Swamp Team 3 (24 page)

I frowned. “Big was lying.”

“What?”

“When?”

Gertie and Ida Belle both sounded off at once.

“When he said he didn’t know why Floyd borrowed the money. I could see it in his eyes. He knew then why Floyd needed the cash, and I think he knew why Floyd needed the money a month ago. Big may be out of the bookie business, but the people in New Orleans are part of the same family, right?”

“I don’t know how many families run books in New Orleans,” Ida Belle said, “but the Heberts are definitely one of them.”

“So if Floyd owed the Heberts, Big could have easily found out who and why.”

“Probably so,” Ida Belle agreed, “but why keep it a big secret? It doesn’t really matter if he owed for football or ponies. It’s all the same in the big scheme of things.”

“Exactly. So why lie?”

Ida Belle frowned. “Yeah. Why lie?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know, but something tells me that reason is important.”

“Do you think they killed him?” Ida Belle asked. “Or had him killed?”

“I don’t think Big had Floyd killed. He wouldn’t have been so cocky about answering my questions if he could be connected to the murder.”

“But you think he knows who did it and why?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I do.”

“Then how do we find out?” Gertie said.

“If we could get into Floyd’s house,” Ida Belle said, “we might be able to find a clue.”

“With the Feds watching it?” I said. “No chance. Unless…”

An idea began to form. A moronic, dangerous, almost-certain-to-fail idea.

“Tell us,” Ida Belle said.

“The FBI will lock down the house and mark it off, but without a live witness inside, they’ll only post a guard out front. Ally has to go to her house this evening to get some clothes for her date tonight.”

“Date?” Gertie perked up. “What date?”

I waved a hand at her. “Later. Anyway, I want to take a look around her house and make sure nothing seems out of place—maybe try to figure out why Floyd was over there in the first place.”

Ida Belle looked excited. “So we’ll go to Ally’s house with her, as protection and to inspect for security purposes.”

“But we won’t be done when she’s ready to leave for her date,” I said. “So we’ll promise to lock up when we leave.”

“Right,” Ida Belle said. “Then we can sneak out back, take down that loose fence panel, and break into Floyd’s house from the backyard.”

I nodded. “It’s risky.”

“Very risky,” Ida Belle agreed.

Gertie grinned. “Sounds right up our alley.”

###

I’d switched my cell phone to silent mode during our visit to Big and Little and forgot to check it until I got home. Four missed calls from Carter. Crap. He probably wanted to warn me about the FBI and the change in his ability to control the investigation. I gave Ida Belle and Gertie a hasty explanation, then hurried off to the sheriff’s department, figuring this conversation was one better had in person.

Deputy Breaux was manning the front desk at the department and he gave me a cautious hello when I walked in. Since he’d been in charge of getting me out of the building when the unfortunate toilet incident had occurred, he was probably afraid I’d do something else that he could be blamed for.

“Is Carter here?” I asked.

“Yes, ma’am. Let me call him.” He picked up the phone and let Carter know I was here. Seconds later, he hung up the phone, looking relieved. “He said to go on back to his office.”

“Thanks,” I said and headed to the back of the building, then down to the end of the hallway where Carter’s office was located. The door was closed, so I knocked lightly, then peeked inside. Carter stood by the window that looked out over the bayou. He turned around and waved me inside.

I took a seat in front of his desk and he sat on the edge of the desk, facing me. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of you.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I was running errands with Ida Belle and Gertie. I thought it would get my mind off things. I didn’t realize my phone was on silent.”

He nodded but I wondered how much of my explanation he’d processed. In the time I’d known him, Carter had dealt with some serious issues, but I’d never seen him look this worried, and even worse, defeated.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“It’s that apparent, huh?”

“Well…yeah.”

He took a deep breath and slowly blew it out. “There’s been a development in Floyd’s case. One I’m not happy about.”

“Oh?”

“The FBI showed up this morning and took over the investigation.”

I widened my eyes, doing my best to appear shocked. “The FBI? What…I mean, why…wow.”

“I don’t know why exactly. The Feds don’t have to answer to local law enforcement, and in my experience, they take great pleasure in that. All I know is that they’re taking over the investigation of Floyd’s murder, and if I am deemed to be working on the case, they will arrest me.”

“What in the world could the Feds want with Floyd?”

“Who knows? He wasn’t exactly a model citizen and considering he was murdered, that only supports my theory that he was into all manner of illegal and nefarious things. Likely, they were watching him to build a case for something.”

“And if they can figure out who murdered him, it might make their case stronger.”

“I’m sure that’s what they’re hoping for.”
 

“I don’t suppose you had a chance to search Floyd’s house?”

“A cursory look while the paramedics were preparing the body for transport. I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, but I didn’t have a chance to look deeply.”

“No bobcat?” I asked, trying to sound nonchalant. The last thing we needed to run into this evening was that angry animal with razor claws.

Carter frowned. “Now that I think of it, no sign of the bobcat or that Floyd was keeping a pet. It’s more likely the cat lives in the swamp behind his house. Maybe he feeds it sometimes. It coming after you was probably a coincidence that he was happy to take advantage of.”

“Some coincidence.”

He reached down and took my hand in his. “I don’t want you to worry about this. My case files contained only the barest of information and nothing about the Swamp Bar incident. They’re not going to find out anything else from me.”

“Thank you,” I said. “Let’s hope if they track Floyd that far, the Swamp Bar customers have the same tight lips you do.”

“I doubt they’ll go that direction. I think they already have a good idea who killed him. They just don’t want me messing up their case with my inept, small-town investigative skills.”

“Then that’s their loss, right?”

He smiled and leaned over, brushing his lips lightly against mine. “When all this is over, you still owe me dinner.”

