All That Glitters (18 page)

Jeremy turned around, and saw a man who didn’t look at all familiar to him. “I’m sorry, Sir,” he apologized, answering the man in French, “I was just looking around, trying to remember. I think I used to visit here in the winter when I was a very young boy. I remember playing in the snow.”

“That’s impossible,” the unfriendly voice continued. “In the winter only the Dubonnets come here and stay. I would advise you to leave before I feel obliged to call the gendarmes. They are not very kind to trespassers.”

“I’m sure I visited here in the winter,” Jeremy almost whispered, half talking to himself. He looked quizzically at the man. “Who are you, sir?” he asked. “I don’t remember you.”

“My name is Gabe,” was the man’s gruff answer. “I’m chief caretaker and butler to Count Francois the second.”

“How long have you been working here?” Jeremy asked him.

“Five years,” Gabe replied curtly. “Now please leave.”

No wonder I don’t remember him, Jeremy mused. I’ve been living in America for the past twenty-one years. He held out his hand with a friendly gesture and smile. “I’m Jeremy Douglass,” he told him.

Gabe ignored Jeremy’s hand. “You had better go now,” he warned Jeremy. “If Count Francois finds you here I don’t know what he might do.”

Francois? Here? This was the last place Jeremy expected him to be. Then Cammie must be here, too. Why do I feel so anxious about her? Is she in some kind of danger? That doesn’t make sense. Why would Francois allow her to be in danger?

A sudden flash of memory made him shudder. He recalled a very mean boy about his age who used to pick on him years ago. I hid from that mean boy once in the tiny closet inside the tree trunk! No one found me for hours, until late afternoon when that kind man came looking for me!

Only that man and I knew about the tree trunk. “This will be our secret,” the man had told him. He remembered that the man had scolded the boy and called him—what did he call him? He couldn’t remember.

Who was that man, and what was I doing playing with him here at the Chateau?

“Please leave at once!” Gabe’s urgent request broke into his thoughts.

Jeremy nodded, promising himself to return tomorrow. I’ve got to get to the bottom of this.

* * *

Cammie saw the two men talking. One of them she recognized—Gabe. But who was the other one—the man who came out of the tree? It wasn’t Francois. His hair was too light.

As she continued to stare, the man suddenly turned—and she saw his face. It can’t be! It was! Jeremy! And it suddenly dawned on her that this must be the Chateau de Boulanger, the place he said might hold a clue to his forgotten past! Then I’m not far from the Chateau in Amboise! I wonder if Mom and Dad went back there? Oh, if I could only get Jeremy’s attention, he could help me!

She tried to open the window, but it refused to budge. She opened her mouth to scream, hoping he’d hear her. Then she remembered. The room was soundproof and the windows were locked. She grabbed her rainbow colored sweater and waved it frantically, hoping that only Jeremy would see her. She knew if Gabe saw her, he would report it to Francois.

As Jeremy started to leave he looked up and saw her. He waved. Gabe had his back turned.

Cammie tried again to open the window, just as Francois entered the room.

“What are you doing?” he smirked. “Are you going to jump?” He laughed as he held up a ring of keys for her to see. “I told you, I thought of everything. The windows are locked, and I have the only key to the door. Besides, it isn’t time for you to die yet. Without you I would have nothing to bargain with. You are my—how do you say?—ace in the hole, mon cherie!”

Cammie moved quickly away from the window. I can’t let him see Jeremy! My one chance of escaping from here would be gone! “Please leave!” she told Francois. “I’d rather be alone than with you.”

Anger and hatred flashed across his face, and before she knew it he slapped her so hard it knocked her to the floor. “How dare you speak to me like that? Don’t ever do that again!” he ordered her. “I’m Count Francois! No one speaks to me like that!” he said. He left the room and locked the door.

Cammie lay there in shock. She picked herself up and crawled over to the bed, sobbing. She fell asleep from emotional exhaustion. It was dark when she awoke. Her dinner was on the table.

Although she didn’t feel like eating, she forced herself, realizing she needed to keep up her strength. She knew that by now Jeremy must have left the premises. Maybe he’ll be back tomorrow, she thought hopefully. I’ve got to find a way to let him know that I need his help!

