2 Éclair Murder Read Online Free PDF Page A

clean up the store. They were open almost as late as the other restaurants at Place du Trocadéro, so they could aim to reopen for dinner if they cleaned up on time.  

    While Cyril’s team did indeed throw a good portion of the food into the trash, there were still plenty left on the covered cooling trays. As the employees got to work, Clémence gathered up Caroline, Celine and Marie in the employee lounge. Marie worked in the patisserie as a cashier. Celine was a hostess as well as Clémence’s friend.  

    “I didn’t want to tell the others,” Clémence started, “but I have to let you know that Raoul has been arrested.”  

    “ Pourquoi? ” Celine frowned.  

    Clémence told them about the dead customer, Alexandre Dupont, and how Raoul had been seen arguing and fighting with him last week on the street.

    “I’m just wondering what you know about Raoul and this Dupont guy,” said Clémence. “ C’est grave. It’s very serious. Raoul might be tried for murder.”

    “That can’t be,” Marie exclaimed. “Raoul is a great guy.”

    “I agree,” said Caroline. “Raoul is one of our best employees. He’s friendly and smiles a lot. Customers have commented that his smile really brightens up their day when they buy their morning pastries. I can’t believe he’d fight Dupont—and murder?”

    “What else do you know about Raoul?” asked Clémence. “If we’re going to clear his name, I need more of his background info, as well as Dupont’s.”  

    “He’s from Marseille,” said Caroline. “He likes working in the patisserie, but his real passion is music.”  

    “He wants to be a music producer,” said Marie. “He’s already helping some new hip hop artists in the studio, but not enough to make a living yet.”  

    “Now, he lives in Courbevoie, near La Defense.”

    “What about the fight with Dupont?” Clémence   asked. “Why would he do that? There were two eye witnesses who saw him punch Dupont on the street.”  

    “Dupont…who is he?” Marie asked. “There are so many costumers and we don’t know them all by name.”  

    Clémence tried to describe him the best she could, from what she could remember of the dead body anyway.  

    “Is his top lip thinner than the bottom lip?” Marie asked.  

    “Yes,” said Clémence .

    “I do remember this guy. I don’t like him. He doesn’t say a lot, but he seems arrogant. I don’t think Raoul liked him much either.”  

    “Why exactly? Did he ever say anything?”  

    “It was more his eyes,” said Marie. “He had these pale blue eyes that were really cold. He’d only order by saying what he wanted, never a s’il vous plait .”  

    “What would he usually order?”  

    “He liked the éclairs, mainly the pistachio ones. Sometimes he’d order the chocolate, or the salted caramel one as well. Otherwise, he’d buy a pain au chocolat .”  

    “I think I’ve seen him dine with his work colleagues in the salon de thé for lunch,” said Celine. “But I’m not sure. You can’t really pick this guy out of a crowd. He looks like every businessman in the area. I’m not sure why Raoul would fight with him. I wonder if he knew him personally.”  

    “I want to ask him,” said Clémence, “but he’s detained right now. The police are grilling him. We’ve got to find out more about Dupont.”  

    “We do have a video camera installed in the patisserie,” said Caroline. “It’s hidden in the chandelier.”

    “Really?”  

    Clémence went into the patisserie and the girls followed. She looked up at the dazzling chandelier and couldn’t see the camera.

    “I can’t believe it’s up there,” she said. “Did my parents install this recently?”

    “A year ago,” said Caroline. “It was long overdue.”  

    “How do we replay the footage from yesterday?”  

    “There’s a company in the 15th arrondissement that we hire for our security,” Caroline said. “The camera quality is not