Foul Play in Vouvray by Jean-Pierre Alaux & Noël Balen

Author:Jean-Pierre Alaux & Noël Balen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction et littérature
Publisher: Le French Book
Published: 2019-02-14T00:00:00+00:00

15

A stranger would have surmised that peace had been restored at Château de Tremblay. Farm workers paced the northward-running plots. In the distance, a tractor wobbled between rows of chenin vines. Above them, a buzzard circled lazily. The police were gone. By this time, most of the samples collected at the scene had been analyzed in a laboratory smelling of formaldehyde.

Benjamin entered the house without calling out. He didn’t encounter anyone and took the flight of steps leading to David Navarre’s private rooms. He knocked on the cherry-wood door and turned the knob.

“What the hell are you doing here? Did I invite you?”

The winemaker had expected this. “Hello, David. I came over to find out how Simone’s doing.”

“She’s the same—stable. Do you think you can barge into my home whenever you like?” “You know very well it’s not my habit, but you haven’t been answering my calls. I took the liberty to…”

“To come bother me! I don’t need anyone making things worse.”

“Listen, David. I can only imagine how angry that Voici! article must have made you.”

“That ass-wipe magazine already has my lawyers on their back! As for your assistant…”

“Let me tell you, my assistant is as furious as you. He’s in custody in Tours.”

“But just who is that little shit?”

“A very good young man in whom I have total confidence. You’ll see for yourself when he comes to help you revive your land and develop your vintage. I believe everything he’s told me. He did, indeed, dance with Simone, and they exchanged a few words, but it was nothing more than that.”

“The picture tells a different story. Don’t waste your breath, Benjamin.”

“I know Virgile, and I can assure you that he’s an honorable young man from Bergerac who has worked for me for years. Virgile would never drug a girl, and he did nothing untoward the night of your party. He danced with her, that’s it.”

“I don’t know your assistant from Adam, but I have no illusions about Simone’s fidelity. I’m familiar with all of her compulsions—more than she realizes.”

Benjamin decided to throw caution to the wind. He had to bring it up. “David, I must ask you,” he said, looking the actor in the eye. “Who, other than your personal assistant, can verify that you went to bed early that night and slept through everything?”

“What are you suggesting, Benjamin? That I would do that to Simone?” David’s face was flushed. “You’ve got to be kidding. But if you really want to verify—and what an insult that word is—you’ll have to ask my assistant if anyone else checked on me. I couldn’t tell you. I was out of it.”

“I’m sorry, David. I spoke with your assistant while we were waiting for the ambulance, and I have no reason to doubt her. I hope her word is good enough for the authorities.” Benjamin waited a moment. “As for Virgile, I vouch for him unconditionally. He’s a remarkable professional, and I’d trust him with the keys to my office, without question. In fact, I have.

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