by Ruby Loren
“I think I’m about to find out one way or the other,” I admitted.
She laughed. “Well, just in case, I’ll pack you a bag of madelines. I made them this morning. When I worry, I bake.”
“When I worry, I eat,” I confessed, which made her laugh some more.
“It sounds like we should have been friends long ago.”
She took Jolie inside and I waited in the hallway until she hurried back with a large bag, filled with madelines and other assorted biscuits.
“I added a few other bits.” Adele smiled. “I really was worried this morning.”
"Let me know when the puppies come… and what happens when you tell Justin,” I added.
She nodded. “If it goes badly, you’ll probably hear it from your house.”
I left Adele with the very pregnant Jolie, who was no doubt officially in the dog house. In spite of the dark secret I’d learned during my eavesdropping session, my steps were light on the way back to the cottage. An animal had been pronounced well, I had a bag full of treats, and I was even looking forward to discovering what Lowell had cooked up for me.
My nose twitched when I was only a couple of houses away from our little rented cottage. Something smelled fantastic. Could it really be…? I checked the time on my phone and realised it had only taken me five minutes to walk back from Adele's house. Drat! I should have taken a detour so as not to return too early. Lowell had definitely wanted me to give him space and not come back until two. Still… it smelt like it was nearly ready. Surely he wouldn't mind if I was a little less than half an hour early…
The door to the cottage sprung open and a woman walked out.
Without thinking, I dodged into the space between houses, just one building away from our cottage. I stood in shocked silence with my back pressed against the cool stone wall. Why had one of the village women just walked out of our cottage? I’d seen her around the square a few times. She must have been in her late thirties, but her natural red hair and creamy skin made her undeniably attractive and helped her to stand out in a land full of St Tropez worthy tans. My heart jumped in my chest.
I was going to have to risk a second look. I poked my head around the corner.
She was waving towards the still open door. It blocked my view, but I had no doubt that it was Lowell who was stood there.
“Au revoir! Merci Monsieur,” she said, half laughing. I suddenly realised her waving hand was stuffed full of euro notes!
I whipped my head back around the corner, all kinds of possibilities running through my mind, before I calmed down a bit and realised the truth of what I’d just seen.
It was far worse than I’d imagined.
I gave it five minutes and then walked up to the cottage door and knocked. Lowell answered, wearing the pink gingham apron that had been supplied with the rental property. He used the corner to wipe his dramatically sweating brow. I inwardly raised an eyebrow and wondered how he’d managed to achieve that little touch. Press-ups in the back garden?
“Madi, you’re early! No problem, I think it’s all about ready. If you sit down, I’ll get the starter out of the fridge and plated up.”
I tried not to laugh at his sincerity. He’d really gone all out!
“I can’t wait to try it all. It smells amazing,” I said honestly, still somehow managing to keep a straight face.
“I told you I could cook,” he said, proudly placing what looked like a salmon roulade on the table.
“Wow, what is it?” I asked.
He only hesitated for a fraction of a second. “It’s salmon and a mousse. I just, you know… whipped it up, using all sorts.”
He cut us both a slice and we dug in.
It was brilliant. Somehow that just made me want to laugh even more.
“What’s for the main course?” I asked.
“It’s uh… duck leg. With like, a cheesy potato.”
“Dauphinoise?” I queried.
“Yeah,” he said, seizing on what must have been a familiar word. I took a sip of the pink wine he’d poured for us both but I didn’t miss the look of relief that crossed his face.
I let him dish up the duck and decided to fill him in on the morning I’d had, including what I’d overheard at the doctors-cum-vets.
“So, Pascal turned into a drunk. I can’t say I blame him. When I knew him, he was already old and bitter. It was probably just his way of dealing with things. Although that never excuses any domestic violence,” he acknowledged.
I nodded in agreement. “I can see why the doctor all but said it’s a blessing he’s dead. But it made me wonder how many people noticed what was going on over the years.”
