The Master's Piste

The cold open

Midnight rain drums against the tall lancet windows of the Moray Salle d'Armes, a vaulted private fencing club housed inside a former midtown banking hall. On the raised maple piste, beneath the dim amber glow of brass chandeliers, master maître Anselm Moray lies slumped on his back, a heavy steel colichemarde driven clean through his chest. The chalk lines on the polished floor are streaked with blood, and the antique weapons locker at the edge of the strip stands wide open.

The victim

Anselm Moray, 55, master fencing maître and antique blade conservator

The lineup

• Mathis Girard
• Vivienne Chartier
• Linus Sterling
• Sylvie Artois