She slept better that night than she had since Francois locked her in the room.

When she woke up the next morning, it took her a few minutes to remember what happened yesterday. Her face was bruised from the blow that Francois had dealt her. She vowed to keep looking for Jeremy. She had to hang on to what little hope she had that he would return today, and she could make him understand that she needed his help.

When she emerged from her shower, her breakfast had already been delivered by Gabe. She walked over to the window and looked in the direction of the tree, but saw no one. She dressed in a hurry. I’ve got to be ready in case today is the day Jeremy will save me! She finished her breakfast and waited until Gabe came and took away the tray. When she was sure he had gone, she went over to the window again to watch for Jeremy.

CHAPTER XXV
 

Zack and the others took their time before returning to the hospital in Biarritz to see Andre, knowing it would be a few hours before he woke up. By the time they arrived, he was awake and eager to talk to them.

The doctor told them they could all go into his room. “Your visit yesterday helped him a lot,” he told Zack. “I think seeing all of you here, pulling for him, will speed his recovery even more.”

Andre smiled when he saw them. “You’re all here! How wonderful!” he exclaimed.

Hildy went over to the bed and kissed him on the forehead. “We’re so glad you’re okay,” she told him.

“Thanks to all of you,” he replied, “and especially Monsieur Zack who called the paramedics.” He looked at them all standing by his bedside. “I want you to listen very carefully,” he told them. “What I have to say is very important. Please hear me out before you judge what I did.” He turned to Zack. “Did you tell them what I’ve told you so far?”

“Yes. Please tell us the rest. You said we don’t have much time.”

“That is what I believe,” Andre told them. “As you know I was Countess Lilli’s butler for many years before she married Count Dubonnet. When she moved to the Chateau in Amboise she took me with her. One day when we were on vacation at the Chateau de Boulanger, she came to me and said she had something very important she wanted me to do. When she told me what it was I was horrified! I couldn’t believe she would ask me to do such a thing!”

They sat silently, listening, but not one of them was prepared for what Andre was about to tell them.

“The Count loved Countess Vivienne very much,” he continued. “When she died he was inconsolable. He knew he would never love like that again. He was lonely, and Countess Lilli needed a father for her son. So when the Countess’ father suggested that the Count marry her, he agreed. It seemed like the logical thing to do. This is one of the reasons the Count married Countess Lilli so soon after Countess Vivienne was killed.” He paused. He opened his mouth to say something, then changed his mind. “There’s another reason which I can’t tell you. You will have to trust me.”

He took a deep breath to give him the courage to continue. He knew he was incriminating himself, but he couldn’t stop now. He had to get it out in the open. “What I have to tell you isn’t a pretty story.” His eyes filled with tears, but he brushed them away and continued. “I pretended to do as she asked because I knew if she had any inkling that I hadn’t, she would see to it that someone else did. I had to make sure that didn’t happen.”

He shuddered and turned away, remembering what happened twenty-one years ago. Then he turned back and faced them, determined not to stop until they heard it all. “What she asked me to do was unthinkable. At first I thought she was joking. Then I thought I had misunderstood her. But I didn’t, and she wasn’t joking.”

“What did she ask you to do?” Jay asked.

Bitterness and anger crept into his voice as he answered Jay’s question. “She asked me to murder someone.”

“Murder!?—Who did she ask you to murder?” Zack asked.

“I can’t tell you. It would put someone in terrible danger. I left, and never returned to the Chateau.” He tried hard not to break down, but he could no longer keep from sobbing.

* * *

Zack didn’t seem too surprised at Andre’s confession. It only corroborated the suspicions he already had about Lilli and Francois.

Hildy tried to console him. “It’s okay, Andre. We understand.”

“I’ve been on the run ever since,” Andre
said. “I couldn’t work for anyone who would plot such
a thing. If the Countess ever found out that I
didn’t do as she asked, I don’t know what she
and Francois would do to me.”

Zack looked grim. “It looks as though they already have,” he said.

“What a story!” Jay exclaimed.

Andre nodded. “Unfortunately, it’s all too true.”

“No wonder you were so upset at the mention of the Chateau de Boulanger,” Zack said. “It must have brought back the horror. How this must have weighed on your mind all these years!”

