Jean-Claude Renault

**Jean-Claude Renault** was the victim in To Drown Your Sorrows (Case #6 of Crimson County).

## Biographical Information

### Occupation

Sommelier
 Bartender
 Bar Owner

## Relationship Information

### Family

Unnamed Sister
 Dominique Taylor  (Niece)

## Info

Prior to his murder, Jean-Claude was the successful owner of Sauvignon Slick Wine Bar. At the age of 58 years old, he had graying black hair and a beard. He looks vaguely similar to Fred Sirieix, but sports a scar on his eyebrow from a previous confrontation. At the time of his death, he sported a white shirt with a black waistcoat and slacks combo, as well as shiny shoes and a wristwatch on his left hand.

## Murder Details

Jean-Claude was found drowned in a wine barrel in the cellar of Sauvignon Slick Wine Bar, still submerged within the barrel when Skie and the player found him. Upon autopsy from Jae-hyun, the coroner deduced that Jean-Claude had been incapacitated before being drowned, likely due to a carotid sinus massage, which essentially put him to sleep. Jae-hyun then pointed out that this wasn't easy to do, and so the killer would have to possess some knowledge of anatomy, as Skie and the player began looking for an anatomically inclined murderer.

Later on, a bottle of the same wine that Jean-Claude was drowned in was found on the outdoor patio, as analysis from Dee examined that the killer left some DNA behind at the scene, as she was able to extract partial DNA and try and connect it to an existing trait, which was the fact that the killer had grey eyes.

## Relationship With Suspects

Following her move to Crimson County, Dominique Taylor was put under the care of her uncle, Jean-Claude, as he ordered her about relentlessly and refused to acknowledge that she was his niece, rather treating her like a maid instead, which drove Dominique to put in her notice the day before the murder. Jean-Claude's wine bar attracted the attention of multiple housewives and househusbands, including Jonathan Greene, whose submission to his wife's demanding career was mocked by Renault, as he deemed him 'puny and weak', which enraged Greene to the extent that he smashed one of Renault's prized decanters. The building Renault served out of was one of many buildings owned by Manfred Oakes, who became possessive of his property and attempted to convince Renault to move out several times so he could turn it into a beer distillery, but to no avail. Kimberly Duncan found solace in the wine bar, but her actions were photographed by Renault and sent out to the rest of the PTA when she was drinking at two in the afternoon, as she was essentially alienated from the PTA as a result. Renault moved to Kendall Cove in order to reunite with his former flame, Florence Norwood, who turned out to have become bitter and hardened due to Renault's initial abandonment of her, as the pair had an intense argument at the bake sale when he attempted to give her a peace offering, as she slapped him repeatedly before leaving.

## Killer And Motives

The killer was discovered to be Oakes.

Despite repeatedly denying committing the crime, Manfred eventually confessed to killing Jean-Claude so he could sell the establishment. He explained that he had recently come into possession of a hefty inheritance from his grandfather's death, and had decided to move to Saint-Tropez so he could finally have a business for tourists. However, this meant that he had to sell the wine bar, since he did not want to have to deal with the headache of being a landlord to an overseas building. Upon meeting Jean-Claude in the wine cellar to talk about it, he was shocked when Renault flat out refused to let him sell the place, believing that he could sue him to the ground for trying to put him out of work. Not wanting to face intense legal proceedings over something so important to him, Manfred hit Jean-Claude over the head and drowned him in a barrel of wine, killing him. Shocked by the nature of the act and displeased by the money-based motive, Judge Peake sentenced Oakes to fifteen years in prison for the crime.