“You think it might be a motive?” Lowell asked, taking a bite of the duck and appreciating it.
The whole dinner really was superb.
“Who knows? If it were as simple as someone wanting to defend Madame Devereux, why dispose of the body in such a needlessly dramatic way? I still think the fact he was dropped into the zoo means something.”
“I forgot to ask! How was the publishing chat with the agent?”
“I had to postpone it,” I confessed, hoping he wouldn’t be too disappointed on my behalf. I wasn’t that worried about missing it.
“Well, you've got to help your friends out, haven't you?” he allowed.
I took another sip of my wine. “Speaking of friends… Lowell, I heard a rumour in the village earlier. A rumour about you,” I invented.
He deserved to sweat for what he’d done.
“Oh?” he said, his eyebrows shooting up.
“I’m not sure if I overheard it correctly, but while you were supposed to be cooking a three course dinner, one of the locals saw an attractive redhead enter this cottage and not come out again.” I took another sip of my wine, enjoying the genuine concern and conflict on Lowell’s face. “I must admit, I wasn’t sure if I was going to come back to a microwaved ready meal but now I find out that you’re not only a brilliant cook, you also found time to entertain another woman while doing it! It’s really quite an achievement.”
“That’s not… It’s not what you think," Lowell blustered, running both hands through his dark hair and making it stick up in tufts. “I didn’t…”
He stopped talking and narrowed his eyes. “You don’t seem very angry about this.”
I grinned, knowing he was starting to cotton on. “That wasn’t the only gossip I heard either. The next door neighbour told me they saw the same woman leave this house clutching a wedge of euro notes! I’m sure you can understand the conclusion they drew from that. The whole village will be in uproar!”
Lowell’s mouth set in an unimpressed line, but his eyes still held a spark of amusement. “You saw, didn’t you?”
My grin widened. “I came back from my walk a little early,” I confessed. “Tut, tut… paying someone to make the dinner for you.” I took another sip of the wine. “To be honest… I’m impressed. Some men might have tried using YouTube videos and made something passable but you skipped that stage and did something really impressive.”
“Well, I said you’d be surprised.” A smile was just starting to creep onto his own face.
I pouted. “Where's my 'well done’ for being a good detective and catching you at your game?”
Lowell shook his head. “I suppose I only have myself to blame there, although I think you were already pretty good at sticking your nose where it didn’t belong before I came along.”
“How dare you," I said, smiling into my wine.
“I don't know what you paid her, but it was worth it," I confessed, finishing the last of my duck. “Hey, maybe she could give you lessons so you could do it yourself!” I tilted my head hopefully, but he shook his head.
“Why bother when you can cut out the middle man?”
I rolled my eyes. “I knew it was too much to hope for, you cheat. What’s for dessert?”
“I have no idea. It’s a dessert. I really should have paid more attention when Anise told
me what all of the courses were,” he confessed.
“Ah well, my favourite kind of dessert is dessert, so we should be okay,” I told him with a grin.
4
Secret Admirer
The sun shone down on me when I walked through the zoo on Monday morning. The weather hadn’t blipped once, despite it being September. Even the locals were surprised but they were all betting it would end soon. I smiled. It wasn’t just the British who were pessimists when it came to the weather.
“Bonjour!” I called to every member of staff I met on my way to the little staffroom. Today, I planned to tackle L’airelle’s collection of reptiles and amphibians - something that I now felt surprisingly confident about, thanks to my last job. I also doubted that the animals at L’airelle would be anywhere near as deadly as the ones at Dracondia Manor. Before I got on with that, I’d made plans to drop in and see Luna and Adele. After all, I was sure Adele would have news to share.
“Hey! How are we?” I said, walking in to the familiar smell of coffee. Adele and Luna were sat on the sofa with a couple of espressos, having finished feeding their charges breakfast.
“I’m good,” Luna said, and Adele echoed the same sentiment.
