8 p.m. Here I am in front of the Château de Pesselières in Jalognes, 30 km from Bourges. I come to investigate a crime that will take place tonight during a guided tour. I do not know more. So I'm on the lookout. Forty people are waiting outside the gates. Tension and excitement are palpable. Suddenly, with a roar, a 2 CV tumbles down and parks right in front of us. As in a film by Louis de Funès, two women dressed in vintage – pleated skirt below the knee, silk square and pearl necklace – come out while arguing… Am I already in the “Crime at the castle” game? They join us. At 8:30 p.m., the guide begins the visit of the park, immediately interrupted by the gardener who rushes at us, threatening, pruning shears in hand:he was not expecting us so late and has no desire to work overtime. For a brief moment, I'm afraid I'll have to turn around and go back to Bourges, where I'm sleeping tonight. The guide manages to negotiate our visit. Her victory, she drinks it from the neck of a bottle of Sancerre taken from her bag... Barely has she said three words on the spot (a former stronghold of the 13th century transformed over the centuries) that the owner arrives, displeased . We disturb him – even on a Saturday night when there is nothing on TV. The driver of the 2 CV throws herself on him:Françoise-Athénaïs Marie de Breuil, a penniless bachelor, has come to offer him her hand and her name. “No thank you, he exclaims frightened, I am not ready to exchange 25 years of hell for 1,000 years of history! The replies fuse. The game gets even more exciting with the arrival of a genealogist who looks like she came straight out of a dusty library and a wind turbine salesman looking like a sales rep.
The acts of this hallucinating play follow one another in magical settings, from the romantic hornbeam labyrinth to the walled garden. Then, a twist. As we cross the bridge towards the entrance of the building, the squire lies in front of us, lifeless, bloody head, a candlestick on the ground. Live Cluedo! Even the cat plays its part, looking desperate for the assassination of its master. The gardener and the seller of wind turbines, they are agitated, very stressed by their discovery. They scream and, in their panic, push us into the castle, where someone closes the door. The group remained calm, almost passive. The killer must be among us. Who slipped away during the visit? Suspense. Four suspects are identified:the gardener, the genealogist, the wind turbine seller and the aristocrat in need of a husband. While waiting for the police, each group of ten has five minutes to cook the suspects one by one. At first, the interrogation is intimidating but our Sherlock Holmes side finally wakes up. Each character has a perfect motive. It is therefore difficult to agree on the culprit. It is in an adjoining room, by candlelight, that the outcome of the investigation is presented, during a second twist. But I say no more! End of the show where fiction and reality merge. Around a glass of Sancerre and appetizers, we learn that the gardener embodies his own role and that the lord takes on his usual, but not this evening. I'm leaving the place with regret... Can't wait for a new "crime" to be solved!
Several castles and parks in Sancerrois host “Crime at the castle” evenings on the Jacques-Coeur road. Information:bourges-tourisme.com and route-jacques-coeur.org.
Where to sleep in Bourges? Guest room at the Hôtel de Panette, double from €140, breakfast included. panette.fr.
Where to eat ? At the La Suite restaurant, 50, rue Bourbonnoux. The Rétif brothers offer a lunch menu for €19.50. At the delicatessen Bourges-sur-Mer, 73, rue Bourbonnoux, where you can also snack on iodine.
