9The next day Coulon waited longer to go to the mairie. He wasn’t sure whether his suspicions were the result of actual wrong-doing. Josette might be upset about something at home, or simply not have been feeling well, but over the last week he had noticed a change, and he wanted to stick around and keep an eye on her, if only for an hour or so.
Josette arrived at the usual time, dressed in her usual jeans and T-shirt. She greeted him cheerfully and went straight upstairs to the guest room to change into her La Perla. The mayor was always tempted to try to find a way to peek in on that process, but he had restrained himself, leading to no small amount of self-congratulation. He helped himself to another croissant, having walked over to fetch them at Pâtisserie Bujold that morning, and spr
