Last Known Victim

by Erica Spindler

  “Not Marcus. Your former roommate, Kitten Sweet.”

  “What about her?”

  Stacy had to hand it to her, she was a damn convincing liar.

  “You have reason to believe Kitten Sweet is the Jane Doe found in City Park.”

  “I thought she might be.” Yvette shrugged. “She disappeared around the same time. It could have happened.”

  Spencer frowned slightly. “You told Detective Killian that Kitten had been receiving love letters-”

  “No,” she interrupted, her voice suddenly sharp. “I told a cocktail waitress named Brandi.”

  He didn’t miss a beat. “That she had a stalker. That she had received threatening letters from someone who called himself the Artist.”

  “I made that up.” She tossed her hair. “She didn’t believe me, so I embellished. It made a good story.”

  Stacy glanced at Patti. The other woman was frowning.

  “So you’re saying Kitten Sweet wasn’t being stalked? She didn’t have a anonymous admirer who called himself the Artist?”

  “That is what I’m saying.” She leaned forward in a way that emphasized her cleavage. “I shouldn’t have fibbed. I wanted her to believe me. I wanted to have something exciting and important to say.”

  She dropped her gaze, then returned it to his, the expression in her eyes pleading. “It’s a character flaw, one I’m not proud of.”

  For the second time, Stacy wanted to gag. To his credit, Spencer seemed unmoved by her wrenching confession.

  “Have you ever seen this man before?” he asked.

  He slid a photograph-of Franklin, Stacy knew-across the table.

  The woman glanced at it, then quickly away. “No.”

  “Are you certain?”

  “Positive.”

  Patti glanced at Stacy. “She’s lying.”

  Stacy nodded. The reply had rung false in its quickness, the way she had shifted her gaze away while answering.

  But why lie about this? Out of fear? Spite? Or simply the desire to get the hell out, as quickly as possible?

  “You lied before,” Spencer said, “ maybe you’re lying now?”

  “I embellished,” she corrected. “And not to the cops-at least I didn’t think she was a cop.”

  “You always tell the police the truth?”

  “Yes.”

  She said it with such earnestness, Stacy laughed out loud, then stood. Obviously it was time for the “bad cop” to take another whack at her.

  “Go get her,” Patti muttered as she exited the room.

  A moment later, she rejoined Malone and Yvette.

  He glanced at her. “How was your coffee, Detective?”

  “A little weak.”

  “Weak? I find that hard to believe.”

  “True. It’s usually overcooked.”

  Neither of them were talking about coffee. Malone grinned and pushed away from the table. “If you remember something else or want to reevaluate anything you said to me, give me a call.”

  He held out his card, which she took with a smile. “If you need me, Detective, you know where to find me.”

  When the door clicked shut behind him, Yvette looked at Stacy. “He’s cute.”

  “If you go for that type.” Stacy opened her folder, flipped through. “The people you met at the proper-”

  “He have a girlfriend?”

  Stacy narrowed her eyes. “Yes, I think he does.”

  “Is it serious?”

  “Very.”

  “She have a ring?”

  The question hit Stacy hard. She supposed a ring was the difference between “available” and “not.”

  Just what were she and Spencer?

  “You have his number,” she said. “Call and ask him.”

  “I just might do that.”

  Have a ball. “These people you met at the properties, they ever introduce themselves?”

  “Never. We didn’t speak.”

  “Did they ever leave with something they hadn’t arrived with?”

  “And vice versa.”

  “Like what?”

  She shrugged. “Dunno. Didn’t ask.”

  “I think we’re going to have to hold you.”

  “For what? You have nothing.”

  “You’re the closest thing we have to ‘something.’ Give me somewhere else to look, I’ll see what I can do.”

  “I liked you better as Brandi.”

  “I’ll bet you did.” Stacy smiled slightly and stood. “I’ll see that you get your phone call.”

  “He had a partner,” she said quickly. “Seems to me, if Marcus was using his commercial listings as drop-offs or pickup points, his partner would be in on it.”

