It took him a moment to realize he wasn’t alone. Ruth was standing beside him, tall, rigid, leaning on her cane, her face all reflected light and deep crevices.
“A strange thing to give to Olivier, wouldn’t you say?”
The old voice, sharp and jagged, cut through the laughter from the village green.
“I beg your pardon?” Gamache turned to her.
“The dead man. Even you can’t be that dense. Someone did this to Olivier. The man’s greedy and shiftless and probably quite weak, but he didn’t kill anyone. So why would someone choose his bistro for murder?”
Gamache raised his eyebrows. “You think someone chose the bistro on purpose?”
“Well, it didn’t happen by accident. The murderer chose to kill at Olivier’s Bistro. He gave the body to Olivier.”
“To kill both a man and a business?” asked Gamache. “Like giving white bread to a goldfish?”
“Fuck you,” said Ruth.
“Nothing I ever gave was good for you,” quoted Gamache. “It was like white bread to a goldfish.”
Beside him Ruth Zardo stiffened, then in a low growl she finished her own poem.
Gamache listened to the poem, one of his favorites. He looked across at the bistro, dark and empty on a night when it should have been alive with villagers.
Was Ruth right? Had someone chosen the bistro on purpose? But that meant Olivier was somehow implicated. Had he brought this on himself? Who in the village hated the tramp enough to kill him, and Olivier enough to do it there? Or was the tramp merely a convenient tool? A poor man in the wrong place? Used as a weapon against Olivier?
“Who do you think would want to do this to Olivier?” he asked Ruth.
She shrugged, then turned to leave. He watched her take her place among her friends, all of them moving in ways familiar to each other, and now to him.
And to the killer?
EIGHT
The meal was winding down. They’d dined on corn on the cob and sweet butter, fresh vegetables from Peter and Clara’s garden and a whole salmon barbecued over charcoal. The guests chatted amicably as warm bread was passed and salad served.
Myrna’s exuberant arrangement of hollyhock, sweet pea and phlox sat in the center, so that it felt as though they were eating in a garden. Gamache could hear Lacoste asking her dinner companions about the Parras, and then segueing into Old Mundin. The Chief Inspector wondered if they realized they were being interrogated.
Beauvoir was chatting to his neighbors about the Brume County Fair, and visitors. Across the table from Beauvoir sat Ruth, glaring at him. Gamache wondered why, though with Ruth that was pretty much her only form of expression.
Gamache turned to Peter, who was serving arugula, frizzy lettuce and fresh ripe tomatoes.
“I hear the old Hadley house has been sold. Have you met the new owners?”
Peter passed him the salad bowl of deep-burled wood.
“We have. The Gilberts. Marc and Dominique. His mother lives with them too. Came from Quebec City. I think she was a nurse or something. Long retired. Dominique was in advertising in Montreal and Marc was an investment dealer. Made a fortune then retired early before the market went sour.”
“Lucky man.”
“Smart man,” said Peter.
Gamache helped himself to the salad. He could smell the delicate dressing of garlic, olive oil and fresh tarragon. Peter poured them another glass of red wine and handed the bottle down the long table. Gamache watched to see if Peter’s comment held a sting, a subtext. By “smart” did Peter mean “shrewd,” “cunning,” “sly”? But no, Gamache felt Peter meant what he said. It was a compliment. While Peter Morrow rarely insulted anyone, he rarely complimented them either. But he seemed impressed by this Marc Gilbert.
“Do you know them well?”
“Had them around for dinner a few times. Nice couple.” For Peter that was an almost effusive comment.
“Interesting that with all that money they’d buy the old Hadley house,” said Gamache. “It’s been abandoned for a year or more. Presumably they could’ve bought just about any place around here.”
“We were a little surprised as well, but they said they wanted a clean canvas, some place they could make their own. Practically gutted the house, you know. It also has loads of land and Dominique wants horses.”
“Roar Parra’s been clearing the trails, I hear.”
“Slow job.”
As he was talking Peter’s voice had dropped to a whisper, so that the two men were leaning toward each other like co-conspirators. Gamache wondered what they were conspiring about.
“It’s a lot of house for three people. Do they have children?”
“Well, no.”
Peter’s eyes shifted down the table, then back to Gamache. Whom had he just looked at? Clara? Gabri? It was impossible to say.
“Have they made friends in the community?” Gamache leaned back and spoke in a normal tone, taking a forkful of salad.
Peter looked down the table again and lowered his voice even more. “Not exactly.”
Before Gamache could pursue it Peter got up and began clearing the table. At the sink he looked back at his friends, chatting. They were close. So close they could reach out and touch each other, which they occasionally did.
And Peter couldn’t. He stood apart, and watched. He missed Ben, who’d once lived in the old Hadley house. Peter had played there as a child. He knew its nooks and crannies. All the scary places where ghosts and spiders lived. But now someone else lived there and had turned it into something else.
Thinking of the Gilberts, Peter could feel his own heart lift a little.
“What’re you thinking about?”
Peter started as he realized Armand Gamache was right beside him.
“Nothing much.”
Gamache took the mixer from Peter’s hand and poured whipping cream and a drop of vanilla into the chilled bowl. He turned it on and leaned toward Peter, his voice drowned out by the whirring machine, lost to all but his companion.
“Tell me about the old Hadley house, and the people there.”
Peter hesitated but knew Gamache wasn’t going to let it go. And this was as discreet as it was going to get. Peter talked, his words whipped and mixed and unintelligible to anyone more than six inches away.
“Marc and Dominique plan to open a luxury inn and spa.”
“At the old Hadley house?”
Gamache’s astonishment was so complete it almost made Peter laugh. “It’s not the same place you remember. You should see it now. It’s fantastic.”
The Chief Inspector wondered whether a coat of paint and new appliances could exorcise demons, and whether the Catholic Church knew about that.
“But not everyone’s happy about it,” Peter continued. “They’ve interviewed a few of Olivier’s workers and offered them jobs at higher wages. Olivier’s managed to keep most of his staff, but he’s had to pay more. The two barely speak.”
“Marc and Olivier?” Gamache asked.
“Won’t be in the same room.”
“That must be awkward, in a small village.”
“Not really.”
“Then why are we whispering?” Gamache shut the mixer off and spoke in a normal tone. Peter, flustered, looked over at the table again.
“Look, I know Olivier’ll get over it, but for now it’s just easier not to bring it up.”