Body of Evidence

by Stella Cameron

  Billy had been interviewing in a separate sitting room. A lot of his “chats” had gone quickly, given that the interviewees acted as alibis for one another. Most people had left the house by one in the morning.

  With the corpse and the crime lab crew in the living room, and the driveway mostly cordoned off, officers had filed folks out to the cabana by the pool, where seats were set up in rows. Guests had been interviewed one by one and dismissed as soon as Billy finished with them.

  “Rusty’s still not back at home?” Finn asked. He’d come to bring Billy more coffee and stayed when asked.

  “Nope,” Billy said. He sighed and laced his hands behind his neck. “He’d better not be gone too far for too long, or he’ll find himself in the lockup regardless of whether or not I think he’s involved with this one.”

  “You know he’s not,” Finn said. “Any more than he was with Denise.”

  “I don’t know any such thing, do I?” Billy said. “I don’t know one goddamn thing for sure except that woman out there was murdered inside a catering van backed up to the garage on this property.”

  “That’s what you’ve decided?”

  Billy gave him a bleary-eyed scowl. “You got a better idea?”

  “That’s what happened.”

  “Anybody but Sandy need the medics?” Billy asked.

  “Nobody seriously but Sandy.” Sandy had passed out in the cabana and needed assistance. “She seems tougher than that.”

  Billy shifted a laptop computer inches closer. “She is. Combination of alcohol and some medication, they thought—and shock. She managed to get a lot of attention she’s probably going to regret. Carl must know she’s over the edge with somethin’ or other. He wouldn’t let them take her to the hospital. He surely didn’t like the way John Sims hung over her, or was I imaginin’ things?”

  “I noticed,” Finn said. “She’s doing okay at home. Emma checked on her.”

  “Where’s Emma now?”

  “With her husband,” Finn said. “Emma’s too quiet. She tried to hold Holly.”

  “I saw it,” Billy reminded him. “You know she’s blaming herself?”

  “Mmm. Because she gave Holly and Annie the job. And she keeps mentionin’ Harold Chandall. I shouldn’t have told her how he behaved at Ona’s that night.”

  “If Harold had been on the premises tonight, someone would have seen him. There were people everywhere, and from what I’ve been hearin’, he hasn’t stopped drinkin’ or rantin’ for days.”

  Finn thought about the way Harold had left the parking lot at Ona’s. “I don’t think he’s got it in him to pull off anythin’ that takes plannin’ or subtlety, not at the moment.” He visualized Harold’s face. “All he wanted was his wife back. Do we know where he is?”

  “At the station,” Billy said, pounding keys again. “He’s a suspect, Finn.”

  “I suppose he is.” From where he sat, Finn could see through a window to the brightly lit front walkway. “Looks like they’re gettin’ ready to take Holly away.”

  Billy stopped typing and scrubbed at his face. “They’ll expedite the autopsy. Damn, I hate this.”

  “Death goes with some jobs,” Finn said, thinking of his own experiences.

  “This is a small town,” Billy said. “We don’t expect serial murders. In New Orleans, or any big city, there’s a good to great chance the cops don’t know the victims. We’re losin’ friends here. I’m gonna need safeguards for the rest of the women who belong to Secrets. Manpower’s the problem. There’ll have to be outside help brought in.”

  Finn had heard Secrets being whispered about among the guests waiting for interviews, but this was the first mention Billy had made. “I don’t envy you,” he said. The potential link between the group of women and the murderer couldn’t be ignored. For himself, he would be watching Emma whether she wanted him to or not.

  “This entire property’s a crime scene,” Billy said. “The Lachances will have to get some things and move out until it’s clear. Who knows when that’ll be.”

  Finn didn’t say what he believed, that Emma, at least, would never want to live here again.

  “Your cousin was probably the last person to see Holly alive,” Billy said, eyes on the screen. “She thinks so.”

  “She said that? Without a lawyer?”

  “She volunteered the comment, Finn. I didn’t suggest. The guy who pushed the trolley into the house said he opened the back door of the van, put down the ramp and got behind the thing. The fancy drapes were already in place and ready to go.”