  “Drop-offs or pickup points,” Stacy repeated. “Did I say that’s what was going on?”

  Yvette glared at her. “It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?”

  “Name?”

  “Ramone.”

  “Ramone what?”

  “No clue. Marcus never said, I didn’t ask.”

  “Tell me about him.”

  “I don’t know much. I met him once.”

  “Where?”

  “The Hustle.”

  “You dance for him?”

  She shook her head. “He didn’t like the scene. Seemed anxious to get out. I figured he was gay.”

  Stacy frowned. “If a man doesn’t get off on your brand of entertainment, he’s gay?”

  A small smile curved Yvette’s mouth. “Pretty much.”

  Irritated, both with Yvette and herself, she refocused on Gabrielle’s partner. “Ramone ever take you to one of the properties? Or arrange to meet you? Anything like that?”

  “No. Like I said, I met him once. Marcus called him his ‘partner.’ That’s all I know.” Her stomach growled loudly. “Can I go now? Your gofer boys dragged me down here before breakfast.”

  Stacy nodded and stood. “We’ll be in touch. I’ll get somebody to drive you home.”

  “Don’t bother. I need the fresh air.”

  Stacy set one of her business cards on the table. “If you think of anything, give me a call.”

  “Like that’s going to happen.”

  Yvette left the card on the table, stood and walked away.

  Stacy watched her go, then joined Spencer in the viewing room. Patti had gone, but Captain Cooper and Baxter had taken her place.

  “I’ve filled them in,” Spencer said. “Captain O’Shay’s handing it back to you guys. This is clearly DIU’s territory.”

  Stacy nodded. “I agree.”

  “Obviously Gabrielle was using his commercial listings as pickup and drop-off points.”

  “Drugs and money.”

  “He used Borger as a way to cover his own ass. If there’d been a bust-”

  “Or a dissatisfied customer.”

  “-she would be the one in the line of fire.”

  “That’s why he paid her so much. Big risks, big money. That’s the way it works.”

  “What’s with this Ramone?” Captain Cooper asked. “Why didn’t we know he had a partner?”

  “If he’s a real estate partner, he was totally behind the scenes. He didn’t come up in any of our searches.”

  “Check him out. Could be this Ramone decided he no longer needed a partner.”

  “That’s what my money’s on,” Baxter offered. “Good old-fashioned greed.”

  “When that’s done, I want Borger to look through the mug books. And run a list of all Gabrielle’s listings. I want every one of them searched. Get a warrant.”

  As they began to file out, Captain Cooper stopped Stacy. “And Killian, let Baxter deal with Borger. I think a man’ll have better luck with her.”

  That’s just what was irritating the crap out of her.

  To the sound of her partner’s snickers, she agreed.

  25

  Wednesday, April 25, 2007

  3:40 p.m.

  Halfway across the French Quarter, Yvette regretted having declined
the ride home. Heat radiated off the pavement in shimmering waves; her pits were soaked and her feet blistered. The “barely there” sandals she had slipped into before the cops escorted her out of her apartment hadn’t been designed for hikes in the heat.

  Damn cops. Dirty lying pigs. They’re the ones who should be dragged from their homes and interrogated. She thought of Brandi-make that Detective Killian-and felt the all-too-familiar feelings of betrayal and hurt rise up in her chest.

  She forced them back, defiantly. So what? She’d hardly known the chick. No skin off her nose.

  Marcus was dead.

  She stopped cold, the finality of that hitting her. She struggled to breathe, the humid air suddenly suffocating.

  She hadn’t loved him. Truth was, she hadn’t even liked him. He had been a cheat. And a liar. A vicious prick who had nearly strangled her to make a point.

  But his murder hit too close to home.

  Cool air blasted her as a couple exited a restaurant called Big Bubba’s. She stopped, looked longingly at the poster in the window-a fried shrimp po’boy and frosted mug of beer-then ducked inside.

  She took a seat at the counter and ordered a half shrimp sandwich and a real Coke. Sugar. Caffeine. Calories. The real thing.

