Killer Critique by Alexander Campion Page A

Le Chevalier de la Motte. All the Bordeaux châteaux have second growths, so why not us? They were sold at a very reasonable price and enhanced our profitability considerably.”
    â€œI understood,” Capucine said, “that you were accused at the time of abusing a venerable name to sell a very inferior wine at inflated prices.”
    Voisin jumped up. “Madame, that’s a villainous lie! The Chevalier line has always been excellent. In fact, it received a gold medal for rosés only last year.”
    â€œDid the Chevalier label win any awards when you were managing the business?”
    â€œThe wine industry is very conservative. It takes them years to overcome their resistance to something new. But in the end they reward quality when they see it.” He poured the last of the champagne into his glass.
    â€œHow is it, monsieur, you are lucky enough to be able to spend so much time in Paris?” David asked sweetly, as if to defuse the tension.
    Voisin smiled at David and moved to the phone to order more champagne. “Once my son had learned the business well enough to take over operational management, I was only too happy to concentrate on defining the corporate strategy and acting as ... well ... ambassador to the industry. As it happens, I’m here to see my tailor and, of course, for a little bit of innocent amusement.” He waved his arm vaguely in the direction of the bedroom and gave David a broad wink.
    Isabelle grunted in anger.
    In a few minutes room service returned. Voisin seemed oddly relieved. He was plainly exasperated at the ostentatious care the waiter took in opening the bottle and encouraged him with nervous gestures. When the cork popped he breathed an audible sigh. Once his glass was in hand, Capucine picked up the thread of the interview.
    â€œI see in your file that just before you stepped down as directeur général, criminal and civil charges were brought against you by a young woman.”
    â€œStatutory rape,” Isabelle said, filling in. “You like them young, don’t you?”
    Voisin filled his glass and downed it in one go. All of a sudden the wine seemed to affect him. His eyes became red, and he made a clear effort at focusing. Capucine suspected he was seeing double.
    â€œThose charges were dropped,” he said, just barely slurring his words.
    â€œThe business bought her out. Is that how it was done?” Isabelle asked.
    Voisin shook his head slightly. “There was a pecuniary consideration. But only a very small one.”
    â€œAnd because of that you were asked to step down?”
    Voisin had had enough of the back and forth. He was tired of them. “No. But it was the last straw. It was really about the wine. It had nothing to do with the girl and her absurd claims. It happened like this. The Chevalier line was doing well, very well. But it was being sold in supermarkets and the wine snobs can’t have that, now can they? My son graduated from business school at HEC and started working in the business. He had all these highfalutin conceptual views he had learned there.
    â€œTo use his language, he felt that the difference in quality between our two wines created a ‘vacuum’ that damaged both brands. He insisted on improving the Chevalier de la Motte label and bringing it closer to the excellence of Château de la Motte. I thought this was a huge mistake. I was afraid of cannibalizing the first growth with the second. I wanted Château de la Motte to stand alone, uncontested, without any competition, least of all from its own house. Do you understand?”
    All three detectives nodded.
    â€œBut an improved second label would result in more revenue and better margins, I imagine,” Capucine said.
    â€œThat was exactly Damien’s view. He went on a lobbying campaign with the family. They own most of the stock. He made me appear a doddering old fool. He, of course, was a young genius who had