The Courbet Connection (Book 5) (Genevieve Lenard) (27 page)

“She likes you, Jenny.” Not even the gentle smile in Colin’s voice succeeded in getting me to look away from the threat against my leg. “It’s a compliment.”

I knew that. Animals were honest in their observations about the environment around them. The average human lied approximately three times every ten minutes. These need not be great untruths. An adaptation of a personal opinion, a slight embellishment qualified.

We’d had to adopt this behaviour to be perceived as polite while in social settings. Animals had the luxury of not having to tolerate small talk, social smiles and polite lies. Before I could calm myself enough to ask Colin to remove this animal from my side, the dog pushed her head under my hand.

I jerked my hand away and tucked both hands in my armpits. Those bacteria were now on my hand. Panic lowered over my shoulders like a heavy cloak and I focussed on visualising the disinfectant gel I kept in Colin’s SUV. As soon as it was safe, I would get it and use it generously.

“Aw, she just wants some love, Jenny. You should pat her head. She won’t bite.” Colin moved closer, but immediately leaned back when the dog stilled, her gaze on him assessing. “Hmm. It seems she only likes you. She has good instincts.”

“That is true,” a strange voice with a soft Dutch accent said. A tall woman stood a few metres away from us. I hadn’t heard her approach, my concern focussed on the dog now rubbing her head against my thigh. As a specimen, she was a beautiful and obviously well-cared-for dog. Her pelt was shiny and groomed.

I’d only needed a glance to recognise the woman. Judith Jooste looked much like the photos I’d seen of her. Her medium-length hair was neatly styled even though she was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt with ‘These puppies are real’
written across her chest. What the photos didn’t convey was the intensity of her expression while she studied us. Her eyes widened for a millisecond in recognition when she looked at Manny, but then narrowed as she first took in Colin, then me. The muscles around her eyes and mouth softened when she saw the dog bumping my thigh with her head.

“Dogs see right through people’s bullshit. You can’t get a dog to believe a bad person is good.” She looked at Manny. “What are you doing here, Mister Millard?”

“Ah. You know who I am.” Manny hunched his shoulders fractionally more.

“Of course I do.” She pointed her chin to me. It was clear she was wary of our presence. “Who are they?”

“My colleagues. Doctor Genevieve Lenard and—”

“William Strode,” Colin said with a strong American accent. Judith turned her attention to him and didn’t see Manny lift his eyes skyward, shaking his head.

I was becoming marginally more comfortable with the animal pressed up against me. She was still not showing any signs of aggression, but I continued to look at her every few seconds just to make sure. I wished human life was as uncomplicated as the animal kingdom. At least then I wouldn’t have to be part of Colin’s new lie. He held out his hand and shook Judith’s. “Pleased to meet you.”

“Yeah, we’re not sure about that yet.” She looked at her dog, then to me. “Mister Strode was right. You should pat her. Maxie doesn’t take to strangers at all. I’m really surprised she’s so open to you. Go ahead. Pet her.”

I did not expect to see the change in her expression when she looked at me. With the men she’d shown distrust, but when she assessed me, I saw acceptance and trust. That change had only come after she’d seen Maxie’s trust towards me. Interesting.

The meagre information I’d garnered on Judith, combined with the last five minutes, confirmed what I’d assumed about her. Manny might see the need for subterfuge and Colin the need for false identities and charm. In Judith I saw the appreciation for truth. I relaxed a bit. “I don’t know how to pet a dog. I’ve never had one.”

Judith’s bottom jaw went slack and she stared at me for a few seconds. “That is just sad. They’re man’s best friend. I love my Maxie.”

I reminded myself that the disinfectant gel was only a few metres away and forced my hands from under my arms. I slowly lowered my index finger and touched the top of Maxie’s head. My other fingers were tightly tucked into a fist and I only allowed the very tip of my finger to make contact. The moment I did, Maxie looked up and pressed her head harder against my thigh.

“She’s asking for more.” Judith laughed. “Come on. Let’s sit and I’ll show you how to pet a dog.”

