"Coot, do you think Lillith could have been talking to someone else?" Coleman asked.
"I don't know. Maybe." I could see the thought troubled him.
"Was there anyone who hated Lillith?"
"She aggravated a lot of people, but I can't think of anyone who would hurt her. If she wasn't in one of her spells, she kept to herself. Lillith never did anyone a lick of harm."
"Who would she call a spawn of Satan?" I asked.
He shrugged. "Someone she thought of as a sinner, I guess. I never heard her say that before." He was frowning when he spoke again. "One of the volunteer firemen found a burned can. Like a gasoline can. They assumed it was used for the lawn mower. But I've been thinking on it. Lillith didn't have a lawn mower. I brought mine over to use to cut her grass. And I brought my own gas can, too. Someone else brought that gas can to her house."
Coleman and I rode for a while in silence. We were both digesting Coot's story. Coleman had left a card with the number of a substance abuse counselor on Coot's table. Only time would tell if he would use it.
"What do you think?" I asked Coleman.
"I wish I could examine the fire scene."
"If we're exchanging wishes, I wish I could see into the future." But the minute the words were out of my mouth, I knew they weren't true. Doreen was right about one thing she'd said— the present was the place to be. The past and the future held only turmoil.
"Coot was a good deputy when he was on the force. His liaison with Lillith cost him a lot. Folks thought the worst of him because he never married, never seemed to care for anyone. Yet he stuck by Lillith until she died."
Coleman stared out at a particularly bleak cotton field that had been mauled by a combine. Once upon a time, we would have heard the voices of men and women singing in the rows. Now there was only the drone of machinery.
"Something else was strange," I said as I pulled into the parking lot of Playin' the Bones, where Coleman had left his truck. "Doreen's brother is dead. He drowned."
"There's a lot of death around that woman," Coleman said. "I'll check more on that fire. It does sound suspicious. The coroner's report showed she died of smoke inhalation. It could have been an accident or she could have been knocked unconscious before someone started the fire. That would make it murder." He leaned over and brushed his lips on my cheek. "You be careful, Sarah Booth."
He got out of the car and walked to his truck. I felt a loss so keen that I wanted to stop him. But I didn't. He was doing the right thing.
I couldn't face going home to Jitty's scrutiny. I knew there was something wrong with me, and I knew she'd point it out. I'd just left Hamilton's bed, yet I was grieving for the loss of Coleman.
I drove to Mollie's house. When she let me in the front door, I stopped dead in my tracks. The dress, fitted to the dressmaker's mannequin, stood in the front room. If Cinderella's fairy godmother had been standing there with her magic wand, I wouldn't have been surprised. Mollie had worked a miracle. Seeing the dress on another form allowed me to see how magnificent it was.
"It's finished," Mollie said. "You can take it with you."
"You must have hemmed all night long," I said.
"My hands feel wonderful. It was a pleasure to use my needle again." She held her hands out as if she were admiring a ring, but her fingers were ringless except for a plain gold wedding band. The deforming knots of arthritis were gone.
"What can I do to thank you, Mollie?"
"I'll send you a bill for the dress and material. What you can really do is save Doreen Mallory. That woman's been touched by God. She couldn't have killed her baby."
"I'll do my best," I said, helping her bag the dress, the mask, and the black-sequined wrap she'd concocted.
The dress was too beautiful to simply ignore, so I drove to Madame Tomeeka's to show her. Tammy would appreciate the ball gown, and I owed her a visit. I didn't want her to worry about me.
I carried the dress to her front door and knocked. She opened the door and pulled me inside.
"Put it on," she said, showing me to a bedroom. "I don't want to see it on a hanger. I want to see it on you." She closed the door.
I slipped out of my clothes and into the dress, feeling very much like a princess. The dress could make Humpty-Dumpty feel beautiful. I walked into her front room and did a twirl to her applause.
"Girl, you're going to make every man at the Black and Orange Ball swoon with desire."
"Hamilton'll be there," I said, grinning like a fool.
