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Straightening up Peter limped over to their bench, two muddy pawprints on his crotch

‘Chief Inspector’ Peter put out his hand with ht possible Gamache rose and shook hands warmly with Peter Morrow ‘Sad ti to Clara we think it’s possible Madame Favreau didn’t die naturally’

‘Why do you say that?’

‘You weren’t there, were you?’ Ganored Peter’s question

‘No, we’d had people for dinner last night and I stayed to clean up’

‘Would you have gone if you could?’

Peter barely hesitated ‘No I didn’t approve’ Even to his own ears he sounded like a Victorian vicar

‘Peter tried to talknow and Clara took Peter’s hand ‘He was right We shouldn’t have done it Had we all stayed away from there,’ Clara cocked her head toward the house on the hill, ‘Madeleine would still be alive’

It was probably true, thought Gas you couldn’t escape and death was one

Inspector Jean Guy Beauvoir watched as the last of the Crime Scene team packed up then he backed out of the bedrooth of tape from a yellow roll he stuck it across the door He repeated that several ti in him felt the need to seal ahatever was in that room He’d never adrowing The longer he stayed theelse

E hollowed out And he suddenly knew that if he stayed there would be just a chasm and an echo where his insides had been

He ached to get out He’d looked over at Agent Lacoste, wondering whether she felt the saether tooa Hail Mary as he sealed the room, he stepped back to admire his handiwork

Had he kno the artist Christo had wrapped the Reichstag he ht have seen a similarity Yellow Cri the stairs two at a time he was out into the sunshine in a flash The world was socorave;re Bella Bella was co Natural

‘Great, you haven’t left yet’