by Susan Finlay
“Oh, wow!” Dave ran his hand through his hair. “Okay, if that’s true, what does this all mean?”
“Don’t know yet. I’m still working on it.”
As Dave and Edward were about to leave, Durand knocked on Goddard’s door again.
“I was in Reynier earlier,” he said, “and I thought you might want to hear this.”
“Go ahead.”
“I was on my way to check out the fourth crime scene again to make sure we didn’t miss something. I was walking. I overhead some people talking about the murders. They were sitting in front of the bakery. Since these were people who haven’t exactly been talkative with me, I sat down at a table nearby, took a map, and pretended I was looking up something.”
Goddard smiled, pleased with Durand finally showing some useful investigative initiative.
“Someone said he thought it was odd that two people were stabbed and two were bludgeoned. Then someone else said, ‘No. The first one was strangled.’ I thought it was odd that he used the word ‘bludgeoned’, especially coming from a young man.”
“Go on.”
“Well, then someone else told the story of Alain trying to strangle him when they were younger, like one of the victims.”
“Who were these people?”
“Jonas Lefèvre, Paul Lepage, and another man. I think they called him Tristan. He was wearing a waiter’s uniform—probably works over at Chez Olivier. He said something about not knowing whether he still had a job. The assistant manager over there has kept the restaurant open, but no one knows for how much longer.”
Goddard pondered what Durand had said. Bludgeoning was indeed an unusual choice of words.
“I think Alain Delacroix is the killer,” Durand said.
“Alain does have a temper,” Dave said. “I know the story. It was something that happened when Paul and Alain were teenagers. But I don’t believe he would ever carry through.”
Goddard was only half listening to Dave and interrupted. He’d already heard the story about Alain trying to strangle Paul from someone else. “Repeat what you just said, Durand.”
Durand poured out the story again.
They’d told a few people that Gabrielle had been hit over the head with the flashlight that Maurelle had left behind in the cave. But they hadn’t told anyone that the first victim had been strangled. Goddard jumped up from his seat. “I know who the murderer is.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
OUTSIDE JEANNETTE’S HOUSE, Maurelle heard indistinct shouting coming from inside. She glanced over at Simone, wondering what to do. Before she had a chance to ask, the door flew open, and Paul dashed out. Maurelle and Simone both instinctively backed up against the face of the house, out of Paul’s line of sight. He glanced up and down the street, then ran across the street toward his workshop.
Simone stepped around Maurelle and pushed the door open. Maurelle followed her inside. Jeannette was sitting on the edge of a chair, shaking, tears dripping down her face.
“What happened, Grand-mère?”
“I told Paul about the gendarmes questioning me about that American, the one they say is a crook. I asked Paul if he was being scammed by the man, and maybe even by his friend, Monsieur Lamont. He became angry. He tried to make it sound like he was angry with his friend, but I wasn’t convinced. I—I brought up something else, something Paul didn’t want to hear.”
Simone exchanged looks with Maurelle, then turned her attention back to Jeannette.
“What did you say?”
“He’d gotten into some trouble several months ago. I found out about it and told him I didn’t like it one bit. He swore he wouldn’t let it happen again. I believed him, but . . . .”
“But what, Grand-mère? What did he do?”
She whispered, “The knife is missing.”
Trying to understand, Maurelle asked, “What kind of trouble was he in?”
“Oh, I can’t say. I promised. And he would be angry if I told anyone.”
Taking a different tact, Simone asked, “Well then, what did he say to you? We heard shouting but couldn’t make out what he was saying.”
“He said he knew about my illegitimate child that I abandoned, and that I had no right to judge him. How could he know? Did you tell him, Simone?”
“No. I swear. I didn’t tell anyone.”
Maurelle’s mouth gaped open at Jeannette’s revelation, but she closed it before blurting out her surprise. She took a deep breath, then said, “You may be in danger. We need to get you away from here in case he comes back.”
“I agree. Come on, Grand-mère. Let’s get you to the café. Then we’ll call Captain Goddard. He’ll know what to do.”
Jeannette hunted for her shoes and found them half under the sofa where she’d kicked them off earlier. She stuffed her swollen feet inside them.
“Oh dear, I need to sit down. I don’t feel well. Give me a moment to rest.”
Maurelle and Simone sat on the sofa and watched Jeannette.
“Do you think we should take her to a doctor?” Maurelle asked. “She doesn’t look well. She was having trouble yesterday, too, after she and Paul found that body.”
Jeannette raised her head and blurted out “No, I don’t want to go to no doctor. She started shaking again.
Simone said “Okay, Grand-mère. Please try to calm down.” To Maurelle, she said, “It’s probably just emotional stress.”
“Yes, that’s certainly possible. I’m just worried. When Fabienne, Jeannette, and I were in Saint-Julien, Fabienne was having similar problems. We finally had to seek out the village’s doctor. He ran some tests and told us she might need more tests later. When we got back here, she did have more tests run and the doctor increased the dosage of her medication. I guess they’re both at an age when they have to be more careful and watch for health problems.”
Simone gave Maurelle an angry stare and pointed to Jeannette with her eyes, trying to get Maurelle to change the subject.