"I know." She didn't grin back.
"What's wrong?" I'd restored Hamilton's reputation when I solved the case. He hadn't killed his mother.
"Put your clothes on and come drink some coffee with me," Tammy said. She went to the kitchen while I pulled on my jeans. I found her there, the coffee and a storm cloud on her forehead brewing.
"I've been dreaming about you," she said.
"I know."
"Well, I know what the dream means now."
"The lion and the wolf?" I was curious but not disturbed.
"You were between them, petting both, caring for both. But it can't last. They're predators, and you must choose one or the other." She poured us both a cup of coffee.
I was confused. "They're dream creatures."
"Dream images represent real things," Tammy said. "I knew as soon as I heard that Hamilton was back in the States that he was the wolf. And the lion is—"
"Coleman." I understood.
"What I'm afraid of, Sarah Booth, is that once you choose, the other will destroy you."
"Neither of them is like that. They wouldn't hurt me."
"Not intentionally. But the longer you drag it out, the harder it's going to be. On you and on them."
She came to me and hugged me. "I had a dream about your parents, too."
"I could use a little good news."
"They were dancing in the parlor like they used to do. Your mother looked up at your father and he bent and kissed her lips. She said, 'I love you.' They were so happy. Then she turned and looked at me, and they vanished."
"And what wisdom am I supposed to take from that?"
"Love is eternal, Sarah Booth. Trust your heart."
"It would seem that my heart is a greedy organ."
Tammy gave my arm a squeeze. "I've known you for a long, long time and I wouldn't agree with that." She checked her watch. "My client will be here any minute."
"And I need to get back on the road." I did. I knew Doreen would be waiting for me on pins and needles. "Thanks, Tammy."
"Be careful, Sarah Booth."
I didn't bother going back by Dahlia House. I headed south. I called Lee on my cell phone to make sure she and Kip could still tend to my critters. Once she agreed, I drove with a vengeance.
Getting the dress to my room without Tinkie seeing it was going to be a challenge, but I wanted it to be a surprise. I slunk through the lobby and tiptoed down the hallway to my room. When I opened the door, the aroma of the star-gazer lilies made me close my eyes and smile. The ball was going to be wonderful.
My message light was blinking, but I called Doreen before I did anything else. She answered the phone at her apartment on the first ring, and I wondered if she was haunted by the memories of her daughter like I was sometimes haunted by my parents.
"I didn't find anything conclusive, but there is a possibility that someone killed your mother."
"Who?"
"Coot Henderson said he thought she was talking to someone. Someone she called the spawn of Satan."
There was a long silence. "My whole family is dead," Doreen said. It was the first time I'd heard her sound even the tiniest bit defeated. "My mother and my daughter possibly murdered. One brother dead at childbirth and one drowned."
"I'm sorry, Doreen."
"How would my life be different if I'd known my parents and my brothers? If Rebekah had grown up to be a young woman?"
She was talking in the realm of the impossible, but I kept my lips z
ipped. Loss and grief were immune to rational thought. But she was right about the history of tragic violence that went core-deep in her family.
I had news for her that was either going to cheer her up or depress her more. "When I talked to LeMont last night, he'd had Rebekah's baby bottle fingerprinted."
"And my prints were on it." She sounded resigned.
"Yes, and Pearline's, and another set."
"Whose?"
"Oren Weaver's."
There was a pause. "That's impossible. Oren never saw my baby. He never once saw her. I made sure of that."
"Maybe he didn't just see her, Doreen. Maybe he murdered her."
21
After I hung up with an awakening Doreen, I listened to my messages. Tinkie had gone over the Center's books and was having dinner with Oscar. There were several investments she wanted to discuss with her husband. Cece was at Shimmy Chang's, a Chinese restaurant/floor show that specialized in the city's most beautiful transvestites who sang, performed, and embarrassed patrons half to death. I could only grin as I imagined the fun she was having.
There was a call from Hamilton. All he said was, "I miss you." But it was the way he said it. There was an invitation and a promise in those three little words. A delicious shiver went over me, and I sprinted out the door to his apartment.
