Death in Paris by Emilia Bernhard

Author:Emilia Bernhard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books

“But he wasn’t killed from the back either,” Rachel pointed out. “I mean, he wasn’t struck from the back. There wasn’t a mark on him.”

“No, but even if the murderer just drowned him, they couldn’t have done it after coming in through the double doors, because Edgar would have had time to stand up and defend himself. And if someone’s risen and is facing you, you’re not going to be able to persuade him to sit back down, and then stand behind him and drown him, without disturbing anything. So the murderer must have come in through the butler’s pantry.”

“Because then Edgar could see them without standing up.”

“Yes.” Magda looked at the map again. “There wasn’t any rosé in the kitchen or dining room, right?”

Rachel was caught off guard by the change of subject, but she said, “No. A sweet white wine in the fridge, but no rosé.” Then, “Why?”

“Well, the fact that there was rosé on the table when he died and now there’s none in the house suggests that someone who liked rosé was eating there at the time, but now they don’t eat there anymore. And the fact that he didn’t stand up suggests he wasn’t surprised to see whomever he saw. And those together suggest the murderer wasn’t a random stranger, but rather a rosé drinker he knew.”

“Which means Mathilde or Elisabeth.”

Magda nodded, looking pleased with herself—as well she might, Rachel thought. Now, entry via the back door meant having a key, but presumably Elisabeth or Mathilde, or probably both, did have a key. So the vital question was, which one would Edgar have expected to appear at that door? Or at least, she added hastily, not been startled to see at that door?

“It was Elisabeth.”

Magda looked surprised. “Why her?”

“First, Mathilde would never enter a dining room via the butler’s pantry or a storage room in normal circumstances, so Edgar would have been surprised to see her. And second, even if she would, she couldn’t have entered through the storage room without any noise, because you’d have to move things to make a path. And she couldn’t have made the path before because someone who went into the storage room might notice.” When Magda didn’t respond, Rachel continued, “But Elisabeth must have come into the dining room via the butler’s pantry a thousand times. She said she was like family, so her entering through the back would be plausible. And she was there often enough to have made the path some other time without its seeming strange, since she was a sort of an odd-job girl. And I just realized something else I learned.” Out of air, she took a gasping breath and went on. “Whatever Elisabeth is after, she wants it badly. Either she pretended to be ill so she could sneak in unnoticed in the hope of finding it, or she came in even though she was ill in the hope of finding it. And she’s been in that bureau every day, presumably also looking for whatever it is.

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