  “You’ve only got his word for that.”

  “True. But he was seen climbin’ into the van and doin’ exactly what he said he did.”

  The catering van had been impounded, of course.

  Finn stood up to see the gurney lifted down two front steps and wheeled toward the medical examiner’s vehicle. He looked at the body bag, and pure hate hit him. He opened his mouth and snapped his jaw.

  Billy joined him at the window.

  A cop stopped Emma and Annie from approaching the body.

  “God,” Finn muttered under his breath. “Senseless.”

  “This is part of someone’s plan,” Billy said. “Emma said somethin’ interestin’ when I talked to her. She wondered if these deaths are a smokescreen to cover somethin’ else.”

  Finn nodded slowly. The doors at the back of the medical examiner’s van closed the body bag from sight. “She’s look-in’ for somethin’ with meanin’ to explain senseless killin’s. Sometimes there isn’t anythin’. But I suppose she could have a point.”

  “I keep goin’ over what I saw with my own eyes, and what Annie Duhon filled me in with,” Billy said. “I saw Holly checkin’ on the buffet table and takin’ a walk around to make sure the glasses were gettin’ filled.”

  “So did I,” Finn told him. He hated it that Annie was embroiled in this.

  “But I didn’t see Holly leave the room, or the house. I don’t know if she came back and went out again.” He shook his head. “I want a cigarette.”

  “You don’t smoke.”

  “That’s right.” Billy found his tin of mints and shoveled a handful into his mouth. He crunched loudly.

  “Think how many versions of that scene we’ll read about or hear conjectured about.” Finn didn’t even know why he’d thought about the media.

  Billy looked grim. “You can’t stop people from talkin’.”

  “Can I have Annie taken home now?” Aaron had come for Eileen earlier, but Annie had still been needed for more questioning.

  “I want to go over the sequence with her one more time,” Billy said.

  Finn looked at his watch. “Wouldn’t it be better if everyone got some sleep and started again in the mornin’?”

  “Annie will be here any minute,” Billy said, checking his own watch. “Just a formality. And to see if anythin’ she says changes this early in the game.”

  “You’ll want me to leave,” Finn said.

  A tap, and the door opened to admit Annie with a female officer. They both came in and shut the door. Annie smiled at Finn, but her mouth gradually turned down. “I can’t believe it,” she whispered.

  He put an arm around her. “Neither can I.”

  “She was so excited. Everythin’ went perfectly…until it happened.” Annie cried without making a sound. Tears flooded her cheeks faster than she could wipe them away.

  “You can stay, Finn,” Billy said quickly. “This is pretty informal. Annie, come and sit down.” He went around the desk, waved her to a love seat and sat beside her.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s not fair. What happened to Holly’s not fair. People work hard to make their way, and just when it looks as if they’re gonna get a break, it all gets messed up.”

  Finn blinked. “It isn’t fair,” he said. “And I hate it when people say, ‘Life’s not fair,’ as if that makes misery okay.”

  “Do you think her husband did it?” Annie said.

&
nbsp; “We don’t know who did it,” Billy said with a meaningful glance at Finn.

  The female officer kept a careful eye on Annie.

  “I don’t like askin’, but I have to,” Billy said. “Please run through what happened before you came back into the house to wait for the dessert cart to arrive.”

  Annie slid deeper into the seat and swallowed. She wiped her face again and sniffed. “We were runnin’,” she said. Her voice broke. “We were so happy because we did it, didn’t we?” She looked at Billy. “We pulled it off. Everythin’ was beautiful.”

  “It surely was,” he told her. “Blanche, she’s my wife, is a good cook, but she was talkin’ about gettin’ some of the recipes.”

  Annie smiled. “The ice sculpture was about to be history, so we decided to get the desserts in, then get rid of the sculpture while folks were distracted by the sweets.”

  “I’d never have thought of somethin’ like that,” Finn said. “Sorry to interrupt.”

  “I wouldn’t have, either,” Billy said.