On the way to Hamilton's I thought about Doreen. She had at long last begun to believe that one of her lovers might have killed her baby. I felt a little guilty at robbing her of her innocence, but now she'd begin to take the murder charge seriously. Once she believed someone had murdered her child, healer or not, she'd want vengeance.
I bolted through the door of Hamilton's building, earning an amused glance from the doorman. Where had he been the first night I'd come to this place? I'd been in a sexual trance. Smiling, I pressed the elevator button. My cell phone rang.
Tinkie was breathless with excitement. "Sarah Booth, you have to see this. It's big. Really big."
"Can you tell me on the phone?" I heard the elevator glide to a stop.
"No. You have to see it."
The door whispered open. I looked longingly at the elevator that could transport me to the penthouse and Hamilton. Damn! "Where are you, Tinkie?"
"At Luna Blue."
It was a small cafe on the river. I could walk there faster than a taxi could get me there. "I'm on the way," I said. I left the building with a lot less spunk than I'd entered. On the way I telephoned Hamilton and told him I had to work. I waited tensely for his reaction.
"I'll leave the door open for you when you finish. If you're too tired, I'll see you tomorrow."
He said it with such grace. "Thank you, Hamilton." I hung up and headed past the gaudy T-shirt shops, the frozen-daiquiri places, the gay bars, the Western bars, the leather shops, and antiques emporiums. I crossed Decatur and found the heavy oak door of Luna Blue.
Tinkie and Oscar were at the bar. Oscar came forward to greet me. The kiss on my cheek was a real surprise. Oscar wasn't demonstrative. In the quick glance I got into his eyes, I saw they were shadowed with worry.
"Look at this," Tinkie said, waving a document at me.
The light in the bar wasn't the best, but Oscar provided an intense penlight that made the numbers jump off the page. I could see them; I just couldn't understand them. "Please explain."
"Oscar found it. It's an investment line that's listed as Doreen's IRA."
"And?" The only thing wrong with that was that a tarot card reader in Jackson Square had an IRA. I didn't.
"It's the companies the money is invested in. One's a munitions manufacturer. Another is one of the biggest polluters on the face of the planet."
That was a little strange. Doreen was one with the universe. She didn't want to shoot it or pollute it. "Maybe Doreen doesn't know. I mean, a lot of people don't have a clue what the companies they invest in do."
"True," Oscar said, "but I looked over the books and I can't find out where the money came from. It's just there. I have no doubt Doreen earned the money, but it's just a little irregular. And guess who's listed as the beneficiary?"
"Michael?"
"On every single policy." Tinkie couldn't help but be smug. She'd done a fabulous job.
"The plot thickens," I said, telling her about Oren Weaver's fingerprints. "Now we have great motivation for each of them."
Tinkie's brow furrowed. "But who else would Doreen leave her things to? She hasn't any family. Perhaps it's all legitimate. Maybe she trusted Michael to continue with her work."
She had a point, but it would be interesting to hear Michael's answers and compare them to what Doreen said.
"Tinkie, you did an excellent job," I said, hugging her. I even got Oscar to unbend a little more when I gave him a hug and thanked him for his help.
I was about to make my exit and return to the arms of amore when my cell phone rang again. I hated the dratted thing.
"You'll never believe what that bitch Ellisea has gone and done." Cece had lost the veneer of sophistication she loved to convey. "Where are you?"
"Luna Blue."
"I'm right outside. Call Tinkie. We need a powwow."
"She's already here." Hamilton would have to wait a little longer. Sisterhood came first.
Cece breezed into the restaurant, bellied right up to the bar, and ordered a giant green goblin. "Not a word until I have something to drink," Cece ordered, waving us back from her.
I eyed the drink with some suspicion as the bartender mixed it and put it in front of her. She peeled a straw and proceeded to suck the entire concoction down. I was truly impressed.
When the last drop had been hoovered into her mouth, she turned on her bar stool and addressed us with her famous poise. "Dahlings, I've had the most traumatic evening."
