"I stop back for you?" He smiled like a tooth paste ad.
"That's all right, I'll get a ride. Thank you."
"I look around just in case. We go to the cemetery now, we be back. You wave me down any time if you need ride."
"I will," Elfrieda smiled as she exited. She looked after it as the little bus lurched and turned back out of the overgrown drive into the park.
She followed some others who were entering at the entrance to the alligator farm. There was a line at the place selling tickets and she looked around at all the signs and advertisements about the feeding times and the alligators. The show times were listed too and she was just in time for the feeding.
As she waited, a little boy about five stuck his tongue out at her and stepped on her expensive sandals with his muddy cowboy boots. His mother paid no attention.
They were a little ahead of her as they passed the place to buy souvenirs and snacks. Elfrieda bought the little one a big pink cone of cotton candy and handed it to him as he and his mother went through the gate to watch the show. They sat on one side of the wooden benches and Elfrieda went to the opposite side. She smiled as the little one looked around and squirmed beside his mother. His waving it around landed the big pink cone of sticky candy in his mother's hair, to Elfrieda's amusement. She continued to search the growing crowd for some sign of the mysterious Jack.
She didn't have long to wait. Girlish laughter caught her attention. She recognized Jack from Flora's description when she saw him.
Since Elfrieda also stood out from the crowd it wasn't long until Jack noticed her. Their eyes met, appreciation in his, hers sizing him up.
As she watched, someone spoke to him. He turned and Elfrieda saw a bandage on the back of his leg where the dog had bitten him.
Elfrieda got up and made her way back to the place selling cotton candy and other goodies. A heavy set woman in a sleeveless patio dress handed a hotdog to a boy and turned to her, but kept an eye on sales being made.
"Are you the proprietor of the alligator farm?" Elfrieda asked the woman overseeing the teenagers who were selling candy and drinks.
"Me and my man there." She pointed to a man putting raw chicken parts in a bucket and openly looked Elfrieda over. "I not want to buy nothing." She looked to see if Elfrieda had anything with her like magazines. There was only a small shoulder bag.
"I'm not selling anything. I want to know that man's name?" Elfrieda pointed at Jack who was entertaining some teenage girls by pretending to eat some of the raw chicken parts.
"His name not Jack," the woman looked at Elfrieda in disgust. "And he too young for you and he too old for them." She waved an arm at the youngsters surrounding Jack.
"I don't care how old he is, or thinks he is, I just want to know his name. Now." Elfrieda's eyes held hers.
"His name Jean Baptiste Meroux." Her expression changed to worried and she volunteered nothing further.
"He ever get hurt doing this?"
"No. He know how to watch himself."
"He have a home address?"
"Since the storms, I'm not sure. He work here, he show up every day. Do some clearing, some construction too, I think."
"But his name is Jean Baptiste Meroux?"
"Yes." The woman nodded.
"Thank you." Elfrieda moved away. Instead of sitting down again she stood as close as she could to watch the show and the feeding.
His boss beckoned Jean to help with the feeding. Jean took an exaggerated bow for his admirers and went to help. He took one of the containers of chicken parts and fish. Looking at the group of young girls, he leaned far out over the water as he held up the chicken pieces to tease the scaly beasts and hear the teenage ohs and gasps of admiration.
Part of Jack's act was to make his work look dangerous and he was good at that. He looked fearless, leaning out with the feed and seemingly taking chances of losing a limb to entertain the crowd.
As Jack worked, he stepped farther down in the shallow water, grinning at the admiring girls. The water he stood in was almost up to the lower edge of the bandage on his calf.
Elfrieda blinked and the alligator Jean leaned over jumped up, thrashing its big tail. The tail whacked Jack's thigh, the one with the bandage on the calf. Two other young workers quickly grabbed him, pulling him away from the alligator which quickly swam to grab chicken he'd dropped from one of the other alligators.
