Julian thought it was madness.
"All right, so we've got you two for a few days," said Julian, and then he turned to Lapointe and Thomas. "You two will no doubtend up ferrying between here and the Agency, so I won't bother to burden you with another stop."
Lapointe shrugged. "If we finish in time, we'll come over for tea or something," she said.
"She doesn't like to miss a chance at the extra awesome cooking that happens when Alys and Jacques hang out," said Thomas with a wink.
"Neither do I, so I don't blame her," said Julian. It was easy with this group the way everything had been hard with the other partygoers, and he was looking forward to not dealing with any of these people for a long time, except for Geoff and Chudleigh.
He took out his phone and texted them both to see how they were holding up.
He got a, "Busy with the cops," message from Chudleigh, unsurprisingly.
Dr. Geoff said, "All right, helping the coroner."
Julian sent them both some encouraging emojis and put his phone back away.
"You're too sweet," said Alex, kissing his temple. "We'll have them out to the cottage in a few weeks, once things are back to normal-ish for them."
"I hope Chudleigh won't have to redo that one room again," said Julian with a sigh. "Camellia didn't die on the bed, though, so maybe he can get away with some paint and new bedspreads and stuff."
"Oh, I didn't think of that. Will he have to redo the drawing room where Wicket died?" asked Alex.
"Why is he called Wicket?" asked Lapointe.
"Oh, he played cricket, and you know, Finklewick, Wicket. A lot of them have nicknames like that, though I never socialised enough to have one," said Alex. "One generally picks them up in secondary school or uni, I'm given to understand."
"Alex is un-nickname-able," teased Julian. "Could you imagine?"
"I mean, people did try to call me Dick," said Alex, "but I didn't bother to answer."
That got them all laughing, and something relaxed in the room as they remembered how to all be old friends despite the looming spectre of murder.
That was, of course, when someone knocked at the door. Julian was starting to hate the sound of knuckles on wood.
"Agent Lapointe, ma'am?" said what was obviously another person from the agency. "We caught one of the noble ladies, the ones you wanted us to watch, out of her rooms."
"Bring her in," said Lapointe, and Julian and Alex made an effort to sit less centrally, James vacating the chair that she'd been using to question people while he and Jacques went back to flanking the door, cups abandoned.
"I am nobility and you will treat me with respect!" Halliwell was saying as the officer nudged her into the room.
"With respect, Lady, you're not being very cooperative," said the poor agent.
She huffed and flounced in, taking a seat in the obvious location without prompting. "Can I at least have some coffee?" she asked belligerently.
"Where'd you find her?" Lapointe asked the agent, Saadu, Julian thought. One of the bullpen guys they were friendly with but not friends, and a newer one at that.
"She was coming downstairs bold as you please," said Saadu. "I don't know where she was headed but she's been quite surprised to be caught out."
"Just like someone who's successfully snuck around before," said Thomas darkly. "You're not making your case very well here, Lady Halliwell."
She glared at him but chose not to speak.
"Get forensics down here to check over her and her things," said Lapointe to Saadu. "I'll take her from here."
"Yes, ma'am," said Saadu, with the tone of a man very happy to be shut of her.
"You know," said Julian, looking critically at the outfit she was wearing, a blue dress with a green shawl and slippers and a purse that matched neither, "changing clothes would make her hard to pin down by the staff. Is this what she was wearing in your office earlier?"
