Kate Mosse - Labyrinth

“Biau. On a trouve quelque-chose comme ca?”

“Je ne sais pas, Monsieur I’lnspecteur.”

“Depechez-vous, alors. II faut le chercher… Et informez-en Monsieur Authie. Allez! Vite!”

There was a stubborn band of pain behind Alice’s eyes now the painkillers were starting to wear off.

“Did you touch anything else, Dr. Tanner?”

She rubbed her temples with her fingers. “I accidentally knocked one of the skulls out of position with my foot. But apart from that and the ring, nothing. As I’ve already said.”

“What about the piece you found beneath the boulder?”

“The brooch? I gave it to Dr. O’Donnell after we came out of the cave,” shifting slightly at the memory. “I’ve got no idea what she did with it.”

Noubel was no longer listening. He kept glancing over his shoulder. Finally, he gave up the pretense and flipped his notebook shut.

“If you would be so kind as to wait, Dr. Tanner. There may be more questions I need to ask you.”

“But there’s nothing more I can tell you-” she started to protest. “Can’t I at least join the others?”

“Later. For now, if you could stay here.”

Alice slumped back in her chair, annoyed and exhausted, as Noubel lumbered out of the tent and headed up the mountain to where a group of uniformed officers were examining the boulder.

As Noubel approached, the circle parted, just enough for Alice to catch a glimpse of a tall man in civilian clothes standing in the middle.

She caught her breath.

Dressed in a well-cut pale green summer suit and a crisp white shirt and tie, he was clearly in charge. His authority was obvious, a man used to giving orders and having them obeyed. Noubel looked crumpled and unkempt in comparison. Alice felt a prickling of unease.

It wasn’t only the man’s clothes and bearing that marked him out. Even from this distance, Alice could feel the force of his personality and charisma. His face was pale and gaunt, accentuated by the way his dark hair was swept back off his high forehead. There was something of the cloister about him. Something familiar.

Don’t be stupid. How can you know him?

Alice stood up and walked to the entrance, watching intently as the two men moved away from the group. They were talking. Or rather Noubel was talking, while the other man listened. After another couple of seconds, he turned and climbed up to the entrance to the cave. The officer on duty lifted the tape, he ducked underneath and was gone.

For no reason she could fathom, her palms were wet with apprehension. The hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end, just as they had when she’d heard the sound in the chamber. She could barely breathe.

This is all your fault. You led him here.

Alice pulled herself up short. What are you talking about? But the voice in her head would not be quietened.

You led him here.

Her eyes returned again to the entrance to the cave, drawn like a magnet. She couldn’t help it. The thought of him in there, after all that had been done to keep the labyrinth hidden.

He’ll find it.

“Find what?” she muttered to herself. She wasn’t sure.

But she wished she’d taken the ring when she had the chance.

Noubel didn’t go into the cave. Instead, he waited outside in the gray shade of the rocky overhang, red-faced.

He knows something’s not right, thought Alice. He tossed an occasional comment to the officer on duty and smoked cigarette after cigarette, lighting them from the butt of the last. Alice listened to music to help pass the time. Nickelback blasted into her head, obliterating all other sounds.

After fifteen minutes, the man in the suit reappeared. Noubel and the officer seemed to gain a couple of inches in height. Alice took off her headphones and put the chair back in its original position, before taking up her position at the entrance to the tent.

She watched the two men come down from the cave together.

“I was beginning to think you’d forgotten me, Inspector,” she said, when they came within earshot.

Noubel mumbled an apology, but avoided her eye.

“Dr. Tanner, je vous presente MonsieurAuthie .”

Close up, Alice’s first impressions of a man of presence and charisma were reinforced. But his gray eyes were cold and clinical. She felt immediately on guard. Fighting her antipathy, she held out her hand. After a moment’s hesitation, Authie took it. His fingers were cool and his touch was insubstantial. It made her flesh creep.

She let go as quickly as she could.

“Shall we go inside?” he said.

“Are you also with the Police Judiciaire, Monsieur Authie?”

A ghost of a reaction flickered in his eyes, but he said nothing. Alice waited, wondering if it was possible he’d not heard her. Noubel shuffled, awkward in the silence. “Monsieur Authie is from the mairie, the town hall. In Carcassonne.”

“Really?” She found it surprising Carcassonne was under the same jurisdiction as Foix.

Authie took possession of Alice’s chair, leaving her with no choice but to sit with her back to the entrance. She felt wary, cautious of him.

He had the practiced smile of a politician, expedient, watchful and noncommittal. It did not reach his eyes.

“I have one or two questions, Dr. Tanner.”

“I’m not sure there’s anything else I can tell you. I went through everything I could remember with the Inspector.”

“Inspector Noubel has given me a thorough summary of your statement, however I need you to go through it once more. There are discrepancies, certain points in your story that need clarification. There might be details you forgot before, things that seemed insignificant at the time.”

Alice bit her tongue. “I told the Inspector everything,” she repeated stubbornly.

Authie pressed the tips of his fingers together, ignoring her objections. He didn’t smile. “Let us start from the moment you first entered the chamber, Dr. Tanner. Step by step.”

Alice jolted at his choice of words. Step by step? Was he testing her? His face revealed nothing. Her eyes fell to a gold crucifix he wore around his neck, then back to his gray eyes, still staring at her.

Since she felt she had no choice, she began once more. To start with, Authie listened in an intense, concentrated silence. Then the interrogation started. He’s trying to catch me out.

“Were the words inscribed at the top of the steps legible, Dr. Tanner? Did you take the time to read them?”

“Most of the letters were rubbed away,” she said defiantly, challenging him to contradict her. When he did not, Alice felt a burst of satisfaction. “I walked down the steps to the lower level, toward the altar. Then I saw the bodies.”

“Did you touch them?” No.

He made a slight sound, as if he didn’t believe her, then reached into his jacket. “This is yours?” he said, opening his hand to reveal her blue plastic lighter.

Alice went to take it, but he drew his arm back.

“May I have it please?”

“Is it yours, Dr. Tanner?”

“Yes.”

He nodded, then slipped it back into his pocket. “You say you did not touch the bodies, however, before, you told Inspector Noubel you had.”

Alice flushed. “It was an accident. I knocked one of the skulls with my foot, but I didn’t touch them, as such.”

“Dr. Tanner, this will go more easily if you just answer my questions.” The same cold, hard voice.

“I can’t see what-”

“What did they look like?” he said sharply.

Alice felt Noubel flinch at the bullying tone, but he didn’t do anything to check it. Her stomach twisting with nerves, she did her best.