Cas took a deep breath and kept his mouth shut as he left. Troy watched out the glass front as Cas got in his car and left the parking lot.
Troy looked like a party balloon with the air leaking out or just a bit wilted, as if he'd kept up his macho image as long as he could.
Looking persecuted, he took a sip of his coffee. It was cold too now, and the pretty waitress was nowhere in sight.
He frowned, looking out at the pool again. Then he reached for his billfold. He left the money for the check plus a good tip and went out the restaurant's back door toward the pool.
The water in the pool looked inviting. Troy walked around it, admiring the plants and scenery. He looked rejuvenated by the time he stopped at the door where he had seen a woman enter. There was a tray beside the door he knocked on. He looked down at the tray that was waiting for Room Service to pick it up. There was a coffee cup with lipstick on it and the remains of a filled doughnut.
An amused little smile played around Troy's lips as he knocked again with all the authority that went with being a senior citizen and former Judge of Pine County.
The door finally opened just enough for a woman's face to peer out.
Muriel Davis's eyes and mouth flew open wide.
She screamed bloody murder.
Troy quickly pushed his way in, grabbed Muriel's raised wrists in one hand, and slapped her across the face with the other. Hard. He kicked the door shut behind him.
Chapter 20
Not even hurricanes could dampen all the joie de vivre in New Orleans. Certainly not at Mardi Gras time. Hannah looked around her with her mouth open half the time. Nobody had prepared her for the crowds, the carnival atmosphere, or the competition of finding a place to watch the Mardi Gras parade. It was all new to her. She kept making mental notes of things to tell Tim about. Things besides Elle's talents, of course.
She smiled to herself about those. Some of Elle's antics were as funny as they were helpful as they made their way to watch the parade.
In addition to the crowds who watched from above on balconies and from windows, St. Charles St. was a combination battleground and camp-out with whole families ensconced and provisioned to wait for music, beads, goodies, and whatever else happened in the way of entertainment.
Flora squeezed Hannah's arm as they walked and spoke close to her ear, nodding at a seated family. "I know what you're thinking and yes, that group has been here all night." She tilted her head at the couple and their children. There were two little boys and a baby in its mother's arms. The baby had a pink elastic band on her head with spangles on it and slept like she was on cloud nine instead of a crowded street curb.
"How can that baby sleep with all this going on around her?"
Gina spoke up. "Why didn't you warn us about all this?" Gina had been to New Orleans years ago with her parents, but never at Mardi Gras time. She made a face at Elle.
Elle's tinkling laugh caused a few nearby heads to turn.
"How could I? Who would ever be able to describe this? Much less believe it?"
"You've got a point there, all right. If it weren't for that street sign up there I wouldn't even know where the street starts or that we're still on one."
"Neither would anyone else if it's any consolation. But don't feel bad, as long as we can see the street sign so can the bands, float drivers, and the others in the parade. We'll just have to take the city's word the street is still there," Flora laughed. "There's a street there and it's St. Charles and it's Fat Tuesday." No one commented. They held onto each other as the moving crowd jostled them.
Flora paused, making the others stop too. She looked up, squinting. "What's that hanging on the street sign? It looks like?" Her mouth opened, looking shocked.
"It is. It's a plus size bra," Elle laughed, looking up at it with its queen sized proportions billowing in the breeze.
Hannah looked up too and beyond it she saw several couples on a small balcony just above the decorative under garment. Some of them were hanging over the iron railing, drinks in their hands.
One of the women must have been the one who threw the bra because she was a large woman and stood at the railing, laughing. Obviously tipsy, she pointed at the bra and flipped open her unbuttoned blouse a couple of times, teasing the crowd below.
Down below, cameras flashed, people yelled. A few who had their hands free applauded the fun and free strip-tease.
Gina remembered the stalker who had spread his arms to her and drew them slowly drew them back as if he was embracing her. She shivered and looked around. She didn't see him in the crowd.