“Don’t you mean you owe me dinner?”

“Now you’re a traditionalist?”

“Maybe.” I squeezed his hand. “I’m sorry things got out of hand. If I’d never gone to the Swamp Bar…”

“Then it would have been something else.” He released my hand and leaned back. “I spent a lot of time being aggravated that you wouldn’t listen to my stellar advice—and it
is
stellar—but the bottom line is that if you always did what other people told you to do, even when it was for your own good, you wouldn’t be you. That’s something I have to learn to live with, even when I’m on the receiving end of your refusal to listen.”

“That’s an awfully big compromise to make just to hang out with me.”

He shrugged. “I keep hoping my good sense and lawful nature will rub off on you.”

I rose from my chair and despite the million reasons that all of this was a bad idea, couldn’t keep myself from hugging him. Even though I wasn’t the arsonist, hadn’t killed anyone, and definitely didn’t run the FBI, I felt responsible for the position he was in.

“This is all going to work out,” I said as I wrapped my arms around him.
 

He hesitated only for a moment before squeezing me. “It has to.”

I released him and left the building, more determined than ever to find Floyd’s killer and get both our lives back to normal.
 

I couldn’t wait to see what that looked like.

Chapter Seventeen

Ally held up two dresses. “Which one—the blue or the yellow?”

I looked at the two offerings, wondering why no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t seem to avoid girl stuff. “Uh, the most comfortable?”

Gertie rolled her eyes as she walked out of the closet and set a pair of sandals on the rug. “The blue. It brings out the color of your eyes and sets off your tan.”

“The blue it is.” Ally smiled and headed down the hall to the bathroom to change.
 

Ida Belle, Gertie, and I stood in the bedroom, trying to appear relaxed, but we were just waiting for her to leave so that we could get on with our investigation.
 

She popped back into the bedroom a minute later, and started stuffing clothes into a duffel bag. “Since I’m going to be staying with you a bit longer, I’m going to pack some more clothes.”

“Smart move,” I said. “Unless you want to do laundry every day.”

“Gertie,” Ally said, “can you hand me that shirt hanging just inside the closet?”

Gertie opened the closet and pulled out a green polo shirt that she handed to Ally. “What’s up with this closet? It’s got a door on the other end.”

Ally rolled her eyes. “Another of Mama’s great ideas. She had the wall between our closets removed. She said it was so we could easily borrow each other’s clothes but in all our years in the same house, we never once shared a garment.”

Gertie frowned. “So the closet opens into your mother’s bedroom on the other side? That just sounds nosy to me.”

“That’s what I thought,” Ally said. She zipped the bag and looked at me. “Do you mind taking this home with you when you leave?”

“Not at all.”

She let out a breath and looked at the three of us. “It worries me that you’re not leaving now. And you didn’t even drive a car.”

“There’s three of us,” I reassured her. “No one is foolish enough to return to the scene of a murder, especially when it’s not even dark yet. We’ll do a quick check of everything and then we’ll lock it up and leave.”

“And we need the exercise,” Ida Belle said. “That’s why we walked over in the first place.”

She bit her lower lip. “I just don’t know what you expect to find. Mama didn’t have anything valuable. I mean, just the house and furniture and stuff, but no jewelry or art or anything else worth killing someone over.”

“I’m sure you’re right,” Ida Belle agreed, “but it would make us feel better to know the house is secure. It’s not like us to sit around doing nothing.”

Ally smiled. “I’m lucky to have you as friends.”

“Yes, well,” Ida Belle said, looking a little flustered, “is David picking you up here?”

“No. Since I had to get clothes, I told him I’d meet him in front of the General Store.”

“Make sure,” Gertie said, “that he drives you home tonight to Fortune’s. Don’t stop to pick up your car. Downtown will probably be vacant by the time you return.”

I nodded. “I’ll take you to work in the morning.”

Ally shook her head. “I don’t want to inconvenience you any more than I already have.”

“Who’s inconvenienced?” I asked. “It’s a good excuse for me to have a chicken-fried steak and pancakes.”

She smiled and slipped on the sandals Gertie had placed on the rug. “Okay. Well, if you guys think I look presentable, then I guess I’ll head out.”

“You look lovely,” Gertie said. “David is a very lucky man.”

Ally blushed and gave us a wave before leaving. I watched from the bedroom window, and as soon as she backed out of the driveway, gave Ida Belle and Gertie a thumbs-up.

“You two start up here,” I said. “There’s a lot more to check with all the storage furniture and closets. I’ll start downstairs. Remember to try to lift every window. And if you see anything that looks odd, even if you can’t figure out why, yell. Between the three of us, we ought to be able to figure things out.”

Ida Belle and Gertie nodded, and I headed downstairs to start my search in the living room at the front of the house.
 

It wasn’t a big room and fortunately, Ally’s mother wasn’t the collecting sort of woman. Two bookcases and a television cabinet made up all of the storage furniture in the room, and a small coat closet was the only other place to hide away things. Given that the bookcases were mostly made up of art objects and not books that had to be flipped through, I made quick work of that room and moved on to the formal dining room, which contained only buffet and table. The windows in both rooms were tightly fastened, and nothing appeared to have been tampered with.

I moved to the kitchen, first checking the plywood that covered the damaged section of the breakfast nook, but all the sheets were still nailed firmly in place and none of them showed any signs of being removed. The back door was locked but I noticed the dead bolt was broken, probably from when the firemen entered the house. The room had three windows, one boarded up, one window over the sink that was firmly latched, and one more window on the side wall at the opposite end of the kitchen from the fire. The latches appeared to be in place, but when I tugged on the window, it glided silently up.