A Great Reckoning (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #12) - Louise Penny Page 0,50
hands over those taut muscles, even as she was doing it. She dreamed of wrapping her arms and legs around him, even as she was doing it.
But now, and not for the first time, she wondered what else was contained in that fine body. In that mind. And what would happen if those straps ever broke.
* * *
When Huifen got back to her room, she found a woman waiting for her and an agent searching her belongings.
“Cadet Cloutier?”
“Oui.”
“I’m Chief Inspector Lacoste, of homicide. Have a seat, please.”
Huifen sat on the edge of her bed and watched the agent go through the dresser drawers.
Lacoste took the desk chair and crossed her legs, comfortably.
“Where were you last night, between ten and two in the morning?”
“Here. In bed.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
“Did you get up at all, to go to the bathroom? Get a drink?”
“No, I was asleep. Between classes and all the activities and sports, it’s pretty exhausting.”
Lacoste smiled. “I remember. What was your relationship with Professor Leduc?”
“I was one of his students. And I suppose you could call him a mentor.”
“Did he choose you, or did you choose him?”
Huifen regarded the Chief Inspector. It was an insightful and uncomfortable question.
“He chose me. When I was a freshman, he invited me to bring him his morning coffee. Then, after a while, he began inviting me to his rooms in the evening.”
“What for?”
“Talks. We weren’t alone,” Huifen hurried to reassure her, “if that’s what you think. It wasn’t like that. He just spoke to us, about policing, about the Sûreté. He took an interest in certain cadets.”
“His death must be a shock.”
And yet it was clear to Lacoste that this young woman wasn’t at all shocked. And certainly not saddened. But she was nervous.
“It is,” said Huifen.
“You’re just a few months away from graduating and becoming an agent in the Sûreté. You know how this works. Any idea who did this?”
“I think you should ask the Commander.”
“Really? Why?”
“They hated each other. It was obvious.”
“How so?”
“By what they said about each other.”
“What did Professor Leduc say about Commander Gamache?”
“That he was weak, and was weakening the academy and the Sûreté. That he was a coward.”
Lacoste pressed her lips together for a moment before she could speak again.
“And what did Commander Gamache say about Professor Leduc?”
Huifen opened her mouth, then slowly shut it again as she racked her brain. What had she heard him say about the Duke?
She looked at Chief Inspector Lacoste, who was nodding.
“Nothing, right?”
Huifen nodded.
“You won’t make a very good agent if you take gossip as fact, Cadet Cloutier.”
The agent searching the small room leaned down and spoke into Lacoste’s ear and handed her something. She looked at it and thanked him.
“Please pack up a few things,” she told Huifen, getting to her feet. “Overnight things. And please bring this with you.”
She handed the stunned young woman the map of Three Pines, and left.
* * *
Down the hall, Inspector Beauvoir was just leaving Jacques Laurin’s room.
“I’m pretty sure he’s the one who insulted Monsieur Gamache,” said Beauvoir, as the two investigators fell into step.
“Why?”
“Why do I think it, or why would he?”
“Both.”
“Because he’s one of Serge Leduc’s Mini-Mes. Was his servant, as a freshman.”
“So was Cadet Cloutier.” She waved toward Huifen’s rooms. “Did you find the map?”
“Yes. He still has it.”
“So does Cadet Cloutier. That’s two accounted for.”
“I told him to pack an overnight case and bring the map with him, but I didn’t tell him where he was going. The little shit looked pretty scared.”
“But if Professor Leduc was their mentor, and they respected him, they almost certainly didn’t kill him,” said Lacoste.
“Well, I wouldn’t rule it out,” said Beauvoir. “Worship can turn to hatred pretty fast in young people. If Leduc found new favorites.”
“Like the other two cadets,” said Lacoste. “The freshmen.”
“Maybe.”
“You take the young woman,” said Lacoste. “I’ll speak to Nathaniel Smythe again. See if he’s found his map.”
* * *
Nathaniel produced the map.
“Bon.” She studied it, then handed it back. Three down. “When you met with Serge Leduc in the evenings, what did you do?”
“How do you know I met with him?”
The young man turned an outrageous color.
“I’ve spoken with other cadets, you know.”
“There were a bunch of us,” said Nathaniel. “We didn’t meet often, just when the Duke invited us over.”
“And were there always others? Were you ever alone?”
“Never.”
“And last night?”
“I had dinner, then hockey practice, then came back here and did homework. We had to design a step-by-step investigation of a break-and-enter.”