“I made sure the intended victim was safe,” Andre continued. “I knew if I didn’t, the Countess would find someone else to carry out her orders. You see—” He pointed to his jacket hanging in the closet. “In the inside pocket is the Countess’ diary. Please bring it to me.”

Zack retrieved it and handed it to Andre, who opened it to a dog-eared page, and gave it back to Zack.

“I took this diary the day I left the Chateau de Boulanger,” Andre told them. “I thought I might need it someday for security. If they became too much of a threat to me, I would have taken this to the police. I felt that someday I might have to prove what I’ve just told you. Please read this very carefully. As you can see, there is much more to this than I have told you.”

Zack read the contents of the page. He read it once—he read it twice—and looked at Andre, shocked! He knew Lilli was a conniving woman, but he had no idea she was capable of doing what she had recorded in this diary. He showed it to the others, who were equally shocked. “May I keep this?” he asked Andre.

“That is why I showed it to you,” Andre replied. “I think after what happened to me, it will be safer in your keeping. But you see why I had to leave.”

“How can people do such things?” Hildy asked, stunned.

Andre looked sad. “It depends on what is at stake. I feel much better now that I’ve told you. It has been torture holding it in all these years. I only wish I knew where Francois took Mademoiselle Cameron. I fear for her safety. You have no idea?”

“Francois wouldn’t tell anyone,” Hildy said. “Not even Cammie.”

“Francois wants to keep everything secret,” Zack said. “He locked me in a hidden room off the library. I had just found out who his real father was, and he wanted to keep me from telling anyone. When I found my way out it was too late. Cammie and Francois were just taking off in his plane for their honeymoon.”

“That sounds typical,” Andre nodded.

“I have a feeling Lilli masterminded the whole thing,” Zack said.

“She and her son will stop at nothing—not even murder—to get what they want,” Andre agreed. “I’m sorry!” he apologized. “I don’t mean to frighten you. But I have to speak the truth, and I think that Mademoiselle Cameron is in great danger. She is married to a murderer! You must find her—quickly!”

“Do you think Francois might have taken her to the Chateau de Boulanger?” Zack asked him.

Andre shook his head. “Why would he take her there? This is the summer season, and there are many tourists. No, I don’t think so.”

Zack hesitated. Should he tell Andre about the “soundproofed room” and “the locks in place?” No, he decided. He didn’t want to upset him again. “We hate to leave you here,” he told Andre.

“Are you sure you’ll be all right?” Hildy asked him.

“I’ll be fine. I’m in good hands and recovering nicely. Thank you for everything, but too much time has gone by already! You must go at once and find your daughter! Please! I will feel much better knowing you are on your way to her.”

They said goodbye to Andre and left, headed in the direction of Amboise.

“Maybe by now Fran has heard from Francois,” Zack suggested as they drove along. “I don’t want to call him on the phone. Lilli might be there. I think it’s better to just drop in at the Chateau. That way I’ll have a chance to talk to him alone.” He noticed a reticence in Hildy’s attitude. “What is it?” he asked her.

“How can I be civil to Lilli after what Andre told us? She’s nothing less than a murderer!”

Zack looked at them sternly. “You’d better all find a way to treat her as though you know nothing!” he told them. “And I know you will. Cammie’s life depends on it.”

“Don’t worry,” Jay said, putting his arm around Hildy, “we will.”

CHAPTER XXVI
 

Zack sped over the road to Amboise. They all took turns driving, taking catnaps, stopping for nothing but food and a rest room. After a full day and night of driving, they finally arrived at the Chateau.

Fran came out immediately to greet them. “I’m glad you are here,” he said. “Francois has been trying to reach you.” He led them into the Chateau and motioned for them to sit down. “Francois called last night, terribly upset,” he told them. “Someone kidnapped Cammie. It happened just after they arrived at the Chateau de Boulanger.”

So he did take her there! Zack thought. I was right! How can we go there without Lilli knowing?

He stole a glance out of the corner of his eye. Look at her! he thought. You’d think she was just as upset as Fran! What an act! He wanted to shake the truth out of her, but this was neither the time nor the place—not with Fran here.