Baguette Murder: Book 3 (A Patisserie Mystery with Recipes) Read Online Free
Author: Harper Lin
each other anyway. He moved in with me a year ago and that was when we started fighting more. It was around the same time that he got his project management job at F.R.Fraser, so I thought it was because he was overworked and stressed all the time. God, is it too early for some wine?”
Clémence jumped up. “It’s never too early for wine.”
In the kitchen, she uncorked a bottle of red. Berenice helped her take the wine glasses back in to the salon.
Rose took a sip. Then she chugged the whole glass. “Thanks, I needed that.”
“Did Pierre have any enemies?”
“Sometimes he would complain about his co-workers. I think there’s one co-worker that he always complained about, Paolo something, who was his main competition. Paolo Bruno. Pierre is a competitive guy. He always needed to be at the top of the class when we were in school. I don’t think he would’ve dated me if I had better grades than he did because he would’ve resented it. He resented anyone who was remotely better in anything, or had the potential to surpass him. Oh, and he also complained about his assistant all the time, saying she was inefficient and lazy. Her name is Mary, I think. That’s all I know.”
“That’s helpful,” said Clémence. “What about his friends?”
“He only has two friends that he hangs out with all the time, Adam and Thierry. He’s known them forever, and they hang around the apartment sometimes, but they’re definitely not killers. Gosh, I really don’t know who would hate him that much to kill him.”
“And who would break in?” Berenice asked. “The attack must’ve been a surprise to him if he was just sitting at the breakfast table, minding his own business.”
“Poor Pierre.” Rose withered back into the couch again.
“They could’ve only gotten in through the front door,” said Clémence. “The windows didn’t look tampered with, and they were locked from the inside. The exterior of the building is completely flat, so it wouldn’t be an easy feat to go through the window when there’s nothing to latch onto on the walls, unless it was a ninja or something.”
“What about the front door?” Berenice asked. “Was that tampered with?”
“I don’t think so,” said Clémence. “I do have to lock this apartment and put on the alarm whenever I go out because our insurance company requires us to since it’s such a big apartment in an expensive neighborhood, and I lock the door from the inside when I come home. But Rose’s apartment is quite small. You probably don’t lock it from the inside when you are home, right? Even at night?”
“No,” said Rose. “We don’t. Our neighborhood is safe and I suppose there are way bigger and more luxurious apartments in the neighborhood to steal from. Pierre and I only lock the doors from the outside when nobody is home.”
“So the killer might’ve found a way to open the door. If you didn’t lock the door with a key from the outside or the inside, it’s possible to break in by taking, say, a thin sheet of plastic and sliding it between the door and the wall to unlock it.”
“How do you know so much about breaking in?” Berenice asked.
“I was locked out of my old apartment once,” said Clémence. “Back when I lived with Mathieu in the Marais. He was in class for three hours and wouldn’t answer the phone so I had to ask my neighbor for help. She gave me an old x-ray sheet from her health file and it actually worked.”
“That’s pretty brilliant,” said Berenice.
“Yes, so unfortunately it’s not too hard to break into a house. It’s just strange because this killer didn’t steal anything. I think the main motive must’ve been to get Pierre. Now the question is why?”
“And who?” said Rose.
“You know, someone could’ve had a key,” said Berenice.
“True,” said Clémence. “Who else would have an extra key to the apartment, Rose?”
Clémence jumped up. “It’s never too early for wine.”
In the kitchen, she uncorked a bottle of red. Berenice helped her take the wine glasses back in to the salon.
Rose took a sip. Then she chugged the whole glass. “Thanks, I needed that.”
“Did Pierre have any enemies?”
“Sometimes he would complain about his co-workers. I think there’s one co-worker that he always complained about, Paolo something, who was his main competition. Paolo Bruno. Pierre is a competitive guy. He always needed to be at the top of the class when we were in school. I don’t think he would’ve dated me if I had better grades than he did because he would’ve resented it. He resented anyone who was remotely better in anything, or had the potential to surpass him. Oh, and he also complained about his assistant all the time, saying she was inefficient and lazy. Her name is Mary, I think. That’s all I know.”
“That’s helpful,” said Clémence. “What about his friends?”
“He only has two friends that he hangs out with all the time, Adam and Thierry. He’s known them forever, and they hang around the apartment sometimes, but they’re definitely not killers. Gosh, I really don’t know who would hate him that much to kill him.”
“And who would break in?” Berenice asked. “The attack must’ve been a surprise to him if he was just sitting at the breakfast table, minding his own business.”
“Poor Pierre.” Rose withered back into the couch again.
“They could’ve only gotten in through the front door,” said Clémence. “The windows didn’t look tampered with, and they were locked from the inside. The exterior of the building is completely flat, so it wouldn’t be an easy feat to go through the window when there’s nothing to latch onto on the walls, unless it was a ninja or something.”
“What about the front door?” Berenice asked. “Was that tampered with?”
“I don’t think so,” said Clémence. “I do have to lock this apartment and put on the alarm whenever I go out because our insurance company requires us to since it’s such a big apartment in an expensive neighborhood, and I lock the door from the inside when I come home. But Rose’s apartment is quite small. You probably don’t lock it from the inside when you are home, right? Even at night?”
“No,” said Rose. “We don’t. Our neighborhood is safe and I suppose there are way bigger and more luxurious apartments in the neighborhood to steal from. Pierre and I only lock the doors from the outside when nobody is home.”
“So the killer might’ve found a way to open the door. If you didn’t lock the door with a key from the outside or the inside, it’s possible to break in by taking, say, a thin sheet of plastic and sliding it between the door and the wall to unlock it.”
“How do you know so much about breaking in?” Berenice asked.
“I was locked out of my old apartment once,” said Clémence. “Back when I lived with Mathieu in the Marais. He was in class for three hours and wouldn’t answer the phone so I had to ask my neighbor for help. She gave me an old x-ray sheet from her health file and it actually worked.”
“That’s pretty brilliant,” said Berenice.
“Yes, so unfortunately it’s not too hard to break into a house. It’s just strange because this killer didn’t steal anything. I think the main motive must’ve been to get Pierre. Now the question is why?”
“And who?” said Rose.
“You know, someone could’ve had a key,” said Berenice.
“True,” said Clémence. “Who else would have an extra key to the apartment, Rose?”
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