I said, “Stone dust, I think you’re right about that.” I looked up at Nazari. She was staring down at the dust. “It makes sense in a way.”

She said, “Stone, like from caves?”

I brushed the stuff off my palm. “That’s what I’m thinking. Stone from the caves.”

Chapter Forty-Four

This time, Nazari drove.

The Peugeot hummed along, a collection of well machined objects spinning and firing off together, like a good musical ensemble. She said that we’d just about make it to the medical examiner’s office before they closed, which was around five. We talked about dust. I told her about my night in Gilles’ library, reading through his life’s work on the system of stone caverns around Alencourt.

She was fascinated. “So you’re thinking there’s a connection. Vaugeois, the crew from Les Brosses, migrant trafficking and underground caves.”

“Yup. Clear connection. Maybe they had the migrants hiding out in one of those caves or something. I don’t know. We’ll have to see.”

“And maybe Vaugeois was caught up in it with them. Was complicit in whatever they were up to with the migrant trafficking. Maybe that’s why they attacked him.”

“Sure, that’s possible. Although I don’t think so.”

“Why’s that?”

“A feeling.”

“So you want to go poking around all the caves of Alencourt? You won’t make it in a lifetime, there’s too much of it.”

“Yeah I know. I think I want to go looking around in the basement of Brumaire though.” I glanced at Nazari. “Do you remember? The basement door where the Vaugeois’ gardener and cleaning lady were arguing.”

She blushed. “When we were in Vaugeois’ bedroom. And had to wait for Madame Vaugeois’ live-in help to leave before coming out, yes.” She looked at me. “You think there’s a cave down there, or migrants hiding or something?”

“Not sure, but I’d like to take a look.”

The medical examiner’s office was a regional morgue that served the area including Alencourt. It was situated on the outskirts of a large cemetery, about six miles north-east of town. The building was a two-story cement cube in white. At the front, chrome rails surrounded a ramp that I assumed was used for wheeling bodies in. I guess they wheeled them out afterwards too, unless they had been subjected to an internal autopsy, in which case they might be delivered out in a box.