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"Why?" Porter had whispered
"Hoould I know?" said Winnie "Those books are so old I don’t think anyone’s ever cataloged them In fact, they were earmarked for the next sale, before it was canceled"
Porter had glanced at the large, quiet man on the leather sofa below
Elizabeth was pretty sure Porter hadn’t recognized him She was certain Winnie hadn’t But she had
And now, as she watched the local police inspector shake hands and walk away she again exa and remembered the last ti the CBC along with the rest of the province, indeed the rest of the country It was even, she’d learned later, broadcast on CNN around the world
She’d seen him then In uniform, without the beard, his face bruised, his Sûreté du Québec officer’s hat not quite hiding the ugly scar His dress coat warh to keep out the bitter day He’d walked slowly, li solee of officers froland and France And at the head, their commander The man who’d led them, but didn’t follow thee that appeared on front pages of newspapers, on covers of azines from Paris Match to Maclean’s to Neeek and People
Of the Chief Inspector, his eyes riony made public It was almost tooin their library was, but that was about to change Putting her coat on again she walked carefully down the icy steps and along the street to catch hi on a leash beside him
"Pardon," she called "Excusez- in and out of the happy tourists and weekend revelers He turned left onto rue Ste-Ursule She picked up her pace At the corner she saw him half a block ahead "Bonjour" She raised her voice and waved but his back was to her, and if he heard he would very probably think she was calling to so heading to the Ice Palace She’d al the thousands of people
"Chief Inspector"
It wasn’t said as loudly as all her other cries but it stopped the large man dead in his tracks His back was to her, and she noticed so around to avoid him on the narrow sidewalk
He turned back She was afraid he would look annoyed, but instead his face was mild, inquisitive He quickly scanned the faces and ca stock-still half a block away He sap