Flambé in Armagnac (10 page)
Read Flambé in Armagnac Online
Authors: Jean-Pierre Alaux,Noël Balen
Tags: #Amateur Sleuth, #cozy mystery, #whodunit, #wine novel, #France, #Bordeaux, #wine, #armagnac, #Food, #gentleman detective, #French culture, #European fiction, #European mysteries, #gourmet
Epilogue
Virgile remained in Labastide-d’Armagnac. He had promised Joachim that he would be his most fervent supporter in the match against Hagetmau. He would be in the Cazaubon stands, yelling, screaming, and generally cheering on his new friend. “You’ll bring me luck,” Francisco’s son had told him this with so much emotion, Virgile wouldn’t have dreamed of letting him down.
At each attempted conversion, the striker with the amazing kick looked into the bleachers for his friend’s approval. Virgile would give Joachim a thumbs-up, and his friend would return it. Sitting at Virgile’s right, Constance was elated. When the final whistle blew, she hugged Virgile. They remained in a momentary embrace while the architect of the Cazaubon victory was congratulated by his teammates. A reporter from
Midi Olympique
photographed Joachim smiling triumphantly as he threw his jersey into the delirious crowd. The final score: 39 to 12.
Joachim Cantarel’s future as an athlete looked promising. Indeed, the presidents of some regional clubs were waiting for him outside the locker room. Joachim ignored them and rushed into the arms of Constance and Virgile. His happiness was theirs. “
Victorioso! Victorioso!
” he yelled in Spanish, feverishly kissing the medal hanging from his neck—a silver one that Francisco had brought back from a pilgrimage to Lourdes. Joachim was only seven at the time. Looking curiously at the medal, he had asked his mother, “Who’s she?” “That’s Mary, the mother of God,” Evelyne Cantarel had answered. “And me: you are my mother, but who is my father?” the little boy had asked. Francisco had smiled and raced to the river with his lover and son, playfully splashing them when they finally got there.
§ § §
Baron Jean-Charles de Castayrac was sentenced to four years in prison for insurance and tax fraud. After his release, he never returned to Labastide-d’Armaganac. Some said he had gone to Biarritz, where an old lover, recently widowed, had taken him in. Others, however, said the woman wasn’t widowed at all. She was merely separated, and her angry husband had shown up one night and shot the baron dead. Whether Castayrac was alive or not, no one seemed to care.
Valmont de Castayrac appeared in Landes criminal court. The nine jurors acknowledged mitigating circumstances but still recommended a sentence of twelve years. He would be eligible for parole after serving seven years.
Shortly after his transfer to the central penitentiary in Seysses, Valmont received a letter from Joachim Cantarel. The Toulouse rugby team’s new recruit announced his impending selection for the national team, which would soon compete in the Six Nations Tournament. He promised Valmont a visit in the very near future and told him the DS was safely parked in his garage, covered with a sheet. “It awaits your release,” he said before closing his letter with “warm brotherly regards.”
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The Winemaker Detective Series
A total epicurean immersion in French countryside and gourmet attitude with two expert winemakers turned amateur sleuths gumshoeing around wine country. The following titles are currently available in English.
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Grand Cru Heist
After Benjamin Cooker’s world gets turned upside down one night in Paris, he retreats to the region around Tours to recover. There, he and his assistant Virgile turn PI to solve two murders and very particular heist. Who stole those bottles of grand cru classé?
Nightmare in Burgundy
The Winemaker Detective leaves his native Bordeaux for a dream wine tasting trip to Burgundy that turns into a troubling nightmare when he stumbles upon a mystery revolving around messages from another era. What do they mean? What dark secrets from the deep past are haunting the Clos de Vougeot?
Deadly Tasting
In a new Winemaker Detective adventure, a serial killer stalks Bordeaux. To understand the wine-related symbolism, the local police call on the famous wine critic Benjamin Cooker. The investigation leads them to the dark hours of France’s history, as the mystery thickens among the once-peaceful vineyards of Pomerol.
Cognac Conspiracies
The heirs to one of the oldest Cognac estates in France face a hostile takeover by foreign investors. Renowned wine expert Benjamin Cooker is called in to audit the books. In what he thought was a sleepy provincial town, he and his assistant Virgile have their loyalties tested.
Mayhem in Margaux
Summer brings the Winemaker Detective’s daughter to Bordeaux, along with a heatwave. Local vintners are on edge, But Benjamin Cooker is focused on solving a mystery that touches him very personally. Along the way he finds out more than he’d like to know about the makings of a grand cru classé wine.
About the Authors
Noël Balen (left) and Jean-Pierre Alaux (right).
(©David Nakache)
Jean-Pierre Alaux
and
Noël Balen
came up with the Winemaker Detective over a glass of wine, of course. Jean-Pierre Alaux is a magazine, radio, and television journalist when he is not writing novels in southwestern France. He is a genuine wine and food lover, and won the Antonin Carême prize for his cookbook
La Truffe sur le Soufflé
, which he wrote with the chef Alexis Pélissou. He is the grandson of a winemaker and exhibits a real passion for wine and winemaking. For him, there is no greater common denominator than wine. Coauthor of the series Noël Balen lives in Paris, where he shares his time between writing, making records, and lecturing on music. He plays bass, is a music critic, and has authored a number of books about musicians, in addition to his novel and short-story writing.
About the Translator
Sally Pane studied French at State University of New York Oswego and the Sorbonne before receiving her master’s degree in French literature from the University of Colorado, where she wrote
Camus and the Americas: A Thematic Analysis of Three Works Based on His Journaux de Voyage
. Her career includes more than twenty years of translating and teaching French and Italian at Berlitz. She has worked in scientific, legal, and literary translation; her literary translations include several books in the Winemaker Detective series. In addition to her passion for French, she has studied Italian at the University of Colorado in Boulder, in Rome and in Siena. She lives in Boulder, Colorado, with her husband.
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