The drink had revived Cece's decorum and a bit of her color.
"What happened?" Tinkie didn't beat around the bush.
"I was at Shimmy Chang's." She rolled her eyes. "Those gals are too much. I have to say even I was a little shocked."
"Go on," Oscar put in impatiently.
"Well, who should show up but Ellisea Boudet Clay. At Chang's! And she was outraged that I was there."
"How did she know you were there?" I asked, realizing there was more to this story than Cece was volunteering.
"Because I confronted her about that charity auction. I walked right over to her, and I told her that I knew what she was doing and why."
Cece was a woman now, but the vestiges of the balls she'd once had came through. I gave her arm a squeeze.
"What did she say?" Tinkie asked.
"She gave me this cold stare, like I was dog poo on her shoe.
Then her lip curled"—Cece demonstrated, showing perfect teeth—"and she told me to get lost or I'd be sorry."
"That's it?" I was disappointed.
"No, because I refused to go. I asked her why she'd tried to blackball me. I wanted to hear her say it. She denied she'd done it, and then this man came up to the table and she flipped out. She called me the most vulgar name. I retaliated by saying the name of her electrolysis clinic. That's when she lunged across the table."
We were all leaning forward in our chairs, even Oscar. "And?" he urged.
"And that man caught her by the arms and restrained her. She was spitting and hissing at him and telling him that he'd pay for touching her. That he was just a 'backwater dick' that her father had 'pulled from the slime.'
"He told her that her father would be furious if she created a public scene. He said she had a lot to lose."
"He was a private investigator?" I was intrigued.
"No, he's a cop. His name's LeMont. She called him by name." She grinned.
"Arnold LeMont?" Tinkie asked.
Cece shrugged. "She only used his last name. About six feet, dark hair and eyes. Maybe forty. Could be attractive, but something predatory in the eyes."
It was a perfect description of the police detective handling Doreen's case. And now he was dining
with one of my suspect's wife—and obviously sharing a long history, if Cece had heard accurately, which she always did.
"What was Ellisea doing in Chang's?" I wondered aloud.
"I think she went there to meet that cop, because she knew no one on the social calendar would be caught dead in a restaurant full of transvestites," Cece said. "She thought she was safe there."
I gave Cece a power hug. She might never make the social register of Daddy's Girls or their New Orleans counterpart, but she was the real thing, through and through.
I was about to make my withdrawal from the group once more when the evil little gadget in my purse rang again. Desperate to get to Hamilton, I checked the number. It was from a local pay phone. With a sigh, I answered.
"I need to talk to you," the male voice said. "Right now. O'Flaherty's on Toulouse."
The line went dead. I looked at my partner and my friends. "Speak of the Devil," I said. "LeMont wants to meet me."
The detective's connections to the powerful Clay family were well worth looking into. The senator was a prime suspect, and Ellisea had the temperament of a cold-blooded assassin. Would she kill a baby to protect her position and power? I didn't have a doubt she'd eat her young if they got in the way of her ambition.
LeMont's investigation had been sketchy at best. He'd fingered Doreen and looked no further. Perhaps it was a simple rush to judgment, or it could be something much darker—a frame. If LeMont was owned by the Boudet family, there was no telling what he'd do to protect the senator or his wife.
Add to that the fact that LeMont had stayed on the case instead of turning it over to a juvenile officer, the normal procedure. The detective had claimed a juvenile detective wasn't available.
I hadn't told LeMont that I suspected Thaddeus Clay, but if he was owned by Ellisea, I didn't have to tell him. She would have. Which complicated everything.
Despite the protestations of my chums, I went to the bar alone. Since it wasn't far, I walked. My thoughts turned to my casual turn of phrase. "Speak of the Devil." "Spawn of Satan." Remarks with religious overtones were embedded in our language. But who could Lillith have been referring to? My gut told me that the answer to that would reveal some important facts. The trouble was, I didn't have a way to find that answer. The physical evidence of the fire had long been destroyed.
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