The Coldest Case by Martin Walker

Author:Martin Walker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Quercus Editions Ltd
Published: 2021-04-27T09:53:48+00:00

14

Alain and Rosalie had caught the sun on their canoe trip, their faces glowing red. Nonetheless they were beaming with delight as they came from the car to join Bruno on his terrace. Balzac darted from his spot by Bruno’s feet to welcome them, circling around them twice and then standing before them appealingly, one paw raised, until Rosalie bent down to stroke him.

Bruno had spent two calming hours weeding his garden, scything some long grass behind the house and deadheading the faded roses. He feared for his flowers if some rain did not come soon. For the past few days he had watered only the vegetables, following a tip he’d learned from Marcel in the market. He had planted discarded plastic bottles upside down at strategic points, having pierced small holes in the caps, screwed them back on, cut off the bottoms and half-filled each one. From the healthy look of his tomatoes, peas and lettuces this primitive drip irrigation seemed to work.

‘Lemonade, coffee, tea?’ he asked his guests. ‘We should leave for the Baron’s place in about half an hour if you want to shower first.’

‘That’s okay,’ said Rosalie. ‘We took a dip in the river before we handed the canoe back. It was spectacular, those amazing castles, one after another, and that little village that clambered up the cliff was too pretty for words. And at Castelnaud we saw them fire the smallest of the trebuchets. Very impressive. They said some of the damage to the castle was done by catapults like that.’

‘And how was Lascaux this morning?’

‘Amazing,’ she said. ‘I had no idea that it was so beautiful and that those prehistoric people were so smart. The only way they could get enough light inside the cave to paint was to invent a special kind of lamp that used a juniper twig as a wick in rendered reindeer fat. Any other kind of flame would have covered the white chalk walls with soot. How long did it take to develop that? I’ll never think of those people as primitive again.’

Bruno was used to the enthusiasm of visitors, but it always pleased him. ‘There are many more caves worth a visit, twenty-four painted caves and over a hundred with various engravings. One is so big you take a train to get deep inside and the walls are covered with mammoths.’

‘I told you we’d need more time here,’ Alain said, putting his arm around Rosalie’s waist.

‘Should we dress for this evening with your Baron friend?’ she asked.

‘Not at all, I never do and nor does he, you both look fine as you are. We’ll stop to pick up a friend called Sabine, a young gendarme who’s on temporary assignment here.’

‘I’m getting out of these bathing trunks under my slacks,’ said Alain. ‘We’ll go up and change but we won’t be long.’

The eyes of Sabine and Rosalie widened when they drove along the Baron’s driveway and saw his four-hundred-year-old home. It was a chartreuse, the local name for a building that was smaller than a chateau but larger than a manor house.

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