“We’re over here!” I yelled, as soon as someone’s door screeched open and closed. “Down by the river.”
Lance appeared first. He quickly rounded the bend, his navy-blue police uniform a dark splotch against the tangled kudzu. He must’ve had an important meeting back at headquarters, because he usually wore blue jeans or khakis whenever he went out to investigate a crime. A tall, handsome African American, he wore his police dress blues well.
He first inspected the placid water, and when he finished, he glanced my way. “There you are.”
Several officers followed him through the kudzu, including one who wore a rubber wet suit. A scuba face mask dangled from the diver’s neck, and he carried a long stick in his arms.
I didn’t move, and I didn’t point out where Ruby’s body lay. I knew better than that. During every other police investigation, Lance separated me from everyone else before he asked me any questions. That way, my memories wouldn’t crisscross with another witness’s…like Hollis.
Sure enough, the diver headed for Hollis, while Lance moved to where I stood.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” he said, once he reached me.
“I’m fine.” I nodded at the teenager. “But you might want to check on him. I think he’s going into shock.”
“I’ll do that in a minute. First things first. Where did you find the body?”
“I didn’t find the body. Hollis did. And he found her over there.” I pointed to the clump of hydrilla, which bobbed so innocently on the water’s surface.
“Did she come to the surface?” Lance asked.
“No, she didn’t. Hollis had to struggle to reach her. But he could only touch her shoe, so he gave up.”
“Gotcha.” Lance cast another knowing look at the water. After pulling a pen from the pocket of his uniform, he followed it up with a slim notebook. “You know I’ll need to take you to the police station to videotape your statement. And it’ll take us awhile to secure the area.” He scribbled a few notes as he spoke.
“Of course. But, Lance…what do you think happened?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, once he finished writing, he scanned the river again. This time, his gaze lingered on the floating hydrilla.
Not that I wanted to be nosy—okay, maybe a little nosy—but he seemed to be going through a checklist in his mind. And, knowing Lance, he’d already connected enough of the dots to put together a rough picture of the crime.
“I know you, Lance. You think something’s wrong, don’t you?”
“Let’s not jump the gun.”
“But this doesn’t make sense. Ruby knew how to swim.”
Lance threw me a look. “You’re jumping the gun. The ME will do an autopsy today, maybe tomorrow. We’ll get the summary report first, like we always do. In the meantime, why don’t you head over to my police cruiser and wait for me there.”
He jerked his thumb back to indicate a shiny new police car. Thank goodness, he didn’t expect me to ride back to the station in his Oldsmobile, which he tended to treat like an oversized trash dumpster. Although there were far more important things to worry about, I didn’t relish the thought of sitting next to a week’s worth of Cheetos wrappers and Diet Coke cans.
“All right. I’ll head over there and let you do your job in peace.”
“Thank you. And there’s one more thing. I don’t want the boy to be here when we dredge up Ruby’s body. He doesn’t need to see that.”
“But what if he won’t leave her?” I’d seen the frantic look on Hollis’s face when he realized he couldn’t pull his grandmother free.
“He’ll have to leave her. Like I said, it’s something no one should have to see. Drowning victims tend to bloat up once the bacteria invades their organs. The same thing happens to their eyes. They bulge—”
“Okay, okay. I get it.” No need for me to picture Ruby’s body decomposing in the water only a few steps away. “I’ll try my best.”
“Thank you. Now might be a good time to distract him, so we can get to work.”
As I turned away from Lance, my gaze traveled to the diver and his long pole. He’d already donned the face mask, and he’d telescoped the pole—which stretched about four feet—to twice that length. A sinister-looking hook capped the end of it.
Lance noticed my stare. “We call it a snag bar. The diver will dredge it through the water until it catches on her clothes.”
“That’s horrible.” Especially ominous was a large three-pronged hook at the end, which looked like one of the treble hooks my grandpa used whenever he went fishing.
Lance shrugged. “It’s the best system we have for pulling bodies out of shallow water. Otherwise, we’d use a drag bar on the back of a motorboat. But that’s only when someone dies in a deep lake, or out in the ocean.”
Although Lance sounded perfectly comfortable discussing the various ways police could recover a drowning victim, I’d heard enough. It didn’t seem natural to stand on dry land and talk about someone else when their body was slowly disintegrating under the water.
“Hey, Hollis.” I quickly moved to the teenager. “I forgot something back at your house. Could you take me back there, please?”
The boy didn’t respond. He still looked shell-shocked, as if he had no idea where he was or how long he’d been there. Although someone had draped a blanket around him, his skinny shoulder blades still trembled.
“Please,” I repeated. “I don’t remember how to get back to your house.”
Finally, his stare snapped. “But I can’t leave her down there. Grandma needs me.”
“Oh, honey.” My heart hurt for him. “She doesn’t need you anymore. There’s nothing you can do. And we’ve got to let the police do their jobs. Please.”
Cautiously, I took Hollis by the hand and slowly turned him away from the scene. Neither of us spoke as we began to shuffle slowly back to the mobile home. What was there to say?
