And the wallet? They keep the wallet. They wreck and toss the painting. They give us the gun. Or may as well have. At first glance, the thing was totally erratic. Garbage? The painting’s a fake! Why else destroy such a thing so brutally? she wondered, staring at the body the way one tends to, willing it to tell her more.

Beside her, the pathologist kept rubbing his stomach as he perused his notes, a steady, circular massaging motion, as if he were pregnant. It disturbed her focus. ‘Do you have to do that?’

‘Oops!’ He stopped. Then started chewing on his thumb, rueful. ‘She’s turning me into a fat person. Eats like a bloody horse. I’m helpless.’ She was Nanette, a local woman given to cowboy boots and eating. They’d met at a crime scene. Raphaele boasted as to how he’d subsequently charmed Nanette with the culinary skills he claimed were ‘instinctual to my kind.’ Perhaps he had, but there was blowback: Dr. Petrucci’s formerly trim line had been expanding. His comely Italian movie-star face was getting heavier too. There was a time when Aliette Nouvelle had not been able to resist it. A few others too amongst the ranks at rue des Bon Enfants, if Monique had her information right. It appeared Raphaele had met his match in Nanette.

The inspector focused. ‘What about sex?’

‘You know how it is — after a while, a good meal is just as enjoyable, often more so.’

‘Our victim, Raphaele. Please.’

He sensed her pain. ‘Sorry…and sorry about your cat.’

Merci, Monique. She accepted his condolences with an empty stare.

He went back to his notes. ‘The time in the water cleaned off any outward signs. Peeing when he died would’ve washed out the urethra…’ Rolling the body slightly. ‘More scratching and abrasion on his buttocks. That may or may not be signs of some fun on the beach.’

‘It’s not a beach in any way, shape or form.’

‘Nevertheless, they found him without his pants on. But, no — I see no signs of sex.’

‘Bon…’ Once again, the river was a murderer’s best accomplice. ‘Drugs or alcohol?’

‘Nothing in his stomach. Have to wait for the blood work to come back.’

‘Fingers? Dental?’

‘All in the pipeline.