Lost City (NUMA Files 5)

"Then you won't be using intermediaries in any dealings you might have with the Fauchards?" "I hadn't intended to."

Grosset mulled over Austin's reply. "I was in the military for years and you seem to be a man who can take care of himself, but I would warn you to be very careful in any dealings you might have with the Fauchards." ^

"Why is that?"

"The Fauchards are not just any wealthy family." He paused, trying to choose his words carefully. "It is said that they have a past."

Before Austin could ask Grosset what he meant, the car pulled up, they said their adieus and he was on his way to the train station. As Austin sat back in his seat, he pondered the Frenchman's warning. Grosset seemed to be saying that the Fauchards had more than one skeleton in the family closet. The same thing could be said about any rich family on the face of the earth, Austin mused. The fortunes that built grand houses and status were often based on a foundation of slavery, opium dealing, smuggling or organized crime.

With nothing more to go on than nuance, Austin turned his thoughts to meeting Skye once more, but Grosset's words continued to echo in his mind like the tolling of a distant church bell. It is said that they have a past.

SKYE HAD HER OFFICE in the Sorbonne science center, a Le Corbusier influenced edifice of glass and concrete that was sandwiched between some art nouveau buildings near the Pantheon. The street was normally quiet except for the gaggles of university students who used it as a shortcut. But as Skye turned the corner, she saw police cars blocking both ends of the avenue. More official cars were lined up in front of the building and police officers swarmed around the entrance.

A portly policeman manning a barricade raised his hand to bar her way. "Sorry, mademoiselle. You cannot pass."

"What has happened, monsieur?"

"There has been an accident," he said.

"What kind of an accident?"

"I don't know, mademoiselle," the policeman said, with an unconvincing shrug.

Skye pulled her university ID card from her pocketbook and brandished it under the officer's nose. "I work in that building. I would like to know what is going on and whether it concerns me."

The police officer glanced from Skye's face to the ID picture and

said, "You had better talk to the inspector in charge." He led Skye over to a man in plainclothes who was standing next to a police car, talking to a couple of uniformed police officers.

"This woman says she works in the building," the policeman explained to the inspector, a dumpy middle-aged man whose face had the world-weary expression of someone who has seen too much of the underside of life.

The inspector studied Skye's identification card with baggy, red-rimmed eyes and handed it back after jotting her name and address down in his notebook.

"My name is Dubois," he said. "Please come with me." He opened the police car door, motioned for her to get in the backseat and slid in beside her. "When was the last time you were in your office building, mademoiselle?"

She checked her watch. "About two or three hours ago. Maybe a little more."

"Where did you go?" *

"I am an archaeologist. I took an artifact to an antiques expert for him to look at. Then I went to my apartment for a nap."

The inspector made a few notes. "When you were in the building, did you notice anyone or anything that struck you as strange?"

"No. All was normal as far as I know. Could you tell me what has happened?"

"There has been a shooting. Someone was killed. Did you know a Monsieur Renaud?"

"Renaud? Of course! He was my department head. You say he's dead?"

Dubois nodded. "Shot by an unknown assailant. When was the last time you saw Monsieur Renaud?"

"When I came to work around nine o'clock. We were in the elevator. My office is on the floor below his. We said a good morning and went on our separate ways."

Skye hoped that the slight shading of the truth didn't show in her face. When she'd greeted Renaud, he had simply glowered back at her without speaking.

"Can you think of anyone who would harm Monsieur Renaud?"

Skye hesitated before replying. She suspected that the inspector's basset hound expression was a mask meant to lull suspects into making self-incriminating statements. If he had talked to others, he would have learned that Renaud was universally loathed within his department. If she said anything to the contrary, he would wonder why she was lying.