Finger Lickin' Dead (20 page)

Holden cringed. “No. No, Lulu, I don’t want anything to do with that. It’s not going to help the police out anyway—there’s nothing there.”

“Do you mind if
I
see the pictures, though? I’d like to just take a closer look, that’s all. Maybe there’s something in the pictures that can give us a clue,” said Lulu.

Evelyn cracked up. “You should see your face, Holden! Didn’t you know that Lulu was trading in her spatula for a magnifying glass? She’s a crime investigator now . . . mostly to help me out.” Evelyn, deep in her wineglass now, gave Lulu a tight hug. “She’s the best friend
ever
. And if I manage to keep out of jail, I’ll owe it all to her.”

Holden nodded. “I see. Well, I’ve got them on the camera and I could e-mail them to you when I get back home, so you could see them. I was planning on taking a closer look at them myself, anyway. Then I’ll send them over to you.”

Big Jack said, “I’ve got a great idea, y’all. Now that the guests have left, why don’t we head out on the boat for a while? It’s the perfect night for a boat ride. We could bring a little food with us—and some wine bottles of course.”

“I’d love to go, but I can’t swim,” said Holden. “Which isn’t ideal for a boat ride.” He gave a nervous laugh.

“I have life vests,” Big Jack offered.

“Maybe next time? I probably need to be getting back, anyway—it’s a long drive home and I’m not staying at the lake like y’all are.”

After he left, Evelyn said, “I guess I should feel bad about not offering to let him stay at my place. But it wouldn’t have been as much fun as a girls’ weekend. Plus I have a feeling that we’d be listening to his hard-luck story about getting kicked out of his newspaper job the whole time.”

 

 

The night was warm, but the boat cutting through the water on the lake stirred up a breeze that made Lulu fold her arms up to her chest.

Evelyn, used to boat excursions on her own ski boat, curled up into a corner and was asleep in less than five minutes.

Lisa, Big Jack’s wife, stayed behind to talk to the caterers but packed up a plate of food before the boat pulled away. Although Lulu had thought she’d never eat again after all the delicious food she’d put away, she somehow couldn’t resist munching on moist cheese biscuits. As the boat moved through the water, she looked at the huge houses lining the lake. All of them were lit up like they were having parties, too. And the moon sat right above the horizon, casting a glow on the water that looked like a path leading right up to it.

Big Jack cleared his throat and said, “Evelyn?” When there was no response from the napping Evelyn, he cut the engine and threw out an anchor. The boat gently rocked and Evelyn let out a small snore.

“I wanted to talk to you about something, Lulu, but I didn’t want to do it in front of Evelyn.” Big Jack sat next to Lulu at the front of the boat and spoke to her in a low voice. “You see, I’ve been real worried about a couple of things and I haven’t known what to do about it.”

Lulu dabbed her mouth with a napkin. “What kinds of things? You mean, with the murders?”

Big Jack nodded, pushing a strand of thick, black hair off his forehead. “I’ve solved those murders, Lulu. I’ve been thinking about it a lot because I was worried about both Oliver and Evelyn being accused. And Oliver had absolutely nothing to do with it. You know that, right?” He looked right in Lulu’s eyes. “I know I told you about how crazy he’d been acting right after Adam died, but he was just so shocked that he’d pushed Adam down the stairs. But he’s totally free and clear.”

He seemed to be waiting for Lulu to acknowledge that fact, so Lulu nodded. But inside she wasn’t so sure. Maybe Big Jack wasn’t so sure, either, but he was trying to keep his cousin from being a major suspect in a murder case—which couldn’t possibly be good for a mayoral campaign. Especially since Oliver had gotten Big Jack involved by showing up on his doorstep.

“And then I was worried that
I
was suspected of murdering Adam. Just because of that answering-machine message. Thank God the police haven’t let anything leak out to the press; the newspapers would have a field day if they thought I was caught up in blackmail and murder.” Big Jack scowled at the idea.

“What do you think happened?” asked Lulu, tilting her head to one side and endangering the bun of white hair that was carefully wound up on the top of her head.