Maurelle, taking Simone’s meaning, said, “Oh, I’m sure you are right. It’s probably just stress. That’s all it was when Fabienne gave us a big scare.”
Simone said. “Do you think you can walk, Grand-mère?”
“I think so. But give me a couple more minutes. Could one of you bring me a something to drink?”
Maurelle went into the kitchen and returned a couple of minutes later, handing Jeannette a small glass of orange juice.
Jeannette sipped it slowly until she finished the juice. She closed her eyes and after a few minutes Maurelle wondered if she’d fallen asleep. Maurelle watched the hands on the mantel clock ticking along, and she worried that Paul might return. She glanced at Simone.
Simone reached out and touched Jeannette’s arm gently. “Are you all right?”
She opened her eyes and said, “I’m feeling much better now. I think I’m ready to go. Just let me get my hat.”
As Jeannette walked away, Maurelle turned to Simone and whispered, “Do you think she might be diabetic? My mum had diabetes and she sometimes had drastic drops in her blood sugar. Juice seemed to help.”
“I’ve wondered about that for some time,” Simone whispered back. “This isn’t the first episode I’ve noticed with her. I think you are right. We should take her to the doctor after things settle down.”
The women left the house and wanted to rush down the road to make up for lost time, but they knew Jeannette couldn’t move fast right now.
“Wait. I need to stop.”
While they waited for Jeannette to catch her breath, Maurelle saw Fabienne and Eloise rushing toward them, waving their arms. When they got closer, Eloise shouted, “There’s a fire in the town hall. It’s total chaos. Alain yelled at us and said to go find the three of you and stay indoors until the fire is put out.”
Jeannette gasped and slapped her hand over her mouth, looking faint again. Simone put her arm around her grandmother to help steady her.
Seconds later a siren caught their attention. They
all turned and looked down at the lower level and saw glimpses of a fire engine roaring past the shops. Another fire engine soon followed.
“Do you think Paul set the fire?” Maurelle asked.
“I was wondering the same thing,” Simone said. “It could be a distraction.”
“What are you talking about?” Fabienne said. “What’s going on?”
Simone gave them a quick update on the day’s events.
“Oh, my God,” Fabienne said. “It makes sense now.”
“What do you mean?” Maurelle asked.
“Dave called me moments ago, after Bruno burst into the café and yelled ‘fire’. We thought Bruno was making it up at first, but then we looked out the window and saw flames from the town hall. Alain ran outside, then came back in and told everyone to get out and move away from the area. That’s when he told us to go find you. While we were looking for you, Dave called.”
“What did he say?” Maurelle asked.
“Oh, yes, I distracted myself. He said that he and the captain were coming to see Jeannette, and that if we ran into her, we should get her to safety. I told him Jeannette was at home and we were already getting away from the fire. He said he didn’t mean from the fire.”
“Did he say where to go?”
Fabienne shook her head. “No, and I’m scared. Nothing like this has ever happened it Reynier.”
“The cafort,” Simone said. “In the old days soldiers hid out there. It was a sort of bunker for them. Do you have any flashlights, Grand-mère?”
“Yes, in the kitchen. But I can’t go back there. It was hard enough making it this far once.” They were standing behind the chateau and directly above the entrance to the cafort.
“I’ll go get them,” Simone said. “Wait here. I’ll only be a minute.”
She dashed back to the house and returned with three flashlights. She handed one to Eloise, one to Maurelle, and kept one for herself.
“Let’s go down the stairs,” she said. “We’ll go through the entrance behind the chateau.”
THE CAR WAS racing along the main road behind the second fire engine. Dave could already see the flames as they were reaching the edge of the village. From the backseat he could see the upper part of Goddard’s face in the rearview mirror. Deep worry lines creased his forehead.
“You really think the killer deliberately set the fire?” Dave asked.
“I’m almost certain of it,” Goddard said. “This is someone who never had much control and what little there was has gone. Any obstacles are dealt with savagely and without mercy.”
Dave silently worried about Maurelle, wondering where she was at that moment.
Goddard pulled up behind the fire engines now stopped at the scene. Dave, Edward, and Goddard all piled out of the car and ran toward the burning building, followed immediately by fire fighters carrying hoses.
CAMILLE STOOD IN the parking lot in front of the chateau with most of her guests, the crowd growing rapidly with nearby shop owners and customers. Everyone kept their eyes riveted to the flames and the firefighters. Camille kept glancing in all directions, wondering where Jean-Pierre had gone. When would he come back? Thick smoke billowed in dark plumes, and ashes fell like rain. The smell of wildfire was thick in the air, reminding her of the time her parents’ barn burned down. She had been five at the time and hadn’t actually seen the fire or the smoke, but the smell had lingered for a long time after the blaze was extinguished. To Camille, it was the smell of death.
She jumped when someone put their arm around her shoulder. She turned her head and looked into Lillian Lefevre’s face.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you. But you looked so worried. They won’t let the fire reach the chateau, I’m sure. It’s one of Reynier’s landmarks.”
“Thank you. I thought you’d left town.”
