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“Look,” said Joonas, “obviously she was going through some stuff, and was in a lousy mood. So whatever we said or did would have gotten a big fat no. And if only she had lived a little longer, I’m sure she would have seen the light. Only now that she’s dead, that’s the end of that. And so we all need to move on.”

“Joonas, we have to go,” Olga insisted. “The light will be gone.” She touched her cheek. “The light in Paris is golden. Very good for my skin.”

“Yeah, the light here is amazing this time of year. It really brings out the tone of Olga’s skin,” Joonas explained. He got up. “So if there’s nothing else…”

“Just one more thing,” said Odelia. “Where were you last night? Between three and five?”

“On the Pont Alexandre shooting a video,” said Joonas.

“She wants proof,” said Olga, and almost shoved her phone in Odelia’s face. “Here is proof,” she added.

Odelia watched the video with a frown.“What am I looking at?”

“Video of me on the bridge!” Olga cried. “Just look!”

“Oh, right,” said Odelia finally. “I didn’t see you there. So that’s you, in the… veily… thing?”

“That’s an actual Jean Paul Gaultier,” said Olga with another eyeroll.

“Product placement,” Joonas explained. “Got us an endorsement for ten grand.”

“But why film it in the middle of the night?” asked Odelia.

“Moonlight,” Joonas snapped, as if Odelia was a dimwitted child.

“Very gorgeous,” Olga explained. “Brings out a different skin tone.”

“And now we’re leaving,” said Joonas, and so he did. Olga gave a tiny wave, her face displaying a mocking grin, and then the influencer couple were finally off.

“Nice people,” Odelia said as she closed her notebook. “Very charming.”

“Do you think they could have killed Astra?” I asked.

Odelia shook her head.“The problem is that we don’t know for sure when Astra was killed. It must have been between three, when Barney said goodnight to her, and five, when Agatha discovered the body. Further narrowing it down: if we believe that Astra sent that message to Agatha, to meet her in her room, that message was sent at four-thirty. So that would put time of death between four-thirty and five. But if that message was sent by the real killer, trying to frame Agatha, she would have been murdered between three and four-thirty.”

“What time did Joonas and Olga shoot that video?” I asked.

“According to the time stamp they were at the bridge at three-thirty.”

“They could have made it back in time to murder Astra.”

“Or they could have tampered with the time stamp. And anyway, I only got a quick glimpse. A forensic expert should take a closer look. Really investigate.”

“You could also check with Barney when Joonas and Olga returned to the hotel,” I said. “I noticed cameras set up in the lobby. It won’t be difficult to check.”

Odelia nodded, and jotted this down on her list of things to do.“It would give me great pleasure to see those two get arrested and charged with murder.” She looked up. “I probably shouldn’t say that, but I really didn’t like them.”

“Very callous,” Dooley agreed, causing both me and Odelia to smile at my friend’s choice of words.

CHAPTER 20

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The moment the influencer couple was gone, Barney came cantering our way once more, anxious to find out what Odelia had discovered. When she told him that the couple had a solid alibi, or at least it appeared that way, he sank down on the sofa, clearly disappointed.

“I really thought we caught a live one this time. He looked absolutely right for the part of a cat burglar. Athletic, young, limber…”

“So you’re still holding on to your theory that the cat burglar is the killer?”

“Mais oui! Who else could it be! It has to be the cat burglar. That is elementary, my dear Odelia. Which means you can exclude anyone who is incapable of scaling a wall or hopping and skipping across a roof in the dead of night.”

“I don’t know,” said Odelia. “I’m afraid it’s not as simple as that, Barney. For me this doesn’t feel like a burglary gone wrong. There’s something more pernicious about this murder. Though of course I could be wrong,” she was quick to add.

“Oh, I’m not one to discount feminine intuition,mademoiselle,” the hotel manager assured her. “But I do implore you to look closely at the cat burglar scenario. If for no other reason than we need to catch the dastardly demon. And if it turns he is in fact our killer, we have effectively killed two birds with one stone.”

“I wonder if he’ll give out two rewards if the burglar and the killer turn out to be two different people,” I said. “Or just the one.”

“Do you think the cat burglar is also the killer, Max?” asked Dooley.

“I’m not sure. We don’t have enough information yet.”

“Yes, I guess that’s true,” said my friend as he gazed in the direction of the reception, where we first caught a glimpse of Marion. Hard to imagine that was only yesterday. So much had happened since then that it felt as if we’d been in Paris a week, instead of a mere twenty-four hours.