“I think Ginger killed Adam. Don’t
you
? She was one mad filly at that guy, and she had every right to be. He’d done her wrong—out in public and everything. I mean, he also cheated on Evelyn, but they weren’t
married
. Well, not married at that moment, anyway—I know Evelyn
used
to be married to him. Ginger was breathing fire, though, that he’d broken up their marriage and was seeing another woman . . . or two.”

Lulu looked off toward the shore and Big Jack sighed.

“I know what you’re thinking,” he said. “You think that’s real hypocritical of me, considering Adam was blackmailing me for the same thing. But from everything I’ve heard, Adam was real ugly to Ginger. That’s not the way I treat ladies.”

What a gentleman, thought Lulu wryly. She wasn’t so sure that Big Jack’s wife, Lisa, would feel the same way about his cheating. But she smiled at him.

“So you think Ginger got fed up with Adam’s attitude and shot him?”

Big Jack pointed a thick finger at her. “That’s
exactly
what I think happened. I think maybe she was having an argument with him, he mouthed off at her, and she had a gun with her and took him out. I don’t think it was something she planned on doing, but it was something she was
prepared
to do.”

“She sure seemed all cut up about it, though. She said she wanted to memorialize him forever, and avenge his death and all of that.”

Big Jack shrugged. “Self-protection. If she acts like someone else needs to be caught, then she’s diverted suspicion from herself. And I think the lady knew how to put on an act.”

“But that still doesn’t explain Ginger’s death. If Ginger killed Adam, then who killed Ginger? And why?”

Big Jack looked bored. He shrugged his big shoulders. “She was probably a victim of a random act of violence. You know? Maybe some punk was planning on robbing her; she got her back up and wasn’t going to let him take her purse. And then he shot her—but got too freaked out to take her wallet.”

It was one explanation, but it just didn’t seem right to Lulu.

“There was something else I wanted to tell you,” said Big Jack, looking surreptitiously at the sleeping Evelyn at the other end of the boat. “I’ve been worried about our mutual friend over there.”

Lulu’s heart skipped a beat. “What do you mean?”

Big Jack opened his mouth, and then snapped it shut again and shook his head.

“Now you
know
you have to tell me now! What’s wrong with Evelyn?”

Big Jack looked broodingly at the water. “She’s a great friend of mine, Lulu. She’s helped build up my political career over the years. Even when I was just scraping by and stumping in the street, she always slipped me a little cash to help me out. She gave me more than just financial support, too—she talked me up to her fancy friends and introduced me to the right people. She’s been a huge help to me.”

Lulu tried not to be impatient. “So, spit it out, Big Jack. What’s wrong?”

He sighed again. “Okay. Well, I gave you my favorite scenario of what happened to Adam and Ginger. And that’s really what I’m telling myself I believe. But I did see Evelyn the day that Ginger died. And she was having a big argument with her.”

Lulu relaxed a little. “Oh. Don’t you worry about
that
, Big Jack. The police know all about Evelyn and Ginger’s argument outside that Beale Street restaurant. Pink was talking to Evelyn about it that same day. Some witnesses described a woman that looked just like Evelyn. And she did own up to it—but says that Ginger was very much alive when she left her.”

Big Jack hesitated again. “But see . . . that’s not where I saw them argue. My law office is right down the street, right? I saw her outside the parking garage. And she was waving around this pretty, tiny little gun. Looked like a toy.”

Lulu swallowed hard. “But Ginger was shot
inside
the parking garage. Not outside. And why the hell didn’t you phone the police, Big Jack? You could’ve stopped her before anything even happened.”

He lifted up his big, pawlike hands. “Now hold on a minute, Lulu.
I
didn’t do anything wrong here. I’m just telling you what I saw. Anyway, I saw her put the gun back in her purse. So I thought that maybe I just misinterpreted what I saw. Maybe they were just having this really animated discussion and Evelyn was showing Ginger her new gun.”

He shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know. Maybe they were acting out a possible scenario for when Adam was murdered, since Ginger was trying to avenge his death. Believe me, I don’t want Evelyn to end up being the murderer—and I had no intention of calling the police when I saw her with a gun. The woman practically made me and my political career. She’s one of my biggest donors. Of
course
I didn’t want to call the cops.”

Lulu looked over at the sleeping Evelyn. “I just don’t believe she had anything to do with it.”

