Shadow Ritual by Eric Giacometti, Jacques Ravenne Read Free Book Online Page A

each other to come on to this person or that. Jade remembered Sophie’s oval face, the rebellious lock of hair, her childlike smile. Now Sophie’s lifeless body lay in front of her, a mass of dead flesh that would end up in a coffin, her face smashed by the baton on the floor next to her.
    Jade shook herself out of her trance. She needed to act quickly. A guard had seen the woman who had come up with Sophie, and a description had been sent to all the security agents.
    She shouted out her orders. “Get the on-call doctor here. Have him fix her up a little. Make sure there’s respiratory assistance for the transfer. The oxygen mask will cover up the wounds.”
    The doors slammed shut. Only two men remained. They were gendarmes, men who were quick and could be trusted.
    Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She recognized the ambassador’s voice.
    “Special Agent Zewinski, what’s going on?” the ambassador asked. “How serious is it?”
    They used a code for the level of emergency. It was based on the Richter scale. Nine meant the ambassador’s life was in danger.
    For Jade, Sophie’s death was an eight. But she gave the ambassador a detached, professional assessment. “I’d say a five.” The event was worrisome, but controllable.
    “Okay, give me a quick rundown. Then I’ve got to take care of our guests.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    She gave the ambassador a synopsis. He wanted to know if the death could have any political implications. Jade reassured him that the victim was not on the embassy’s staff. Neither was she one of the evening’s VIPs. The ambassador was polite enough not to sigh in relief.
    Jade knew the protocol. The body would be flown to Paris the next day with a falsified certificate indicating an accidental death. This would allow them to get the body through customs.
    She would make the arrangements herself first thing in the morning. She would order the coffin, and with any luck, the body would reach Paris by evening.
    Jade had no illusions that the killer was still on the premises. Jade was sure. She’d have to pull the security footage.
    Jade bent down and touched Sophie’s hand one last time before turning to leave. She would find the son of a bitch who murdered her friend.
    She pulled the heavy door open and almost slammed into Jaigu’s detective buddy, who was out of breath.
    “I need to check something on the body,” he said.
    “That’s out of the question. Get out of here before I have you removed.”
    “Don’t be idiotic. Listen, even if you won’t let me see her, go in and check the body. Look at her neck. Please. It’s important.”
    Jade glared at the cop and then shrugged. “Okay, but if you’re wasting my time, you’ll regret it.”
    She went back to the body and then returned to the detective. Now she was even more troubled. “There was a blow to her neck. It probably broke her cervical bones. How did you know?”
    The detective reached for her arm. “We should talk about this somewhere else,” he said.
    Jade pulled away. “That’s enough. Talk! Right now, right here!”
    “Sophie was your friend, wasn’t she?” he said after a few seconds. “Did she have some connection to the Freemasons? Was she a Mason?”
    “What does that have to do with her murder?”
    “Answer me, please. It’s not a trick question.”
    Jade pursed her lips. “Yes, she was a Freemason. Now explain yourself.”
    The detective scanned the paintings of Florentine masters. “The flesh falls from the bones,” he said.

10
    Helen struggled to contain her rage. She had searched the hotel room twice and had found no trace of the documents. Her boss would by very displeased with this turn of events. That bitch had played her.
    She sat on the soft bed and tried to regain her composure. She had been trained to think calmly. She took deep breaths and chanted, something she had seen a Serbian priest do during the Bosnian War. She would never forget the serene look on his face amid all the chaos. He