They laid Jean Baptiste Meroux a few feet back from the water and Elfrieda was there instantly. She knelt beside him and used her tunic for cover. Her long tunic hid the flask she held against an artery in his leg to fill it with Jean's blood. No one saw her make another small gash in his leg about where the sugar cane knife would hang from his belt. She was expressionless as Jean bled freely. But she pressed hard on the artery, ignoring the smaller gash. A girl and boy in white uniforms had called an ambulance and hovered nearby, watching Elfrieda holding her hand on the artery.
Elfrieda beckoned to the girl. "Put your hand here." She guided the girl's reluctant hand. "That's an artery. Push hard."
"I'm not a nurse." The girl's eyes were terrified. "They just have us stand here in these white uniforms to make it look good, like there's medical help nearby."
"Well you are now medical help." Elfrieda dragged the reluctant hand back to the right place. The vial of warm blood safely stowed in a pocket of her tunic, she also unbuckled Jean's belt and used it to fasten tightly around Jean's leg. "Here, hold this right here. Hold it tightly now, or he'll bleed to death." Her look included the boy, also in a white uniform.
The girl was pale enough to faint but the young boy who had joined them held the belt tightly as Elfrieda told him and the siren of an ambulance was fast approaching.
Elfrieda was ready to leave, mission accomplished. She had the correct name, some blood to place at the scene of the crime, and eyed the bandage on the man's calf as she left.
The other farm help had herded the offending alligator into a different pond and the emergency crew from the ambulance was bearing down on their victim. Elfrieda quickly repeated the instruction she had given the youngsters in white.
"Sit here beside him. Don't let go till they get here and take over." She nodded at the emergency crew. "Can you?"
The boy nodded and Elfrieda left. She emerged from the gate and didn't look back. There was no sign of the little church bus with the chiggers on it. Elfrieda stepped behind some flowering shrubs and disappeared.
Chapter 29
Hannah felt like she'd been in the New Orleans lock up for weeks. She waited where the detective who took her statement had left her until a uniformed policeman came to her and said, "Hannah McLaughlin?" She nodded.
She was taken to another room like the one where she had given the recorded statement. The policeman waved her in. There was the usual table and chair like the other interview room. There was a telephone and a phone book on the table. Hannah gaped at the size of the phone book and was glad she didn't need it. She slowly walked over and looked at the phone, wondering if long distance would be allowed, as if that was the worst of her troubles.
"Who can I call? Oh, I'd love to talk to Tim, just to hear his voice. But I can't. I just can't call him. I'll have to call Jo Beth. Poor dear. What a thing to hear. Oh, Lord. Hannah took a deep breath. I work for her. I've got to call her."
She pulled the phone closer to her and was staring at it as if it would bite when she saw a face in the glass insert near the top of the door.
The door opened and a nice looking man wearing slacks and a tie stuck his head in. "I'm Captain Dubois, are you having some kind of trouble?"
"Not yet. The call I've got to make is long distance," Hannah said timidly. "Is that all right?"
"Yes." He smiled and added, "Of course, we expect you to be brief."
"Oh," Hannah's face was full of dread. "It will be brief." She got a grip on the phone. She was shaking again as the man left.
The phone at the Pine County Library rang several times. Ha
nnah pictured Jo Beth with her hands full and with no time to be taking phone calls from jailbird employees. Tears started lolling down both cheeks.
"Pine County Library," Jo Beth said breathlessly.
"Jo Beth?" Hannah's voice caught in her throat.
"Hannah?"
"Yes. It's me, unless this is some kind of night mare."
"Nightmare? Where are you? You don't sound like you. Hannah, are you all right? I was just wishing you were here, but that's selfish, isn't it? Are you having a good time? Somehow, you don't sound like it. Where did you say you were?"
Hannah wiped her eyes and nose. "I guess it will be a while till I get back."
"What? What do you mean it will be a while. Why? And how long?"
Hannah had put off the bad news as long as she could. She just blurted it out.
"About twenty-five or thirty years if I'm lucky." Hannah cried, sobbing, letting the tears fall, trying to wipe her face with the inadequate tissues from a box on the table.
