How the Light Gets In (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #9) - Louise Penny Page 0,136
You think Audrey was killed. Someone did this to her. So do I.”
“Can you think who?” Gamache saw life and purpose creep back to this man. Villeneuve paused for a moment, thinking. Then shook his head.
“Had anything changed? Visitors, phone calls?”
Again Villeneuve shook his head. “Nothing like that. She’d been short-tempered for weeks. She wasn’t normally like that. Something was bothering her, but that last morning she seemed better.”
“Do you know why she was upset?” Gamache asked.
“I was afraid to ask…” He paused and looked down at his coffee. “… in case it was me.”
“Did she keep an office or a desk here at home?”
“Over there.” He nodded to a small desk in the kitchen. “But the other officers took all her papers.”
“Everything?” Gamache asked, getting up and walking over to the desk. “You didn’t find anything she might’ve hidden? May I?”
He motioned to the desk and Villeneuve nodded.
“I looked after they left. They searched the whole house.” He watched as Gamache expertly, swiftly rifled the desk, and came up empty-handed.
“Computer?” asked Gamache.
“They took it. Said they’d bring it back, but they haven’t. It didn’t seem normal, for a…” He took a breath. “Suicide.”
“It’s not,” said Gamache, returning to sit at the kitchen table. “She worked with the Ministry of Transport, right? What did she do?”
“She put reports onto the computer. Said it was actually quite interesting. Audrey likes things to be orderly. Organized. When we travel she has plans and backup plans. We used to kid her.”
“Which department was she in?”
“Contracts.”
Gamache said a quiet prayer before asking the next question. “What sort of contracts?”
“Specifications. When a contract was awarded the company had to report progress. Audrey entered that in the files.”
“Was there a geographic area she looked after?”
He nodded. “Because she’s so senior, Audrey looked after repair work in Montréal. The heavy volume area. It always struck me as ironic. I’d kid her all the time.”
“About what?”
“That she worked at Transport, but hated using the highways, especially the tunnel.”
Gamache grew still. “Which tunnel?”
“The Ville-Marie. She had to take it to get to work.”
Gamache felt his heart begin to race. That was it. Audrey Villeneuve was afraid because she knew the repairs on the tunnel hadn’t been done. The Ville-Marie ran under much of Montréal. If it collapsed, it would start a chain reaction in the métro, in the whole underground city. It would take the downtown core with it.
He got up, but was restrained by Gaétan Villeneuve’s hand on his forearm.
“Wait. Who killed her?”
“I can’t tell you that yet.”
“Can you at least tell me why?”
Gamache shook his head. “You might be visited soon by other agents, wondering about my being here.”
“I’ll tell them you weren’t here.”
“No, don’t do that. They already know. If they ask, tell them everything. What I asked, and what you answered.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
The two men walked to the door.
“I can tell you that your wife died trying to stop something horrible from happening. I want you and your girls to know that.” He paused. “Stay home today. You and the girls. Don’t go into downtown Montréal.”
“Why? What’s going to happen?” Now the blood drained from Villeneuve’s face.
“Just stay here,” said Gamache firmly.
Villeneuve searched Gamache’s face. “My God, you don’t think you can stop it, do you?”
“I really have to go, Monsieur Villeneuve.”
Gamache put on his coat, but remembered something Villeneuve had said, about Audrey.
“You say your wife was happy on that last morning. Do you know why?”
“I’d assumed it was because she was going to the office Christmas party. She’d made a new dress specially for it.”
“Were you going?”
“No. We had an agreement. She didn’t come to my office Christmas parties and I didn’t go to hers. But she seemed to be looking forward to it.”
Villeneuve looked uneasy.
“What is it?” Gamache asked.
“Nothing. It’s personal. Nothing to do with what happened.”
“Tell me.”
Villeneuve studied Gamache and seemed to realize there was nothing left to lose. “I just wondered if she was having an affair. It’s not true, she’d never have done it, but with the new dress and all. She hadn’t made herself a dress in a long time. And she seemed so happy. Happier than she’d been with me for a while.”
“Tell me about this party. Was it only for the office staff?”
“Mostly. The Minister of Transport always showed up, but not for long. And this year there were rumors of a special guest.”
“Who?”
“The Premier. Didn’t seem such a big deal to me, but Audrey was excited.”