“I do not know. When I came back to the studio to tell him I was about to go out and was there anything special he wanted she had gone. I tried to ask him about her but he shouted at me. He said, ‘Isn’t it time you went to the market? Do you think I want the leftover meat that has been visited by flies?’ So I went. And when I returned with the shopping he was sitting there, dying.”

She looked up at me with hopelessness in her eyes. “If only I had stayed, he might still be alive.”

“You might also be dead, Claudette,” I said. “Someone came, intent on committing murder.”

“You may be right. At night I lie there, asking myself over and over what I could have done to prevent this.”

“You were fond of him.”

She nodded and wiped away a tear. “He was my life, madame. For eighteen years he was my life. Now I have nothing. Nowhere to go. All alone.”

“I’m very sorry,” I said. “I should go and let you get on with your work.”

She looked up at me. “You will tell his relatives at home that I did my best. And if they inherit his fortune and care to send a small gift to me…”

“I’ll tell them,” I said, feeling awful that as far as I knew there was no relative at home. I resolved to speak to the inspector and Reynold Bryce’s lawyer to see if some provision could be made for Claudette.

Chapter 32

Thirty-two

I left by way of the front door. The policeman had no way of knowing I was not a resident of one of the other flats, I reasoned. I nodded as I passed him and said, “Bonjour” in a sprightly manner. He didn’t attempt to stop me. I heard a distant clock chiming eleven as I hurried along the Rue François Premier. I was in two minds of what to do next. I would have to be back at Mary Cassatt’s house to nurse Liam at lunchtime, but should I go to seek out Willie Walcott or Ellie before I went in search of Shosette Petit? Which one of them was more important? All three had been upset with Reynold Bryce, all three had had words with him. But Willie had apparently seen him the day before he died and there was no reason to believe he had returned. Shosette and Ellie had definitely been with him on the day he died. I couldn’t think what either of them might have to do with his death, but I was particularly concerned about Miss Ellie. There were enough discrepancies between the truth and what Ellie had told me to raise some red flags.