  The waitress set the Coke and a straw in front of her. She peeled away the wrapper, dropped the straw into the drink and took a long sip, thoughts turning once again to Marcus.

  She could play Little-Miss-Innocent for the cops, but she had known Marcus was up to something illegal. Of course she had. Otherwise he wouldn’t have paid her so much.

  She had suspected drugs, the obvious choice. But she hadn’t asked questions or snooped. She figured the less she knew, the better off she would be. The healthier, too.

  Methamphetamine. Horrible shit. She didn’t touch the stuff. It turned people into cranked-up, paranoiac freaks.

  The kind of people who dealt in things like meth wouldn’t think twice about icing a stripper to insure her silence.

  Yvette noisily sucked down the last of the soft drink and ordered another. The waitress brought it and her sandwich; she dug in, thoughts racing.

  Marcus still owed her five hundred bucks.

  It occurred to her that she should feel bad about thinking that, but she didn’t. Marcus had brought this on himself. Not that she wished him dead, but it was hard to feel bad about the death of a really rotten human being.

  Some people would think the same if she was killed.

  The truth of that hit her hard. Her bite of sandwich lodged in her throat and tears filled her eyes.

  What would they say? “Just another dead stripper” or “The whore had it coming”? She forced herself to swallow. Crying was for losers and babies. Hadn’t her dad told her that? As he’d belittled her to the point of tears? Every so often he would reach over and pinch her hard. “You’ll thank me someday,” he’d say. “You’ll be tough.”

  She didn’t want to be this person anymore.

  Why’d she lie about the Artist sending letters to Kitten? Why’d she make up that story about her roommate?

  Because she had wanted to impress, to look important or smart or interesting. To be anything but what she was.

  And what about the partner named Ramone? To deflect attention. To give Detective Killian another tail to chase.

  She reached into her pocket for the card the handsome detective had given her. Detective Spencer Malone.

  She stared at the card, his name. A guy like that would never go for a woman like her. She’d seen it in his eyes. She had flirted; he had humored her.

  She had recognized Franklin. He came into the Hustle sometimes. She’d seen him trolling for hookers.

  What had he done? Did it have something to do with Marcus? Drugs? Or the City Park Jane Doe?

  She’d lied about that, too. Because she’d been afraid. She hadn’t wanted any part of recognizing Franklin. Getting involved was dangerous.

  She always had a reason, didn’t she? Always had an excuse, a justification for her behavior, one that made it okay.

  “You need anything else, darlin’?”

  She blinked at the woman, then shook her head. “Just the check.”

  In no time at all, Yvette was back out on the street. The sky had turned cloudy and the air had cooled slightly. Her feet still hurt, but with home just a few blocks away, she could make it.

  From unbearable to simply miserable.

  Yvette pushed that worry aside and darted across Ursuline Street, taking the shortest route home. Within minutes, she reached her building, unlocked the courtyard door and ducked inside. She breathed a sigh of relief-the shady courtyard felt ten degrees cooler than the street outside its walls.

  She slipped out of her sandals, and the flagstone was cool and damp against the bottoms of her feet. Carrying the shoes, she limped toward the stairs.

  The majority of the building’s other residents held traditional nine to five jobs. The courtyard was empty save for Miss Alma and her yippy Pomeranian, Sissy. The old saying about a dog and their owner growing to look alike proved true in this case. Both were ancient with pointy noses and bug eyes. Yvette had long suspected that Miss Alma dyed her hair to match Sissy’s cinnamon-colored fur; she knew for a fact the woman brought the dog to the beauty parlor with her.

  “Hello, Miss Alma,” she said, ignoring Sissy’s growl.

  “Afternoon, dear. Sissy, shush. She does that to everyone, but she wouldn’t hurt a flea.”

  Unless the flea came within range. “I know, Miss Alma. Enjoy the rest of your afternoon.”

