Chapter 6:
Julia sighed and sat down on the couch in her compartment. She was disappointed. It touched her that Detective Murdoch did not believe her watch had been stolen. He did not know her so she could not really blame him for not trusting her. But her watch was a valuable item to her. She would never have lost it… And it seemed now that she would never find it again.
This man, William Murdoch, had a hell of a knack for making her angry with more ease than anyone had ever done. Even her own father was not able to annoy her so quickly. But he was handsome…really handsome and sexy if she even dared to use the term. He had a way of standing and talking that made her want to mess him up. She smiles. He was really interesting.
When Julia finally arrived in the reception room at around 7:15 p.m., she was greeted by more than half of the passengers already present. Tables had been made available to accommodate four people each. A drink bar and buffet had been set up and a gramophone was playing soft background music in one corner of the room. The young woman smiled. It was true that this train was beautiful and modern.
Julia walked into the room and immediately spotted William Murdoch deep in discussion with his superior: Inspector Brackenreid. He met her gaze before quickly looking away and Julia sighed. She walked to the bar and was served a glass of champagne. She sat down at a table, alone, and looked around her. She could see the two dark-haired young mendin burgundy suits that she had met earlier. They were chatting with the young woman she had seen reading a book in the car right next to theirs. Julia smiled discreetly noticing the looks the two were giving her. She immediately thought with amusement that these next few days were going to be eventful.
"Can I?"
The doctor quickly turned when he heard a man's voice which she immediately recognized.
"Mister Duval!" she smiled at him. "You are welcome."
She gestured to the chair across from hers, where he quickly sat down, a glass of champagne in his hand. He handed his glass to her, and Julia did the same, in understanding. They clinked their cups and took a small sip. Julia then put down her glass and opened her mouth to say something. In reality, she was thinking of her watch. She wanted to ask him if he had taken it. She also wanted to ask him why she had not found him in the cars on the first aisle of the train. But she refrained.
"Have you been able to settle down?" she asked instead.
The man smiled mischievously at her, and Julia had the distinct impression that he was trying to seduce her.
"Yes. In fact, I was able to store all my things and even take a shower if you want to know everything."
Julia blushed slightly at the look the man had on her. She looked away for a moment. Without realizing it, her eyes immediately landed on the young detective who she realized was almost staring at her. He was with the man in his sixties whom Julia had seen earlier with the woman who was reading her book and who was still talking with the two young men. The man was talking to Detective Murdoch as well as the Brackenreids, but the young man seemed elsewhere. He finally looked away again to focus on what the old man was saying. Julia frowned. Why was he looking at her? Did he regret his behavior earlier?
Finally, the doctor refocused on Mr. Duval who was still looking at her with a kind smile. She smiled back and lifted the glass to her lips. She would have a good evening.
A little later, Julia felt a little happier. She did not know if it was the booze that now seemed to be flowing rapidly through her veins or the joy of finally having a little bit of company. It really changed everything. Of her life, of her patients, of her big and empty house, of her employees who were there only out of need. Not because they wanted to be with her. She was far from her insulting and disrespectful colleagues. Away from it all. And it felt good. Crazy good...
She burst out laughing. She did not really know why she was laughing anymore. She was always in the company of Magnus Duval, and she really liked him. She could see that he was trying to seduce her. She was not stupid, but she also realized that she liked it. He liked having real attention and she had to admit that she also found him attractive.
But for some reason, Julia constantly had her attention drawn to the young detective. Her gaze still drifted towards him despite herself.
"Do you know any people here?" asked Julia curiously, refocusing her attention on Mr. Duval as they were now both standing in the center of the room.
Duval approached her and stood gently behind her. He took her lightly by the shoulders and gently turned her towards one of the dark-haired, hazel-eyed men who was still talking to the blonde-haired young woman in her twenties. She noticed that the other dark-haired man was sitting in a chair, staring blankly.
"These are the Novak brothers. Westley is the one talking to the young woman. He is the eldest, by at least three or four years." he began, almost whispering in Julia's ear.
Her gaze wandered again for a few seconds on Detective Murdoch who seemed strangely brooding for some reason. She concentrated on what Magnus Duval was telling her.
