With tears streaming down her cheeks, Colette touched her throat as if she was reliving that moment herself.
“For that alone,” Raoul said, staring down at Colette as his hands bunched into fists, “he would have had to die. But then I heard him refer to his bastard children, heard him laugh, and saw you cry. I could barely restrain myself from ripping his heart out right then, but I knew I would have to wait. I left you all early that night, but returned later and waited at the back door until Baxter was alone. It only took a moment to kill him, but I made sure he knew why he was dying.”
I exhaled slowly, only just aware that I’d been holding my breath. I was doing that a lot these days.
“And Montgomery?” Derek asked, breaking the silence.
Raoul sighed wearily. “When I heard him make that phone call to the police the other night, I confess I didn’t know what to do. He told the police he knew who the killer was. I moved closer to hear his words. As he spoke, he pulled Colette’s locket out of his pocket and smiled as it glittered in the light. He must have found it somewhere in the kitchen and I believe he’d made up his mind that Colette had killed Baxter.”
Colette leaned against his strong chest and wept quietly.
“It wasn’t Colette, of course, but at that moment I knew what he was about to unleash on my family. It was too much to bear.” Raoul tightened his hold on Colette. “I felt betrayed and couldn’t think, could only act on impulse. The meat injector was in the dishwasher. The poison was under the sink. I’m not proud of what I did, but I would do it again to protect what is mine.”
Epilogue
Fricasseed Tripe is much esteemed by the American gentry.
—The Cookbook of Obedience Green
Like so many other mornings, I woke up in desperate need of coffee. Today was different, however. It was not going to be an easy one for so many reasons, but the sooner I got started, the faster I would get through it.
As I washed my face and brushed my teeth, I thought back on the terrible night we’d been through.
It had been painful to hear Raoul admit his guilt. He truly believed he’d done the right thing for his family. Maybe that would help lighten his sentence somehow, but I couldn’t condone what he’d done. I had thought he was a good man, a good husband, but he had killed two people in cold blood. Even though Baxter was a son of a bitch, that was no justification for murder. But it was Montgomery’s death that really struck home and left me feeling nothing but contempt for Raoul. And sadness, damn it. He had broken all of our hearts and I would never forgive him for that.
And what would happen to their two little boys? Colette had been arrested, too, for wielding that stupid knife at me. I figured she would be released shortly, but not Raoul. Had he even considered what his children would do without him? No, he hadn’t considered anyone or anything beyond his own stupid vengeance.
Sometimes people really sucked. I had a long list of the ones who did, and Baxter was on it. Margot was on it, too, because it was obvious that she’d tried to cause trouble between Colette and her husband. But Raoul topped the list. Besides killing Monty, he had almost killed Peter. He needed to pay for that.
Last night, Derek had asked Raoul to fill in the blanks regarding Peter’s attack. Raoul had rubbed his eyes, clearly exhausted. Finally he had told us what happened.
“Montgomery began reacting to the poison almost immediately,” Raoul said. “It was a hideous death, but I was determined to watch and wait until it was over so I could search him for Colette’s necklace. But then I heard someone coming and I ran from the building. I went back the next morning to search for it, but others had arrived before me. Margot told me that Peter was the first to find Montgomery. So I took a chance, went to Peter’s hotel room to ask if he’d found the locket. By now I was crazed with worry. When he said that, yes, he had taken the necklace, I demanded it. But he began to ask questions about Colette. I let a few of them pass until he suggested that she must have killed Baxter. He wanted to call the police. I simply lost all control. I grabbed the nearest weapon and he ran. I chased after him and hit him. I regretted it immediately. I didn’t plan to do it. I have no more excuses.”
I wondered what Raoul would have done if he’d found the cookbook in Peter’s luggage. Had he even thought to search for it—or the locket, for that matter? He hadn’t found what he was looking for, thank goodness, but I wondered if he’d tried.
“Did you look for Colette’s locket in Peter’s room?” I asked.