Chapter 7

We spentan hour with Hot Rod, and by the time his customer arrived, I thought I had a good idea of what kind of person Ryan was and some idea about how the entire investigation had been handled, or mishandled. Everything I’d learned about Ryan only helped confirm his innocence. I was well aware that Hot Rod had a huge bias, but the fact that he’d spoken to Ryan the morning after he’d spent the night with Kelsey confirmed that she wasn’t iffy on the date and that their night together was definitely a onetime deal.

As we were leaving, I got a text from Detective Casey saying she was available in about an hour, if we could make it to NOLA by then. I texted her back and set up a meet at a favorite café of hers.

Gertie clapped her hands and bounced on the seat like a grade-schooler. “Beignets!”

I couldn’t disagree with her on that one. The café did have very excellent beignets, and I was as likely to turn down a beignet as I was a funnel cake. Casey was already seated when we walked in and had secured a table in the corner with no one else around. A young woman popped over to get our order as soon as we sat, and we all ordered rounds of coffee and a large plate of beignets. It wouldn’t be enough, but the tabletop was only big enough for one at a time.

“So?” Casey looked at me, one eyebrow raised. “I never know whether to be excited or scared when you want to talk, but my curiosity won’t let me say no.”

“This time, it was actually Carter’s idea that I speak to you.”

“Now I’m even more intrigued. Carter doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who’d sic you on me if it wasn’t important.”

I laughed. “Definitely not. I’ve caught a new case—a cold case—and it’s a doozy with high stakes.”

“Tell me.”

So I did. She listened intently to everything we knew, and when I was done, she frowned and leaned back in her chair.

“You weren’t lying,” she said. “That’s a seriously crap situation.”

“What do you think? If I’m reaching because I feel sorry for this woman, let me know.”

She laughed. “I’ve never pegged you as the type to let your emotions override the facts. Hell, I wasn’t completely convinced you had any besides justified anger and a healthy dose of boredom. But to answer your question, I don’t think you’re wrong. Everything points to an innocent man going down for murder. I don’t like it. But then you already knew I wouldn’t, or you wouldn’t have called me.”

“You’re kinda an easy read on some things as well.”

She nodded. “I’ve crossed paths with the police captain in Magnolia Pass a few times.”

“You don’t sound impressed,” Ida Belle said.

She snorted. “Captain Cantrell…who NOLA PD refers to as Captain Kangaroo.”

“I hope that’s because he’s useless and not because he likes to play with little kids,” I said.

“The Beeches would never have anyone in charge who was a threat to kids, but he’s a threat to anyone who isn’t a Beech. He’s the laziest person in the parish and lacks the skills to be a decent human being, much less a cop. He’s bought and paid for, and that’s the worst kind of person who can wear a badge. You’ve got a serious uphill battle here.”

“So they’ll slam the door in my face as soon as they see me coming,” I said.

She shook her head. “They slammed those doors, locked them, and boarded them up as soon as they railroaded this guy into prison. There is no way in hell Cantrell is going to let you make a mockery of his investigation by proving he was wrong, especially when the victim was a Beech and the perp wasn’t a local. It’s the perfect answer to a horrible situation as far as the Beeches and Cantrell are concerned.”

“So how do I get my hands on the police reports? I don’t figure they did much of anything, but it’s hard to build a counterargument when I don’t know what I’m working against.”

She nodded and stared out the window, tapping her finger on the table. “Give me some time. Carter was smart to send you my way. Since the witness puts the accused in NOLA at the time of the murder, I might be able to pull the case files over. I’ll speak to my captain about it. He hates Cantrell and would love to take him down a notch or ten. I’ll just tell him I have a source—I won’t tell him it’s you.”

“I appreciate it, but if this blows up—which things I’m involved with usually do—I don’t want you in trouble with your captain.”

She grinned. “Don’t worry about me. When I was on surveillance last week, I got pics of him with a stripper in one of those places cops should never be in unless they’re looking for a suspect. He has four kids and a wife who’s never worked a day in her life. He can’t afford a divorce.”

I raised one eyebrow. “You’d blackmail your captain?”

“Of course not. But if he ever threatens me with my job, I’ll play that card without hesitation.”

She rose from the table. “He should be in the office by now, which is where I’m headed. I’ll say I had a tip and run the story by him. If the records request comes from him, Cantrell won’t try to drag his feet on it. He doesn’t want scrutiny by the NOLA PD and knows refusing to give us those records would bring it on twice as hard as handing them over.”

“Let’s just hope he sends them unabridged and unaltered,” Gertie said. “He wouldn’t be the first to ‘misplace’ paperwork when it suited his interests.”

