“Has anybody spoken to my parents?” the young man asked.
“We’re giving them regular updates. I’ve sent an agent to be with your family and Suzanne.”
There was a longer pause.
“Are you all right?” Gamache jumped in.
“Fine,” came the voice, though it was thin and struggling. “I don’t mind for myself. I know I’m going to be all right. But my mother—”
There was silence again, but before it could go on too long the Chief Inspector spoke, reassuring the young agent.
Chief Superintendent Francoeur exchanged glances with the Inspector beside him.
Across the room Beauvoir could see the clock.
Sixteen hours and fourteen minutes left. He could hear Morin and the Chief Inspector discussing things they wished had gone differently in their lives.
Neither of them mentioned this.
Ruth exhaled. “This story you just told me, none of that was in the news.”
She said “story” as though it was a fairy tale, a children’s make-believe.
“No,” agreed Beauvoir. “Only a few know it.”
“Then why’re you telling me?”
“Who’d believe you if you said anything? They’d all just think you’re drunk.”
“And they’d be right.”
Ruth cackled and Beauvoir cracked a tiny smile.
Across the bistro Gabri and Clara watched.
“Should we save him?” Clara asked.
“Too late,” said Gabri. “He’s made a deal with the devil.”
They turned back to the bar and their drinks. “So, it’s between Mauritius and the Greek Islands on the Queen Mary,” said Gabri. They spent the next half hour debating fantasy vacations, while several feet away Jean-Guy Beauvoir told Ruth what really happened.
Armand Gamache and Henri entered the third and last shop on their list, Augustin Renaud’s list. The man while alive haunted the used bookstores in Quebec City buying anything that might have even a remote reference to Samuel de Champlain.
The little bell above the entrance tinkled as they entered and Gamache quickly closed the door before too much of the day crept in with him. It didn’t take much, a tiny crack and the cold stole in like a wraith.
It was dark inside, most of the windows being “booked” off. Stacks of dusty volumes were piled in the windows, not so much for advertisement as storage.
Anyone suffering from claustrophobia would never get three steps into the shop. The already narrow aisles were made all the more cramped by bookcases so stuffed they threatened to topple over, and more books were stacked on the floor. Henri picked his way carefully along behind Gamache. The Chief’s shoulders brushed the books and he decided it might be best to remove his parka before he knocked over all the shelves.
Getting the coat off proved quite an exercise in itself.
“Can I help you?”
The voice came from somewhere in the shop. Gamache looked round, as did Henri, his satellite ears flicking this way and that.
“I’d like to talk to you about Augustin Renaud,” called Gamache to the ceiling.
“Why?”
“Because,” said Gamache. Two could play that game. There was a pause then a clambering of feet on a ladder.
“What do you want?” the bookseller asked, taking small, quick steps out from behind a bookcase. He was short and skinny, his fisherman’s sweater was pilled and stained. An almost white T-shirt poked out of the collar. His hair was gray and greasy and his hands were dark from dust. He wiped them on his filthy pants and stared at Gamache then he noticed Henri looking out from behind the large man’s legs.
Hiding.
Though Gamache would never say it to Henri’s face, they both knew he wasn’t the most courageous of dogs. Nor, it must be said, was Henri very bright. But he was loyal beyond measure and knew what mattered. Din-din, walks, balls. But most of all, his family. His heart filled his chest and ran to the end of his tail and the very tips of his considerable ears. It filled his head, squeezing out his brain. But Henri, the foundling, was a humanist, and while not particularly clever was the smartest creature Gamache knew. Everything he knew he knew by heart.
“Bonjour,” the shopkeeper knelt in a totally involuntary movement and reached out to Henri. Gamache recognized it. He had it himself, as did Reine-Marie, when in the presence of a dog. The need to kneel, to genuflect.
“May I?” the man asked. It was the sign of an experienced dog owner, to always ask. Not only was it respectful, it was prudent. You never knew when a dog might not want to be approached.