The day had started off so well. Hollis couldn’t wait to tell me all about his new business, which he hoped would attract tourists from far and wide. After all, how many chances did people have to observe a real-live alligator in its natural habitat?
But when one of the “alligators” turned out to be something far more sinister, the day had taken an ominous turn. And neither of us knew how to right it again.
Chapter 4
I numbly trudged ahead of Hollis on the surface road, sneaking a peek back every so often to make sure he was okay.
Once again, the marshland was eerily quiet, with only the whoosh of a soft breeze and the crunch of our footsteps on the gravel road.
When we finally arrived at the mobile home, I discovered one of the reasons it seemed so quiet. Beatrice hadn’t returned yet, and nothing disturbed the water but a few dragonflies that dipped and swooped over its surface.
Where could she be?
Lost in thought, I climbed the rickety steps and entered the house. The front room seemed even darker now, since afternoon shadows painted the furniture gray. Even the newspapers, which splattered across the couch and floor, looked like muddied throw rugs someone had tossed there by accident. The newspapers gave me an idea, though.
“There it is.” I grabbed indiscriminately for a section of newsprint and glanced at the headline. “This is why I had to come back. To get the…um…sports section. Yeah, that’s it. I’d promised Ambrose I’d bring him the sports section from today’s paper, since ours didn’t get delivered. Do you mind?”
“What?” Hollis once more looked confused, as if he didn’t quite understand the question. “You want to borrow the newspaper? Okay…I guess so.”
“Thank you. And do you mind if I use your bathroom too?”
This time, I didn’t wait for a response. Instead, I trundled down the hall and slid into the restroom, where I pretended to be busy for a good five minutes, since I neede
d time for the police diver to finish his grisly task.
I dillydallied for an extra minute or two in front of the mirror, knowing full well Hollis would never question me when I returned. He’d be too embarrassed, and he no doubt had a million other things on his mind at the moment.
When I finally emerged from the bathroom, I shoved the newspaper in my back pocket. “All set. Guess it’s time to go back to Lance.” I also glanced at my watch, which put the time at one o’clock. “He wants to take us to the police station, so he can videotape our statements.”
“Sure. I guess so. Whatever.”
Hollis moved on autopilot to the screen door. Instead of swinging it open, though, he paused on the threshold.
“Do you think I should lock the place up?” His gaze flitted around the room. “There’s not a whole lot to steal, but that’s what Grandma used to do.”
I nodded gently. “Yes, you probably should. We might be gone an hour or so. I think you should call your relatives too, once we get to the police station. You need to let them know what happened.”
“My what? Oh yeah. Relatives.” While he parroted the words back to me, I could tell he wasn’t listening.
“Yes, you should call your relatives,” I repeated. “Maybe there’s an aunt, or an uncle?”
“Well, Grandma was pretty old. She didn’t have a lot of relatives left. I think she had a sister up in Baton Rouge, though.”
“Good. Why don’t you think about the best way to reach her, while I lock all the doors.” I lifted what I guessed to be a house key from its place on a cup hook nailed to the wall. “This will only take me a second.”
I hung back a bit as I surveyed the room one last time. Since I really didn’t know when we’d return—I’d only guessed at how much time Lance would need at the police station—maybe I should straighten things up a bit.
It was the only way I could think of to honor her memory. Even though Ruby didn’t seem like the type who cared what other people thought about her, I did. Before long, countless people would trudge through the front door, including crime scene investigators, neighbors, and long-lost relatives, and I didn’t want them to think Ruby was a slob. While I didn’t plan to disturb the scene too much, since Lance would no doubt include the home in his police investigation, it wouldn’t hurt to shuffle the newspapers into a neat pile.
The front section was lying on the ground, so I bent to retrieve it. As I straightened, though, I nearly cracked my head on the corner of a glass coffee table that was half-hidden by the debris.
Sweet mother of pearl! The last things I needed were a goose egg on my forehead and a splitting headache.
I pushed the table back a bit, and that’s when I noticed an official-looking document on its surface. A colorful logo for Dupre Realty, Inc., scrolled across the page.
Now, I’d known Hank Dupre for several years, mainly because he bought an old mansion near my rent house and he’s also Beatrice’s uncle. Not a week went by that Hank didn’t drop by the hat studio to say hey to Beatrice or maybe grab a cup of coffee.
Now, why would Hank correspond with Ruby? And why would she leave his letter lying around so willy-nilly? Curious, I bent over the paper, which had nice, large type that allowed me to read every word.
The purpose of this letter of intent is to set forth conditions and terms for the purchase of your property…
“Purchase?” I quickly glanced up, but Hollis had disappeared. He’d already stepped through the screen door, judging by the way the mesh vibrated in his wake.
Granted, now was not the best time, nor the best place, for me to satiate my curious nature, but questions kept flitting through my mind.
Why would someone want to buy Ruby’s place?
Heaven only knew it wasn’t for the curb appeal since mold limned the mobile home and its foundation rested on cinder blocks. But that didn’t mean someone wouldn’t find the land underneath it irresistible.