“How are the animals?” I enquired, knowing this would undoubtedly get a longer response.
“The three brothers have calmed down and seem back to normal,” Adele began. “They’ve been arguing ever since… the body.” She cleared her throat. “They're back to normal now, at least. Tiana and Lawrence are fine, too,” she said, referring to the parents of the three bengal brothers.
“Lions are all good. I tried them with a block of that ice you suggested. It’s been pretty hot and they really seemed to go for it. I'm looking forward to figuring out some of the other toys you’ve planned,” Luna said.
“The rest of the clan are all doing fine,” Adele said, referring to the various felines they collectively cared for.
“Where's Justin?" I cautiously asked.
Adele’s mouth quirked up at one side. “He’s at home, but don’t worry… it’s not because we're getting a divorce and he’s moving out.”
I breathed a dramatic sigh of relief and she laughed. “I came clean about Jolie and guess what? She ran out on him, too! So now we have no idea which time it was that she had her fling.”
“Equal guilt… hooray!” I said, pleased it had worked out so fortuitously.
“Justin stayed home because we think there’s not long to go until Jolie pops. We’re both taking our holiday leave one day at a time. I’m not sure if the lucky one of us will be the one who’s at home or here when it happens,” she said, thoughtfully.
“I can't wait to see them. You’re sure you’ll let me have one?” Luna piped up.
“You can have them all if you like,” Adele joked with a wry smile. “Don’t commit too soon. Who knows? She might have done it with a Dachshund!”
A knock on the wooden slat door of the hut cut off our conversation. A man in a uniform stepped into the room. “I’ve got a delivery here? I’ll just pop it down on the counter,” he said.
“Who’s it for?” Luna asked.
The man shrugged. “No idea! The instructions just said to bring it to the hut where the big cat keepers hang out. You’ll have to fight over it.”
He turned to go, but I moved to block his exit. “Wait a second, you really don’t know who sent it?” I asked.
“Sorry, Madame. The company I work for just does deliveries. I don’t know where the package originally came from. We work for loads of different businesses.”
I moved aside and let him go.
We all converged on the table, looking down at what had been left.
“Chocolates. Nice ones, too,” Luna observed, lifting the ribbon and looking at the assortment we would find inside.
Adele reached for the gift label, which would normally contain a message. “It says ‘For you, beautiful’,” she read.
“Maybe Justin sent them for you as a surprise?” I suggested but she shook her head.
“No… I love Justin, but he wouldn’t know a romantic gesture if it slapped him in the face. How about your guy?”
“He paid a local woman to cook a three course dinner for us yesterday. I think he’s all out of romantic gestures,” I said.
Adele's expression melted into a smile. “Aww, that’s really sweet!”
“He paid her to come and cook it at the house and told me to go for a long walk… so he could pretend he cooked the whole thing himself,” I continued.
Adele’s smile was replaced with a smirk. “He’s a sneaky one. I hope you got him back?”
“I did,” I reassured her, thinking back to the line I'd spun Lowell. It had been more than fair payback for his little trick. In the end, who was I to complain? It had been a truly fantastic meal.
“Luna? Do you have a new beau we don’t know about?” Adele said to the lion keeper.
“No,” she said, although I noticed she was blushing a little bit. “No one’s sending me chocolates,” she reaffirmed and I believed her - although maybe not that part about not having a love interest on the table.
Adele and I exchanged a look, both of us silently promising we’d get to the bottom of that later on.
“Don’t,” I said, when Luna tore a little of the packaging open.
“But…”
“I know,” I answered. I really did. “They’re probably fine, but you’ve got to admit it’s weird. A man falls from the sky right over the zoo and now a box of chocolates with no intended recipient and no clue as to who they’re from arrives. I’m not saying we need to throw them away, but let’s think a bit first, okay? Let’s all try to get to the bottom of who sent them. I’m sure whoever it was wanted it to be a surprise but… it’s better to know for sure.”
