Free Harper Lin - Patisserie 07 - Madeleine Murder by Harper Lin Page A

silence her. I mean, with that temper of his, it’s plausible.” 
    “Maybe,” Ben said, but he didn’t seem convinced. “Lots of men get women pregnant accidentally. In this case, however, he had more to gain if Nicole was pregnant. It’s not like he would have to marry her. Even if he did, they would’ve been a power couple; their careers would’ve skyrocketed.” 
    “Okay, maybe you’re right. But there’s also this Elon guy.” Clémence told Ben about Nicole’s other rumored boyfriend. “What if Nicole was really pregnant with Elon’s baby, and Zach was jealous? What if he was really in love with her? He was very passionate when he spoke about Nicole. Love could easily cross over to hate.”
    “Maybe,” Ben said.  
    Clémence stood up and paced. “So Zach might’ve killed her because she was having Elon’s baby. Or Elon might’ve killed Nicole because she was having Zach’s baby.” 

Chapter 12  
    Carolyn, Damour’s head manager, had gone home sick. Celine called Clémence to come in because they needed help at the salon de thé . They were dealing well with the heavy traffic at the restaurant until a customer became upset about a lost reservation and demanded to see a manager. Since Damour was less than a five-minute walk from her apartment, Clémence agreed to come in and sort it out.  
    After talking to the irate man, she could tell that he was lying and never made a reservation in the first place. Bad liars usually had a tell, and he blinked too much when he was insistent on his story that he’d made the reservation five days ago. Clémence didn’t want to reward liars, but luckily for him, a table opened up by the time he’d finished ranting, and Clémence showed him and his wife to their seats. She would keep a closer eye on this couple in the future.
    Since she was already at Damour, she decided to check in the kitchen. When she entered, the sweet aromas hit her. She never got tired of the smell of a kitchen, especially one that was as big and busy as the one at Damour. The energy and rhythm of her bakers and chefs never failed to liven her up. She went to her usual spot at Berenice and Sebastien’s table. A tray of lavender madeleines had just come out of the oven. Sebastien was mixing the lemon glaze to dip them in, but Clémence couldn’t help trying one. It was a new flavor that she hadn’t tried after all. 
    “Delish,” Clémence said. 
    The madeleines recalled what Rachel said about how much Nicole Blake loved Damour madeleines. She would’ve loved the lavender ones.
    “What happened to Carolyn anyway?” Clémence asked. 
    “I don’t know,” Berenice answered. “She’d been nauseous all morning. It might be food poisoning, since she dined out with her husband at some new restaurant last night.” 
    “I hope she’s alright.” 
    Clémence shot Carolyn a text, asking how she was.
    “Clémence, are we still on to work on the new éclair flavors for our winter collection? I have some ideas.” 
    “Oh, sorry, Sebastien. I know I said I would, but I have to do something tomorrow.” 
    “Clémence is in the middle of a murder case, remember?” Berenice said. “You know how she gets when she’s investigating.” 
    “Oh yeah. I forgot,” Sebastien said sheepishly. “How’s that going?” 
    Before she could answer, Clémence got a call on her cell phone. It was her friend, fashion designer Marcus Savin.
    “Clémence, ma belle ,” the top designer greeted her in his jovial voice when she answered.
    “ Ça va , Marcus? Are you all ready for fashion week?” 
    “I live for fashion week in Paris,” Marcus said. “You’ll be getting an invite to my show soon, like I promised. Say you’ll be there?” 
    “Of course I will.” As long as she solved this murder case by then, that was.
    “Great. I have you seated in the front row. Sophie and Madeleine Seydoux are both walking in my show. Are you sure you don’t want to walk too?” 
    “ Non ,