  Yvette climbed the stairs, reached the second floor. Nancy was out watering her plants. As she passed apartment eight, the pug that lived there began to bark.

  Yvette jumped, same as she always did, and shouted for him to “Shut up!”

  “Hey, Yvette!” Nancy called. “Wouldn’t you just love to have that dog muzzled?”

  “You know it’s true,” she answered. “Every night he barks his stupid head off when I come home, wakes everybody up. Can you believe Bob and Ray complained to me about it? Like I should change my schedule, so their monkey-faced dog doesn’t wake them up.”

  “What’cha gonna do?” She dumped the last of the watering can on her begonias. “Say, I hope you and your mom are having a good time.”

  Yvette frowned. “What?”

  “You and your mom, I hope you’re having fun.” She glanced at Yvette. “She seems nice.”

  “My mother’s dead.”

  Her friend’s face went slack with surprise. “But…we met the other night.”

  Yvette shook her head. “What made you think this person was my mother?”

  “She told me she was. It was late…you were working. Samson started barking and I-” She bit her words back, obviously upset. “I told her where your key was. She said you’d told her but she’d forgotten.”

  Yvette fought to steady her voice. “You told a stranger where I keep my spare key?”

  “I’m really, really sorry. But she seemed so nice. So…motherly.”

  Yvette remembered leaving work early because of menstrual cramps, finding the woman standing at her door. Yvette struggled to remember what she had looked like, the words they had exchanged.

  “I’m Nancy’s mom. I’m here for the week. The key she gave me isn’t working.”

  Yvette looked at Nancy. “Was your mother here this week?” Her neighbor didn’t need to reply, Yvette saw the answer on her face.

  “What night did this happen?”

  The other woman thought a moment, then confirmed what Yvette already knew.

  Monday night.

  “What did she look like?” Yvette asked.

  “Like she could be your mom. I even told her how much like her you looked.”

  “Short, reddish hair? Medium height and trim? Wearing a dark jacket and slacks?”

  Nancy’s eyes widened in surprise. “Yes. How did you-”

  “She tricked me, too.” Yvette quickly explaine
d, then asked, “You haven’t seen her since, have you?”

  Nancy shook her head and hugged herself. “This is so creepy. Who do you think she was?”

  “I don’t know, but I intend to find out.” After warning her neighbor to keep watch, she headed for her apartment.

  She checked the cherub planter; the spare key was gone. Had she interrupted the woman before she’d been inside her apartment? Or after?

  Yvette swallowed past the sudden, suffocating fear that rose up in her. She hadn’t for a minute sensed that something was wrong. That a stranger had been in her home, touching her things.

  In a strange way, that scared her most of all.

  This person, whoever she was, still had the key.

  Yvette’s knees went weak. She forced herself to cross to her door, unlock it and step into her apartment. And sensed immediately that something wasn’t right.

  Of course she did. In all probability, she would “sense” something out of order for a long time to come.

  She slid her gaze toward the doorway to the kitchen, then the short hall that led to the two bedrooms. Her heart began to pound.

  “Hello,” she called out, though she hadn’t a clue why. Did she think a whack-job intruder was going to answer?

  “Yo, babe, I’m here. C’mon back!”

  Perversely, she didn’t find the silence comforting. A bold answer would give her the chance to run like hell. She moved her gaze slowly over the room. Nothing looked out of order. Nothing looked different from when she had left-been dragged out-that morning.

  Her tips.

  She hurried toward the kitchen. She kept her stash in a plastic bag in a cleaned, empty ice cream carton in the freezer. She reached the unit, opened the freezer.

  The carton was there, the bag of money inside. She quickly counted it and found that none had been taken.

  Breathing a sigh of relief, she replaced the carton, shut the freezer door and turned.

  Thumbtacked to the back of her kitchen door was a note.

  I did it for you.

  Yours always, the Artist

  Yvette stared at the message, her hands beginning to shake. Did what for her? Broke into her apartment?

  Then she knew. A cry rose to her throat. She brought a hand to her mouth to hold it back.

  Marcus.