Murder in Aix (The Maggie Newberry Mystery Series Book 5) by Susan Kiernan-Lewis Read Free Book Online Page B

to make sure he
wasn’t going to start crying again. His eyes were red and deeply bloodshot, as
if he’d been drinking heavily or crying, or both. He was a good-looking man and
favored his dark-haired cousin in that way, with blue eyes and very straight
white teeth. But there the resemblance ended. Jacques had always been razor
sharp in his manner and inclined to cut. Florrie was the soft, affable one.
         “I am so
sorry to hear about Jacques,” Laurent said, hoping it wouldn’t start him off
again. “It was a shock, I’m sure.”
    “I still cannot believe it,” Florrie said, patting his pockets in search of
a handkerchief of some kind. “I just saw him yesterday!”
    “And he looked well?” Laurent wasn’t sure why he asked that. He glanced
back at the market. He had been hoping to get a good fish before they were all
gone.
    “Well, no, he didn’t. Now that you mention it, he was complaining of not
feeling well. Did you hear they arrested poor Julia? Well, of course you would,
because of Maggie, non ?”
    Laurent nodded solemnly, forcing himself not to look at the line of people
at the fish stall.
    “It’s ridiculous to believe Julia could hurt Jacques,” Florrie said, finally extricating a badly soiled cloth
from his pocket and mopping his wet face with it. “She must be so distraught. Have
you talked with her?”
    “Ah, no,” Laurent said.
    “Will they release her soon, do you think?”
    “I am sure they will. Would you care to walk with me?” Laurent could see
the fish he wanted from here, a very fat John Dory that would do nicely in the
soup he wanted to make today. He began to edge Florrie in that direction.
    “I begged him to take better care of himself,” Florrie said as he trotted
to keep up with Laurent’s long stride. “He smoked. He drank too much. He ate
the wrong things…”
    Laurent got in line at the fish stall and relaxed enough to turn his
attention fully to Florrie while he waited.
    “Getting back together with Julia would have been the best thing he could
have done,” Florrie said earnestly. “I tell you, if it was murder, the police should be looking at his crazy daughter, Michelle.
That girl is demented . I have seen
her physically attack Jacques on more than one occasion.”
    “Do you know if she saw him that night?”
    Florrie blinked at him as if having trouble understanding. Laurent felt
sorry for him. Clearly he wasn’t prepared to have his passionate theories
derailed by facts or evidence.
    “It’s possible she did,” Florrie said.
    “I’m sure the police will check into her whereabouts during the time of his
death,” Laurent said, then turned to the fishmonger and pointed to the fish he
wanted. When he turned back around with his prize all neatly packaged up,
Florrie was gone.
     
    Maggie tried to concentrate on the beauty of the broad avenue of the Cours Mirabeau with its row after row of
ancient fountains and cafes beneath the majestic plane trees that lined the
row. She had forgotten that Laurent was going into Aix this morning, which was
supremely annoying since she was
planning on going there, too, and they only had the one car. She hated taking a
taxi in France— it was literally risking
your life the way those maniacs drove —but her errand today couldn’t wait.
As she stared out the taxicab window, she tried to see if Laurent’s Renault was
parked somewhere visible, but didn’t really expect to see it. While the traffic
wasn’t bad this time of day, it was not yet eleven, there was still a sizable
crowd of tourists and shoppers clogging the grand avenue.
    During the ride, Maggie allowed herself some time to decompress and reflect
on her evening with Grace. It was clear Grace had left Windsor, but whether or
not that was a formal leaving was yet to be determined since Grace wasn’t
talking. What was clear was how completely
miserable Grace was.
    How could this happen? Grace and Windsor were the perfect couple.
And they had kids! Maggie