Bruno 02 - The Dark Vineyard

about Max’s having had sex before he died? He took out his notebook and pen and began writing, aware that she was reaching for another tissue. He continued to write, letting the silence build, the oldest trick in the interrogator’s book.
    “You know,” she said into the silence, “most young men are static. What you see when you meet them is all there is. It was like Max was older, more mature. He had the depth of an older man.”
    Bruno glanced up from his notebook. She was looking at him with wide eyes, her lips parted, her arms to her sides andpressing her breasts forward. It was a—he had no other word for it—flirtatious pose. He looked back down at his book and kept his pen at the ready as he asked his next question in a flat, almost bored tone of voice.
    “Was Max in good health when you left him that night? Did he seem normal or depressed?”
    “Completely normal and in good spirits.”
    “You’re sure you didn’t go to Cresseil’s place with Max after leaving the bar? He didn’t ask you to tread the grapes with him?”
    “He asked me to go back with him, but I was tired. I’d been working all day, and we’d been picking grapes all evening. I needed to rest.”
    “When you said good night to him, was it affectionate, a long embrace?”
    “He was my boyfriend.” She smiled. “We kissed good night for a while.”
    “Did you make love?”
    “Damn it, Bruno,” she said, jumping up and glaring at him. “This is none of your business. No, we didn’t, but what does that have to do with his death?”
    “Because from the autopsy we know that Max had sex shortly before he died. If it wasn’t with you, then we need to find out who the partner might have been. This is not about you, Jacqueline; it’s about him.”
    “Well, yes, we did make love,” she said defiantly, as though daring Bruno to disapprove. She went to the dresser and lit a cigarette and began smoking as she spoke. “In the field by the trailer park on the other side of the river. We liked to make love in the open air. And then I came back here.”
    “And Max? Where did he go?”
    “I don’t know for sure. To Cresseil’s place, I guess.”
    “He was alone when he left?”
    “Of course. We’d just made love.” This time, she said it almost proudly, a kind of arrogance about her as she began to stride back and forth across the room. It felt somehow false to Bruno.
    “How did he leave, on his motorbike?”
    “No, on foot. I don’t know where his bike was.”
    “Did you talk about the fight at the bar?”
    “A bit, just saying that Bondino was crazy. That’s all.”
    “You didn’t see Bondino again that night?”
    “No. Not after the fight and after you came.”
    “Max didn’t ask you why the American seemed so persistent?”
    “No. He was just angry that Bondino wouldn’t take no for an answer.” She sounded bored as she said it, and stubbed out her cigarette with three savage jabs. Bruno had the impression that in her different moods she was copying the mannerisms of some actresses she had seen, as though trying to invent emotions like anger and boredom that she would be expected to display. None of it seemed to come from her. Perhaps it was time to jolt her.
    “Had you always said no to Bondino?”
    At that, she stopped her pacing and looked down at him with real surprise. Then she put her hands on her hips, tightened her mouth and released genuine anger, or perhaps another emotion.
    “Bruno, this is very hostile questioning into my personal life, and I don’t see any relevance when it comes to Max’s accidental death. If you want to ask any more of these dirty old man questions, I’m going to call a lawyer.”
    “That’s up to you, Jacqueline,” he said calmly, scribbling in his notebook and avoiding her eye. “We can always continuethe questioning at the gendarmerie, but you’d have to stay in jail under what we call
garde à vue
, and I doubt you’d get to see a lawyer for some time. In any event, this is France, and we can hold you for questioning for three days. I repeat, had you always said no to Bondino? I’m trying to understand why he felt he had some claim on you and why that led to a fight with Max.”
    She turned her back on him. “I got drunk one night and let Bondino into my room. It was a mistake. I’m not usually like that. It made me feel like a slut.”
    “Thank you for telling the truth. Had you lied, I would have known because I already talked to the hotel about this.