“Bonjour,” Diana started aimlessly. “I was wondering—do you happen to speak Eng—”

“Who are you? Are you American? Are you from the press?”

“No, of course not,” she quickly clarified, fumbling for an excuse. What she was looking for was the best answer so that the woman might invite her in for a cup of tea. But nothing really presented itself. “I’ve just—”

“Yes?” Her eyes narrowed. She was annoyed now.

She looked over to her right and noticed the A LOUER sign in the window of the next flat. FOR RENT. In that split second, Diana decided to go for it. “I was looking to rent in the neighborhood, and no one answered next door. So I thought I would ask my potential neighbors what they thought of—”

“I don’t know. It’s fine. We’ve only lived here a year, but . . .” she shook her head and started to close the door. “Excusez-moi, but I am probably not the best person to ask, so—”

Diana nearly lunged forward to stop the door from shutting on her. “Oh, but I mean, is it close to public transport—”

The woman’s eyes narrowed further. She spat, “You’re one of them, aren’t you?”

“I’m sorry, what?” Whatever the them was, it clearly wasn’t anything good.

“One of his women.”

She blinked. “I’m sorry?”

“Claude. His women.” She eyed Diana up and down, “Usually, he goes for younger ones, his students, but . . .”

“You mean, you know about that?”

She laughed bitterly. “Of course, I do. I may look young, but I’m not an idiot. I’m the reason he divorced his first wife. I used to be a student in his class.”

“Oh. So at the ball . . .”

“I didn’t go to the ball. We bought those tickets a long time ago. But we’ve been in the process of separating for three months now. He doesn’t even live here anymore, but every once in a while, a woman will show up on my doorstep—like you.” She shrugged, “I didn’t know what he was doing. I don’t care to know, and honestly, it makes no difference to me now or even before his death.”

Diana blinked. “But on the news, you seemed very upset . . .”

“I was surprised, yes. They woke me up in the middle of the night and told me, and it did shock me. They told me they think it’s murder. Claude was a fool, but a lovable fool. He didn’t have enemies.” She shuddered, “I can’t believe anyone would do that to him. It seems like a dream, like I’ll wake up tomorrow and find out it isn’t real. I can’t believe he’s gone.”

Diana nodded. Having once fallen for a “lovable fool” herself, she understood. As much as she told people that she didn’t care what Evan was up to, if she’d found out something that terrible about him, she’d be shocked too. “I met him at the ball,” she said quietly, deciding to come clean. “The police say I might be the last person to see him alive.”