CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
1:00 a.m.
Rachel stood on the front steps of the police station. The late night sky had become overcast—clouds yellow with the reflected street lighting of Clarens and Montreux. A drizzle made the air cold and the streets shine. Water slipped down the gutters. She stood for almost thirty minutes waiting for a taxi, but the rue was deserted. She could hear the distant echo and shout of revelers around the bay in Montreux, but she saw no signs of life from where she stood. She looked back toward the glow of the gendarmerie reception and then strode off into the desolate streets of Clarens toward Châtelard.
Instead of following the main roadway, she chose to walk directly north on Du Pierrier. A large, deserted school building loomed on her left. On her right, a stone wa
