Croissant Murder (A Patisserie Mystery with Recipes) by Harper Lin Page A

she replied. “I’ll be out on the floor.”  

    Caroline gave Cyril a sharp look before turning back to the salon de thé .  

    Clémence took off her apron and led Cyril into the office. She closed the door.

    “What’s going on now?” she asked. “Another murder? Are you kidding me?”  

    “Murder is never a joke,” he said dryly. “After grilling Mathieu Leroy yesterday, I really wouldn’t be surprised if you had something to do with this.”  

    Clémence shook her head. “Wait. Start from the beginning.”

    “Charlotte Lagrange was murdered last night. At first we thought it was a suicide, since she was shot in the head. She was found lying facedown in her apartment with a gun next to her. But in fact, neighbors heard her scream before the gun was fired at about 8pm. It’s a strange thing, actually. Someone killed her for sure, because neighbors reported hearing a door close after the gunshot, which meant the murderer simply exited her apartment and went out as if he or she was just paying a visit.”  

    “And nobody saw who it was?”  

    Cyril shrugged and looked at her wryly. “It could be you.”  

    “I’ll have you know that I was at home with my boyfriend at around that time.”  

    “I know. Your ex-boyfriend told me. I was interrogating him, and he said he was at a business dinner.”  

    “That’s what he told me.”  

    “So he did go to your house after?”  

    “Yes.”  

    “That checks out, then. Mathieu Leroy is innocent.”  

    “But why would someone kill Charlotte?”  

    “That’s what I’m trying to find out.”  

    “Is that why you’re here?” Clémence put her hands on her hips. She broke into a cocky smile. “You want me to help you, don’t you?”  

    “Don’t flatter yourself, Damour. I wanted to break the news that we found another one of your pastries at the crime scene. You know what was in Charlotte’s kitchen? An uneaten almond croissant from your patisserie.”  

    “Oh.”  

    “What did I tell you? Your products are cursed.”

    “Hey, you didn’t eat the croissant, did you?” Clémence joked. “I know you love those almond croissants.”  

    He responded with a stern look. “I’ll eat another croissant from Damour when I want to get shot.”  

    Clémence let out a fake gasp. “Surely you don’t mean that.”  

    Cyril pulled out a picture of Charlotte’s dead body. She was lying facedown on her apartment floor, her dark hair spread out like a fan. Blood pooled around her and a gun was lying beside her right hand.  

    “I thought you’d like a challenge, Damour. As soon as you found out about Charlotte, I figured you would try to get your greedy little hands on the perp, but I want to propose a little contest. This time, I’m going to catch the murderer, not you.”  

    “Your ego’s pretty shattered, huh?” Clémence had solved quite a few cases already. She’d been outsmarting Cyril ever since she returned to Paris. You want a showdown? she thought. You got one.

    “You’re lucky you have an alibi,” Cyril said.  

    “What do you mean, lucky? I don’t need luck if I didn’t do it. You know I didn’t.”  

    “Fine. So who did?”

    “If you’re smart, who do you think did it?”  

    “Well, it’s quite obvious that—” Cyril stopped and narrowed his eyes at her. “Nice try.”  

    “You have no clue, do you?” Clémence said. “I’ll definitely figure it out before you do.” Mathieu must’ve been devastated. She felt bad for the part she’d played in upsetting Charlotte during her final day on earth. “I know the people involved, and I’m going to do them justice.”  

    “Justice is my middle name,” Cyril said. “You’ve been embarrassing me for too long. This time, I’ll show you who the real investigator is in this city.”  

    “You embarrass yourself, Cyril. If you did your job properly, you wouldn’t need me. Now can you please leave? I’m at work.”