* * *
Elfrieda lost no time getting back to the scene of the crime. There was no one around except a wino who shambled away, clutching a nearly empty bottle.
The wooden steps and door where the victim had died were in bad need of replacement. Someone had put wood on top of the old and worn marble steps in front of the door. Elfrieda beckoned at the loose board near the door and it raised enough for her to pour the sample of blood into the worn places of the stone beneath it. She blew a torrid breath on the blood till it was completely dry. She pulled a piece of Jean Baptiste Meroux's torn jeans from her purse and left a piece sticking out from a crack in the wooden cover just far enough to see.
* * *
Captain Dubois reached for his ringing phone. "Dubois."
"This is Elfrieda. I need you."
"Great news," he laughed. "What hotel are you in?"
"Get your brains on your work, will you? You said to get out and find some evidence and to get this murderer's real name. I've done all that. Come to the address where the murder happened and bring some crime scene people with you."
"What are you saying? You found some evidence they didn't?"
"That's right. I've also got his name. His full name. Just get over here and do your job and be helpful. Now."
"I've already been helpful," Dubois defended himself. "I helped Hannah McLaughlin figure out how to use the phone."
"All right, thanks." There was something that sounded like a giggle. "Ten merit points for that. Now come get this evidence. Now, Dubois And do you have a name besides Dubois?"
"Yes, It's Daniel H."
"H?"
"Hercule."
"I'll call you Daniel."
"I was hoping you would. I'll be there soon as I can round up help from the Crime Scene people. Can you tell me a bit about this evidence? Does it place this Jack at the scene?"
"Yes. You said find some of his blood. I did. That's why I said to get the crime scene people. There's some blood they didn't find and a small piece of his jeans. Small but his."
"How do you know the blood and the other are his?"
"Do you really want to know?"
"No. But I do want to know if it's his?"
"It is. I have his name and where he works too. Come now."
* * *
Cas hung up his phone as Rhodes came in the outer door. "You didn't happen to see Troy Spruce anywhere around town before you came in, did you? I've tried several times to get him at his office in Rainbow Cove, and you know how I hate to leave calls."
"You want me to hunt him up?"
"Oh, no. Just wanted to tell him about Clint releasing Julia Timkins. I've already spoken with her parents."
Cas shook his head looking miserable. "All we need now is for him to be missing too. Or is that just wishful thinking on my part?" He looked happier.
Rhodes's laugh cut off suddenly as he looked back at the parking lot. "Looks like your luck's run out. He's coming in. And he's got Muriel with him. I think it's Muriel."
Cas went to meet them at the door, giving Muriel a puzzled look.
"Gladys, hold my calls."
He ushered Troy, Muriel, and Rhodes into his office and closed the door.
* * *
Jo Beth was having phone problems at the library too. Exasperated, she disconnected and dialed the County Judge's Office again.
"I just called and got cut off somehow," Jo Beth started when a young, female voice answered.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, can I help you?"
"Yes. I want to talk to Tim Carpenter."
"I'm sorry, he's out of his office just now, would you like to leave a message?"
"No, I don't want to leave my number. Is he gone for the day or in a meeting, or will he be back soon?"
"If you'll hold a minute, ma'am, I'll go and check in the break room and the office next to us."
"I don't care if you have to send out a DOG, this is important!" Jo Beth realized she was shouting and lowered her voice. "I've got to talk to him. And don't put me on hold. I'll wait for you to get back."
* * *
Elfrieda watched as Daniel and the crime scene crew drew up to the curb at the murder scene.
"There," she pointed it out to Daniel. "See that little scrap of something? I pulled the board up and there was this blood. It's got to be the murderer's. He was bitten by a dog, and he may have been wounded somehow too, with the three women and his victim trying to fight him and his sugar cane knife off. He could also have cut himself in the struggle. Anyway, it's his blood and it's there."
"Elfrieda, tell me the God's truth. These three girls tried to help this woman and this Jack Whats-His-Name is the real killer? They witnessed him killing her with his sugar cane machete."
