“What’s all this noise then?”

Remi shot Elise a questioning look as Arnaud slipped past Ben and Jacques. If Beline was close behind, she would surely feel worse than she already did.

“She didn’t know yet, Papa,” Elise said.

Arnaud’s eyes widened slightly. “But I was sure Monsieur Leone would have told you.”

Ben scowled. “There were other, more important matters at hand.”

Surely he meant to tell me about Leith after addressing the letters? He made no mention of them or the locket, for which she was grateful. They were, for the moment, still a secret. Remi felt Ben’s discomfort growing and found strength in her legs. She stepped in between him and Hugo, addressing the latter. “Thank you for coming to my aid.”

“Of course.” Hugo appeared reluctant but spared her a smile regardless.

“I would like to lie down.” Remi felt she could only wear a brave face for so long.

“Madame?” Jacques offered his arm. Remi gave her uncle a quick peck on the cheek and took it.

She looked to Ben. “We’ll finish this later, yes?”

He nodded.

“I’ll be joining her,” Elise said, following not far behind. “I want to be sure that she rests.”

“Where to?” Jacques asked in a low voice intended for Remi’s ears alone.

“Ben’s room, if you please.”

Jacques nodded, leading the way. It was a heavy journey to Ben’s bedroom. Remi could feel Elise’s eyes boring into her. They were silent, but if she listened hard enough, she could hear every thought and question passing through her cousin’s mind. They were the same kind of questions Remi would ask if given the chance, and once they were safely deposited, Elise would not hold back.

BEN

Ben left Hugo and Arnaud in the parlor with Sylvie, who brought the tea back in at his request. They could have their drinks and play at the farce of concerned relatives for as long as the tea and shortbread lasted.

His teeth gnashed angrily in his head, making his skull buzz with irritation. He did not like Hugo, and he hardly knew Arnaud. Not even as a child could he recall sparing more than a greeting or two with him. He was a shadow in the background, a lurking creature whose family outshined him in every aspect. To Ben, he was perfectly forgettable. However, given the circumstances, Ben had to keep an eye on him. And Hugo.

Father was up to something, he reminded himself as he intercepted Jacques on the second-floor landing. And they’re involved somehow.

“This way.” Ben jerked his chin upward.

“Monsieur?” Jacques followed him to the other side of the second floor to the door of his sister’s room. It was still unlocked, and once inside, he waited until the door was firmly shut.

In a hushed whisper, Ben said, “I want to bring my father’s body back here.”

Jacques’s eyebrows lifted a fraction, but there was no surprise written on his face. “The manor?”

“Yes.” Ben rubbed his eyes. “I want to examine him for myself.”

“Does this have something to do with Leith’s death?”

It had everything to do with his death and his sister’s. If the same doctor had also examined his father and declared his manner of death, then Ben had the responsibility to set it right. On the dock, the physician had been wrong and his persistence, despite the obvious signs that foul play was involved, convinced Ben of his appalling nescience. The doctor could not be trusted.

“There were markings on Leith’s throat,” Ben explained, “made before his death. The bruising is consistent with strangulation. I’ve seen it enough now to know.”

Jacques smirked, though his tone was humorless. “I suppose your little escapade as the cemetery intern paid off.”

Ben scoffed. “Say what you want, but it was the easiest way to keep my studies relevant.”

“Right.” Jacques dropped the subject. “And your father? They said he passed from heart failure, but you don’t trust that?”

“Not for one second.” Ben almost laughed. “I’ll have a look at him myself.”

It did not sit right with him, and he needed to trust his gut. He could be wrong, but he would rather know for himself than let it go without trying.

“Is it wise to bring him here? You don’t live alone.”

“She won’t be awake,” he said. “We can leave late once it’s dark, and bring him through the delivery door in the kitchen. There’s a latched door in the floor with a set of steps that leads straight to the wine cellar.”

Jacques groaned. “It’s a big risk.”

“That hardly matters.” Ben couldn’t care less about the danger. He wanted answers, and no one else would give them willingly. “If I know what happened, it will bring me one step closer to solving this damnable puzzle.”

“What if you’re wrong?” Jacques asked. “What if he was ill and it was the cause of his heart failing?”

Ben bristled. He couldn’t be wrong, not when his every instinct screamed that he was onto something. At the door, half-open to the hall, he paused. Jacques waited for him, knowing he wasn’t done speculating.

“If my father was sick, if he truly felt that the end was near, he would not have married Remi.” Ben felt certain of it. “Not to mention the receipt I found. He started something, Jacques, and my father never started anything that he couldn’t finish.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Then I will take the carriage and retrieve his body tonight.”

Ben shook his head. “I’ll be going with you, mon ami. He is my father, after all.”

“Of course.”

They left Soleil’s room for the second time, leaving it as it was. They did not speak to one another, both worrying about exhuming a corpse in the dead of night. On their way down the main stairs, Sylvie caught them both with a panicked look in her eye. Ben stopped mid-step. “What is it?”

“Men in uniform are asking to speak with you,” she said hurriedly, “and Madame.”

SUSPICIOUS

REMI

Ben’s room was vastly different from Remi’s. Where hers was soft and feminine, Ben’s was plush and luxurious. It was warm, too, and not just because of the fire that crackled in the fireplace. The walls were a fine shade of mulberry, trimmed with birch accents, and the pictures on the walls were landscapes, some grand in scale. There were two wing-backed chairs in front of the fireplace, a tiny table between them. Some books were stacked there, one left open haphazardly over an armrest. Ben must have been reading it and set it aside in haste for something else.

Maybe he reads before bed? She wondered to herself.