Murder in Aix (The Maggie Newberry Mystery Series Book 5) by Susan Kiernan-Lewis Page B

why .” She saw his good mood was gone,
replaced by a nervousness and agitation that had him plucking at the menu and
tapping his ring—his wedding ring—against the ceramic ashtray on the table.
    “The police don’t
really consider justifications, David,” Michelle said, “when they look at their
suspects.”
    “I thought you
told me they had someone in custody.”
    “They do.”
Michelle shrugged and reached for her glass of rosé.
    “Well, then why
would they talk to me?”
    “You’re right,”
she said, shrugging. “No reason.”
    “I hope you
weren’t expecting me to be all sorry and full of consolation attempts, were
you? Because you always said you hated him.”
    “I never said
that.”
    “Well, maybe you
just behaved that way, but the fact certainly remains. Christ, Michelle, why
are we talking about him? Didn’t he cause enough damage while he was alive?”
    Michelle reached
across the table and touched his hand. “You’re right. Let’s forget him. And
let’s forget this.” She gathered up her purse and cellphone. “Throw some money
down. My apartment is just around the corner.”
     
    From the stifling
interior of her parked car, Maggie watched the two leave the café. Except for
the brief hand touch they didn’t look like lovers, but while menus had been
delivered to them, they left the café without ordering. She fanned herself in
the driver’s seat and had to admit that sounded like the behavior of lovers.
    But what did that mean? So Michelle has a boyfriend. So
what? She waited until
they were out of sight before she opened her car door to allow a breeze in. Her
thighs were rubbing uncomfortably together, and while the late September
weather wasn’t exactly hot, neither was it cool and crisp. She felt wilted and
clammy. A quick glance into the rear view mirror showed her face was an
unattractive blotchy red.
    Roger ought to see me now . Or his girlfriend.
She would definitely not be feeling jealous.
    So Roger has a girlfriend. Not sure why it surprised her, Maggie focused instead on
the more salient fact, which was that she disliked the idea. Was I just hoping he’d pine for me forever? What kind of a torch was he carrying that allowed a girlfriend on the side?
Knowing she was being ridiculous, Maggie tried to banish thoughts of Roger and
his gorgeous girlfriend from her mind. She left the car, locked it, and began
to walk in the direction Michelle had gone. With this section of Cours Mirabeau being one wide, long
pedestrian walkway, she felt fairly sure she’d be able to keep Michelle in view
without being spotted herself. Assuming the two were heading for a little
afternoon tête-à-tête , Maggie didn’t
bother hurrying. She pulled out her cellphone and glanced at the time. It
wasn’t even three o’clock. She had plenty of time to wait out Michelle’s tryst,
talk to her, and get back to St-Buvard before dinner.
    She watched the
pair turn off of the Cours, and when
she got to the corner she was just in time to see them enter an apartment building.
She glanced around and spotted a bistro across the street. She would have felt
too exposed in an outdoor café and was glad for the extra cover. As soon as she
took a seat at a table by the window, however, she saw the man she thought was
Michelle’s companion burst out of the apartment building, his face like
thunder. Uh-oh. Lovers’ tiff.
    That probably
wouldn’t bode well for Michelle’s mood during Maggie’s questioning.
    Maggie waved away
the approaching waiter and pulled herself out of the table. She wasn’t sure exactly
what she intended to do. She only knew she had to talk to Michelle because
Roger wouldn’t—or if he had he wasn’t sharing. And as much as she wasn’t
looking forward to the next fifteen minutes—her arms had yet to scab over
from her last meeting with the girl—all she really had to do was bring Julia’s
tear-stained and stricken face to mind to galvanize her into taking the next
step.
    And right