I eased the drawer out again and put it on top of the sideboard. Then I got down and peered into the cavity. There wasn’t enough light to see inside, so I stuck my hand into the hole and felt around for a while. A groove was carved into the back. I ran my finger across it horizontally and bumped into a strip of tape holding something in. I peeled the tape off with my nail and pulled it out carefully.

It was a section of duct tape. I turned it over and examined the adhesive side. In the center of the strip was a small skeleton key. The kind of key that unlocks a jewelry box or something of that nature. Perhaps a wardrobe, but not a big one.

I stuck the key back onto the adhesive, reached into the drawer cavity and pressed the tape where I had taken it. Found the grooves for the drawer and slid it home. Went back up the stairs. In the room I opened the curtains, undressed again and got back to bed.

Chapter Sixteen

I woke for the second time that morning, rested and clear-headed. It took me a while, but eventually I found a good reason to get out of bed. That reason was the smell emanating from the kitchen. Like an alley cat, I found myself sauntering down through the heart of Brumaire into the kitchen.

Maria was pleased to see me. Madame had asked her to prepare a petit déjeuner américain. She made scrambled eggs and bacon and while that was going, squeezed a couple of oranges into a glass. That was accompanied by a big chrome carafe of strong black coffee, and amazingly, a tall stack of pancakes appeared. Maria apologized for the fact that maple syrup wasn’t available but would local honey do? Sure it would. She even had some strawberries cut up and decorating the pancakes along with a dusting of fine sugar. Maria put it all in front of me on the big farmhouse table. I organized from left to right and started taking care of everything nice and easy.

Turned out to be after ten in the morning. Whatever, I had no special place to be, no particular time to be there. I ate nice and slow. Everything was wonderful and even better than it smelled. I polished it all off and then got to work on the second part of the coffee pot. About that time Simone came bustling into the kitchen. She was all dressed up in a bright purple power suit and matching heels and carrying a large quantity of flowers threatening to overwhelm her. Maria clucked. I stood up to help.