A Trick of the Light (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #7)

by Louise Penny

“Where would you like me to put this?” He sounded warm, friendly. But not jovial. The Chief wouldn’t want to trick them. Would not want to give the impression they were there with riotous good news. “Just here, please.” Madame Dyson hurried to clear the TV guide and remote off a faux-wood table by the sofa, but Beauvoir got there first, scooping them up and handing them to her. She met his eyes and smiled. Not a wide smile, but a softer, sadder version of her daughter’s. Beauvoir knew now where Lillian had gotten her smile. And he suspected these two elderly people knew why they were there. Probably not the exact news. Not that their only daughter was dead. Murdered. But the look Madame Dyson had just given him told Jean-Guy Beauvoir that she knew something was up. Amiss. And she was being kind anyway. Or was she just trying to keep whatever news they had at bay? Keep them silent for one more precious minute. “A bit of milk and sugar?” she asked the puppet. Monsieur Dyson sat forward. “This is a special occasion,” he pretended to confide in their visitors. “Normally she doesn’t offer milk.” It broke Beauvoir’s heart to think these two pensioners probably couldn’t afford much milk. That what little they had was being offered now, to their guests. “Gives me gas,” explained the old man. “Now, Papa,” said Madame Dyson, handing the cup and saucer to the Chief to hand to her husband. She too pretended to confide in their company. “It is true. I figure you have about twenty minut...