She walked to the wicker chairs next to us, sat down and slapped softly on her thigh. “Maxie. Come here, sweetie.”

The dog seemed reluctant to leave my side, but then walked to Judith, looking over her shoulder at me. I wrote two bars of Mozart’s Symphony No.40 in G minor and walked to the chair next to Judith’s. Despite this new and disconcerting experience, I was aware of Colin and Manny. They were leaning back and away, distancing themselves from this bond of trust that was forming. They knew Judith was trusting me because of her dog’s behaviour. If we were to get answers to our questions, I was going to have to do the asking.

Judith held the sides of Maxie’s head in both hands, her fingers lost in the hair. She was rubbing behind the dog’s ears until Maxie swayed. “Ooh, you like that, don’t you?”

I sat down slowly. In this position, the dog was eye level with us. It was not a position of comfort for me, and it took a lot of control not to jump up and put myself behind the chair. Maxie pulled her head out of Judith’s grasp, took two steps and sat down on my right foot. I swallowed at the panic tightening my throat and watched in horror as the dog rested her head on my lap.

“Aw.” Judith sat deeper into her chair, an affectionate smile softening her features. I also noticed the micro-expressions of disbelief. “She really likes you. Scratch her ears, pat her back, rub her belly, she likes it all. A real glutton for attention.”

I wrote another bar of the symphony and rested my palm between Maxie’s ears. Her hair was soft under my hand—soft and warm. “Did you know humans contract gastroenteritis from the bacteria around their pet dog’s mouth? Dogs lick themselves all the time around their genitals and anus. The bacteria is transferred to the hairs on their muzzles. If the animals are indoors, they transfer the bacteria everywhere, or if they lick you, it’s on you. Their hair also catches a lot of microbes when they are outside, which they then transfer to the inside of your home.”

“I didn’t know that.” Judith frowned. “That makes me want to clean my house.”

“You should.” People didn’t know how many dangerous bacteria lurked in their homes. I acknowledged the argument that we needed exposure to germs to build immunity, but I didn’t have to like it.

Maxie’s eyes closed and her head became heavier on my lap. She wiggled a bit, shifting position on my foot, and let out a contented sigh. To my surprise I was enjoying this experience. I touched her ears, marvelling at their velvety texture.

“Why are you here?” Judith asked quietly.

“We need your help.” I looked away from Maxie’s long eyelashes and took a moment to study Judith. Colin and Manny sat down in chairs facing ours. They were quiet. Observing. As was Judith. At this moment, I realised the importance of what I was not seeing. Calculation, aggression, posturing and deceit were completely absent in her nonverbal cues. I decided to trust her. “We are investigating a complex case and your team members have come up in the search.”

“Breton and Hugo?” She moved her hands from the armrests to her lap, her left hand holding her right wrist. She was closing up. “In what capacity?”

“Doc?” Manny was in his usual slouching position, but his eyes were alert, his expression questioning. “Are you sure about this?”

Judith leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms tightly across her chest. “What’s going on here?”

Maxie must have heard the change in her owner’s voice. Her muscle tension increased and she opened her eyes, looking at Manny. I patted her head. “We don’t know exactly what is going on. That is why we are here. We hope you can help us. We are investigating black-market sales of organs.”

“And you think Breton and Hugo have something to do with that? Oh, my God.”

“We don’t know what we’re thinking yet.” Manny straightened a bit in his chair. “The person we’re looking into has very strong connections to Breton and Hugo, and we’re wondering if there might be more than just friendship.”

“You’re talking about Laurence Gasquet.” Judith’s lips thinned. “That man is bad news. I’ve only met him twice, but my perp-radar started screaming both times.”

“What is a perp-radar?” I’d never heard of any such equipment.

“She’s talking about her subconscious reaction to him.” Colin smiled. “She had a gut feeling that he’s a bad guy, a perpetrator.”

His teasing was made worse with the strong American accent. I bit down on the insides of my lips to refrain from berating him yet again about gut feelings.