“Unfortunately true,” Casey said. “I’ll get the court transcripts as well and at least you’ll have a comparison of facts introduced. But I guarantee you, by sheer incompetence alone, those police files are going to be seriously lacking.”

“I figured as much, but I’ve got to start somewhere. What are the odds that any of the Beech family will speak to me?”

“I don’t really know them except by reputation, but I wouldn’t count on it.”

I nodded and she headed out.

“Another round of beignets?” Gertie asked.

“Might as well,” I said. “Then I want to head over to Magnolia Pass and get a feel for it—check out the rental that Ryan and Lindsay shared—maybe see if we can find a neighbor who remembers something. I looked up Lindsay’s immediate family last night and made a list. She’s got a brother and sister still living on the family estate. Parents are deceased, so I won’t be able to play that emotional card.”

“Maybe the brother and sister will be upset that the real killer got away,” Gertie said.

Ida Belle snorted. “There’s money involved. For all we know, one or both of them is the killer.”

I nodded. “But if they are, they might be willing to speak to me thinking it will throw me off the scent.”

* * *

Magnolia Pass was pretty.I mean really pretty. Sinful has a certain charm about it and the downtown area is always neat and well kept, but Magnolia Pass looked like a Disney village. Main Street was a long row of brick buildings, each with colorful awnings. Out front were park benches, and you couldn’t walk three steps without being able to touch a huge planter of flowers or shrubs. And right down the center of the street was an enormous median with huge magnolia trees all in a line.

“I can see where the town got its name,” I said as we drove down the street. “Those are some seriously big trees.”

“I came here back when I was a kid for some sort of charity thing,” Gertie said. “I remember one of the old church ladies saying that the trees were planted when the town was founded. That was probably a hundred years ago or better. They sure are pretty.”

I nodded and checked the notes on my phone. “Take a right up here and then the second left. Their rental is the third house on the right.”

Ida Belle followed my instructions and then pulled to the curb in front of a picturesque cottage that was just as cute as Main Street.

“Nice digs,” Gertie said. “It’s small, but historic, and I’m betting the rent wasn’t cheap, even ten years ago. Is it still a rental?”

“Yeah. And running twenty-five hundred a month. For 1,100 square feet.”

She whistled. “That’s even more than I was figuring.”

“How can anyone afford that?” I asked. “I didn’t see any big businesses when we drove in. What do these people do for a living that they can afford that kind of rent? Because if rent is that high, then buying isn’t going to be a bargain either.”

“I imagine a good portion are trust-fund babies,” Ida Belle said. “Descendants from the old families. The Beeches own a lot of real estate in NOLA. Office buildings, apartments, and the like. Bought back when everything cost nothing, and I’m guessing they own it all free and clear. Raymond Beech, Lindsay’s father, started the investment first to handle their own assets and then figured why not make even more money doing it for other people.”

“So what you’re saying is that there are a lot of people living here whose ancestors made good investments decades ago and they don’t need to work.”

Gertie nodded. “That goes for homes as well. People’s grandparents and parents bought here years ago, and the homes are passing down with a clear title. It’s only a thirty-minute drive to NOLA, so anyone career-minded but wanting to live and raise kids well outside of city surroundings would probably find it worth the drive for the quality of living the town offers.”

“True,” I agreed. “Heck, it was an hour’s drive from my apartment in DC to the office and it was only eight miles.”

Ida Belle shook her head. “I could never live in a big city. I’d end up turning Gertie and her purse loose on it.”

“I didn’t know any better at the time, and for the most part, was out of the country. Not like I had to commute to the office every day, but I totally agree. Especially now that I live in Sinful and have seen a different lifestyle, I totally get why people would make the commute for this.”

I was staring at the house and contemplating my next move when someone knocked on Ida Belle’s window. It took all the control I could muster not to pull my weapon, but I managed to stop with my hand over the hilt of the gun and get a good look at the older woman standing next to the SUV, hands on her hips.

Ida Belle rolled down the window, and once the woman could see us, she gave us all a critical once-over, then relaxed.

“Can I help you?” she asked. “You were just sitting here, and I thought maybe you were lost.”

She tried to sound casual, but there was no way she’d marched over here to help. She’d been afraid shenanigans were going on, and she was going to make darn sure it didn’t happen in her neighborhood. I had to respect her gumption. If we’d been a carload of bad guys, she wouldn’t have stood a chance with that rolling pin she was holding.

“I apologize, Ms.…”

“Abrams,” she said curtly. “Hester Abrams.”

“Ms. Abrams, my name is Fortune Redding. I’m a private investigator, and I’m looking into Lindsay Beech’s murder.”

She looked confused. “Why? That boyfriend of hers was sent up to Angola and far as I know, he’s going to rot there for what he did to that poor girl.”

