The Perils of Paris: a Provence Cozy Mystery (Julie Cavallo Investigates) by Ana T. Drew

Author:Ana T. Drew [Drew, Ana T.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Julie Cavallo Investigates
Published: 2021-12-29T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15

The air crackles with agitation as Brahimi and Chevalier invite Cat and me to have a seat in an interview room at the police station. Commissaire Chevalier, the detective on Priscilla’s case, called me last night. He was trying to reach Cat, but she didn’t pick up.

Small wonder! After her sinister vision yesterday afternoon, my sister turned off her phone and slipped it into a newly purchased Faraday bag. She also canceled the video readings to avoid bad guys locating her based on her IP address.

Unable to get hold of Cat, Chevalier tried me. He didn’t say what it was about. He just asked if Cat and I could stop by the commissariat this morning. I informed him that not only could we, but that we’d planned to because we had some breaking news about Franck Mendez.

“The man who supposedly consulted both Cat and Priscilla is at Pitié Salpêtrière with a serious head trauma,” I say the moment I sit down across from the two detectives.

Brahimi nods. “A fractured skull. The hospital was looking to ID him when he was brought in, so the police got involved. His blunt force trauma wasn’t caused by an accident.”

Chevalier eyeballs me. “You’re Julie, right? The baker twin?”

“That’s right.”

He narrows his eyes. “You said ‘supposedly’ earlier, in relation to Catherine’s and Priscilla’s common client. Why?”

“Because we doubted he was the real Franck Mendez! We believe he was impersonating Franck.”

“Why would he do that?”

“He was hoping it would help him find Elodie,” I say.

The detectives make a note of that.

“And what about your scoop?” Cat asks Chevalier.

“The medical examiner turned in Priscilla Guyot’s autopsy report,” he says. “She was murdered.”

Cat slumps back in her chair. “We told you so!”

“How was she murdered?” I ask. “Did someone drown her in the bathtub?”

“She was killed by electrocution,” Chevalier says.

Cat and I stare at him.

“Someone broke in while she was having a bath,” Chevalier says.

“It’s unclear,” Brahimi adds, “if the intruder or intruders knew what she’d be doing at that precise time, or if the murder method was opportunistic.”

Chevalier takes over, “They tossed a live electrical appliance into the bathtub and waited for her to die. It didn’t take long. If the murder method was premeditated, they could’ve held Priscilla down, wearing rubber gloves.”

“Did you find the appliance?” I look from Chevalier to Brahimi. “Were there burn marks on her body?”

“Half of the low-voltage electrocutions don’t leave a mark,” Brahimi explains.

“We didn’t find the appliance,” Chevalier adds. “The killers must’ve taken it with them when they left.”

I knit my eyebrows. “Then how do you know her death wasn’t an accidental drowning or a heart attack?”

“The postmortem ruled out a drowning, poisoning and overdose,” Chevalier says. “Her death was due to ventricular fibrillation caused by an exposure to electric current, which interrupted brain function.”

Cat screws up her face. “Explain that for dummies, please?”

“Electricity sent her heart into a frantic tremor during which it stopped pumping blood to her brain,” Brahimi translates.

My sister and I remain quiet for a good minute, digesting what we were told.

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