“Or sneak into an office,” Magda added.
“No, that was my fault.” Rachel bit her lip. “You realized that anyone could have used Lellouch’s phone without his knowledge.”
Magda patted her arm. “But we were both so determined to make Gabrielle guilty that we decided it must have been her.”
“And did she kill Thieriot using some audacious plan too?” Alan took another drink of whiskey.
“No, that was very straightforward, just as the police report said. But I think after she did it, she must have started to worry that someone might put it all together. Otherwise, why remove the rest of the receipts from the archive? And then,” Rachel said, grinding her teeth, “burn them in her fireplace, leaving us with no evidence admissible in court.”
“And she just told you all this?” Alan’s tone was incredulous. “About impersonating Gabrielle, and her grandfather’s Nazi pistol? She just told you right out?”
“She couldn’t wait to tell us. She had nothing to worry about.” Magda shook her head. “She could just sit back and enjoy the big reveal, leaving us to live our lives knowing that there’s a triple murderer running around free and that one of France’s secular saints is actually just the opposite.”
They all looked at Boussicault, the representative of law and order. He took a sip of wine, taking a long time to drink it before he delivered his verdict. At last he said, “Certainly you could accuse her of what you say she admitted to doing. There’s nothing to stop you. But equally certainly a juge d’instruction would decide you had insufficient evidence to support a case. And if she followed through on her threat, she would respond by demanding of that same juge that you be prosecuted for breaking and entering. And for that charge there is evidence.” He looked at Rachel, then at Magda, then back again. “I’m sorry to say this, but I think in the future it might be wise for you to pick fewer locks and make more calls to the police.”
“The future! What future?” Rachel pushed her cup and saucer away petulantly. “If this is private detection, you can keep it.”
“I wouldn’t be so quick to reach that conclusion.” Boussicault scraped a thumb across his jaw. “If I remember your excellent dossier correctly, you have a contact at Quelles Nouvelles—well, you have the contact at Quelles Nouvelles. And some people—not the police of course, but some people—might argue that in today’s world the real punishments are handed out by the court of public opinion, not a court of law.”
The two women looked at each other. “Foucher did make us promise to bring him any interesting revelations,” Rachel said.
“And it’s not just the internet that loves to believe the worst of others.” Magda tapped her fingertips on the tabletop. “We could send copies of the receipt to Vogue, and WWD, and even some newspapers, along with the details of what we know. We wouldn’t even have to put our names on it.”
There’s more than one way into the square. Hadn’t a fashion designer said that? Rachel couldn’t remember which one, but that didn’t change the value of the observation. Justice was justice, no matter how it came and no matter how long it took. Smiling across the table at her best friend who smiled back, she pushed her cup of cold tea away and turned to Alan.
“Let’s order some champagne. Maybe this investigation won’t end so badly after all.”
Useful French words and phrases
accord de non-divulgation— nondisclosure agreement.
appartement—a grand apartment.
absolument—absolutely.
atelier—studio.
allo—hello (used only for answering the telephone).
alors—so, then.
bal—ball.
bandante—hot (literally, “making something bend”).
bon—good.
ça va?—How’s it going?
carte couteau—a knife that folds inside a credit card, extremely sharp but short.
carte d’identification/d’indentité—the identification card all French residents carry.
Çe n’est rien, madame. Mon amie a mangé un mauvaise huître—It’s nothing, ma’am. My friend ate a bad oyster.
c’est bon—that’s good.
chef—chief, head of department.
chef modéliste—head pattern cutter.
chevalier—a knight or member of a French order such as the Legion of Honor.
clochard—homeless person.
Coke Light—the European equivalent of Diet Coke.
commérage—gossip.
commerçant—merchant.
compagnon—life partner.
compétence—area of responsibility (in this case, geographical area).
couturier—fashion designer.
croquis—fashion sketch.
culotté—bold.
d’acc—okay; short for d’accord.
d’accord—okay.
de rien—it’s nothing.
défilé de mode—fashion show; défilé for short.
désintoxification/désintox—rehab.
drogué—drug addict, druggie.
élégant—dashing.
emmerdeur—trouble-maker (literally, shit-stirrer).
et aussi—and also.
fils de pute—son of a whore.
flic—policeman.
flou—a fashion workshop in which light fabrics are sewn.
galant—charming.
garçon de table—waiter.
gérante—manager.
giton—slang for a freeloader supported by a more mature gay man.
grande investigatrice—great investigatrix.
guillemets—the pointed quotation marks used by the French: “ ».
hein—eh?
indemnité de licenciement—redundancy payment.
je vous en prie—you’re welcome.
juge d’instruction—examining magistrate, who determines whether there is a case worth prosecuting.
les detectives privés pour les nuls—private detection for dummies.
louche—sleazy, seedy.
maison—a fashion house.
maison particulier—a grand townhouse.
mannequin—model.
maquisard—resistance fighter (the plural is maquis).
maquillage—makeup.
marque—brand.
mise en scène—smokescreen.
morceau—piece.
ne touche pas—don’t touch.
partenaire sentimentale—romantic partner.
pathologiste—forensic pathologist.
pommes frites—French fries.
portable—cell phone.
poulet roti—roast chicken.
poussette—stroller, push chair.
pressing—dry cleaner.
recherche google—Google search.
remerciements—acknowledgments.
rusé—sly.
salope—bitch.
séjour—living room.
s’il vous plait—please.
toile—an early version of a finished garment that can still be altered and tweaked.
une moule serrée—literally means “a tight mussel.”
vraiment?—really?
Also available by Emilia Bernhard
The Death in Paris Mystery Series
The Books of the Dead
Death in Paris
Author Biography
Emilia Bernhard is an American living in England. She’s imagined being an actress, a wedding planner, a spy, and a liberal icon, but she’s only ever dreamt of being a novelist. Born in Philadelphia, she lived in Iowa, Massachusetts, Arkansas, London, Cambridge, and Exeter before settling in Bristol, where she lives with her cat, Robert Southey.
This is a work of fiction. All of the names, characters, organizations, places and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real or actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2021 by Emily Bernhard
; All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Crooked Lane Books, an imprint of The Quick Brown Fox & Company LLC.
Crooked Lane Books and its logo are trademarks of The Quick Brown Fox & Company LLC.
Library of Congress Catalog-in-Publication data available upon request.
ISBN (hardcover): 978-1-64385-454-0
ISBN (ebook): 978-1-64385-455-7
Cover design by Lori Palmer
Printed in the United States.
www.crookedlanebooks.com
Crooked Lane Books
34 West 27th St., 10th Floor
New York, NY 10001
First Edition: September 2021
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