Murder in Passy by Cara Black Read Free Book Online

likely they were head-in-the-sand afraid, she thought. It sickened her, knowing how Morbier had stuck his neck out for others. Favors oiled the system, her father always said, give and take, like currency but more valuable when your neck sat on the block. Favors conveniently forgotten if you became a pariah. Or had Morbier used up his favors?
    In the end, she had opened the cell door by threatening to call the Libération journalist known for his recent exposé on police corruption.
    “Xavierre was afraid,” Aimée said; “your gut told you right. Someone was in the house. I saw blood outside on the gravel, heard a car take off, and found her … I’m so sorry, Morbier.”
    “Nice try, Leduc,” he said. His shoulders sagged. “Proof puts me at the scene.”
    She shook her head in disbelief. “Proof? But you were in Lyon.”
    Dripping sounds in steady rhythm came from the corner. Morbier looked away. “I was watching Xavierre through the window. I couldn’t help myself,” he said. “A jealous old fool.”
    “I don’t understand what you’re saying.” She let go of his hand.
    “I was in the garden, Leduc.” There was a faint hiss under his breath. “I left my footprints in the mud, and my tieclip.”
    This couldn’t be happening. It didn’t make sense.
    “What?”
    “I saw Xavierre arguing. Shouting, but I couldn’t hear. She threw something at a figure. A man. But his back was turned.”
    She fought welling tears. There was a knot in her stomach.
    “What do you mean?”
    “Then cars pulled up with arriving guests and I left.”
    She took a breath. Tried to make sense of it. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
    “I hoped Xavierre would … what good did it do?” Remorse and grief cratered his face. He put his shaking head in his hands.
    “ Mais … wait, you’d gone to Xavierre’s earlier?”
    He nodded.
    “What else, Morbier?” A growing doubt nauseated her.
    “Don’t get involved, Leduc. It’s not safe.” He looked up, then put his head back in his hands.
    “What the hell does that mean, Morbier?” She stood up, took a step, sat down again hard in the chair. Calm, she had to act calm, and rational. Get answers. “What’s really wrong, Morbier?”
    “I’m too old for this,” Morbier said. “Been too old for a long time. Xavierre’s gone. Life’s gone to hell.”
    Like a dog kicked too many times, the fight had gone out of him. “Tragic, yes, Morbier. So you spied on her. That doesn’t mean anything. My god, I saw her alive after that. Your driver, the Lyon team will confirm.” She snorted. “Why hasn’t this idiotic investigation folded like a pack of cards hours ago?”
    But he’d looked up, his gaze following the pipes snaking up the stone wall. An old-fashioned robinet , a metal-faced water spout, dripped, leaking a thin silver trickle into the grooved stone gutter. The whole place reeked of damp and wet. The continuous drip, drip got to her.
    “That’s leaked for twenty years,” Morbier said, his voice lowered. “Time someone took care of it.”
    “Call the plumber,” she said, irritated. Why had he given up? “Look, Morbier, you’ve got to fight this. You’ve given a lifetime to the force, lived and breathed your work.… ” She stopped before she said until Xavierre stepped into your life and gave you a shot at happiness. Poor man, nothing to look forward to now. “So many years of service. High-profile investigations. Your retirement’s coming up.”
    “All gone up in smoke, Leduc.”
    Her spine stiffened. “What are they holding over you?”
    “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, they say.”
    “Meaning?”
    “ Désolé, Leduc. My fault to have involved you.” Morbier stood, nodded to the guard. “Forgive me.”
    Morbier asking her forgiveness. Had he ever in his life asked her that?
    She jumped up and put her arms around him. Big solid Morbier, the one she depended on. She inhaled his musky scent mingled with tobacco, mustard, and worn