Leger's Foe (The Leger Hotel Mysteries Series Book 4)

He crept back to the living room, where Hugh and Annabella were munching on croissants and Brianna was enjoying some toast smeared with chocolate spread.  Even baby Louis was licking a buttered finger of toast and everyone seemed calm on the surface.  Leger knew that inside, Annabella’s stomach would be churning and her mind would be racing as she rattled through various worst-case scenarios in her mind.  Hugh’s brows were lowered, and he was preoccupied, eating in silence rather than chattering as he often did at breakfast time but he was reining in any fears he had in an attempt to keep his wife calm.  Brianna and Louis had no awareness of just how much danger or trouble their mother could have been in at that time.

Leger couldn’t believe that now, not only did he have the drowning case to solve, but he also had to track down Carole.  He hated to think that Lily could somehow have been right and that Carole was in any way involved in the drowning incident but he had to admit, it would explain a lot.

*****

‘So, what’s our first line of enquiry?’ Bob asked, sniffing around the living room floor for crumbs dropped earlier.

‘Our line of enquiry?  What do you mean, ours?’ Leger asked, narrowing his eyes.  ‘Do you want to take a more active role in this particular case?’

‘I do,’ Bob agreed, nodding his head up and down.  ‘If it means finding Carole quicker and clearing her name, I’ll do whatever it takes.’

‘I appreciate your offer of help but I think you have to take a back seat,’ Leger advised.

‘But why?’ Bob whimpered.

‘You’re too close to this.  There’s a conflict of interest here.  Can you honestly tell me you can compartmentalise your emotions?’ Leger asked, his whiskers twitching.

‘Of course not, but isn’t that what makes me perfect as your wingman?  You’ve often been close to the victim in various different cases and that’s your motivation.  Helping Carole is mine,’ Bob explained.

‘That’s very true, but I’ve never been close to the person who committed the crime,’ Leger said.  ‘Except for that one time when it turned out to be Hugh, but I didn’t know he was involved when I was investigating.  And that time when it was Tony.’

‘Face it Leger, you can’t use that argument.  We both like Carole.  Perhaps I like her more than you do but neither of us want to believe that she is the murderer in this incident.  Lily is the only one who seems to want Carole to be guilty.’

‘I don’t think it’s that she wants Carole to be the murderer.  I think she is simply less biased than we are,’ Leger frowned.

Bob stared at Leger for a moment then said, ‘So, am I in?’

‘Yes.  I say this because, in my heart, I don’t believe Carole is involved in the death of Sean Gilbert.’

‘Great,’ Bob said.  ‘I’ve been brainstorming and I had some ideas.’

Leger’s whiskers twitched with amusement.  Bob was clearly taking this seriously and although it was surprising, it was welcome.  Leger had never seen Bob so enthusiastic about an investigation.  Usually the only times he got this excited involved food or walks.

‘Now, what I thought we could do is ask some of the other animals in the village.  Hugh will take me for a walk at some point today.  If I whine a lot, he might do it right away.  It will give him a chance to look around for Carole anyway.’

‘Good thinking,’ Leger began to say, but was interrupted as Bob pressed ahead with his own ideas.

‘Now, you’re too scared – sorry, I mean safety-conscious – to go to the loch by yourself and that’s fine.  That’s another place I can drag Hugh on the walk, and I can speak to the swans when we’re there.  Kevin probably won’t hurt a dog, especially one with a human.’

‘Excellent idea,’ Leger said, but he was interrupted yet again.

‘What I also thought we could do is talk to Louis.  We’ve heard what Brianna has to say when she spoke to Annabella and Hugh but Louis might be able to shed some more light on where Carole was going.  Human adults often say things to babies that they wouldn’t say to other adults or older children.’

‘Actually, that’s true but the problem with that is that babies cannot talk,’ Leger pointed out.

‘What do you mean, they can’t talk?  Louis and I talk all the time!’ Bob cried.

Leger kept his eyes fixed on his canine friend as he assessed whether Bob was joking and if not, whether he was of sound mind.

‘What’s the matter Leger?  You’ll be telling me next that animals can’t talk and our conversations with each other are all imaginary!’

‘Well, clearly you and Louis have some kind of rapport that he and I don’t share.  Brianna and I were always close when she was little, but she’s what I would describe as a cat person.  Perhaps Louis is more a dog person, like his mother,’ Leger decided.

Hugh appeared in the doorway, clutching his newspaper and the phone with a scowl on his face, clearly still concerned about Carole’s whereabouts.

He perched on the edge of his armchair and typed a number into the phone.