But why didn’t anyone in town mention this?
I hadn’t heard a word from friends, customers, or fellow shopkeepers, all of which meant I should track down Hank when I returned to Crowning Glory, since it might quiet the funny feeling that tickled my stomach.
I headed for the front door, which I locked behind me, and then I rejoined Hollis, who waited at the foot of the stairs. I even whipped out the sports section from my back pocket to show him our visit wasn’t a total ruse.
“All set. Ambrose will read every word of this section. Let’s go catch up with Lance.”
Hollis didn’t move, though. He looked even more troubled than before, his eyes drawn to the ground around his feet.
“Are you okay, Hollis?”
“It’s just…” His voice trailed off miserably.
“What’s wrong? You know you can tell me anything.”
“It’s just that I’m…I’m scared. I’ve never been to a police station before. What if I mess up?”
The poor boy. I reached out to touch his shoulder. “It’s okay. I’ll be at the station too, so you won’t be alone.”
“I know. But what about afterward?”
“Why, afterward I’ll come back here with you. I won’t leave you alone today.”
“Promise?”
“Cross my heart. We’ll figure this out.”
I shoved the newspaper back in my pocket, and then I motioned for him to follow me. As we trudged along the surface road, we passed the kitchen garden and then we reached the tip of the wooded isthmus.
After a while, we arrived at the point where the surface road split in two.
It was the same two trails we’d seen before. But this time, a trio of police cruisers blocked the entrance to the path on the right, and an ominous white van painted with the blocky logo for the St. James Parish Coroner’s Office sat nearby. The van’s doors stood wide open, and the shiny tip of a metal gurney glinted in the darkness.
Uh-oh. Hollis doesn’t need to see that.
“Look over there. It’s Lance’s police cruiser.” I pointed to the first car in the lineup, since I wanted to distract Hollis from the van’s open doors. “Do you want to ride shotgun, and I’ll sit in the back?”
He shook his head. “No, I’d rather sit with you.”
“Fair enough. Follow me.”
We headed for Lance’s squad car, where I yanked open the back door and slid onto the vinyl cushion. Hollis followed suit and scooted next to me.
After another few minutes, Lance took his place behind the steering wheel. Once he drove us away from the river, it was only a matter of time before we arrived at the police substation.
Once again, Lance separated Hollis and me as soon as we walked through the plate-glass door, which bothered Hollis to no end, until he realized Lance was only following police procedure. Then, Lance videotaped our statements one at a time.
Although the interview room was anything but cozy, with white walls, regulation armchairs, and a chipped laminate conference table, my eyes began to droop as the interview dragged on. While adrenaline had coursed through my body all morning, the hormone was nowhere to be found by the time the camera’s red light blinked off, and I desperately wanted a nap.
In fact, I could barely keep my eyes open, even during the ride back to Ruby’s house. All I wanted was a hot shower and a cool pillow and to forget the events of the past few hours.
Hollis must’ve felt the same way, because he nodded off on my shoulder during the ride. I gently nudged him awake when Lance pulled the cruiser behind Ruby’s mobile home.
“Where…where are we?” He groggily straightened as the car rolled to a stop.
“We’re back at your granny’s place,” I said.
“Huh?”
It was the same confused expression I’d seen all day, including that moment when he woke up to find Beatrice and me standing in his front yard.
&n
bsp; “Lance brought you back home.” I spoke as gently as I could. “He gave us a ride from the police station, after he took our statements.”
That woke him up, and he roughly rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “You know, you don’t have to go back inside with me, Miss DuBois. You already told me you needed to get back to work.”
“Are you kidding?” I softly tsked. “There’s no way I’d let you come back here by yourself. Let’s get you settled in, and then I’ll think about other things.”
“No, really,” he said. “It’s okay. Granny used to leave me alone all the time. I don’t mind.”
“Yeah, but this is different.” I glanced toward the front seat, where I met Lance’s gaze in the rearview mirror. Apparently, he’d been listening to our conversation. “Thanks for the ride, Lance. Could you please let Ambrose know where I am so he doesn’t worry about me? I forgot to call him when we were at the police station. I’ve been a hot mess ever since…well, you know.”
“No problem.” His gaze shifted to Hollis. “You sure you’re going to be okay, son? You can always wait for your relatives back at the station.”
“No, I’m okay. I’d rather be here.” Hollis swung open the car door and slowly stepped onto the gravel road.
I did the same, and then we both watched Lance pull away from the house. Soon, the only thing visible on the cruiser were its red taillights, which whittled down to pinpoints of light after a moment or two.
“Hey, I’ve got an idea.” It was time to say something, anything, to distract the boy. “Neither of us has had a bite to eat today. I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. Want me to make us something?”
He gave a half-hearted nod. “Sure, I guess. Why not?”
We turned toward the house, and then we slowly made our way around the kitchen garden. Just as we were about to broach a corner of the building, something loud crashed on the other side of it.
Hollis jerked his head around. “What was that?”
“Maybe Beatrice is back,” I said, hopefully. “Wouldn’t that be something?”
All Hats on Deck Page 3