Flora's party of four moved on, two of them speechless. Any pause they made was roundly contested by the people they stopped in front of, who were trying to see the street. It was hard to get the street clear, even for mounted policemen.
Their little party made slow progress until with some help from Elle, they got a ride in a barely moving horse-drawn carriage which followed the policeman and rested a while before rejoining the crowd waiting for the first float or band.
Hannah thought it odd that the policeman didn't turn around and fuss at the carriage.
"Maybe Elle took care of that too?" She wondered about it. She shrugged, maybe he was afraid to take his attention away from what was directly in front of him, mounted policeman or not.
Just then Elle tapped the driver on the shoulder and they got down to make their way to the side of the street, joining the crowd again as the band music got louder. The four of them held hands and elbows again to keep from getting separated.
Gina spoke in Hannah's ear, "Did you see who our driver was in the carriage?"
"Yes, it was Benjamin," Hannah giggled. "Wonder how long his bondage or whatever it is, lasts?"
"Who knows. What's Elle saying?"
Still moving slowly they were now in back of a seated group, four of whom were very drunk young men, one of them asleep, the others not far behind him.
"We'll sit here," Elle announced.
"But, there's no place," Gina wailed.
Elle sidled out into the street in front of the group, dragging her friends with her. "There will be when your butt hits the curb. MOVE! Sit! Now!"
All of them stood out in the street in front of the party of drunks and promptly sat when Elle told them to. They didn't look back or ask where the four drunks had gone. Nobody would have heard the question anyway. Then there came the first ear-splitting bang from a cannon on a float, and excitement of the first band and their music preceded the uniformed musicians down the street. The band was preceded by dancing clowns, majorettes, and a couple of unidentified people just trying to cross the street. The crowd let the good times roll uninhibited as the top of the first float came into view behind the band.
Purses over their shoulders, hugged against their sides, Gina, Hannah, Flora, and Elle from their seats on the curb joined the noise wholeheartedly.
"BEADS!"
"CANDY!"
"THROW US SOMETHING!"
The seats they had when Elle told them to close their eyes and sit couldn't have been better. Hannah licked dry lips, getting hoarse from yelling like everyone else.
Gina poked her side and handed her a bottle of water. Hannah looked gratefully at Elle and raised her bottle in salute.
People on the floats were generous and Elle and her friends were a popular target for thrown goodies. After the parade the crowd lost no time filling the street again and the four of them got up with their energy renewed and feeling excited. Their pockets and purses were full of candy and souvenirs. Beads of green, gold and purple hung around their necks, red ones and oversized pearls too, some decorating their arms as well.
"Everyone still attached?" Elle looked to see their hands were still joined. "Okay, let's go home and dump this stuff. Do you want to send for Benjamin or just go?"
"Just go!" It was unanimous.
They went, Elle's laughter ringing in their ears. Hannah wondered if Elle had somehow speeded their long walk, it see
med they got back to the motel in record time.
"Wow! I'm going to decorate my bedroom mirror with all these beads." Gina held up a handful to be admired. She had made bracelets of a couple of the large pearl strands.
"Me too," Hannah agreed. "But first I'm going to pick out the two best ones to surprise Tim with and put them around his neck like a Hawaiian lei and give him a big kiss." She added, "He was really worried about our coming here."
"Well, there wasn't anything to worry about," Elle reassured her. "And speaking of that, it looks like you've lost your boyfriend, Gina. I didn't see him anywhere, did you?"
"Nope, not that I wanted to."
"Thank goodness," Flora said. "It looks like New Orleans has managed to hang on to a few good things. I think Emeril Lagasse has his restaurant open again."
"He has. It's on Tchoupitoulas Street." Elle nodded.
"Oh, I guess that's too far from our place on Bourbon. I wouldn't want to bother Benjamin again."
"I would," Flora admitted.
"I wouldn't mind either." Elle wrinkled her nose, stifling a giggle. "After all, he's had the pleasure of deserving it."
