Raoul kissed his son and left the house. He assumed Cami and her mom were at the apartment in Vence and had decided not to take calls. They’d be home from work by now. He would drive by to see if their Citroën 2CV was parked there. If so, he’d knock on the door and surprise her.
A half hour later more disappointment met him when there was no sign of the black car around the eight-plex. Still, he got out and knocked on their door in case one of them was home. When that didn’t work, he walked to the next apartment and knocked, hoping to get some information. Unfortunately no one was home there either.
As a last resort, he went back to his car and called NI. He had to leave a message and asked the manager to phone him back ASAP.
Madame Biel called him ten minutes later.
“Monsieur Fontesquieu? I just saw the message that you’d phoned in. I have found a woman whom I believe would make an excellent housekeeper. Her name is Charisse Verot. Shall I make an appointment for her to come to the villa?”
That had been the last thing on his mind, but he might as well deal with it now. “Could she come next Monday? Say 10:00 a.m.?”
“She’ll be there.”
“Thank you, but before we hang up, I need to ask you a question. Did the Delon family work today?”
“Actually no. They’ve gone on vacation.”
A day earlier than planned? “Do you have Juliette’s phone number?”
“Of course. Here it is.”
Raoul put it in his phone. “I’d like to get in touch with her and find out what their plans might be. I’ve tried phoning Camille several times, but her voice mail is full.”
“I’m sorry about that, monsieur. They didn’t share any of their plans with me.”
“I understand. Thank you for returning my call.”
“Of course. I hope Madame Verot works out well for you.”
“We’ll see.”
Right now he couldn’t concentrate on anything. At this point Raoul was convinced that Cami was deliberately hiding from him. He phoned both numbers. Even Juliette’s message box was full.
Grimacing, Raoul went back to his villa and spent the night. In the morning he drove to a café for a quick breakfast and went back to the Delon apartment once more. By now he knew in his gut something was terribly wrong.
Their black car still wasn’t there, but that didn’t matter. He pulled into the parking area at the side of the building and got out to investigate. There was no answer after he knocked and rang the doorbell. For the next little while he knocked on the other apartment doors of the eight-plex to see if anyone was home and knew anything about the Delon family.
Unbelievably no one answered. He went back to the car and sat there to wait. Someone had to come home eventually. He’d stay there all day if he had to and phoned Dominic to tell him what was going on.
“I know she’s avoiding me, Dom.”
“Then stick to your plan and find out what you can from the neighbors. If you need more help, I’ll be available a
fter work to help.”
“No one ever had a better friend.”
They hung up. Around four thirty a woman probably close to Juliette’s age, pulled into the parking and got out.
Raoul called to her from his car window so he wouldn’t alarm her. “Excuse me, madame. Do you live here? I’m looking for Cami and Juliette Delon. Do you know them?”
The woman smiled. “Yes. They live in the apartment next to mine.”
His heart pounded fiercely. Maybe this waiting had produced results after all. “My name is Raoul Fontesquieu. I’ve been trying to reach Cami. She and her mother were on the team that cleaned my villa two weeks ago.”
“I remember Juliette telling me they had a big job. You’re the one who sent the flowers!”
“That’s right.”