered looking at the Luxembourg report. Again. But it was past five. He had to get home and help feed Honoré, let Annie nap before their dinner out.
Luxembourg would wait.
Grabbing his jacket from the back of his chair, he walked next door to Arbour’s office and said, “I’m going home. Have a good weekend.”
She glanced up, then back down to her screen. Without a word.
When she was alone in the office, Arbour looked around. She was about, she knew, to pass what pilots called the point of no return. One more keystroke and she’d be totally committed to this course of action.
Through the window she could see the Tour Eiffel in the distance.
A marvel of French engineering. A monument to innovation and audacity. Something to be proud of.
Then, returning to her laptop, she pressed send.
Gathering her Chanel handbag, she left, pausing only to sign out.
“Bon weekend,” said the guard, after he’d searched her bag.
She smiled, wished him a good weekend, too. Then headed to the métro.
There was no turning back now.
CHAPTER 3
Reine-Marie Gamache slipped her arm through her husband’s as they walked along rue des Archives to the bus stop on rue des Quatre-Fils.
Armand had suggested he flag down a taxi to take them from their apartment in the Marais to the restaurant, but Reine-Marie preferred the bus. It was a route she knew well. One that always confirmed for her that she was in Paris.
“Do you remember the first time we took this bus?” she asked.
He heard her words but was thinking about the first time Reine-Marie had taken his arm. Like this.
It was their third date, and they were walking along the slippery winter sidewalk in Montréal after dinner.
He’d reached out for her, to keep her steady, just as Reine-Marie had reached for him.
To keep him steady.
She’d put her arm through his. So that their fates would be intertwined. If one lost their balance, the other would right them. Or they’d fall together.
“You had on that blue cape your mother loaned you,” he said, remembering that chilly night.
“I had on the polka dot dress I’d borrowed from my sister,” she said, remembering that warm day.
“It was winter,” he said.
“It was the height of summer.”
“Ah, yes,” he said into the evening air. “I remember it well.”
“You nut,” she laughed, recognizing the reference.
He smiled. And squeezed her arm. As they passed men and women, young and old, lovers and strangers, strolling like them along rue des Quatre-Fils.
* * *
“Ready?” Daniel called upstairs.
“Can’t we come with you, Daddy?” Florence asked.
She and her sister were already in the flannel pajamas their grandparents had brought from Québec.
Moose roamed Florence’s pajamas, while baby black bears played on Zora’s.
The sisters stood side by side in the living room, looking up at their father.
“Non, mes petits singes,” Daniel said, kneeling down. “My little monkeys. You need to stay here and play with your cousin.”
They looked over at Honoré, asleep on a blanket on the floor.
“He’s not much fun,” said Zora, uncertainly.
Tante Annie laughed from the depth of the chair she’d sunk into. The babysitters had arrived. They just needed Roslyn.
“Judging by the kicks,” Annie said, putting a hand on her stomach, “the next one might never sleep. Want to feel?”
The girls raced each other over, and while they placed their tiny hands on the enormous belly, Jean-Guy and Daniel drifted together.
“I remember that,” said Daniel. His deep voice was wistful, soft. “When Roslyn was pregnant. It seemed incredible.”
Jean-Guy watched Annie as she smiled and nodded, listening to the girls. Florence, the eldest at six, took after her mother. Slender, athletic, extroverted.
Zora took after her father. Large-boned, slightly awkward, shyer. Where Florence could be impetuous, chasing balls, running into lampposts, skinning her knees leaping off swings, Zora was calmer, gentler. More thoughtful.
Where Florence decided she was afraid of birds, shrieking in the park and running away, Zora stood with a handful of bread, feeding them.
Watching them, Jean-Guy was so grateful that their unborn daughter would have them to play with, and Honoré, who was fiercely loyal, as her brother. She’d need it. Him. Them.
And what would Honoré get, in his sister?
A lifetime of love, he hoped. And responsibility, he knew.
He looked at his sleeping son, and felt that pang of guilt, for what he was being given, without his consent.
“I’m here,” said Roslyn, hurrying down the stairs from their bedroom. “Sorry I’m late. Here, let me help you.”
She put out her hand, and together with Jean-Guy and Daniel, they hauled Annie out of the chair.
“Did you hear a thucking sound?” Jean-Guy asked.
“Thuck off,” said Annie.
She put her arm through his, and he held her close as they stepped into the cool September evening.
* * *
Armand and Reine-Marie got off the bus at the familiar stop. The Bibliothèque nationale.
Armand glanced around. It would appear, to any fellow passenger also alighting, as though he was just getting his bearings.
In fact, the head
of homicide for the Sûreté du Québec was scanning the street. Taking in, instinctively, the brasseries, the shops. The doorways, the alleyways. Their fellow pedestrians. The cars and trucks.
Paris was far from immune to violence. And had a tragic recent history of terrorist attacks.
While comfortable in the city, he was still keenly aware of his surroundings. But then, he did the same thing while walking the dogs through the forest at home.
They strolled down rue de Richelieu and in less than a minute had arrived at the bar à vins, with its window display of bottles.
They were greeted with kisses and embraces by the owner’s daughter, Margaux.
Now a grown woman and married, Margaux had been there thirty- five years earlier when the Gamaches had run into Juveniles, soaked through in a sudden downpour, and decided to stay for dinner.
Margaux had been just five years old and was working the bar.
Her father had bent down and whispered in her ear, pointing to them. She’d walked over to the newcomers, a white linen towel over her raised forearm, and gravely suggested a nice red wine from Andalusia.
She’d pronounced it carefully. Then looked back at her father, who nodded approval and smiled at the young couple.
Margaux had now taken over the restaurant and her husband, Romain, was the head chef. But Tim remained the owner and was still known as the Big Boss.
This evening the familiar carafe was already on the table waiting for them. They were the first of their party to arrive and were seated at their regular long table by the wooden bar.
Armand and Reine-Marie chatted with the Big Boss, while jazz played softly in the background. Within minutes Daniel and Roslyn arrived, with Annie and Jean-Guy.
There were shouts of delight as Margaux put her hand on Annie’s belly and the two women discussed the upcoming birth, while the others exchanged greetings.
Once the hubbub died down, they sat. Daniel poured the wine, and Margaux brought over fresh-squeezed juice for Annie and a Coke for Jean-Guy. Warm baguettes were placed on cutting boards on the table, along with a terrine de campagne, whipped butter, and small bowls of olives.
