The hotel was a short walk from the Champs Élysées, not that either Jack or Harry was in the mood for sightseeing.

“We’ve been here twelve hours and have nothing to show for our efforts other than all that rich food that is lying really heavy in my stomach,” Jack grumbled. “Nikki would kill me if I told her what I ate for dinner. Yoko would string you up by your toes, Harry.”

“The police were no help, and we struck out at the flat Jane Petrie rented. All we know is she registered, then checked out. She turned in her rental car just hours after she rented it. No one we talked to remembers seeing an American in the area where she’d booked her reservation except for the reservation clerk, who said when she checked out she said that she had a sudden family emergency.”

“Annie and the girls are not going to like this,” Harry said.

“You’re right about that. Did you get the feeling when we were talking to the landlord or whatever these people call the person who owns the flat that handles the registration or whatever . . . that she wasn’t being entirely truthful? She was giving off vibes that made my hair stand on end. Maybe we missed a beat and should have offered a bribe. What do you think, Harry?”

“What I think is if Petrie has been coming here several times a year and staying at the same place, she’s more than likely built up some kind of rapport with the owner of the flat. I’m thinking when she left in such a hurry, she would have told the landlady not to answer any questions if someone came looking for her. She also probably told her to go ahead and rent out the flat and didn’t take a refund. Petrie probably slipped her a few bucks to keep quiet, and along with being able to rent out the flat again, that made the woman happy. Petrie will probably call her from time to time to check to see if anyone really is checking up on her. We can go back first thing in the morning and take another shot at her. This time, we lean a little harder and of course offer up a substantial. . . ah . . . gift for whatever knowledge she has to share. Your French is good enough to get your point across, isn’t it, Jack?”