"Don't ask." Flora warned when Gina opened her mouth.
"Forget about Benjamin. Let's go out and explore and just eat and drink where and when we feel like it" Flora suggested.
"Fantastic." Gina grinned at Hannah. "That's what we're here for, let's go."
Elle held the door and pat-protected it with a spell as they left, giving Flora a mischievous smile.
Down on the street the revelers were still reveling, the drinks were still flowing, the entertainment was still ear shattering. They nodded, smiled and hung onto each other in the densest places.
In addition to eating and drinking and sharing a spontaneous hug anywhere they wanted to, they explored the side streets and peered into iron fenced patios and read the legends in front when they found them at courtyards and historical places like the slave auction. The side streets held the most fascination for them. The iron fence protected courtyards looked full of history and ghosts of romances and they explored until they'd had their fill of sight-seeing.
Gina leaned against an iron gate and took off a shoe. She rubbed her foot and Flora pointed back toward Bourbon street, her eyebrows raised.
"Had enough sight-seeing?"
"I guess so." Gina looked wistfully around, awed by the history of the place. "What if this gate could talk?" Gina put her arms through the bars and embraced the intricate iron gate that barred the outside world from a courtyard right out of a historical novel with its dark, mysterious ambiance. There was a fountain too, now silent.
"There are some plaques on a few of them. Maybe they do talk, a little anyway." Flora said, then tilted her head, listening.
"What is it?" Elle turned to look at her.
"I thought I heard someone. Someone's in trouble—scared!"
A scream broke the relative silence of the night. All of them heard it, lifting their heads. It was a terrified scream, a woman's voice. It sounded like she was struggling, then there was a more breathless call for help.
"Around the corner." Hannah shouted and took off running toward the voice.
Gina, Flora and Elle ran too, following Hannah into the darkness.
The call for help had come from a recessed doorway on a street where it was too dark to see anything except the two figures struggling on the narrow steps that led to an upstairs apartment.
The woman who screamed was backed up against the recessed door, trying to free herself from the man attacking her. It was too dark to make out details except the two desperately struggling figures locked in that forced embrace.
Hannah got there first and hit the man on the back hard, between his shoulder blades.
He didn't even turn, intent on his attack. Her oversized purse banging against her side, she hit him on the head with her fists and pulled at his air, to no avail. He held onto the woman. He had one hand on her neck, the other tore at her blouse, tearing it. Her flesh and bra glowed white in the scant light as they struggled.
Gina managed to get a blow in and also pushed him suddenly and hard, putting all her weight behind the push, trying to get the attacker off balance or to loosen his hold so the woman could escape.
Flora managed to grasp one of the victim's flailing hands and gave it a hard, quick pull, trying to free her from another direction.
Elle scrambled in the beads around her neck for a police whistle she'd seen on one of the souvenirs. She found it and blew the whistle. Taking a huge breath, she blew it again, the sound piercing the night like another terrified scream.
Hannah backed up and kicked the man's backside as hard as she could as Elle stooped, taking off one of her high heeled shoes.
The blows from Elle's high heel made the man turn, sending Elle a glare so fierce she knew she would never forget that face. The hate on it was as fierce as the weapon he held, and her sharp witch's eyes recognized him. She knew that face even in the dim light.
The man still with a hand at his victim's throat fumbled at his belt for something. It was a large knife which looked like a pirate's scimitar or a weapon from a nightmare as he lifted up the big machete. The dim light flashed on the blade like heat lightning as he brandished it, threatening them.
The rescuers fell back, afraid of the formidable weapon, and the light fell full on his face.
The attacker was their stalker, the man who had followed Gina and called himself Jack.
They stared at each other for a breathless, terrified second, the attacker and the would-be rescuers, and Hannah managed to edge into the space beside the woman and put her arm around her back.
Flora heard a low growl and turned. She saw a dark four-legged shadow toward the end of the block. Desperately she clapped her hands and yelled, "Jake! JAKE!"