  “The desserts were ready in cold boxes inside the van. They were arranged on platters in separated layers. Everythin’ just had to be put together, and we’d talked it through and practiced several times. Servin’ dishes went down on the trolley, then the second tier went on top. The upper tiers each had four legs, see, so there could be plates underneath to pull forward when the outside ones got empty. Three tiers on top of the trolley, and they all bolted together so they wouldn’t move. It was beautiful…wasn’t it?” She choked on the words.

  “Yes,” Billy said.

  To hell with keeping his mouth shut, Finn thought. “It was great,” he said. “Emma told me how you’d talked about it, and I didn’t think you’d pull it off. Shows what I know.”

  Annie nodded. “Holly told me to go back inside and send Walter out in twenty minutes. Walter’s the server who brought the trolley. Then she was supposed to join me to pull off the tent, only she didn’t, and I knew I shouldn’t wait, because of the ice meltin’.”

  Finn met Billy’s eyes, and Billy nodded. The killer must have already been hiding inside the van, waiting to get Holly alone. “But the door to the van stayed open,” Finn said, mostly to himself.

  “No,” Annie said. “I closed it, because we wanted things cool, and we didn’t want anyone to see the display ahead of time.”

  Billy patted her hand. “Thank you, Annie. Officer Murray here will drive you home to Eileen now. Do you think you’ll be able to sleep?”

  “When I can’t stay awake anymore,” she said, and got up.

  Once they were alone, Billy said, “I know some people can do a lot in twenty minutes, but he moved fast.”

  “Don’t forget, he would have had a little time after Walter left to finish with any final cleanup he had to do.”

  “Then get away,” Billy said. “Shit, you’d have to be driven to go do it. Sounds like a war plan.”

  “Yeah,” Finn said.

  The door opened again, and Orville came in. He hadn’t bothered to knock. “There are TV cameras outside,” he said. “Nice way to kick off a campaign.”

  Finn stared at him.

  Orville shook his head. “That didn’t sound the way it was meant to. We’ve got huge trouble on our hands. I’m just a bit bemused it started here tonight.”

  “It didn’t,” Billy said. “Denise, remember?”

  Orville frowned into the distance. “The opposition will go to any lengths to destroy the competition. I’ll make sure this backfires.”

  Finn saw Billy make the decision to hang on to his temper and did likewise.

  “I heard all about Barnes,” Orville said. “You need to look into everything about that man. Do you have him back in custody yet?”

  “Who told you about Rusty?” Finn said.

  Orville’s distaste for Finn showed. “It doesn’t matter. I know. That’s good enough.”

  “You don’t have to worry, Mr. Mayor,” Billy said. “We’re on top of our job.”

  “If you were on top of your job this wouldn’t have happened,” Orville said. “You’d never have let Barnes out of custody.”

  “Rusty didn’t kill Holly,” Finn said. “Or Denise.”

  Orville turned to him. “You’re not here in any official capacity. I don’t know why you’re here at all.”

  “Because he’s had experience in difficult situations,” Billy said. “And because I asked for his help before my people got here. There was a lot goin’ on.”

  Billy didn’t mention that Orville had been useless, that he’d walked to and fro wringing his hands while others tried to calm the situation.

  “Make yourself at home,” Orville said in a sneering tone, looking at the laptop on his desk.

  “Thank you,” Billy said.

  “I’ll be at my club,” Orville said.

  “The golf club?” Billy said, all innocence.

  Orville pressed his lips together. “Of course not. Damalis’s. I have my own rooms. Feel free to call for me there if you need anythin’ else tonight.”

  “You may not be able to get back inside this house for some time,” Billy told him.

  “Fine,” Orville said.

  “So Emma will stay with you, then?”

  Orville’s pinched face pointed at Finn. “She prefers to go up to that damn place of her parents’. Says she feels at home up there.” He took a calming breath. “I want her to be comfortable. You live fairly close to the Balous, don’t you, Duhon?”

  “A few miles closer to town.”