“I absolutely agree that Lindsay’s killer should rot in prison, but there’s an out-of-town witness who has just recently become aware of the murder and claims they had eyes on Ryan the entire night. So there’s no way he could have committed the crime.”

Her eyes widened and she slowly blinked. “Well, I don’t even know what to say about that.”

“I’m hoping people will say they’d like to make sure the right man is in prison.”

She straightened and gave me a disdainful look. “Of course I want the right man in prison. I’m a Christian woman. I believe in punishment but only for the wicked.”

“Of course. Do you live in the neighborhood?”

She nodded. “Live right there,” she said, and pointed to the house on the right side of the rental. “Born in the living room. Never slept a night anywhere else.”

“So you knew Lindsay and Ryan.”

She looked up and down the neighborhood, then back at us and nodded. “Best you come inside. I don’t want people wondering why I’m standing out here talking to you like this. If you look like visitors, people don’t get to flapping their gums when they ought not to.”

We climbed out of the SUV and followed her inside and then took a seat in her kitchen while she poured up iced tea.

“I’m just wondering,” I said. “Why would people talk about you speaking with us on the street? And why does it bother you so much?”

She put the glasses on the table and pursed her lips as she sat. “The Beeches are important people around here. And if that Captain Cantrell got it all wrong, then it’s going to be bad. I don’t want anyone knowing I was involved.”

I nodded. “You said you’ve never spent a night away from home, so I assume you were here that night? Can you remember it?”

“I remember it like it was last night. Most horrific thing I’ve ever been exposed to personally, you know?”

“And did you see or hear anything?”

“Not a thing. I had my cocoa at eight like I always do and watched my shows. Went to bed around ten. Slept right through the night and didn’t know a thing was happening until the sirens came around the next morning.”

I frowned. Lindsay had been stabbed to death, and one would assume she’d fought back and screamed while it was happening. These homes were old and close together. Even the soundest of sleepers would usually have been awakened by a woman literally screaming bloody murder. And Ms. Abrams didn’t seem remotely deaf.

“Do you take anything to sleep, Ms. Abrams?”

“I just told you I had my cocoa. Caffeine and chocolate are my only vices. I’ve been blessed with decent sleep.”

“But you didn’t hear anything—not a call for help or a cry of pain? I’m just thinking given how she was killed…”

She gave me a grim nod. “I’ve thought about that—probably more than I needed to—but it doesn’t change the facts. That night, for me, was just like any other night.” She sighed. “My bedroom’s on the far side of the house, and I usually have my fan running. I wish I had heard something. Maybe if I’d known what was happening, I could have gotten her help.”

“Had you ever heard anything next door before that night? I’m trying to get an idea of how well the houses are constructed.”

“Oh, they’re solid. Built back when things were made to last, not fall apart right after your warranty is up. But they’re certainly not soundproof. I’d heard them arguing before that night. On more than one occasion. There was arguing a couple nights before. I told Cantrell that too.”

“What time was that?”

“Must have been eleven. I forgot to refill my water before I went to bed, and the kitchen has that window facing their house. Sound can travel through it some.”

“What were they arguing about?”

She frowned. “I couldn’t make it out really, but I know it was loud given that it was traveling between two sets of windows. It was raised voices but muffled. I think I heard the words house and money, but I wouldn’t swear to it.”

“And before that?”

She nodded. “Most of them have been the same as that night and I couldn’t really hear what they were arguing about. But one time was different. I have a bit of asthma sometimes—probably the only thing that will wake me up—and I stepped outside to get some fresh air and allow my inhaler to work. Then I could hear things better, and they were definitely arguing about moving.”

“Were you friendly with Lindsay?”

“Of course! We were neighbors, and that still means something in a place like Magnolia Pass. But we weren’t exactly exchanging life stories over coffee. Bit of a generational gap there, and with me being an old spinster, I don’t exactly have any words of wisdom for those dealing with the foolishness of men.”

“Here, here!” Gertie said.

Hester looked over at her. “You never married?”

“No, and have no plans to,” Gertie said. “Ida Belle didn’t give up the ghost until last year. But in her defense, the man had been waiting for her since the crib. I guess she finally figured she could trust him.”

“Hmmm,” she considered and looked over at me. “What about you? You’re about that age where women start thinking about settling down and having babies.”

I choked on my tea and grabbed my napkin to cover my mouth. “No. Not married. And absolutely zero plans for babies. I have a cat and I barely manage to live with him.”

She gave me an approving nod. “Don’t get me wrong, men have their uses. I have a couple who pursued me for a while. But when they realized I wasn’t going to live my life taking care of them like their mothers, they went and found a willing subject.”

“So did you have a career?” I asked.