The dog sped to them growling louder, teeth bared. He leaped at the struggling couple. His sharp teeth tore at the man's jeans to no avail. Then he sank his teeth in the attacker's lower leg and hung on.
The attacker turned, trying to shake the dog off.
Hannah now had her arm around the woman's back and Flora was close beside her, there was no more room in the narrow inset.
The man let out a growl that sounded like the dog's and hit the woman's forehead with the flat of his hand. Her head hit the wooden door with a loud thud and she cried out again. She gasped in pain or maybe just trying to get her breath.
The attacker slashed back at the dog and missed. With one hand still on his victim, the other holding the machete, he turned and kicked the dog. It screeched and fell. Before it could get up the man stomped it viciously with the heavy steel toed boots he was wearing. He glanced back at Hannah and his victim as the dog got up and ran off on three legs, whimpering in pain. With an expression like a demon from hell he raised the long machete again.
All of them but Elle froze. She blew the police whistle again and at last they heard a distant siren. The man who called himself Jack stopped and turned on them a look as vicious as the weapon he carried.
He quickly raised the weapon and slashed his victim twice. She screamed again at the first slash, then she gasped and sounded like she was choking. The attacker let go of her and she sagged. He threw the machete down and ran.
The woman slumped against Hannah's arms, her warm blood flooding over Hannah as she went limp. Hannah put both arms around her and eased the woman down into a sitting position, setting her down against the door in the dark. Flora was beside her immediately and Hannah moved to make room for her.
Hannah got up from where Flora and the hurt woman sat in the doorway. She picked up the bloody knife as if in a dream, a nightmare she couldn't wake from. She felt trapped in the nightmare, looking at the awful, bloody weapon in her hand.
Gina stared too. "It's that thing Didi said was a sugar cane knife," she said in a soft, frightened voice.
Hannah took a deep breath and tried to speak normally. "He was trying to rape her. He—he killed
her!"
They stood in a forlorn group. Gina touched Hannah's arm and looked around at the others. "We all saw him, didn't we? It was that stalker named Jack."
"Yes." Flora confirmed it from the steps where she had been holding the victim. She let the woman lean back then. Tenderly she let her head rest against the door, her long, dark hair falling around her shoulders.
No one spoke until Flora said, "She's gone, Hannah. There's nothing I can do."
"Then, she's really—dead?" Hannah dropped the knife, not wanting to believe the woman was really dead. She gasped for breath, stifling a scream and put both hands on her cheeks, leaving them bloody, unable to say any more.
"Yes. She's gone, Hannah. But I guess Elle's police whistle got someone's attention, here comes a mounted policeman this way fast, and there's a van turning a corner down there."
"Oh!" Shaken and pale, Hannah just stood where she was, unaware of the blood on her face and clothes, the bloody machete at her feet. Tears were flowing now. She wiped at them in vain. Eyes on the approaching policeman. Straining to see better.
"The police are here, Hannah." Flora's voice was gentle. "Do you hear me?" Hannah stood still, looking stunned.
"It's over," Flora repeated. "The police are here. The murderer is gone."
The next few minutes were a confused blur for Hannah, Gina, and Flora.
Hannah wondered idly, like she was in a waking nightmare where time stood still, where Elle was.
The police were doing their jobs, looking at the victim, the area, and the women standing there looking on. They made notes for their report and one of them made a call for some kind of back up.
"That preliminary report or whatever the police are doing sounds bad," Gina whispered to Flora. "He called us three female tourists and said he found us with the victim who was stabbed. Motive was possible robbery, somebody else said."
Flora looked around at Hannah, and Gina. "He's just putting down what he saw when he got here. But you saw his face, didn't you, Hannah? You saw the murderer's face?"
Hannah nodded.
"Good. So did I, all of us did. All of us can vouch for Jack being the one who attacked this poor woman."
The Mardi Gras Murder Page 12