86 Avenue du Goulet (A Samantha Jamison Mystery Volume 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

longer with us, so my wife is suffering all over again, now that she knows Pepere was not only stolen, but buried so coldly in Curat’s garden, like some garbage!”
    I shook my head in dismay. “Yes, it really is a very unfortunate situation. I can understand how upset you both must be. It is like losing a part of one’s family.”
    Madame’s eyes teared up. “Oui! Exactly! And I would like whoever did this terrible thing caught and punished!”
    I intervened before she got carried away.
    “Do you suspect one of your neighbors?”
    Monsieur Toussout leaned forward. “We know the neighbors don’t like us, but to do this terrible thing to get even for the trees, plus kill their own pet? No! Ridiculous! The question is, who would do such evil, and why?”
    I didn’t have the slightest idea, but held his stare. “Did you hear anything unusual going on up there at night?”
    “No.” he replied, unwaveringly. “We are both heavy sleepers and heard nothing.”
    His wife then turned to him. “…But what about the…”
    He put his hand firmly on her arm, cutting her off. “We have heard nothing, just a stray cat or two and that terrible woman’s incessant barking dog across the street.”
    What was he hiding?
    “But I thought her dog was ...disposed of, too.”
    Madame Toussout started to cry. “Yes, yes, her, too.”
    He glared. “Yes, that is true, but that does not excuse how ill-mannered that woman was to let her dog carry on like that. The smallest noise would start that dog barking. I was tempted to dispose of her myself, once or twice.”
    His wife interceded. “Please excuse him. My husband has such a volatile temper when it comes to this matter. He would never do such a thing.” She tried smiling, but couldn’t pull it off, then turned to him hesitantly. “…Oui?”
    Uncomfortable, I stood, knowing I wouldn’t get much more. “Well, I’d better go. Thank you for your time.”
    There was nothing nuanced about their dialogue .

 
     
     
    Chapter 14
    Another Chapter & Another Neighbor
     
     
    I know that at the time I made the commitment, I meant well, really I did. I’d given Martine my word to help, but I was now regretting it. This had been my first chance at getting some useful information and I had gotten nowhere.
    You know, I should be sunning myself on the beach instead of trying to finesse something out of people who didn’t want to be finessed. If I thought Tissout’s reaction to me and my meddling was bad, what was I going to get from the other neighbors? Probably not much.
    Still, I purposefully made my way up the steep, narrow street to the widow Sorrel’s house. I had promised Martine I would do this for her, but realized I’d been swayed by emotion rather than common sense and should have begged off. Was I out of my league? I hoped not.
    I stood before Sorrell’s gate, saw the speaker, pressed the button and announced myself. After a minute, the gates slowly swung open and I entered the property, and then climbed up the curved driveway. She was already standing at her open doorway waiting crossly, arms folded, glaring.
    I squared my shoulders, braced myself for more rejection, and smiled. “Madame Sorrell, how are you? It is nice to see you again.”
    “I cannot say the same, knowing why you are here.”
    I stopped in place, taken aback by her warm response. “I’m sorry, a wrong choice of words. I know what a bad time you are going through. And with the death of your Persian cat so soon after Henri’s passing. It must be horrible.”
    She shrugged. “Considering what has gone on around here, it is. I have enough problems and now all this!” she said, waving her arm, gesturing toward Curat’s gardens. She shook her head back and forth and motioned for me to follow. “Come in. We can talk inside. These neighbors of mine always have to know what is going on. Our meeting is none of their business.”
    I had never been inside her maison. It was tightly shuttered from the