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I agree with his choice of venue and call Louis. It turns out he’s working from home this afternoon. Thirty minutes later, Rudy pulls up outside MINDFUCH with Louis in the car. I hop in. At ten minutes before six Louis and I walk into the bookshop.
Moving quickly, I scan both floors. The shop is full. It’s my second time here, but I’m still amazed at how many books and magazines it packs, not to mention the café on the first floor. People wander about, stare at the shelves crammed with books, pick one up, and flip its pages. Some customers talk to each other, keeping their voices hushed. The volume is a little louder in the café. Overall, the shop is quiet, but nowhere near as quiet as a library. I see what Joseph meant about the level of noise.
Louis and I stand around a display of new and popular books that offers an unobstructed view of the entrance. We browse the titles with an eye on the door. I glance at one of the windows. It’s dark already. Rue de Rivoli looks wet and cold despite the warm glow of the streetlamps. But in here it’s lovely.
A familiar silhouette appears in the doorway. It’s Joseph Wick. He looks the same as yesterday—a head of thick, curly hair that covers his forehead, and a beard that hides the shape of his chin, jaw, and cheeks. All that hair around and on his face reminds me of how I hid behind my hair before Louis persuaded me to get the garçonne cut.
Speaking of who… I nudge Louis gently. He follows my gaze to Joseph, and I confirm with a tiny nod that he’s our guy. Now that he’s here, I realize how worried I was he’d bail on us and run away with half of the money rather than risk talking to us to get the other half.
But he kept his word.
I slink to the press section where Joseph is now leafing through a car magazine. Louis follows me.
Without taking his eyes off his glossy magazine, Joseph says, “Kurt hasn’t figured out that the carnie Joseph Wick is the man who used to work for him under a different surname. But he will soon.”
“Is that why you needed the money?” I ask him.
He nods. “You were able to track me down, which means it’s only a matter of weeks, maybe days, until Kurt’s men do.”
Louis’s expression suggests he disagrees. “My wife is the smartest person I know,” he begins.
Ouch!Louis can be sarcastic, but he’s rarely this mean.
“And she’s a genius at solving puzzles,” he adds. “That she found you doesn’t mean Kurt’s men can.”
I stare at him. He looks earnest enough, with no discernable trace of sarcasm around his lips or eyes.Did he mean what he said?
“Europe is small, and Kurt’s influence here is huge,” Joseph says. “He’s been looking high and low for me. He’ll find me soon enough. I must take my family farther out of reach from his long arms.”
“You can’t be too careful around Kurt,” Louis agrees, surprising me again.
Joseph looks over his shoulder. “So, here’s the intel I promised you. One of the guards that died in the palace fire, Pierre Housard, was a MESS agent.”
“We already knew that,” Louis says.
“Did you know he’d been murdered beforehand?”
“We suspected as much,” I reply. “As did Carlo Bodden-Bock.”
Joseph looks around again. “The arson was a genius idea Kurt came up with to cover up Housard’s murder and destabilize your royals.”
“Why did he have Housard killed?” I ask.
“Who killed him?” Louis chimes in. “Was that you?”
“I refused to be involved in assassinations when I signed up to work for Kurt,” Joseph claims. “Honestly, I don’t know who killed Housard, but I know why.”
I wait for him to continue with bated breath. Louis looks just as keen.
Joseph speaks again, “Housard had uncovered evidence that Prince Benjamin had been poisoned.”
“By who?” Louis and I ask at once. “Who poisoned him?”
“That information was above my pay grade.”
“Do you think Housard had discovered the identity of the poisoner?”
“I don’t know,” Joseph replies. “Maybe he did or maybe he came close. What I know is that he was dotting the i’s in his report to MESS when Kurt’s spies took him out and destroyed all evidence. They also doctored the autopsy report and arranged for the coroner to have a heart attack.”
