He laughed. “Sorry. Another bit of Cockney slipped out. It means that it’s all right with me.” Granddad blushed as Madame Chanel slipped her arm through his. “I never thought the day would come when I’d be escorting a charming French lady around the Riviera. Me, of all people.”

“I am delighted to have such a debonair Englishman to protect me,” Coco said gallantly. “Let us go and ask Claire if we may borrow the car and the delightful Franz.”

Mummy had just surfaced as we entered the house and she looked decidedly the worse for wear.

“Remind me not to drink gin,” she said. “It doesn’t agree with me. I should stick with champagne.” She frowned to focus on the men in our party. “Good heavens, Daddy. You came.”

“Wasn’t going to let my little girl get into trouble now, was I?” he said. “And now that I’m here, I can’t say that France looks as bad as I thought it would. Quite nice, in fact, especially after gray old England.”

Mummy gave me a knowing smile. “So what’s the plan then?”

We told her.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll bow out of this morning’s activities. I’m really not at my best. Maybe after a few cups of coffee I’ll feel human again. So run along and play, children.”

Franz brought around the motor and we all piled in. This time there were no police guarding our villa and the gendarme at Sir Toby’s gate saluted as we drove past. At least it seemed I’d been removed from the role of number one suspect. When we reached the center of Nice I asked Franz to drop me where I could ride the bus up the hill to Cimiez.

“I don’t know if I like you going alone,” Granddad said. “You’re looking for someone who might have committed two murders. You’re putting yourself in harm’s way. Come with us to the newspapers first and then we’ll all go with you up to this place.”

“No, that wouldn’t work at all,” I said. “I want to see if anyone mistakes me for this girl. I’m going to try to borrow a bicycle and wheel it around the neighborhood. At least I might be able to find out where she lives.”

“Well, be careful, then,” Granddad said. “And let’s arrange to meet back here at a certain time. That way, if you’re not there, we’ll come looking.”