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“Shhhh,” he said, and grabbing Amelia’s arm, he pulled her toward the river at the bottom of the garden.
“What is it?” she whispered.
“You need to leave. It’s possible Fiona overheard me telling Beauvoir that you were not really high.”
“You knew?”
“Of course I knew.”
“How?”
He looked at her and smiled. “Thirty years as an investigator has taught me one or two things. Besides, you promised you’d stay straight and sober, and I believed you.”
From anyone else, what he said would have sounded ludicrous, naïve. But she believed him.
“And,” he said, “I know how much you like mind games.”
She smiled. Mind games. Not mind-fucks. She realized she’d never actually heard him swear.
“You’re not sure Fiona heard what you said?” Amelia asked.
“No. But if she did, she’ll tell Sam, and there’s no telling what he’d do to you.”
“You really do think he’s sick.”
“Oui.”
“Then I should stay. I should help.”
“I’m not arguing, this isn’t a discussion, Agent Choquet. You’ll pack up and leave. Now. Tonight. If all seems clear, I’ll call you back.”
“For what it’s worth, I hope you’re wrong about him.”
“You like him?”
“God, no. I think the guy’s a whack-job. But you think he’s here to do something. Something bad, right?”
Gamache was silent.
“That’s where I hope you’re wrong. ’Cause I think if he wanted to, he would. And almost nothing would stop him. I also think you might be wrong about his sister. When I got back to the B&B, they were together. Not doing anything at all suspicious, but when they saw me, they sure looked guilty. It was not a … normal look.”
“And you know normal?” He said it with a smile.
She looked at him, surprised by the small tease. “I have observed normal, from a distance. Like in a zoo.”
“And which side of the bars were you on?”
Now she gave a small, stifled laugh. How well he knew her.
“What happened at the B&B?” he asked, serious again.
“Well, for one thing, it was Fiona who was pumping me for information, not Sam.”
“About?”
She paused. “About you. And what I knew about your family. She said she’d never met your grandchildren, but was hoping to. Sam said he was also hoping to meet them. Soon.”
Into the night she heard him whisper: “Fucking hell.”
