I typed “French Surname Meanings,” found a genealogy website, and scrolled down a long list of surnames until I reached the Ls. “ ‘Lefevre,’ ” I read aloud. “ ‘A derivation of the French occupational name Fevre, which described an iron-worker or’ ”—my heart skipped a beat—“ ‘smith. From the Old French “fevre” meaning craftsman.’ ” I glanced from Cal to Woody. “The name Smith wasn’t generic to Pierre. In fact, it was probably very dear to him, because it described the profession he’d allowed to flourish in France. Metalsmith.”
I inhaled a deep breath. “Gentlemen, I believe we may have just identified the traitor who escaped from Pointe du Hoc the morning of June 6, 1944.”
BAM BAM BAM!
We shot looks at the cabin door. Cal stood up. “Hold on,” he yelled. “I’m coming.”
When he pulled the door ajar, Jackie rushed into the room, breathless with frenzy. “I wanted you to be the first to know. The police have nabbed Krystal’s killer.”
“Because of your phone call?” I asked expectantly.
“I never got to complete my call.”
“Then how did they know to arrest Virginia?”
She fisted her hand on her hip and regarded me archly. “They haven’t arrested Virginia. They’ve arrested Victor.”
seventeen
“WHAT?”
She held up a scrap of paper and recited from it as if she were Lady Macbeth speaking through a breathing mask. “Ethyl biscoumacetate.”
I stared. Woody stared. Cal stared.
I decided to pose the question that was causing all of us to stare. “What?”
“It’s the drug that killed Krystal. It’s a blood thinner, and Victor was taking it to prevent stroke, because he apparently has issues with atrial fibrillation.”
“Victor’s the killer?” I mentally picked my jaw up off the floor. “Not Virginia?”
“I’m only repeating what Rob just told me in the strictest confidence, so you can’t tell anyone else. But I have to tell someone because I’m about to burst. Victor was carrying a huge quantity of the drug with him, way more than he’d need for the trip, so he had enough to take out several people. Which means … he probably had a long hit list, and my name might have been next up!”
“But … why would he kill Krystal, or any of you? Aside from being frustrated by your backstabbing, whining, and snarky insinuations, he genuinely seemed to like all of you.”
“How should I know? Rob didn’t say why Victor did it; he only said that the authorities have him in custody at the hospital for doing it. His name was on the list of guests slated to be interviewed, so the police apparently searched his cabin while he was being treated, and that’s when they found his stash. They also found a miniature mortar and pestle that would have been perfect to crush tablets into powder form, so that puts another nail in his coffin.”
Woody tipped his head. “Excellent analogy.”
“Okay,” I conceded, “but if Victor killed Krystal, who tried to kill Victor?”
“Rob said the police don’t think anyone tried to kill him. They’re speculating that he deliberately overdosed to throw suspicion away from himself.”
Cal nodded. “The police were definitely stepping up their involvement in the case, so maybe Victor felt the noose tightening and panicked. Heck of a stunt though. Blood thinner’s nothing to fool around with. He could have bled to death.”