  “This is an imposition,” Orville said, watching Finn closely, “but if there should be a need, you could be there—”

  “Sure,” Finn said. He made sure he showed no emotion but wondered at Orville’s angle. He couldn’t imagine the man doing anything without his own benefit in mind.

  “I told her to get started, Billy,” Orville said. “I hope that’s okay.”

  It isn’t okay, asshole. Finn kept his expression impassive, but he hated that Emma had already left for an empty house.

  “Didn’t I hear the locks were all changed up there and deadbolts added?” Billy said. “That was a good move.”

  Orville wasn’t quite quick enough to cover his surprise. “Yes, my wife is good at takin’ care of those things.”

  You didn’t know about the new locks. Finn felt no remorse at his satisfaction.

  “No more questions for me, then, Billy?” Orville said.

  “None that I can think of now,” Billy told him. “I know where to find you. Make sure you get anythin’ you’re gonna need from here before you leave.”

  Orville nodded shortly. He passed Officer Clemens in the doorway.

  “You aren’t gonna like this, Chief,” the man said. He shuffled his feet. “Couple foolin’ around off the road found somethin’ south of town, not far from that abandoned dairy plant.”

  Billy stood with his fists on his hips, crunching more mints and looking like he wanted to spit them at Clemens. “Speed it up, will ya?”

  “Pretty close to the Nespique,” Clemens said. “Undergrowth is so dense there, it’s a wonder they could see anythin’.”

  “Where is this couple?” Billy said, his jaw tightening.

  “We took ’em home. Their vehicle wouldn’t start. They’re reliable, sir. They were the ones who called us in. They didn’t have to do that.”

  “Good, Clemens, good. I’m always impressed by public-spirited citizens. Now, are you goin’ to share the nature of this find they made?”

  “Sure. A Harley. Rusty Barnes’s Harley. Don’t worry, I’ve already got a search party out lookin’ for him. Sergeant Boudreaux gave the okay for that. Greyhound bus stops pretty damn close to the old dairy. You don’t suppose he skipped town, do you?”

  28

  “Will you come right now, Emma?” Rusty asked.

  She’d pulled off the road near the mobile home park and sat in the darkness, listening to Rusty Barnes on her cell begging her to do things that ter
rified her.

  “How do you know I won’t hang up and call the police?” she asked him. “That’s what I ought to do.”

  He was only quiet for a moment. “You won’t. Denise trusted you, and so do I. Don’t do this for me, do it for her. She’s the one who got the bum rap.”

  “And what happened to Holly was fun?”

  “Don’t lecture, Emma. I’m on overload. Just say you can’t do it and I’ll act accordingly.”

  She grimaced. “That sounds like blackmail, Rusty. I’m not jumpin’ at comin’ to your place at this time of night with a killer runnin’ around.”

  He laughed. Not a pleasant sound. “What do you mean, running around. I’m right here.”

  Even if she did know he was clean, she wasn’t in the mood for black humor. “For all I know it is you. How did you find out about Holly?”

  “By killing her, of course.”

  “Stop it!”

  “It’s all over the news,” he said. “Emma, there’s someone else who knows what’s going on, someone who knows everything. I can’t tell you who, because I promised not to.”

  “I’m callin’ Billy.”

  Rusty didn’t answer.

  “Did you hear me?”

  He still didn’t say anything.

  “Rusty, don’t hang up.”

  “I haven’t.”

  “Tell me who you’ve been talkin’ to.”

  “If I did, I wouldn’t get any more information. What we have may be enough, but in case…”

  “This person’s life is in danger, too?”

  “Unless I’m being lied to, and set up.”

  Emma gave the Lexus some gas, swung around and headed back the way she’d come. “You’ll be there?” she said. “Stand in the front window with the light on so I can see you.”

  “I can’t do that.”

  “Then I’m not comin’.”

  “They’ve already been to my place to look for me,” Rusty said. “If they come back, I’ve got to be somewhere else.”

  Emma drove through the middle of town. A ghost town by this time, except for the usual crowd at Buzz’s.