The Delphi Agenda Read Online Free Page A

she had wandered so far from her apartment this morning, why she had left her bed in the darkest hours of the night.
    No, it couldn’t be. She shook her head. “It seems normal,” she said aloud, her voice tight.
    “Yes,” Captain Hugo agreed, and there was something soft in his tone that showed he understood what she was feeling. “No sign of forced entry. Perhaps someone let them in, someone he knew?”
    Ignoring his sharp look she snapped, “Impossible! No one would want to kill him.”
    Hugo spread his hands. “The impossible happens, Mademoiselle, more often than you might think. Please look again. Anything you notice would help us.”
    “There’s nothing, I tell you. He might have just left, though there would be sounds. Where’s Marie?”
    “The housekeeper? She arrived at seven-thirty. I’m afraid she’s taken this pretty hard. I had someone take her to the station for a statement.”
    She pressed her lips together. “Raimond?”
    He lifted his eyes. “Mademoiselle, I’ve been here since around four o’clock this morning. We’ve been conducting the preliminary investigation. I thought it best to let you see things as they were – you might notice something we would miss, as you are familiar with the victim and the room.”
    Again his look was sharp, and though she managed to ignore it again, a suspicion flooded her. Was she a suspect? Was he only interested in her reactions, what she would do when she saw Raimond’s body?
    “So you said. Upstairs?”
    Hugo nodded. “The study.” He led the way. The staircase turned left at the landing and ended up facing the door to the study. To the left along the landing was the door to his bedroom with its view of the street, and at the far end, the guest room. Both these doors were closed; only the shattered study door gaped open. A short, stocky policeman stood beside it scribbling in a small notebook. He snapped to attention and saluted when Hugo stepped onto the landing. Hugo nodded. “Anything?”
    “
Le médecin légiste vient d’arriver, Capitaine
.”
    “
Très bien, Bernard
.”
    Hugo stood aside.
    Lisa paused at the threshold. “I don’t know that term,” she said. “
Médecin légiste
.”
    “The
médecin légiste
is the – I believe you would say medical examiner? He will determine cause of death, and whether a crime was committed. He will do the autopsy.”
    “Is that really necessary?” To cut up Raimond’s body like so much meat! She tried to keep the horror from her voice.
    Hugo dipped his head. “I’m sure you know it is customary in cases of violence.”
    The floor just inside the door was littered with wood chips and dust. A fan-shaped spray crossed the precious Sarouk to the bookcase opposite. Some of the spines of his beloved leather-bound sets bristled with splinters.
    The stocky policeman said, “Please be careful of the dust.”
    She stepped into the room. Dr. Foix’s desk, with its high gallery, looked at first glance the same as always. She didn’t want to see him, so she turned her gaze away. Along the right wall floor to ceiling bookcases filled the space on either side of the window looking onto the court behind the building. Its dark crimson drapes were closed. No light leaked in, which meant the outside shutters were also closed. The glass doors that protected his valuable rare editions were open and several books were scattered on the floor. One was his 1744 edition of Hesiod’s
Theogony
, an Italian translation by Conte Gianrinaldo Carli. “Someone pulled these out.”
    “It would seem so.”
    “Not a love of literature, I suppose. They were looking for something?”
    He tipped his head.
    “You know Victor Hugo once lived just down the street?” she murmured irrelevantly, staring at the books. “At number 30, when he was young.” She straightened abruptly. “Why am I here, Captain Hugo?” Her voice trailed off and she put her hand to her forehead.
Not again! Not now!
A wave of nausea swept through