Chapter 60 - The investigation of the murder (1/2)

”What were you doing on November 3rd between 5pm and 4am?” The policeman in his mid-forties began his interrogation.

There was horror in Alexandre's eyes. Horror and emptiness. As if he had lost something valuable. So precious that he just now realised how valuable it actually was.

While Bichot studied the face of the man opposite him, his expression was as hard as stone, no shadow revealed what he was thinking. He was a skilled murder investigator. His eyes were always on guard. In the course of his career he had seen a man's darkest depths. The most cunning criminals. His confidence in the moral nature of man was low. He knew that there were brilliant actors.

Bichot sat relaxed in his chair, lurking like a predator. Every wink, every drop of sweat. He could see everything.

He was trained to find out every little bit of information from his opposite.

” See, Monsieur de Valois. I am trying to reconstruct the events of yesterday of Mademoiselle Eliecieux. You can help me find the culprit...” Quietly he put his hands on the table. ”Tell me. What you did with your fiancée yesterday. Who you met. When and where you spent time with her.”

But the Alexandre did not even blink. Like he was somewhere else. His head was hanging down heavy. His eyes were closed. His breathing was faint, a soft hissing could be heard with every breath. He was in silence.

Bichot rubbed over his temples with his middle and ring finger. It would be a long interrogation, he thought bitterly.

He rose tired and left the room, leaving the man behind.

In the room had become quiet. Alexandre sat in his chair like a stone. He was too tired to move. Every breath was one movement too much for the young count.

He was trapped in his own thoughts, which were like chains around him. Paralyzing him.

The truth was brutal. He didn't want to admit it. Not to believe it. He wanted to deny it. Time passed, and passed by like running water. Nothing could wake him from the darkness of his own thoughts.