Chapter 53
The foyer is filled with people. I sit on a bench in Maison Marteau, a blanket around my shoulders and Luci at my side.
It’s been an hour since André found me, and he, too, remains close by. After Luci called him and told him what was happening, he went out into the storm, checking the nearest entrances to the catacombs.
When he found me, he stayed with me, his hand locked with mine. Not long after, a neighbor came with tools to open the door.
I’ll never forget that moment. The metallic snap of the bolt cutter, padlock clanking to the cobblestones. I pushed out for my first breath of freedom, never happier to see the sky. Even as it poured rain on my face.
Across the room, Ric stands huddled with his parents. Chantal and Vincent wear tense expressions, but neither of them looks like they’ve shed a tear.
Though their son’s body lies below us in the dark.
Lyam didn’t tumble far, but the fall was fatal. André and the neighbor went down long enough to find him and confirm his death.
His body will be recovered, but not before Alice’s. Luci made sure of this when the first police officers arrived. She sent them down with a hand-drawn map after I described the room.
The room where I found Alice.
I picture the dark, red stain beneath her, and shivers course through me.
“You’re freezing,” Luci says, wrapping her arm around me as if to share her warmth.
I meet Luci’s gaze and squeeze her hand. “I’m okay,” I tell her, a hitch of emotion in my voice. “Thanks to you.”
Her eyes water, and she nods. “I’m just sorry I didn’t—”
Sirens wail outside, growing louder as they approach. A chaotic racket from multiple vehicles.
André opens the doors to reveal a police car and two ambulances pulling into the courtyard, the imposing black gates now open wide.
A uniformed officer gets out from behind the wheel as two plainclothes men exit from the passenger-side doors. One of them is Armand Phillipe, the Chief of Judicial Police. A man I met at the monsters’ dance.
And a close friend to the Marteau family.
He enters the foyer, his jaw firm and his chest puffed out, arrogance surrounding him like bad cologne. He spares me a glance before speaking to another man in a suit. Then he makes a beeline for Vincent, Chantal, and Ric.
The four of them share a heated exchange, their harsh whispers a low, unintelligible scrape.
Watching them takes me back to the catacombs, to the room with Lyam and Dora. What had Dora told me? The ones living at Maison Marteau accept the reality.
The reality of murder.
Now the remaining family members huddle together, anxiety and angst lining their faces.
Chief Phillipe pushes his hands at them in a halting motion, and they all fall silent. Turning back to Luci and me, he gestures to the other man and they both come over to me.
“Ms. Summers.” Chief Phillipe bows his head. “Such terrible circumstances in which we meet again. I’m sure you’re tired, so Captain Armand will be brief. A few questions before you are transported to the hospital.”
He gestures to the medics filing inside. Two of them carry a stretcher and call out something in French.
André answers and guides them toward the back of the house.
“They will go down,” Luci tells me. “They will bring Alice . . .” She bites her bottom lip and looks away.
But I don’t need to hear the rest.
I know what she means.
“Perhaps we could go somewhere private?” the captain says, dragging my attention back to him.
I glance between him and Chief Phillipe, feeling exposed beneath their piercing stares. I tug the blanket, pulling it tighter as worry knots in my chest. I don’t trust this man. “I’d rather stay with Luci and André.”
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible.” The captain smiles. Too congenial. Too smooth. “I should speak to you alone.”
“Non.” A new man walks through the doors, his steps quick and his expression hard. His stare directed at the captain and Chief Phillipe, he barrages them with French.
Stepping in front of Luci and me, the new arrival blocks us from the chief. “Ms. Summers, Mademoiselle Marteau. My name is Luc Denis, and I will be handling this investigation.”
Chief Phillipe’s face turns white. “I did not send for you.”
Mr. Denis turns slowly to face the chief. “The Paris prosecutor’s office sent me.”
“Why? On whose authority do, do—” he stutters and takes a deep breath before switching to French again.
“You will not be involved in this case, sir.” Mr. Denis cuts him off, answering in English, presumably for my benefit. “You and Captain Armand should leave now.”
I understand what’s happening, and the knot releases.
Denis turns his back on the officers and speaks to Luci. “Our office has received a call from Noah Marteau. He insists we ensure the integrity of this investigation.”
Luci stands and stares across the room, her eyes locked on Chantal, Vincent, and Ric. “Yes, I know.” She speaks again to Mr. Denis. “Because I’m the one who asked Noah to call you.”
She holds herself tall and straight, but her arms tremble.
So I stand with her and take her hand.
“Very good.” Mr. Denis nods at us before moving to the open doors. He signals someone outside, and two more men in suits appear. One of them walks to me and the other crosses to the three Marteaus across the room.
I can’t hear what the investigator says to them, but Ric surges forward and speaks rapidly in French.
Vincent stands and grabs Ric’s arm, but his son breaks free. Ignoring his parents, Ric follows the investigator outside.
Before any of us can say anything, voices carry from the hallway. The paramedics return with their stretcher, and one of them says something in French.
Luci’s hand clenches mine.
“What is it?” I ask. “What did they say?”
Her eyes are wide when she looks at me. “He said . . . she’s alive.”