Murder on the Ile Saint-Louis by Cara Black Read Free Book Online Page B

early twenties, recovered from a drain in an overflowing sewer in the Seine.”
    The public was allowed into the morgue in such cases in hopes that someone could identify the victim.
    Her skin prickled. She recalled the figure with the tire iron who had chased her in the Place Bayre, across from the Pont de Sully. So close by, almost outside her window.
    Her cell phone trilled.
    “Taxi downstairs, Mademoiselle.” The meeting would start in twenty minutes.
    “Go. Buy more diapers on your way back.” Michou kissed her on both cheeks. “What about bisous for the little peach, eh?”
    Aimée leaned down into the baby smell, kissed the soft cheeks, and swallowed hard. She tucked the newspaper under her arm and headed for the door, walking faster than she had to. Then she turned around, came back for the denim jacket, thrust it into her backpack in a plastic bag, and ran.

    AIMÉE NODDED TO Vavin, Regnault’s head of publicity, a man in his mid thirties, trim, with wide-set eyes. He was cradling a cell phone at his ear.
    “ Bonjour, Monsieur Vavin.”
    He flashed her a quick smile and raised a finger, indicating that he wanted her to wait a moment.
    She knew his type: a harried blue-suit who traveled all the time, delegating and supervising ten publicity campaigns all running at once.
    Beige carpet, beige walls, beige cabinets. He stood behind his desk. Also beige. The only personal touch was a framed photo on his desk, a smiling child on a wooden hobby horse.
    Vavin clicked off his cell phone. “We’ve been hacked,” he said, punching the thick stapled pile of computer printouts on his desk. “Our system’s compromised, Mademoiselle Leduc.”
    “Not since last night, Monsieur Vavin. Remember, you only hired us yesterday.” She opened her laptop and brought up the report on her screen, forcing herself to concentrate and ignore the article about the drowned woman she’d reread three times in the taxi. “As contracted, you hired my firm temporarily to maintain your operating system. Shall we go over what I’ve accomplished so far?”
    If he’d hired Leduc Detective last week when she had presented the security proposal to him, instead of yesterday, the hacker would have been foiled. But she thought better of pointing this out.
    “You can see from these results, it’s running smoothly. The system is secure.” She smiled. “For now.”
    He studied her screen and calmed down. “Excellent, Mademoiselle. I like the way you’ve streamlined user functions and smoothed out the glitches in the interface. You’re as good as you claim. A small independent security firm like yours is what we need right now.”
    She decided to seize the opportunity to reoffer the comprehensive security design he’d hedged about committing to the previous week.
    “My firm found vulnerabilities in your system during our comprehensive security overview. We did a minor patch last night. With hackers, you can close the door but they’ll look for an open window. In our proposal we noted that . . .”
    “We pay you to keep them out.” He gave her a tired smile.
    He wanted a finger to plug a hole in the dike but sooner or later it wouldn’t be able to hold back the flood.
    “As outlined in our proposal, your system has numerous flaws and we recommend stronger firewall protection.” She paused for effect, consulting the file in her hand, which she’d memorized. “My report shows that twice last month hackers took advantage of your vulnerability. It’s not in your interest or ours to apply Band-Aids to an old system.”
    “Correct,” he said. “But my manager’s overwhelmed. I put your proposal on his desk but he was off to Johannesburg. This year our accounts have tripled. And, as with many companies enjoying a growth spurt, our auditing and computer services have been neglected.”
    “I suggest you start fresh.”
    “In the meantime, Mademoiselle Leduc, we need to operate and keep our systems functioning and secure.”
    She turned