Page 66 of Crocodile Tears

“Was there enough to keep you occupied on a daily basis?” Josiah asked, glancing around the place. What could Dacre have possibly needed done every day?

“Oh, yes.” She smiled. “I cleaned, did the laundry, shopped, prepared lovely meals and left them in the fridge, ran errands. There was much to do. Mr Elliot was… how would you say… not an organised man.”

Josiah thought he sounded pampered. “What about Mr Dacre’s servant? Didn’t he do any of these household tasks?” What was the point of servants if they didn’t, he wondered.

She looked embarrassed. “No, no. Mr Elliot had other… tasks for his servant.”

It didn’t take a genius to work out what those other “tasks” might have been.

“I see. Was he here yesterday? The servant?”

“No.” She shook her head vigorously. “Christopher goes to the gym most mornings, although I sometimes saw him if Mr Elliot kept him behind, or wanted him to model for him that day, or if they were going to an event together – they went to so many. They were often on the news sites. I showed my sisters the pictures, so they could see who I worked for.” She smiled proudly.

“What was your impression of their relationship?” Josiah asked. “Did they get on? Or did they argue?”

She gave a helpless shrug. “Mr Elliot loved that boy so much. My maman used to say – there is no fool like an old fool, yes?”

“You don’t think Alexander – Christopher – returned his houder’s feelings?”

“No… although, with Christopher, it’s hard to tell.” She tapped the side of her nose. “He is secretive, that one. I often wondered what is going on inside, that he has to hide it so. Still waters run deep, yes?”

“That’s interesting. Can you tell me more? What else did you observe about him?”

“He is a handsome young man, obviously, but…” She gave a darkly expressive shrug. “Handsome is as handsome does.”

Josiah did his best to suppress his irritation at the way she kept talking in proverbs. “So, you didn’t like him?”

“I don’t know. He was always very polite to me, never unkind, but… I couldn’t know him. I don’t know how to explain…”

“Never mind. I understand,” he assured her, glancing at the light boxes – Alexander was as elusive in person as he was in all the holopics.

“Mr Elliot adored him, of course.” Ms Boucher smiled sadly. “He doted on that young man, and certainly Christopher did everything his houder asked of him. He waited on Mr Elliot, and I never once heard him complain or argue. Sometimes…” She placed her hand over her mouth, looking embarrassed.

“Go on,” Josiah instructed. “Nothing you say will shock me.”

“Well, sometimes, I did find themin flagrante,” she whispered, wrinkling her nose delicately. “Mr Elliot liked to sit on the sofa with his legs apart, and he would have Christopher…” She pointed down, a little blush suffusing her pale skin.

Josiah thought Dacre sounded extremely selfish to subject his housekeeper to such a private sight.

“Sometimes, Mr Elliot asked Christopher to be naked… to walk around unclothed, even though I was in the house.” She flushed again, and Josiah’s opinion of Dacre sank even lower.

“Did Christopher find that difficult, knowing you could see him?”

She shrugged. “He never said or acted so. As I said, he did everything Mr Elliot asked of him.”

“Did Mr Dacre ever abuse or harm him?” Josiah asked.

“No, but I think Christopher made him angry, sometimes, or maybe sad – perhaps both. Mr Elliot wanted to believe Christopher loved him. The only times I ever saw him lose his temper were when he thought that might not be true.”

“Did he beat Christopher?”

She looked shocked. “No, no. He adored him.” She hesitated. “There were occasional slaps, but I did not see any beatings.”

“You say you’ve worked for Mr Dacre for fifteen years – does that mean you knew Mr Dacre’s husband, also called Christopher?” Josiah asked.

“Yes, I knew him. He was a good man, a little silly, maybe, but kind. Now, hedidlove Mr Elliot, and they were happy together. I thought no good could come of it when Mr Elliot brought the young servant home and said he was called Christopher, too. I knew that wasn’t really his name, although he answered to it all the same. Poor Mr Elliot – he missed his real Christopher so much that he tried to buy another one.”

“Yeah. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way,” Josiah said. What the hell was Elliot Dacre thinking – buying an IS, giving him his dead husband’s name, dressing him up, and parading him around as if they were a real couple?

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