Bruno 02 - The Dark Vineyard

You can stop answering my questions at any time and call a lawyer, but I and the magistrate investigating Max’s death would draw the appropriate conclusion. And as far as we know, you were the last person to see Max alive. That makes your testimony very important.”
    “That’s what feels so strange about this,” she said. “He was fine when we parted, happy and affectionate. And the next thing I know, he’d dead in this bizarre way. It’s a shock. You don’t expect someone young and healthy to die just like that.”
    “You have no reason to believe that his death was anything other than an accident?”
    “What do you mean? Of course not. An accident is what I heard. If you know any different, tell me. He was my boyfriend, damn it. I have a right to know.”
    “The precise cause of death has not yet been established, Jacqueline. It was clearly an unusual death, so we have to be thorough in our investigation. Besides which it seems that Max may have been involved in something else we’re investigating. Did he ever talk to you about that fire up in the hills a week ago?”
    “Not specifically. People were talking about it in the
cave
and at the bar at night. Most people seemed to approve of it—I mean, to applaud whoever it was who burned the GMO crops. They’re not too popular around here.”
    “Max never talked about GMO crops with you?”
    “Sure, when the topic came up in the bar. He was against them. He was very green-minded, interested in producing organic wines. …” She smiled, and for the first time, Bruno felt she was showing a genuine emotion.
    He stood up, not returning her smile. “I’m sorry about all this, but it’s my job. I’ll type this up as a statement and then you’ll have a chance to correct it before signing it. I should warn you that under French law, a signed statement is a very serious document. Any lies or misrepresentations in it can lead to prison or other dire consequences.”
    He turned as if to go. “Oh, one more thing. May I check your passport?”
    She fished in her bag and handed it to him. He flicked to the back page to check the photo, and then took out his notebook and scribbled down Jacqueline’s date and place of birth, the passport number and the date of the French entry stamp, August 12. He handed it back.
    “My condolences on the death of your boyfriend, Jacqueline. You may be needed as a witness as the investigation continues. Please do not leave Saint-Denis without informing me.”

34
    It was Bruno’s first sight of the new mobile police station, J-J’s pride and joy. It was a large van towing a commercial trailer fitted out with a crime lab, portable lighting systems and tents to cover crime scenes, radios and computers. Parked together in Cresseil’s courtyard the two vehicles seemed larger than the farmhouse. Bruno looked into the trailer and saw nobody he recognized. But a prematurely bald young man introduced himself as Yves, a member of J-J’s team, and asked for Bruno’s old phone, which had been ruined in the vat.
    “J-J has gone to the Manoir to see Bondino,” he said. “But he told me to replace your phone. He said you solved the arson.”
    Bruno handed over both his phone and Max’s. Yves attached various wires to the old phones and then plucked a new one from a shelf in the van. He plugged them all into his laptop, and then his fingers started dancing over the keys.
    “You had a lot of calls,” he said. “The phone is finished but the memory’s fine. What about this second phone? Is that yours?”
    “No, it belonged to the man who died. I was using it whilemine was out of commission, but I thought you might want to see if you can learn anything from it.”
    “Thanks; I’ll get on it. Any developments from your talk with the girlfriend?”
    “I’m not sure I believe her, but there’s nothing hard to go on. She says they made love after the fight in the café and then she left to go home, but her landlady is pretty sure she didn’t return until a couple of hours after that. Maybe the romantic interlude lasted longer than she thought.”
    “Could be. Time flies when you’re having fun. Here’s your new phone, all loaded with your old numbers and messages. Give me a shout if you need anything.”
    Yves ducked into the back of the mobile unit, and Bruno started going through his messages and returning calls. There was a message from Jacques, his fellow policeman in the next commune down the river, and he called him