“Okay, we’ll leave them right here. It’s only the cat keepers who come in here anyway. Start researching, ladies,” Adele said with a grin.
“I’d better be getting on. Lots of animals to see, lots of health and safety issues to butt heads over,” I said.
“Have fun,” Luna mocked.
I stuck my tongue out at her before turning and walking out the door. Or at least, I tried to. Someone was blocking my way.
“Good morning, Ms Amos,” the familiar voice said. I squinted in the sunlight that streamed through the doorway and realised I was uncomfortably close to Mr Flannigan. I spared a thought to wonder where his partner had got to. I hoped she wasn’t after Lowell. He’d told me they’d had work history but he hadn’t been much more forthcoming.
“Who's the lucky lady?” Mr Flannigan asked when he walked in uninvited and eyed the chocolates on the counter.
“We don't know,” I said and hastily pushed the conversation onto a fresh topic. “You’re here to ask questions, right?”
“Yes. It’s good the three of you are here together.” he said, smiling brightly and falsely at each of us in turn.
He dragged a bar stool across the tiled floor and sat down in front of the sofa. I moved over and perched on the arm of the sofa.
“So… you both knew the victim, correct?” he said, addressing Adele and Luna.
They nodded.
“But, Miss Fleur, I believe you had problems with Monsieur Devereux for years? Was there some sort of a grudge?” He zeroed in on Luna.
“If you know about ‘my problem’ with Monsieur Devereux, then you’ll also know that he had a vendetta against my father and the reason for it,” she responded, coolly.
“Do you know how to skydive?” he asked, quite out of the blue.
My mouth fell open in shock. He wasn't really suggesting…
“No, I do not,” Luna replied.
“Really? I thought the majority of locals would have at least tried it, especially when there’s a facility so close by.” Mr Flannigan wasn’t dropping this easily.
“I’m scared of heights,” Luna told him with a thin smile.
“I’ve done it before,” Adele admit
ted.
The agent’s attention snapped to her. “How recently?”
“Not for a couple of years,” Adele replied, but I noticed a crease appeared between her eyebrows. And with good reason! I thought. I couldn’t believe this man persisted in being so rude. I wondered if he behaved the same way around his wife.
I surreptitiously cast a glance down at his ring finger and noticed it was bare. No surprises there. When I looked up, I found Mr Flannigan’s eyes fixed on me. I turned away, not wanting him to make the wrong assumption.
“Are you certain?” he pressed, returning to interrogating Adele.
I found I'd already had enough. “Are you seriously trying to imply she had something to do with the incident? She was right on the ground with Luna and me when it happened. We all saw the paragliders fly over.”
“I’m just establishing the facts,” Mr Flannigan droned without meeting my gaze.
“You have access to all of the information the police took from us on the day it happened, right?” I knew he must do from the facts he’d already seemed aware of. “Everything we saw is in the statements we gave.”
“I’m just checking there's nothing that you might have remembered since,” he said, expression unchanging.
He pointedly turned away from me and returned his attention to Luna. “What was your relationship with Monsieur Devereux?” he asked.
“I didn’t have one,” Luna said. “He was bitter about some money he perceived he missed out on and he took it out on me and my father in petty ways. Like I told the police, it went on for years, but he stopped recently. I guess his age started to catch up with him.”
Perhaps his drinking, too, I privately thought.
“When was the last time you saw him?” Flannigan asked.
“I don’t know. He lived in the village, so I’m sure I saw him around occasionally, although we never spoke. I did my best to stay as far away from him as possible.”
Flannigan nodded, like she’d just said something significant. “Ms Nice, you’re married, aren’t you? How about you, Ms Fleur?”
I bit my tongue and then couldn’t hold it in any longer. I’d had enough. “Mr Flannigan, I’m afraid we all have our own jobs to be returning to. I know Luna and Adele were about to attend a rather urgent situation with one of the cougars when you came in. I don’t think it can wait any longer,” I invented.
