The Bluebeard Club by Jack Murray

Author:Jack Murray [Murray, Jack]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Independently published
Published: 2021-01-01T06:00:00+00:00

19

Late afternoon in Agatha’s Cap d’Ail villa saw the return of Mary and Harry from their surveillance operation on the Fourniers and Redons respectively. Betty had played her part too by volunteering to follow the Russos. This had required her to spend most of the morning and a good portion of the early afternoon sitting outside at a bar near the yachts in the harbour.

Agatha looked suspiciously at her friend upon her return and asked, ‘Have you been drinking?’

‘A little refreshment, my dear. Nothing more.’

The credibility of this statement was somewhat undermined by Betty placing a firm hand on the side table to maintain her stance. It was greeted with a derisive snort from her friend which Betty happily ignored as usual. Spying Kit waiting at the dining room table, she made her way over carefully to join him and the others in sharing what they’d witnessed during the day. Betty arrived safely at the table having steadied herself on a couple of occasions and sat down with great dignity.

Mary joined her and shot her husband a knowing smile. Soon everyone was in in place. Agatha confirmed that Alastair was in good spirits having seen him earlier. Kit asked Mary to open the batting and relate what she’d observed in her time with the Fourniers.

‘The Fourniers stayed in their house until just before lunch,’ reported Mary. ‘Then I followed them to a restaurant near that little beach at Lavrotto. I must say that man is perfectly beastly.’

‘I gather,’ replied Kit, remembering what Alastair had said. At the time he’d though that it was more a symptom of his uncle’s growing affection for Mme Fournier. Meeting her husband had convinced him that something else was afoot in this relationship. ‘What did you see?’

-

Monsieur Fournier and Elsa Fournier emerged from their apartment around midday. Fournier was wearing a beige-coloured suit and a Panama hat. He might have been described as a fine, if rather severe, figure of a man. Tall, perhaps a little heavy but not overweight. The contrast with his wife was striking. Mme Fournier wore only a light blue cotton dress which emphasised her slender build and pale skin. She carried an umbrella to shield herself from the sun. Fournier walked ahead of his wife as if he was too embarrassed to be seen with her. Mary already felt her hackles rising.

The couple walked for a few minutes down the street before turning off, arriving at a small square, Place da la Visitation. There were several hansom cabs in the square. The couple climbed onto one of them. Mary overheard them ask to be taken to the beach. A minute after they departed, Mary took one of the other open hansom cabs.

‘I’m a little late for an appointment,’ said Mary. ‘Could you go quickly?’

A small restaurant was the Fournier destination. It was situated just across from the beach. There were several outdoor tables with parasols. The waiter greeted them both warmly as they entered which suggested to Mary that they were regular customers.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.