Judith narrowed her eyes, evaluating me again. Or maybe re-evaluating. Maxie relaxed against my legs, her weight strangely comforting. I pushed my fingers through the thick hair in her neck and massaged her lightly. “Why did you request Jacques Boucher’s files two weeks ago?”

Judith’s reaction was similar to when I first saw Maxie. She didn’t move a muscle, didn’t even breathe for a few seconds. Then she rubbed the corners of her mouth. “Jacques Boucher was a great agent. I was filling his shoes and wanted to learn from reading his case files.”

“You’re lying.” I lifted Maxie’s ear, enjoying its softness. “I don’t know if you don’t think Jacques Boucher was good at his job or if you were lying about your motivation for getting his files. Ah, it is about your motivation.”

“Doc Face-reader here is one of the best body language experts in the world, Judith.” Manny looked smug. “You won’t get one past her.”

Judith closed her eyes. Blocking us out. “I don’t know you.”

“We also don’t know you.” I shrugged, but Judith didn’t see. She’d placed her hands over her eyes, strengthening her blocking. I ordered my thoughts, trying to find the right words to reach her. “This case is sensitive. We are dealing with students who are being kidnapped, their organs sold in online auctions. These young people have no families and are not very social. When they are taken, they are not missed. Your history tells me you care deeply about people, about protecting the innocent. We are trusting you to help us.”

Judith dropped her hand back on her lap with a sigh. “You might be trusting me, but those two aren’t.”

Manny lifted both hands. “Hey, if Doc trusts you, it’s good enough for me.”

“What he said.” Colin pointed his thumb at Manny. Their lie was well told, but not perfect. It was clear to me Manny didn’t like that I’d revealed so much of our case to Judith.

“Okay,” she said after a few moments. “I kept hearing how great Boucher was. At first, I only checked out his online case notes. Then my motivation was really to learn from him. In his last three cases, I noticed a difference. His notes were not the same as before. The change was subtle, but it was there.”

“How was it different?” The profile I’d created on her did not include her openness to improving herself. Her employment history showed a woman who was accomplished, with the potential for greatness. She had not allowed her successes to turn into arrogance and her mind to be closed to new methods, new thinking and ultimately improvement and growth. I greatly respected that.

“He was not disclosing as much detail in the last cases as before. In his previous case notes, he would add impressions of the people or the situation. These were not part of the official report, but these kinds of side notes are extremely helpful if ever that suspect is investigated again or that case comes up again. The last three cases were dry, factual notes. So I started wondering why he was leaving things out. These files are accessible by most Interpol agents. Other law enforcement agencies could get access to them if they put in a request.”

“And you thought he might have made old-school notes and left them in his paper files.” Manny’s single nod conveyed approval.

“Did he?” I asked.

She uttered a sound of disgust. “No. Before I could get those files, Breton and Hugo dragged me here to arrest some art criminal. They’ve had a hard-on for him for the last few months.”

The changes in Colin and Manny’s facial muscles were so small they would easily have been missed. Fortunately, neither said or asked anything. Judith was speaking to us, but her body language was still closed. She would withdraw her co-operation the moment she felt uncomfortable.

“Our caseload is insane,” she continued. “I don’t know why they’re wasting so much time on this alleged art trader. Shouldn’t it be your job?”

“Why our job?” Manny asked.

For the first time, Judith looked at Manny for an extended period. “I looked you up when you made sure that art trader wasn’t formally charged. You have a fancy-smancy job investigating art and insurance crimes here in Strasbourg. I don’t quite understand how you can be employed by Interpol, but work here. You should be in Paris or in Lyon, not here. Maybe I should ask for a job like yours.”

“Have you resigned?” I asked. “Or do you plan to resign?”

“Can you read faces or minds?” She didn’t look happy about either.

“I read all nonverbal cues.”

“So you’re a walking talking lie detector.”

“Our body language reveals much more than just our lies.” I stopped myself. Talking about my field of study frequently led to a monologue many people found boring. “Why resign?”