“I went to visit a friend in Lavardin. I was in such a state earlier. I couldn’t trust myself to stay here. My friend, someone I’ve known for ages, is a counselor and she talked some sense into me.”
Camille listened without comment. She couldn’t tell her it was Jean-Pierre she was panicking about. Even if the fire didn’t make it to the chateau, she would probably have to leave Reynier if he didn’t come back. What had happened to him? Had he left her? It didn’t make any sense. She knew she couldn’t run the hotel without him. But if she gave up the chateau, how would she live without an income and how would she live without Jean-Pierre?
THE FIVE WOMEN entered the cavern. Staying close together, they walked through the large room, lit by the old mining lanterns strung along the wooden beams. Further into the cavern, Maurelle knew, were many narrow passageways branching off in different directions, some leading to dead-ends, some to troglos, and others she had no idea where. Besides the main room, only the main tunnel carved out years ago by miners was lit.
“Where are we going?” Jeannette asked. “I don’t like this place. It was scary enough knowing there was a pit in here, you know the one don’t you, Fabienne? Charles and Claude brought us here and warned us about it years ago. But seeing that dead body in here, well it was too much.”
“I don’t think we should talk about bodies,” Fabienne whispered. “Now you’re making me nervous.”
A noise behind them made them all jump.
“What was that?” Jeannette asked.
“Probably bats,” Eloise said. “When I was a little girl, Coralie and I would run through here waving our arms. The bats would get frightened and fly in circles.”
Maurelle frowned. Bats or something else, it didn’t matter. The hairs on her arms were standing up.
“Let’s keep moving,” Simone said. “I don’t have a good feeling about this, either. Whose idea was this . . .” she started to say, then stopped, apparently realizing she had suggested the cafort.
Another sound echoed through the cave and Jeannette let out a shriek. They all turned around. With the light behind him, Alain stood out clearly. He was advancing on them, and Simone gasped.
The light from Simone’s flashlight started shaking, and Maurelle looked at her. Simone looked as if she’d seen a ghost and might pass out. Maurelle felt sorry for her.
“Run!” Alain yelled. “Get away from here. All of you. He has a sword.”
Maurelle turned back toward Alain in time to see Paul come up from behind and hit him over the head with a boulder. Alain crumpled to the floor and lay unmoving. Then Paul walked calmly back, reached down, and picked up Jeannette’s antique sword.
“Run!” Maurelle shouted.
Eloise grabbed Fabienne’s arm and pulled her along.
They entered one of the unlit tunnels, but there was still enough light that they didn’t need their flashlights yet. Maurelle knew they would soon be in the dark. She flipped the switch on her flashlight as she ran, then looked behind her to make sure Fabienne and Eloise were keeping up. They were on her heels and Eloise’s flashlight was on. Simone and Jeannette were ahead of Maurelle, barely.
Simone turned her head, momentarily looking over her shoulder, and said, “I have an idea. Follow me.”
She veered off to her left into a narrow passage.
Jeannette moaned and then said, “No. I don’t want to go that way.” But she kept going.
It was then that Maurelle realized she was taking them toward the pit.
As they stood near the edge, Simone shut off her flashlight. “Turn them all off,” she said.
It was pitch black, the kind of blackness where you couldn’t see your own hand in front of your eyes. All five women stayed quiet in fear, hearing Paul stumbling along without a light to guide him, coming closer. He yelled out once, causing Maurelle to involuntarily yelp and jump. Had he bumped into the limestone wall?
He was really close now. Maurelle could hear his labored breathing, could feel cold air swishing nearby, almost brushing her arm. Oh God, was he right there? She fought the impulse to turn on her light. The sound of metal crashing on rock made her jump again, and then
someone crashed into her.
Jeannette screamed.
The blindness was too much for Maurelle, and she clicked on her flashlight. Jeannette was struggling with her grandson. Searching the ground, Maurelle found a small boulder, as Paul had done earlier. She smashed Paul on the shoulder, missing his head, and he stumbled forward into her. She was jostled, causing light and shadows to wildly bounce off walls and bodies. For a moment Maurelle was disoriented and couldn’t make any sense of what was happening. A scream shot out, and two more flashlights clicked on.
Simone was standing on the edge of the pit, her light shining down into the depths. Jeannette was next to her, moaning.
“What happened?” Maurelle asked.
“I pushed him in,” Simone said.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
GODDARD PERUSED THE crowded area in front of the café and the town hall. The mayor, Claude Rousseau, was talking to Durand. Goddard had already heard that Claude had been inside the building when he smelled smoke but no one seemed to know how the fire had started.
Nearby, Coralie Charbonneau was waving her arms and shouting out, asking if anyone had seen her mother or her daughter. Dave and Edward were trying to calm her down. They were assuring her that, although they didn’t know where the women had gone, they would be found safe. Goddard knew that a couple of his men were currently looking for them.
A shout from up the road caught Goddard’s attention and it seemed nearly everyone else’s, as well. Maurelle was running toward the café.
Goddard and Dave both hurried toward her.
“We need help,” she said. “In the cafort.”
They all ran together to the cavern entrance behind the chateau.
“What happened?” Dave asked.
“We went inside to hide from Paul, but he must have followed us.”
