A blusher, Gamache guessed. Some people were. They turned red when anyone so much as looked at them. Or was there another reason? Did this young woman know something?

“Angela,” the chief inspector began, and Angela blushed to almost purple. “What can you tell me about Mr. Ellis?”

“Oh, no. It’s not him, is it?”

“Please just answer the question.” The chief made his demand gently.

“Well, he arrived two days ago. He was by himself. He’d booked a standard room, but since business is slow, I gave him a better one.” Angela looked at Dominique for approval, and Dominique smiled at her. It occurred to Gamache that they were about the same age. But Angela seemed so young, and Dominique seemed, what? Not old. Mature.

“Is Mr. Ellis the dead man?” Angela asked.

“We think so,” said Gamache. “Can you describe him?”

When she did, Gamache had little doubt that the man in the tree had been Mr. Ellis.

“You liked him?”

She nodded. “He seemed lonely. He always smiled, but his smile never reached his eyes, you know?”

Gamache did know. He’d met many people who could easily put a fake smile on their lips, but they could never put a fake sparkle into their eyes.

“Did he have any spa treatments?”

“None,” said Angela.

“Was this his first visit?”

She nodded.

“Then why was he here?” Gamache asked.

“Not everyone comes for the spa, Chief Inspector,” said Dominique, now fully recovered from her shock at seeing the dead man’s picture. “Some are looking for peace and quiet.”

Gamache thought of the dead man, swinging from the tree. He might have been looking for peace and quiet, but something else had found him. Something horrible.

Chapter Four

Chief Inspector Gamache stood alone in Mr. Ellis’s room. Arthur, that was his first name on the register. He had paid cash and planned to be there a week. That was a long time to stay at a costly place. Dominique herself had been surprised when Angela had told her. Most guests were there two nights, maybe three. Few stayed longer.

Almost no one stayed a week.

And, as it turned out, Mr. Ellis didn’t stay a week, either.

The chief inspector started a careful search of the room. It was very comfortable. And very tidy. Mr. Ellis had been an orderly man.

Gamache walked around, opening drawers and doors with his gloved hands. There were clothes neatly put away in the dresser and hung in the closet. Good clothes, but no designer labels.