"The youngest, sitting here, is Bastien." Magnus continued. "The young blonde woman is Nora Champagne. The daughter of Walid Champagne who is right here."
Duval pointed to the old man who was chatting with Murdoch and the Brackenreids instead. He was now chatting with an old lady in the company of Marie, the maid who had complained about the delay of the train a few hours ago.
"Oh, that's him…He owns the Night Train Station company." asked Julia.
"And this train, by the way." The man joked, meeting her gaze.
"And this train." she repeated, laughing.
"He is in the middle of a discussion with Elizabeth Hébert. A woman so rich and so influential, it is said that she was even invited to the White House during a private reception of the President of the United States in 1845." explained Duval. "The lady right behind watching the discussion with her piercing little eyes of disapproval is Marie Gosselin. She is the thirteenth lady-in-waiting hired by Madam Hébert. She has been with her for three years now."
Julia raised her eyebrows, stunned. She did not know if she should be frightened or impressed by everything Duval knew about the people in the room.
"Over there, it's Lazare Lamoureux. I won't go too far on him, but all you need to know is that he was never really a good person. He's been in some pretty shady things and it's unclear where his wealth comes from."
The young doctor frowned. She immediately recognized the gentleman with black hair and scarred eyes. He was the one who had seemed to be arguing with a woman in the dining car when she had met Mr. Duval.
"And… Who is this woman?" asked Julia innocently, pointing to the lady she had previously seen with Mr. Lamoureux. The woman in her fifties with black hair pulling a little on the gray, testifying to her age is blooming.
"She… It's Alecia Champagne."
Magnus Duval looked at Julia's face, who simply stared at the woman. She suddenly turned her head towards Duval whose gaze she met, amazed. She had just understood and realized what the man with the electric green eyes was telling her.
"But... She's Mr. Champagne's wife?"
Magnus Duval just nodded, and Julia looked away still in shock. She had put two and two together quickly and realized that what she had thought was a couple arguing was instead a strange man and a married woman.
"The young woman talking to the dark-haired man over there." continued Duval. "It's Colleen Forbes, she's also very wealthy. For a long time, she was a journalist for a well-known newspaper. I can't remember the name, though."
Julia turned her head towards the young woman whose name was not unknown to her. However, she could not remember where she had heard it. She saw a flamboyant red hair and she had to admit that she was really very beautiful. But what she noticed most of all was that "the dark-haired man" was actually William Murdoch. Julia's face fell slightly for no reason she could think of. She watched Mrs. Forbes chatting with the detective, giving him seductive looks, and approaching him, subtly touching his shoulder. She could immediately see with an incomprehensible pang of the heart, that the young man seemed to react to the advances of the woman. Julia swallowed, her throat dry and turned suddenly to her companion of the evening who was still looking at her smiling. She took a deep breath.
"What else?"
"I am not a diviner." he laughed lightly. "I don't know the remaining people."
"But… how do you know all this? You know that's kind of weird?" Julia half-joked.
"I read a lot of newspapers and I like gossip, I think." he laughed again, his cheeks flushed slightly from what sounded like embarrassment. "I often take this train; I have family in Sitka. And you can easily say that I witnessed… some things."
Julia nodded, understanding all the information the man had a little better.
"Thank you for this analysis, Mr. Duval."
"Magnus, please." he smiled seductively at her.
Julia smiled back but said nothing more. She shot another look at the detective who was now sitting on a bench next to Mrs. Forbes, the latter resting almost on her shoulder.
"Do you know this man?" Julia tried one last time, pointing to Hiram Lagacé, the man who had welcomed them, William Murdoch, and her, when they were looking for Magnus.
The blond man watched Hiram for a moment and turned his gaze back to Julia. He shook his head negatively. Julia looked down. There was something strange about what had happened before. She had had a doubt when she had seen the two cars at the front of the train. But she was now almost convinced that she had seen him enter Mr. Lagacé's. But he said he did not know him. Well, it was probably nothing.
Note: Weird this story with Magnus anyway... We learn more about the characters now and William and Julia seem not to appreciate seeing each other in good company... What could happen next?