Noubel didn’t go into the cave. Instead, he waited outside in the gray shade of the rocky overhang, red-faced.

He knows something’s not right, thought Alice. He tossed an occasional comment to the officer on duty and smoked cigarette after cigarette, lighting them from the butt of the last. Alice listened to music to help pass the time. Nickelback blasted into her head, obliterating all other sounds.

After fifteen minutes, the man in the suit reappeared. Noubel and the officer seemed to gain a couple of inches in height. Alice took off her headphones and put the chair back in its original position, before taking up her position at the entrance to the tent.

She watched the two men come down from the cave together.

“I was beginning to think you’d forgotten me, Inspector,” she said, when they came within earshot.

Noubel mumbled an apology, but avoided her eye.

“Dr. Tanner, je vous presente MonsieurAuthie.”

Close up, Alice’s first impressions of a man of presence and charisma were reinforced. But his gray eyes were cold and clinical. She felt immediately on guard. Fighting her antipathy, she held out her hand. After a moment’s hesitation, Authie took it. His fingers were cool and his touch was insubstantial. It made her flesh creep.

She let go as quickly as she could.

“Shall we go inside?” he said.

“Are you also with the Police Judiciaire, Monsieur Authie?”

A ghost of a reaction flickered in his eyes, but he said nothing. Alice waited, wondering if it was possible he’d not heard her. Noubel shuffled, awkward in the silence. “Monsieur Authie is from the mairie, the town hall. In Carcassonne.”

“Really?” She found it surprising Carcassonne was under the same jurisdiction as Foix.

Authie took possession of Alice’s chair, leaving her with no choice but to sit with her back to the entrance. She felt wary, cautious of him.

He had the practiced smile of a politician, expedient, watchful and noncommittal. It did not reach his eyes.

“I have one or two questions, Dr. Tanner.”

“I’m not sure there’s anything else I can tell you. I went through everything I could remember with the Inspector.”

“Inspector Noubel has given me a thorough summary of your statement, however I need you to go through it once more. There are discrepancies, certain points in your story that need clarification. There might be details you forgot before, things that seemed insignificant at the time.”

Alice bit her tongue. “I told the Inspector everything,” she repeated stubbornly.

Authie pressed the tips of his fingers together, ignoring her objections. He didn’t smile. “Let us start from the moment you first entered the chamber, Dr. Tanner. Step by step.”

Alice jolted at his choice of words. Step by step? Was he testing her? His face revealed nothing. Her eyes fell to a gold crucifix he wore around his neck, then back to his gray eyes, still staring at her.

Since she felt she had no choice, she began once more. To start with, Authie listened in an intense, concentrated silence. Then the interrogation started. He’s trying to catch me out.

“Were the words inscribed at the top of the steps legible, Dr. Tanner? Did you take the time to read them?”

“Most of the letters were rubbed away,” she said defiantly, challenging him to contradict her. When he did not, Alice felt a burst of satisfaction. “I walked down the steps to the lower level, toward the altar. Then I saw the bodies.”

“Did you touch them?” No.

He made a slight sound, as if he didn’t believe her, then reached into his jacket. “This is yours?” he said, opening his hand to reveal her blue plastic lighter.

Alice went to take it, but he drew his arm back.

“May I have it please?”

“Is it yours, Dr. Tanner?”

“Yes.”

He nodded, then slipped it back into his pocket. “You say you did not touch the bodies, however, before, you told Inspector Noubel you had.”

Alice flushed. “It was an accident. I knocked one of the skulls with my foot, but I didn’t touch them, as such.”

“Dr. Tanner, this will go more easily if you just answer my questions.” The same cold, hard voice.

“I can’t see what-”

“What did they look like?” he said sharply.

Alice felt Noubel flinch at the bullying tone, but he didn’t do anything to check it. Her stomach twisting with nerves, she did her best.

“And what did you see between the bodies?”

“A dagger, a knife of some sort. Also a small bag, leather I think.” Don’t let him intimidate you. “I don’t know, since I didn’t touch it.”

Authie narrowed his eyes. “Did you look inside the bag?”

“I’ve told you, I didn’t touch anything-”

“Except for the ring, yes.” He suddenly leaned forward, like a snake about to strike. “And this I find mysterious, Dr. Tanner. What I’m asking myself is why you should be interested enough in the ring to pick it up, yet leave everything else undisturbed. You understand my confusion?”

Alice met his gaze. “It caught my eye. That’s all.”

He gave a sardonic smile. “In the almost pitch black of the cave, you noticed this one, tiny object? How big is it? The size of a, say, one-franc piece? A little larger, smaller?”

Don’t tell him anything.

“I would have thought you were capable of assessing its dimensions for yourself,” she said coldly.

He smiled. With a sinking feeling, Alice realized she’d somehow played into his hands.

“If only I could, Dr. Tanner,” he said mildly. “But now we come to the heart of the matter. There is no ring.”

Alice turned cold. “What do you mean?”

“Exactly what I say. The ring is not there. Everything else is, more or less, as you describe it. But no ring.”

Alice recoiled as Authie placed his hands of her chair and brought his thin, pale face close to hers. “What have you done with it, Alice?” he whispered.

Don’t let him bully you. You’ve done nothing wrong.

“I have told you precisely what happened,” she said, struggling to keep the fear from her voice. “The ring slipped out of my hand when I dropped the lighter. If it’s not there now, someone else must have taken it. Not me.” She darted a glance at Noubel. “If I had taken it, why would I mention it at all in the first place?”

“No one other than you claims to have seen this mysterious ring,” he said, ignoring her comments, “which leaves us with one of two options. Either you are mistaken in what you saw. Or else you took it.”

Inspector Noubel finally intervened. “Monsieur Authie, really I don’t think-”

“You are not paid to think,” he snapped, without even looking at the inspector. Noubel colored. Authie continued to stare at Alice. “I’m only stating the facts.”

Alice felt she was engaged in a battle, except no one had told her the rules. She was telling the truth, but she could see no way of persuading him.

“Lots of people went into the cave after me,” she said doggedly. “The forensic people, police officers, Inspector Noubel, you.” She stared defiantly at him. “You were in there a long time.” Noubel sucked in his breath. “Shelagh O’Donnell can back me up about the ring. Why don’t you ask her?”

He gave the same half-smile. “But I have. She says she knows nothing about the ring.”

“But I told her all about it,” she cried. “She looked for herself.”

“Are you saying Dr. O’Donnell examined the grave?” he said sharply.

Fear was stopping her thinking straight. Her brain had given up. She could no longer remember what she’d said to Noubel and what she’d kept back.

“Was it Dr. O’Donnell who gave you permission to work there in the first place?”

“It wasn’t like that,” she said, her panic growing.

“Well, did she do anything to prevent you from working that part of the mountain?”