Elrieda glared at him. "God doesn't own the truth, Daniel. But that's the truth. Jack is the killer and I've also got his real name and there's the evidence." She gestured toward the step.
"Sorry. I had to know. Are you going to pick him up," Dubois resorted to sarcasm, "or are you going to let me do that?"
"I don't have to pick him up. And you'll have no trouble with him. He's in no shape to resist. I went to his work place and was there when a big alligator whacked him with its tail. Right now he's in whatever hospital they took him to. He's in no shape to leave and shouldn't be too hard to find. In case you don't have his DNA to compare this blood at the scene to, you'll be able to get it at the hospital."
Dubois looked efficient but demanded answers. "What's his real name?"
Elfrieda handed him a piece of paper. "Here it is. His name, the name of the place he was working too. He's probably got a record for this sort of thing. Attacking women if not murder. And he's probably most dangerous during Mardi Gras, sort of like the full moon."
"He doesn't have a furry face and pointed ears does he?"
"Might as well have. I don't know what hospital they took him to but you should have no trouble finding him. The ambulance was coming as I left. I left rather quickly." She looked away.
"I'll bet you did." He looked at the information. "I'll hunt him up. He's not going to die on me is he? How bad off is he?"
"Not bad off enough," Elfrieda said through clenched teeth. "I probably saved his life. Sudden death is too good for him."
"How did this come about? You saving his life?"
"Wound in an artery in his leg. I used his belt for a tourniquet." She spoke softly, watching the crime scene people at work.
"I saw he had a bandage on his calf too, probably where the dog bit him." Elfrieda added. "This is the murderer, Dubois, no doubt about it."
Dubois watched in silence as a man in a white lab coat knelt to check out the evidence, swabbing at the blood and mumbling something under his breath. Elfrieda had a few choice words for the man who was complaining and glared at Dubois.
"What did you expect me to do?" Daniel's voice was impatient addressing the crime scene man. "But the lady's got a point, several of them. You should have done a better job and found th
is blood when you were out here before. I've got a bone to pick with a couple of detectives too. More should have been done to find this person all three of those women said they saw. All they did was a jim-dandy job of locking up those three innocent women."
"Nobody even tried to find the attacker when all three women said they saw him," Elfrieda stressed the point.
"Don't blame them, there was one victim and the women and no one but them saw this character with the machete." Daniel came to the defense of his department, all of them. "But you're right, after all their statements were taken someone should have been looking for this mysterious Jack."
The crime scene crew did a fine job of ignoring Dubois and he turned his attention back to Elfrieda. "And have you stopped to consider, you're in the vieux carre? It might have been against the law to pull up that board as you evidently did?"
"Sue me!" Elfrieda hissed. "I'll call you later."
The evidence was finally gathered and properly labeled. The communication becoming colder and less frequent until the man in the lab coat asked Dubois, "You want to ride back with us?"
"No. Just go get on this and have Jean Baptiste Meroux's rap sheet and any DNA there might be there checked too. I'll check with you when I get back."
Elfrieda reappeared as the crime scene crew made an illegal u-turn and left.
"I'm glad you're back. No one should leave angry, or go to sleep mad." Lebo said.
Elfrieda looked at the board where she'd put Jack's blood. "I guess not. Anyway, you'll see that they get on this now. No waiting around for anything else?"
"Yes. I've called Detective Dugan to find Jack and I'll follow up soon as I get back. Right now I'm hungry and I like to live dangerously, will you have lunch with me?" Dubois said.
"Yes," Elfrieda's face finally relaxed into a smile. "Arguing with you takes a lot out of a person, Hercule."
"Just drop the Hercule. How about a truce?"
"All right, what do you have in mind?"
"How about a po-boy now or some shrimp or, since it's our first dinner together, Antoine's or the Commander's?"
"Antoine's."
Daniel nodded, "Will we need a cab?"
The Mardi Gras Murder Page 16