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Lucas’s voice sounded thick with emotion as he replied, “You know what? I’ll bring Millie along the next time she’s home from college.”

“Millie?” Verdier seemed to be searching his memory, and Colette’s heart sank further. “In college? But she’s just a little girl.”

“She’s nineteen now, Hubert,” Lucas replied lightly. “They grow up in the blink of an eye, don’t they?”

Verdier looked troubled. “If you say so.” His eyes moved back to the three strangers standing behind Lucas. “You’ve brought friends.”

“Yes, sir. Meet Aviva, Colette, and Marty.”

Verdier reached out and shook each of their hands. Colette could feel a tremble running through him, and as their palms touched, she shuddered. Were these the hands that had killed her sister?

Verdier squinted at Marty. “This one’s very old.”

“Have you looked in the mirror lately, buddy?” Marty shot back, and Colette elbowed him.

“Can we come in for a quick chat, Hubert?” Lucas cut in before Verdier could reply. The old man shrugged, turned his back, and began to shuffle down the hall of his apartment. The four of them followed, Lucas closing the door behind them.

Verdier led them into a room on the left, which was flooded with light from large windows overlooking the parking lot.

“Home sweet home,” he said wryly, gesturing to a stiff brown couch against the far wall.

He lowered himself into one of the two worn recliners on the other side of the room, wincing as he did, and Colette sat gingerly on the couch, Aviva settling on one side of her and Marty on the other.

Lucas sat in the other recliner, and the old chair creaked in protest. “Now what is this all about?” Verdier asked.

“Hubert, these folks here would like to ask you a few friendly questions,” Lucas said. Colette detected an emphasis on the word friendly .

At Hubert’s nod, Colette took a deep breath and said as calmly as possible, “We met once, I think, you and I.”

Verdier narrowed his eyes at her. “I don’t remember that.”

“I do. There was a man named Le Paon, who sometimes slipped you bribes for information. He set up a meeting between us.”

“Le Paon?” Something in Verdier’s eyes flickered and his nostrils flared. As he darted a nervous glance at Lucas, Colette’s skin tingled. She’d struck a chord. “I don’t know anything about bribes.”

“I think you do,” Colette replied, trying to keep her tone calm. “But this isn’t about bribes.”

“Then what is it about?” Verdier replied, shooting another look at Lucas, who was frowning now.

“You were a policeman in Paris during the war?”

“If you say so,” Verdier grunted, but Lucas gave Colette a small nod of affirmation, his brow furrowed, and her heart lurched. It had to be the same man she’d met years ago. But did that mean he’d been the one to take the bracelet himself?

“I need to know how you came to have a piece of jewelry that once belonged to my mother,” Colette said. “Annabel Marceau.” She watched his face for a sign of recognition, but there was nothing. “She lived in the eleventh arrondissement.”

He nodded slowly. “The eleventh. Yes. I knew it well.”

“And you knew my mother?”

He shook his head. “I didn’t say that.”

“So how did you get the bracelet that disappeared the night she was arrested in 1942?”

He blinked at her a few times, his expression suddenly shuttering. “I’ve stolen nothing,” he snapped, which made Colette’s heart beat a bit faster, because she hadn’t mentioned theft. She was about to respond when he barked, “Who told you that?”

“We’re very sorry. We didn’t mean to insult you,” Aviva cut in quickly, her tone as smooth and sweet as honey, and some of the anger seemed to drain from the old man. Lucas’s frown had deepened, but he hadn’t yet stepped in.

“Yes, well, what’s all this about a bracelet?” Verdier asked, his eyes darting to Lucas and then back to Colette. “I don’t even know which bracelet you mean.”

“The one you gave me for the exhibit at my museum, Hubert,” Lucas said, peering at the old man with concern. “The family heirloom with all the diamonds.”

Colette held her breath as several emotions flickered across Verdier’s face: surprise, guilt, anger.

He didn’t say anything at first, but his eyes darted nervously to Lucas before coming back to rest on Colette.

“I wanted to sell it, but she said she’d never forgive me,” he said, his gaze turning suddenly distant.

“She wore it like it was nothing, like she didn’t notice the value. I think she was showing off.”

“Who do you mean, Hubert?” Lucas prompted.

Verdier looked off into the space behind Colette. “She was beautiful, you know. He didn’t see it, but she was beautiful and she loved me.”

“Your wife?” Colette guessed.

He jerked his head toward her, snapping out of his reverie. “You don’t know her!” he barked. “You don’t know anything about her!”

“No, of course, you’re right, we don’t,” she said soothingly.

“She loved me,” he repeated, his voice small.

“Of course she did,” Colette said. She was relieved to see his shoulders relax a bit more.

Lucas, too, sat back in his chair, though he looked concerned.

“And the little girl?” she asked, keeping her voice as light as possible.

“Can you remind me what happened to her that night in the summer of 1942?”

Anger flashed across the man’s face once more, and he bared his teeth at Colette. “You know perfectly well that we don’t talk about that! Who do you think you are?”

“I think it’s time we leave Hubert alone,” Lucas cut in as he stood up from the low-sunken recliner. He was glaring at Colette now, but she wasn’t finished. Verdier had reacted like a guilty man, and she hadn’t gotten this close after seventy-six years only to turn away.

“Tell me what happened that night, Mr. Verdier,” she said.

“Colette,” Lucas said in a warning tone.

But Verdier didn’t seem to hear Lucas. Instead, he looked up and met Colette’s eye. “You already know.”

“But I don’t. Please.” She could feel herself starting to cry. “Why did you take her? Why did you kill her?”

The man reared back. “You’re accusing me ?”

“But you said—”

“I was a policeman! Doesn’t that mean anything to you? I upheld the law!”

“All right,” Lucas said firmly, stepping directly in front of Colette, blocking her view of the old man. “It’s time to go.”

“You killed my sister, didn’t you?” Colette cried, tears running down her face, but Lucas was already firmly guiding her out of the room, pushing her away from Verdier and the truth.

“Please, Lucas,” Aviva said in a low tone, rushing to Colette’s side as Lucas propelled her to the door. “She deserves answers.”

“You promised me you’d go easy on him,” Lucas snapped at Aviva as Marty appeared at Colette’s other side. “And you come here accusing him of murder ?”

“Lucas, if he did this—” Aviva began.

“He didn’t,” Lucas shot back. “He may be a lot of things, but he’s not a murderer. I can’t believe you’d attack him like this.”

“But—” Aviva said.

“Out, now,” Lucas said firmly. “All of you.”

And with that, he opened the door to Hubert Verdier’s apartment and practically pushed the three of them into the hall, slamming the door in their faces.

When Colette looked up at Aviva, the girl’s face was red. “Lucas is right,” Aviva said softly. “We pushed too far.”

“But he was about to tell us—” Colette began, but Aviva cut her off.

“He wasn’t,” she said, pulling Colette into a hug. Marty put a hand on Colette’s back as Aviva continued. “He was frantic. He was losing his grip on reality. He’s had two heart attacks already, Lucas said. We can’t give him a third.”

“But—” Colette protested.

“I’ll talk to Lucas, okay?” Aviva stepped back and exchanged a concerned look with Marty. “We’ll come back. But if he’s the man who took your sister, we need him to live long enough to tell us what he did—and to face justice after all these years.”

Colette nodded, the fight draining out of her, leaving her exhausted. Marty put his arm around her shoulders, and in silence, the three of them made their way back to the elevator, every step taking them further away from the truth.