The Pontcourt Murders: A Charles de la Forêt Mystery by Wray Phillip L

The Pontcourt Murders: A Charles de la Forêt Mystery by Wray Phillip L

Author:Wray, Phillip L.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Palmetto Publishing
Published: 2022-09-08T00:00:00+00:00


CHAPTER 13

the market died down slowly, the sellers packing their unsold items as the square slowly cleared. Charles and Michel waited until the vendors dispersed in case the farmers on Fournier’s list had been at the market. Then Charles asked the innkeeper for directions to Durand’s and Maillard’s farms. Retrieving their horses, they rode to Monsieur Durand’s, whom Fournier said he had visited first on the day of the killings.

The Durand farm was small and set in a hollow not far from the Lefebre farm. The house was simpler, though, made of gray stone and barely large enough for two rooms. It had small windows on each of the walls. A similarly constructed barn was adjacent to it, but it had a wider door and no windows.

Monsieur Durand appeared to be in his thirties and was small but fiery with a weathered face and shock of unruly red hair. He confronted Charles and Michel with an old arquebus as soon as they rode onto his land.

“Not again,” Michel said, rolling his eyes.

“I expect this one has a trigger though,” Charles commented.

It took Charles several minutes to convince Monsieur Durand they had not come to steal from him or otherwise cause problems. The farmer eventually lowered the gun and extinguished the match.

Durand remained closemouthed and was loathe to assist the strangers until Charles assured him multiple times that it was not his intent to assess him any additional taxes. The farmer ultimately acknowledged that Fournier had arrived in the morning of the killings, not too long after the Terce bells.

“Nine o’clock? You are sure about the time?” asked Charles.

Durand snarled, “Of course! I’ve lived here thirty-five years and heard those damn bells enough times.”

“And how long was he here?”

“He walked my property, inspected the barn and house, and left well before noon,” the farmer growled. “Apparently that was long enough for him to assess me an additional three livres in taxes. He said he found some irregularities in my report.”

“What were you doing before he arrived?”

“Taking care of my estate,” Durand replied, waving an arm at his small farm.

“Can your wife verify what time Monsieur Fournier arrived and left?”

“I doubt that.”

“Why, sir? It’s very important we know.”

“I hope you’re skilled at communicating with the spirit world, then, ’cuz she died two winters ago.”

Charles inclined his head. “Apologies. I am sorry for your loss, sir.”

“That makes one of us,” Durand said.

“What about your children?”

“They’re gone too.”

“I am so sorry,” Charles said. “My condolences.”

Durand laughed. “They’re not dead, you dolt. They all married people from the next village over and live there now.”

Charles was thrown off his questioning for a moment. He’d never encountered someone quite as surly as Monsieur Durand. He did not even react to being called a “dolt” by the farmer.

Michel jumped into the breach left by his silence. “Did you have advance warning that Fournier was coming?”

“He wouldn’t have told me that!” Durand jerked his head toward his small barn. “He wouldn’t want me hiding all of my wealth.”

“How did you find out what happened to the Jourdans?” Michel asked.



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.