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“Rose, es-tu là? ” Clémence called out when she came home. “Are you home?”

“Oui.” Footsteps came from the hallway to the bedrooms and Rose’s elfin face emerged near the entrance. She was wearing a snuggly blue bathrobe and fluffy pink slippers.

“There you are,” said Clémence.

“I was in the bath. You’re right. A bath with lavender Epsom salts feels really amazing. My muscles are so relaxed. It’s the next best thing to being at the spa.”

“Feels like a lifetime ago now, doesn’t it?”

Rose nodded. There was still a trace of sadness on her face; Clémence wished her friend could be happy again.

“Where’s your mom?”

“Out buying groceries. I hope you don’t mind that she’s here.”

“Of course I don’t mind. You can both stay for as long as you like. Actually, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“What is it?” Rose frowned.

They went into the kitchen and sat down at the table.

“I was wondering if you had Pierre’s email password?”

“I don’t,” she said. “He was very private about those things. Why?”

“Well, I just want to make sure that the police are on the right track.”

“You’re not sure his assistant did it, do you?”

“Not completely.”

“I didn’t think you did. I was thinking about it in the bath. Something doesn’t feel right about it. Pierre had never gotten along with Mary professionally, but that’s common in a high pressure workplace. Would she really come to his house and kill him just because she was working overtime? I mean, she could quit, right?”

“Right,” said Clémence. “I checked out her LinkedIn profile and it sounds like she’s quite educated. She could easily quit or transfer if she really hated her position. She has options.”

“But who else could it be?”

“That’s why I wanted to check Pierre’s e...

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...e magazines on the coffee table and waited the half hour. Then it turned into an hour. She figured that she should just leave her card. Who knew when they were going to be back? She could be spending her valuable time interviewing others, especially Mary.

She had some Damour business cards in her bag, but she realized that she’d left the bag in Rose’s apartment. Following the excitement of her new discovery on Pierre’s iPad, she was careless enough to forget her bag. She told the housekeeper that she would be right back.

When she took out the key, which she had kept in her jean pocket, she heard shuffling noises.

Somebody was in Rose’s apartment.

Whoever it was stopped moving.

“St. Clair?” she called from the door. “Is that you?”

Nobody answered.

The floor squeaked in the kitchen. A face emerged.

“You,” Clémence exclaimed, half surprised and half not.