Treachery in Bordeaux (The Winemaker Detective Series) Read Online Free PDF

hours I should be able to tell you if I can detect the micro-colonies.”
    “Please, Alexandrine, make things simple!” Benjamin cut in.
    The young woman widened her large green almond-shaped eyes, which would have appeared sweet, were it not for a sudden dark trace of irritation.
    “Mr. Cooker, you know well enough that it is never simple to make things simple!”
    “I’ll grant you that,” Benjamin said in a softer tone.
    “What I can tell you is that there is no doubt about the nature of the contamination.”
    “There’s no mistaking that smell of horse piss,” said Virgile.
    Alexandrine ignored the comment and continued. “The smell of ethyl phenol becomes clearly perceptible once you reach 600 micrograms per liter. I believe there’s an even greater concentration in the samples you brought.”
    “Do you need more samples?”
    “It would be interesting to follow any changes on a daily basis while we are waiting for the first results.”
    “Virgile will take care of that.”
    “With pleasure,” the assistant murmured without turning his attention away from Alexandrine.
    “If I use a consistent approach, I should be able to get a rather reliable quantification, although I won’t be able to discriminate perfectly between the living and dead cells, but it would be a good start. An increase in the concentration of phenols would certainly allow me to determine the threshold of alternation, and we could come up with a response strategy,” she said.
    She perceived worry underneath Cooker’s imperturbable stiff upper lip, and to reassure him, she shrugged her shoulders and gave him an intentionally innocent look, as if to excuse herself for not being able to say more.
    “The only decision you can make today is to isolate the contaminated wine.”
    “Thank you, Alexandrine. I would like you to be the only person working on this case. Handle it personally, and make sure that it stays confidential.”
    “Of course, Mr. Cooker. You can count on me. I do not know the owner of this estate, but tell him that we will find a solution.”
    “I will try to reassure him.”
    “In any case, insist that he do nothing until I have defined the exact pH of the wine, the oxidation and the colonies. He needs to avoid sorbic acid at all costs. It is totally ineffective in red wines, because it is very unstable in the presence of the high levels of lactic acid bacteria found in reds.”
    “Call me as soon as you have something new,” the winemaker concluded.
    Then he quickly made the rounds in the offices to greet the other staff members and introduce Virgile Lanssien. He couldn’t help pausing for a moment at the windows that opened onto the port, and then he reviewed the results of urethane-concentration tests that had been done on stone-fruit brandy. He scanned the report without going into the details, which covered the carcinogenic risk linked to urethane and fruit purees.
    When it came time to leave the lab, he found Virgile doing his best to engage Alexandrine. He signaled that it was time to leave and walked out to the landing. His assistant was quick to join him.
    “I understand your attraction, Virgile,” Cooker said in a low voice. “But you would be wrong to pursue her.”
    “Is that so?”
    “I think that boys have little effect on her.”
    “Are you saying she’s …”
    “I think that she is more moved by my secretary.”
    “I never would have thought it. And I usually have a nose for detecting that kind of woman.”
    “Virgile, think about getting your nose out of the glass from time to time.”
    THE Rue des Faures smelled of lamb. A heavy aroma of spices and grilled meat rose up in thick swirls from the hodgepodge of Arab shops, suitcase salesmen and faded bistros. Benjamin pretended he was lost in the small streets weaving through the Saint-Michel neighborhood, lingering a little to take full advantage of the moment and enjoy these few stolen hours away from the upscale atmosphere in the