Honor the Dead by Amy Tector

Author:Amy Tector
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Turner Publishing Company

CHAPTER 22

THE FUNERAL CROWD HAD THINNED A BIT, AND CATE SPOTTED DIANE Doucette standing by herself. She hurried over and introduced herself. “I’m Dr. Cate Spencer. I’m a coroner assisting Kevin Farnham in the investigation of Marc Renaud’s death.”

Diane was tall, with strong features and a proud posture. “Let me guess—you want to ask about my biathlete career?” Her English carried a faint French accent.

Cate was planning to finesse things a little, so she was caught off guard by Diane’s bluntness. “Yes,” she stuttered.

“I’m glad to help. I want this killer caught. I don’t like the idea of a murderer on the loose. I was happy to be interviewed by the police.”

“They were interested in your skills?”

“They couched it like they wanted my expertise, but I think the fact that I can hit a bull’s-eye at fifty meters makes me a person of interest.”

“The police told you that?” Vachon wasn’t conducting a very discreet investigation.

Diane laughed. “Not in so many words, but they confiscated my two very expensive rifles and I’ve spent more time talking about my Olympic abilities in the past week than I have since Beijing 2022.”

Cate enjoyed this woman’s candor. She was—and Cate hated herself for even thinking it—a straight shooter. “Did they describe the wound to you?”

“Directly through Marc’s left eye.”

“And could you make that shot?”

“Absolutely.”

“Even if he had been moving? Even in dimming light?”

Diane crossed her arms. “A person’s eye socket is the size of a golf ball, right?”

“Yes, about that.”

She spoke in a quiet voice. “As I told the police, for my event I cross-country ski fifteen kilometers in arctic temperatures, racing against some of the fastest athletes in the world. I stop, drop to my stomach, and regulate my breathing and heart rate to such an extent that from fifty meters away, I accurately hit a target four and a half centimeters across.” She held out her fingers to indicate less than two inches. “I have done all of this to compete for a gold medal with the weight of an entire country’s expectations on my shoulders while literally the entire world watches.” She paused. “If I wanted to, I could certainly hit a slow-moving man ambling by a river.”

The silence between them pulsed for a moment, and then Diane laughed. “Luckily I had absolutely no reason to kill Marc.”

Cate wasn’t sure what to make of Diane’s statement. The woman spoke with blithe confidence about her expertise, but everyone knew what she was capable of, so she couldn’t very well pretend to be unskilled. If she had murdered Renaud, she’d be smart to brazen it out rather than act like she couldn’t have done it. Cate decided to move on. “How did you know him?”

“His sister used to clean for us. Marc picked her up a few times.”

“What did you think of him?”

“Seemed nice.”

Cate waited. Every heterosexual woman she’d asked about Marc mentioned his good looks. Diane surprised her by highlighting something different.

“He was kind to Geneviève. Years ago, she was having troubles with her partner.

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