“I don’t, either. I
don’t
,” he said quickly, in a firm voice. “But I felt like I needed to tell somebody about it. And there’s more.”

Lulu’s heart sank.

“She hasn’t been acting like herself since these murders, Lulu. Admit it, you’ve noticed it, too! She’s smoking like a house afire—have you ever seen her smoke before?”

Lulu hadn’t.

“Her drinking has gotten a lot heavier, too. This makes me think there’s something giving her a whole lot of stress and she’s dealing with it by developing some bad habits.”

Lulu said eagerly, “But it
has
been stressful—the whole thing, Big Jack! She was in love with Adam. She even thought they might get married again. She was absolutely crushed when she saw him cheating on her. And furious that he was cheating on her with her own money funding his dates. Then Adam died and Evelyn had to deal with guilt feelings about being furious with him and having him die. Then she became a suspect in Adam’s murder—if that’s not stressful, I don’t know what is.”

Big Jack didn’t look convinced. Lulu continued, “She became friends with Ginger, but that whole friendship was stressful, too. Ginger had a different opinion of Adam from Evelyn—she wanted to avenge Adam’s death and Evelyn was looking to heal from their horrible breakup.”

Big Jack said, “But Ginger really
didn’t
want to avenge Adam’s death.”

“But Evelyn didn’t know that. So the whole situation was very strange for her. And then Ginger dies a violent death on top of everything else going on. So then she’d lost a friend, too.”

Big Jack rubbed his forehead slowly. “I’d like to believe those are the only reasons she’s acting so different. Between her smoking and drinking, she’s definitely upset about something. I hope you’re right that it’s just regular stress and not that she’s murdered Adam or Ginger—or both of them. I don’t need to lose my biggest donor—and she’s a personal friend, too.”

Lulu said quietly, “I hope I’m right, too.”

Tommie was up early the next morning, banging around in the kitchen and efficiently pulling together a hearty breakfast.

Lulu, used to many years of early rising for Aunt Pat’s, got right up. Evelyn had cleverly designed the house so her bedroom was farthest from the noises of the kitchen, thus enabling her favorite activity—sleeping in.

Like Evelyn’s Memphis kitchen, the lake-house edition was the kind of kitchen you could get lost in. It was completely covered with the finest granite and handcrafted wooden cabinets. But what really amazed Lulu were both the huge amount of kitchen equipment—from serious knife sets to steamers and processors—and the fact that everything had a place inside a cabinet. Lulu had some great kitchen tools at her small kitchen at home, but half of them lived on her countertop.

Tommie smiled at her, nodding her head at Lulu as she whisked eggs over a large china bowl. “I kind of thought you might be the first one up, Miss Lulu. Miss Evelyn isn’t one for getting up early unless she’s not feeling well and needs a coffee and a water for her headache.”

Lulu laughed. “I gathered that about her. But you know, she might be feeling a little bit under the weather this morning, so I wouldn’t be too surprised to see her in the kitchen.”

Tommie stopped whisking. “Don’t tell me. Too much drinking? Was she in bad shape?”

Lulu shook her head. “Not
so
bad. But enough to make her sleepy. She fell asleep on Big Jack’s boat last night. I drove the car back to the house, actually. But after all the food we ate last night, I think everybody was sleepy.”

Tommie set her lips together in a thin line and whacked the whisk against the side of the bowl.

Lulu decided it might be a good idea to change the subject. “The food last night was delicious, Tommie. I live most of my life at a restaurant, but this was totally different. The presentation on the plates was gorgeous. And the food absolutely melted in your mouth. The peach sauce was to die for. And they had haricots verts.” Lulu looked innocently at Tommie, knowing she was going to pooh-pooh the last food.

She wasn’t disappointed. Tommie snorted. “Haricots verts, my big toe! We’re here in America and here in America they’re
green beans.
Or string beans. Or snap beans. Fancying them all up to be haricots.”

“Well, whatever they were, they sure were good. They were a little bit thinner than the snap beans I grow in my garden. And they didn’t look anything at all like the way I usually fix them. . . . You know, I let them sit in a soup pot all day with a ham hock and put some brown sugar in there with them to stew for a while.”