Reichs, Kathy - Death Du Jour

“How long?” Bewildered.

“Are you one of her graduate students?”

“Undergraduate.” She stood silhouetted by the light from the window. I couldn’t see her features, but her body looked tense.

“I hear she is very involved with her students.”

“Why are you asking me?”

Strange answer. “I was just curious. I never seem to have enough time to see my students outside the classroom. I admire her.”

That seemed to satisfy her.

“Dr. Jeannotte is more than a teacher to many of us.”

“How did you come to major in religious studies?”

For a while she didn’t answer. When I thought she wasn’t going to, she spoke slowly.

“I met Dr. Jeannotte when I signed up for her seminar. She . . .” Another long pause. It was hard to see her expression because of the backlighting. “. . . inspired me.”

“How so?”

Another pause.

“She made me want to do things right. To learn how to do things right.”

I didn’t know what to say, but this time no prompt was necessary to keep her talking.

“She made me realize that a lot of the answers have already been written, we just have to learn to find them.” She took a deep breath, let it out. “It’s hard, it’s really hard, but I’ve come to understand what a mess people have made of the world, and that only a few enlightened . . .”

She turned slightly, and I could see her face again. Her eyes had widened and her mouth was tense.

“Dr. Jeannotte. We were just talking.”

A woman stood in the doorway. She was no more than five feet tall, with dark hair pulled tightly back from her forehead and knotted at the back of her head. Her skin was the same eggshell color as the wall behind her.

“I was at the copy machine before. I was only out of the office for a few seconds.”

The woman remained absolutely still.

“She wasn’t in here by herself. I wouldn’t allow that.” The student bit her lip and dropped her eyes.

Daisy Jeannotte never wavered.

“Dr. Jeannotte, she wants to ask you a few questions so I thought it would be O.K. if she came in to wait. She’s a medical examiner.” Her voice was almost trembling.

Jeannotte did not look in my direction. I had no idea what was going on.

“I . . . I’m shelving the journals. We were just making conversation.” I could see drops of sweat on her upper lip.

For a moment Jeannotte continued her gaze, then, slowly, she turned in my direction.

“You have chosen a slightly inconvenient time, Miss . . . ?” Soft. Tennessee, maybe Georgia.

“Dr. Brennan.” I stood.

“Dr. Brennan.”

“I apologize for coming unannounced. Your secretary told me that this is your time for office hours.”

She took a long time to look me over. Her eyes were deep-set, the irises so pale they were almost without color. Jeannotte accentuated this by darkening her lashes and brows. Her hair, too, was an unnatural, dense black.

“Well,” she said finally, “since you are here. What is it you are seeking?” She remained motionless in the doorway. Daisy Jeannotte was one of those people who possess an air of total calm.

I explained about Sister Julienne, and about my interest in Élisabeth Nicolet, without revealing the reasons for my interest.

Jeannotte thought a moment, then shifted her gaze to the teaching assistant. Without a word the young woman laid down the journals and hurried from the office.

“You’ll have to excuse my assistant. She’s very high-strung.” She gave a soft laugh and shook her head. “But she is an excellent student.”

Jeannotte moved to a chair opposite me. We both sat.

“This time of the afternoon I normally reserve for students, but today there seem to be none. Would you like some tea?” Her voice had a honeyed quality, like the country club ladies back home.

“No, thank you. I’ve just had lunch.”

“You are a medical examiner?”

“Not exactly. I’m a forensic anthropologist, on the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. I consult to the coroner here.”

“Charlotte is a lovely city. I’ve visited there often.”

“Thank you. Our campus is quite different from McGill, very modern. I envy you this beautiful office.”

“Yes. It is charming. Birks dates to 1931 and was originally called Divinity Hall. The building belonged to the Joint Theological Colleges until McGill acquired it in 1948. Did you know that the School of Divinity is one of the oldest faculties at McGill?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Of course, today we call ourselves the Faculty of Religious Studies. So, you are interested in the Nicolet family.” She crossed her ankles and settled back. I found the lack of color in her eyes unsettling.

“Yes. I’d particularly like to know where Élisabeth was born and what her parents were doing at the time. Sister Julienne has been unable to locate a birth certificate, but she’s certain the birth was in Montreal. She felt you might be able to lead me to some references.”

“Sister Julienne.” She laughed again, a sound like water running over rocks. Then her face sobered. “There’s been a great deal written about and by members of the Nicolet and Bélanger families. Our own library has a rich archive of historic documents. I’m sure you will find many things there. You could also try the Archives of the Province of Quebec, the Canadian Historical Society, and the Public Archives of Canada.” The soft, Southern tones assumed an almost mechanical quality. I was a sophomore on a research project.

“You could check journals such as the Report of the Canadian Historical Society , the Canadian Annual Review , the Canadian Archives Report , the Canadian Historical Review , the Transactions of the Quebec Literary and Historical Society , the Report of the Archives of the Province of Quebec , or the Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada .” She sounded like a tape. “And, of course, there are hundreds of books. I myself know very little about that period in history. ”

My face must have reflected my thoughts.

“Don’t look so daunted. It just takes time.”

I’d never find enough hours to wade through that volume of material. I decided to try another tack.

“Are you familiar with the circumstances surrounding Élisabeth’s birth?”

“Not really. As I said, that’s not a period for which I’ve done research. I do know who she is, of course, and of her work during the smallpox epidemic of 1885.” She paused a moment, choosing her words carefully. “My work has focused on messianic movements and new belief systems, not on the traditional ecclesiastical religions.”

“In Quebec?”

“Not exclusively.” She circled back to the Nicolets. “The family was well known in its day, so you might find it more interesting to go through old newspaper stories. There were four English language dailies back then, the Gazette, Star, Herald , and Witness .”

“Those would be in the library?”

“Yes. And, of course, there was the French press, La Minerve, Le Monde, La Patrie, L’Etendard , and La Presse . The French papers were a bit less prosperous and somewhat thinner than the English, but I believe they all carried birth announcements.”

I hadn’t thought of press accounts. Somehow that seemed more manageable.

She explained where the newspapers were stored on microfilm, and promised to draw up a list of sources for me. For a while we spoke of other things. I sated her curiosity about my job. We compared experiences, two female professors in the male-dominated world of the university. Before long a student appeared in the doorway. Jeannotte tapped her watch and held up five fingers, and the young woman disappeared.