Page 64 of Cold, Cold Bones

“Qui appelle?” Who’s calling?

I told her.

“Un instant, s’il vous plaît.” One moment, please.

The line went hollow. Waiting for the connection, I pictured theT-shaped Édifice Wilfrid-Derome, the LSJML, my twelfth-floor lab with its view of the city and St. Lawrence River, my empty desk.

Ryan.

Why had Ryan gone silent?

Before I could launch a self-pity party, Quintal picked up.

“Tempe. How lovely.” Thickly accented English. “Have you returned to Québec?”

“Soon,” I said.

“Bon. To what do I owe this long-distance pleasure?”

“I have a knotty problem,” I began, knowing Célia had heard that one ad nauseam.

“Amusing,” she said in a tone that suggested it wasn’t. “How can I help?”

“Aren’t you researching the differences between knots in suicide and homicide deaths?”

“Mais, oui. My colleagues and I are developing a checklist of characteristics to aid in distinguishing between the two.”

“I’m interested in learning about neck ligatures,” I said. “Do you have something in print?”

“Sadly, our publication is still in the works.”

Damn.

“Can you quickly run me through the major points?”

“But of course.”

I grabbed a tablet and pen.

“We should start with some basic terminology.”

I had a feeling I was about to learn much more than I needed to know about knots.

“Most people who tie knots produce ordinary configurations like the overhand and its variants, the half-hitch and half-knot, which haveSandZmirror images. These are called chiral knots. That just means mirror-image knots.”

Why not just call them that? I didn’t say it.

“TheSvariety is more common and is weakly associated with right-handedness.”

I jotted that down.

“Some knots, like the overhand and half-hitch, are tied with one working end. That’s called a wend. The knots typically seen on parcels usually incorporate two or more components called half-knots. Half-knots require the person making them to work two wends simultaneously. Are you with me?”

“Yes.”

“Tying two half-knots produces one of the four cardinal knots.S/SandZ/Zgranny knots,S/ZandZ/Sreef knots. Would you like me to explain chirality consistency among tiers?”

“I’m really interested in homicides versus suicides in hanging deaths.”