“Listen. Ivet wanted them to divorce, that’s why she told Eloïse what her parents were hiding!”
“If they separated and she ended up with Mr. Larousse…” Bastian raised both hands in the air in a thoughtful gesture.
“That would make her Eloïse’s stepmother, yes.”
He let out a long, low whistle.
“The truth is, Ivet would be the perfect evil Disney stepmother,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
“Yeah,” I laughed. “All she needs to become the villain is to have been the one who killed Antonia.”
A silence fell. I looked at Bastian out of the corner of my eye.
Had I gone too far?
“It couldn’t have been her,” he concluded. “She was with Mr. Larousse at the time of the murder. Unless…”
Unless both had wanted Antonia dead.
Now I was the one who didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t been serious; he couldn’t have been, but I couldn’t shake the unease. I didn’t believe Ivet had killed anyone, but the case remained unsolved. If André won Mr. Larousse’s case, the only suspect would be cleared. And Ivet was Timotheo Larousse’s sole alibi.
I didn’t care. It wasn’t my problem. But…
“What if Larousse is lying? What if they’re both lying?”
Bastian raised an eyebrow.
“Do you think Ivet lied to cover for him? Larousse is the only suspect. Why would she do that?”
I shrugged.
“You’ve heard what she said about the house being a house of wolves,” I said, swallowing. “If the alibi is a lie, I don’t think she’s protecting him.”
“You think,” Bastian interrupted, “that she’s protecting herself.”
We pulled into the office parking lot in silence. Almost twoo’clock. I’d have to move fast if I didn’t want to be late for my appointment.
I had a romantic evening planned: a date with a guy, a nice restaurant, the whole Friday night package. A little fun wouldn’t hurt. And after the conversation with Ivet, my mind had been wiped clean of everything else: the threatening letter I’d gotten earlier, Julian’s looming trial.
The money. Shit. I felt like I was in a race against time, and I had all the losing bets.
Bastian held the door open for me, but a thought struck. Dinner plans were already set for somewhere fancy, but why not kick it up a notch? What if I took my date to the most outrageously expensive place I could dig up? Sarah had been repeating the name and number of the place for weeks. It was burned into my memory.
“You go in first,” I told Bastian. “I need to make a call.”
I pressed the green button. He nodded.
“You know? There were security cameras on the road. The police saw Larousse enter Ivet’s house.” A curl fell over his forehead as he held the door with his elbow, bouncing and blending with the rest of his short hair. “But still, it wouldn’t be the first time André defends a murderer, whoever the murderer turns out to be.”
Maybe it wasn’t new to André. But for me, even if I was nothing more than André’s assistant for the case, it was.
I still didn’t know how to feel about it.
Before I could say anything, Bastian was already gone. I shifted my focus to the lady on the other end of the line.
“Good morning, what can I do for you?” she asked.
“Hello, I know it’s a bit late, but I’d like to make a reservation for two. Can it be today? In the most expensive area, please. I’ll pay extra for any inconvenience this may cause.”
