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“Tomorrow, I hope. How’s Miss Wolcott’s Ghost doing?”
“She’s sagging a little. Transplanting can be a shock.” She said that like she knew what she was talking about.
“Can you make sure it doesn’t self-seed?”
“I’ll watch it. Why? You sound worried.”
“It’s just that we don’t really know what that plant will do.”
“You make it sound like it’s from outer space. Like the Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”
He laughed. “The Cambridge prof I had dinner with got into my head about invasive species.”
“Though some are beneficial.”
“Really? Name one.”
“Okay. Honeybees.”
“You’re making that up.”
“Am not. Look it up. They originally came from Asia. Isn’t that where we think Miss Wolcott found her plant?”
“Though I doubt the two events are connected. Is that true about honeybees?”
“It is. Ask me anything.”
Armand gave a grunt of laughter. After talking a bit about the minutia of their days, they said good night.
“Watch out for pod people,” he said.
“Yeah, well, I think one has just arrived for dinner. Je t’aime.”
“Bonne nuit. Je t’aime.”
Before turning out the light, he had a quick group chat with Isabelle and Jean-Guy.
“So your professor didn’t know about Miss Wolcott?” asked Isabelle. “And he’s the vice president of the Royal Society of Botanists? Isn’t that strange?”
“Makes you wonder,” said Jean-Guy.
Armand smiled. He loved working with these two luminous colleagues. “It certainly raises some questions.”
“Are you still with Comeau?” Beauvoir asked.
“He’s in the next room over. We’re coming home tomorrow.”
“He actually called Madame Bouchard and told her what had happened to her daughter?” said Isabelle.
“Yes.”
“Just because he did that doesn’t mean he can be trusted,” said Jean-Guy.
As he spoke, he was looking at Isabelle. Was their fear coming true? Was the little shit manipulating Gamache again?
What was it about that man? How did he manage to live in the Chief’s blind spot?
As though he could read their thoughts, Armand laughed. “Don’t worry. I’m well aware of his weaknesses. And mine. Something came up tonight, about that plant. It’s something we’ve considered but only in passing. Is it possible, unlikely but possible, that what Daisy Wolcott found could be used as a bioweapon?”
