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Gaht-eyed now ‘What a fool I’ve been Did she say anything about the chemicals used to kill Madeleine?’

He waited, al his breath

‘She said the ephedra was froeneration back More natural but less stable’

Gamache nodded ‘More natural They would be’

He called Lemieux over, asked a few questions, then turned to Beauvoir

‘Co when Beauvoir and Gamache arrived

‘Come to hear more poetry?’

Beauvoir couldn’t tell whether she was serious He ignored the question

‘Have you ever heard of ephedra?’

‘No, never’

‘I asked you about it after Madeleine died You knoas used to kill her,’ he said

‘Well, yes, I heard about it from you, but never before’ They were in the musky store now It smelled of too many teas and spices And herbs

Gamache walked over to the bins with labels like Devil’s Claw, St John’s Wort, Ginkgo biloba He took a plastic bag, but instead of using the scoop provided he reached into his pocket for tweezers then carefully dropped so He then labeled it

‘I’d like to buy this, s’il vous plaît’

Odile looked as though she could have used a Ruth-sized drink

‘It’s so small you can just take it’

‘No, madame I need to pay’ Gah

The label said Ma Huang

‘The Chinese herb Le,’ said Beauvoir when they were back in the car ‘It’s ephedra’