Page 28 of Secrets Beneath a Riviera Sky
Zazz fell in love with the ground-floor apartment in the Belle Epoque villa as Mel opened the door. ‘I love this. The other apartment was lovely but this has so much more character. You can feel the history of the place.’ She looked around at the high ceilings, the chandeliers in the sitting room and in the two bedrooms, the French doors leading out to the garden, the bathroom with its old-fashioned free-standing bath and the kitchen, modern but yet traditional with only its cooking range on view, all other modern appliances hidden behind custom made wooden doors. ‘If I came on holiday here, I’d never want to leave.’
‘This is the last season it’s going to be a holiday rental. The owners have decided to rent it out permanently from September,’ Mel said. ‘They’ve asked me if I would be interested in renting it but I’d need someone to share with me.’
Mel gave Zazz a quick look. ‘Are you likely to still be here in September? If you are would you be interested in sharing this place with me? I’d rather share with someone I know.’
‘Seriously?’ Zazz stared at her. ‘You’re asking me if I’d like to live here in this wonderful apartment with you?’
‘Well, your grandfather’s house will be sold and you have to live somewhere if you do stay.’
‘I’m definitely staying,’ Zazz said. ‘I need to live in this house.’
‘Bon,’ Mel smiled. ‘And if you need to earn extra money maybe you can help me meet and greet rentals on changeover days here in Cannes when I’m stretched with too many?’
‘I’d enjoy doing that,’ Zazz said. She twirled around looking at the sitting room they were standing in. ‘Will it come with all this furniture?’ Somewhat traditional in design the furniture fitted the room perfectly.
‘Oui.’
Zazz sighed happily.
‘We’d better get on. I need to buy some baskets for the welcome gifts I fill on behalf of the owners to make their guests feel welcome.’
The rest of the day passed swiftly with visits to various shops to buy soaps, wine, olive oil and some handmade chocolates. Zazz helped Mel carry everything back to her studio before saying goodbye and going home to get ready for the cinema that evening.
Zazz hummed happily to herself as she stood under the shower. She could hardly believe that Mel had asked her to share that wonderful apartment with her from September. She’d work hard this summer, adding as much money as she could to her savings to give herself a cushion over winter. Life down here in the South of France was looking good.
* * *
Theo and Agnes were clearing the breakfast things away when Theo said. ‘I thought I’d go up to the house this morning and start to go through Oscar’s files and papers. See if there is anything we need to do. Is that okay with you and do you want to come?’
‘No. I’m going to try and find a hairdresser who has open appointments and doesn’t need me to make a rendez-vous,’ Agnes said. ‘If it’s not too much trouble could you bring my grandmère’s dressing mirror back with you?’
‘Bien sûr.’
When Theo reached the house Francine was in the kitchen engrossed in the manuscript she had open on her laptop.
‘I’ve come up to make a start on sorting the files and papers in the bureau. I won’t disturb you. Oh,’ he said, ‘can I have that empty box?’ pointing to one in the corner. Francine nodded and he picked it up and made his way into the sitting room.
He gave the few pieces of paper he found in the briefcase a quick look before deciding they were in order and could be placed in the ‘keep for seven years just in case’ box that he was about to create. He saw the envelope with Agnes’s name on it that Francine had pointed out and Agnes had failed to collect on the bureau top and placed that in the briefcase.
Next, he started on the files. The one Francine had seen with Agnes’s family name on it didn’t contain anything unusual, just out-of-date papers relating to the time when she’d lived in the house. Why Oscar had them at all was a mystery and Theo put them in the throw away pile. As he’d expected, the other files were mostly old business files that Oscar had never bothered to put away, so after a cursory glance, in the box to be kept they went. The next file he picked up was bulkier than the others and the name on it startled him.
Denice Bernard. Why on earth would Oscar have a file on Agnes’s long-lost sister?
Theo sat down on the nearby armchair and started to go through the papers inside the file. Twenty minutes later he gave a deep groan and leant back with his eyes closed, muttering a string of expletives, ‘Bâtarde.Connard.Bâtarde’, under his breath. His unscrupulous brother had outdone himself this time and Theo had no idea how he was going to tell Agnes about the latest crime that his brother had committed against her.
Sighing, he closed the file and placed it in the briefcase alongside the envelope. Theo glanced at the envelope, sorely tempted to take a look inside and see if that contained another problem for Agnes. But the envelope was sealed and Theo knew he would have to wait to learn what further misfortune for Agnes was likely to be inside.
One thing was certain, he wasn’t going to give either the file or the envelope to Agnes today. He had no idea what the envelope contained but he’d count on it not being good news. Agnes had enough to deal with right now. He would hang on to both the envelope and the file and choose his moment carefully and make sure he was at her side when she opened them.
* * *
Agnes, wandering through Cannes on her own for the first time since they arrived, found her thoughts drifting back to the time when the streets had been so familiar to her. Today she realised it would be easy for her to get lost. Diversion after diversion was set up already to allow lorries to unload barriers and other street furniture in preparation for the upcoming film festival.
So many memories of wandering around at festival time with Denice began to flood into her mind. Denice always seemed to know the places to go to see the stars and Agnes was happy to go with her. Agnes had barely left the house during the first film festival after Denice had disappeared, and when she did venture out, she couldn’t stop the tears flowing. It wasn’t the same without her sister excitedly pointing out the various actors who were in town. She’d missed her so much.
Agnes turned on to rue d’Antibes hoping to find a hairdresser somewhere along its length, when the memory of the very last time she’d been in town for the festival fell into her mind…
Oscar was away on business and Theo had been in town for a few days. The two of them had taken an excited six-year-old Francine down to the Palais des Festivals to see if they could spot Elizabeth Montgomery, the American actress who played Samantha in Francine’s favourite showBewitched. They were strolling along with Francine between them holding a hand each, trying to dodge the crowds, when Agnes suddenly felt uncomfortable, as if she was being watched. She turned around and saw a woman arm in arm with a man in a small crowd several metres behind, staring at the three of them.