“Of course I did. My parents weren’t rich, and even though this house is paid for, God knows insurance, taxes, and maintenance go up every year. I was a nurse to the local doctor for forty years. Retired the same day he did when his son took over his practice.”

“That’s an excellent career,” Ida Belle said. “I was a medic in Vietnam.”

Hester stared at her, her expression a mixture of surprise and approval. “Good for you for serving. I was a little too young to make the trip, but if I’d have been old enough…”

Ida Belle nodded. “Gertie served too. Five of us friends from Sinful all joined at the same time.”

“And you?” Hester asked me. “You said you’re a detective. Were you in the military as well?”

“No. CIA.”

She blinked and then chuckled. “Well, hasn’t this morning gotten interesting. If someone would have told me that there were women vets and CIA agents living in these parts, I would have called them a liar.”

She sobered a bit and shook her head. “But given all your collective experience, I have to assume you think Ryan is innocent or you wouldn’t be here. At first, I thought someone had told you a good tale and you’d figure that out and be on your way. Now I find myself wondering.”

“I’m certain my witness is telling the truth. It’s someone who has no ties to Ryan other than that night, which is why they never knew what had happened until recently.”

I was deliberately hedging on Kelsey being female and just how she knew for certain Ryan hadn’t killed Lindsay. I didn’t think a one-night stand would go over big with the morally upright and sketchy-on-men Hester.

“So this person came forward when they realized they could alibi Ryan?” Hester asked.

“Yes. But neither the cops nor the ADA seem to care that an innocent man is in prison and a killer is still walking free. So that’s where I come in.”

Hester pursed her lips. “I’ve never liked Cantrell. He does less than the absolute minimum required. If he was living anywhere but a town like Magnolia Pass, the place would have been in shambles after two days of him being on the job. His deputies are no better—his useless family members who couldn’t be employed to make coffee in a fast-food chain, much less wear a badge.”

“Then why is the town so peaceful?” I asked.

“Because that’s how the founding families want it,” she said. “If anyone gets out of line here, they make it impossible for them to stay. No job, fines, and I’m sure Cantrell wouldn’t be opposed to trumping up charges on people if the families wanted them out of here. I can’t say that I approve of the methods, but it makes for a nice place to live.”

“Sounds like the Mafia,” I said. “Minus the extortion. Is there anything else you can tell me about Lindsay and Ryan that might help my investigation? Any other neighbors hear them arguing or might have seen something that night?”

She shook her head. “Everyone here talked about it a lot when it first happened. The houses across the street have been occupied by the same people for years, but they were all asleep and their bedrooms are off the back. The house on the other side of Ryan and Lindsay’s is a rental now. The man who lived there then passed a few years back. But he was deaf as a doornail and couldn’t see two feet in front of him even with his glasses on.”

I nodded and pulled out a business card. “I really appreciate you talking with us. If you think of anything else, just give me a call.”

She took the card and studied it for a moment. “Sinful, huh? I’ve been there a time or two. Nice place. Not as nice as Magnolia Pass, but still a nice place to live.”

“I like it.”

She stuck the card in her pocket and gave me a tentative look. “You won’t tell anyone I spoke to you, right?”

“If by anyone you mean Cantrell, then absolutely not. Nothing you’ve said would ever come up unless it somehow mattered in a retrial. And then you’d only be called because you were part of the first investigation. No one ever has to know you talked to me.”

She gave me a nod and her shoulders slumped a little with relief. We thanked her for the tea and made our way out. When we were all back in the SUV, Ida Belle gave me a concerned look.

“Did you see how worried she was about that Cantrell?” she asked. “I don’t care how nice or safe this place is, you shouldn’t have to live with that kind of worry, especially about your local law enforcement.”

“No way I’d live here worried that I might do something to hack off the Disney Village Mafia,” Gertie said.

I snorted. “They wouldn’t even allow you to lease here. All they have to do is google you and they’d know you’d never make it a day without breaking some rule. I thought Sinful was bad, but this place is a whole other level of weird.”

Ida Belle nodded and looked around, frowning. “Deceptive in its beauty, but it’s still a prison. What do you want to bet that all that arguing was because Ryan wanted to move?”

“Can’t say that I blame him,” I said. “Toe the line or be run out of town is bad enough, but living with one of the controlling families’ daughters takes that to an entirely different level. He must have felt suffocated.”

I looked out my window as Ida Belle pulled away. Pristine lawns with grass that looked as if it had been cut by a hairdresser, complemented by shrubs that were trimmed without so much as a dip in level or shape, and flowers blooming everywhere they could be placed. Colorful rocking chairs sat on most front porches. Homes without a single speck of peeling paint or a chip in a roof tile.

Amazing how some of the most beautiful things could also be the most deadly.