Bill Hopkins - Judge Rosswell Carew 02 - River Mourn (32 page)

“Outstanding,” Ollie
said. “That certainly
explains it. Maman Fribeau is about three hundred
years old. Makes perfect sense.”

Jim Bill and Tina laughed. Tina said, “Rosswell, cut
the crap.”

“We shouldn’t curse around our baby. And Ollie, you
shouldn’t multiply explanations. The easiest answer to a hard problem is most
often right.”

Ollie said, “You scored. Now tell us what you found
out.”

“I discovered a cemetery next to Maman Fribeau’s cabin.
It had a hundred graves, each one marked by a plain stone. There might be unmarked
ones as well. I suspect that the very first Maman Fribeau is buried there.
Along with all her successors.”

Jim Bill said, “Clever. And people who need
information go pay the old woman money. I’ll bet they’ve never paid a cent of
taxes for three centuries.”

Ollie said, “They’re filthy rich. But living in a
hovel. Their money’s doing them no good.”

Rosswell said, “That’s not our concern. They must like
what they’re doing.”

Tina said, “And who will take this Maman’s place when
she dies?”

Rosswell said, “I’m guessing Susannah.”

Tina said, “Gustave’s daughter?”

“Yes.”

“Susannah wouldn’t live in that dump out on the bluff,”
Ollie said. “Unless she can’t find anywhere else to live when she gets out of
prison. Anyway, Maman and Lazar were helping Gustave, weren’t they?”

Rosswell said, “Jim Bill will find out for sure. But I
hope they’re innocent. Or not too guilty.”

Jim Bill said, “Susannah will never be the next Maman.
Guaranteed.”

Rosswell said to Jim Bill, “Now you know all about
Maman?” Bingo! The neurons in Rosswell’s brain made the connection. “It’s the
Dina thing.”

Tina said, “Dina?”

Rosswell and Jim Bill drew out their
soutaches
with stars attached. After Rosswell explained the significance of the
necklaces, Jim Bill said to Ollie, “And here’s yours. You deserve it. I’ll tell
you more later.”

Rosswell watched Ollie drape the
soutache
over
his head, careful not to soil it with Vaseline, and silently declared to
himself that his research assistant showed more reverence than he’d exhibited
in a long time.

Tina persisted. “Rosswell, you answer me. Where did
you find all the background on Maman?”

“Let’s say…public records. Plus some gossip. Plus a
bribe or two here and there. You know we research assistants have a code of
silence.”

Ollie squeaked his mouse squeak. “Since when did you
become a research assistant?”

Tina grabbed Ollie’s shirt. “That squeaking thing, you
do that again in front of my baby, you’ll answer to me.”

Jim Bill said, “I didn’t hear any threat. Did you hear
a threat, Judge?”

“Nope.”

“You can’t go in there!” The tall woman with bad hair
tried to keep Tina’s door from opening.

Mrs. Bolzoni barged around the nurse. The old lady’s
hands clutched a large wide-mouth Thermos jug. “You can stop me not to seeing
the lovely woman of the Judge Ross Carew. It’s a wonder I’m not in a bed in
this place with my bowels on the uproar.”

“Is that food?” the nurse asked, indicating the
Thermos. “You can’t bring food in here.”

“And why is this not?” Rosswell swore to himself that
he saw steam forming on Mrs. Bolzoni’s Coke-bottle eyeglasses as she berated
the nurse. “She must have the food. A baby she had.”

She stomped to Tina’s bedside and carefully positioned
the Thermos onto the bed table. From her purse, she withdrew a bowl, spoon, and
whole-wheat crackers wrapped in a linen napkin. Delicately, she poured the bowl
halfway full and handed the spoon to Tina. “Now you get back in the bed and eat.”
Rosswell’s mouth watered from the full-bodied
aroma of the food.

“Madam,” the nurse said, “you are not allowed to bring
food from the outside into a hospital room. It’s regulations.”

“You I asked why not and you said not why I can’t
bring food here.”

“It might be unhealthy.”

Mrs. Bolzoni gave a cockeyed glance through her
glasses at the nurse’s identification badge. “You silly frog. You ever tasted
the food in this place? You want unhealthy food, you eat the food you make in
the slop bucket you call a kitchen.”

Tina asked Rosswell, “Am I supposed to know this
woman?”

Rosswell said, “Which one?”

“Let’s start with the one who brought the soup.”

“Not soup,” Mrs. Bolzoni said. “It’s American beef
stew. Much healthy. Fine meat and many vegetables to make you strong so you can
feed your baby.”

Rosswell told the nurse, “It’s okay. This is my
landlady, Mrs. Bolzoni. She’s quite protective and I can assure you that the
food is exceptionally good for you.” He patted his stomach to demonstrate.

The nurse said, “I give up,” and swept out of the
room.

Tina said, “Rosswell, you’re going to get that nurse
fired.”

“No,” Jim Bill said. “I’ve got the magic badge,
remember? I’ll talk to her supervisor.”

“And you,” Mrs. Bolzoni said to Jim Bill, “are not
chewing the filthy weeds in front of this baby?”

“No, ma’am.”

Ollie said to Tina, “Jim Bill learns quickly. Not at
all like Rosswell.”

“But, Mrs. Bolzoni,” Jim Bill said, “since I saved you
from being arrested, you need to answer some questions.”

“Questions?” She looked at Ollie. “You got questions,
you ask him with the purple spider on his head.”

“No, it’s you I want to hear from.”

“I tell you one thing about this man with this insect
on his head.”

Ollie said, “It’s a star, not a spider. And spiders
aren’t insects.
Araneae
, or spiders, are the most familiar of the
arachnids—”

Rosswell said, “Zip lip time.”

“This Ollie, he ran off all the bugs in my house with
his bug running off business. He’s genius.”

Rosswell decided to withhold the fact that
Ollie
had never run a bug off her place or any other place on Earth.

Ollie said, “That’s right, Mrs. Bolzoni. I’ll need
your endorsement to prove that my system gets rid of bugs of all kinds.”

Jim Bill said, “Answer me this, Mrs. Bolzoni. Did you
know Tina was being held captive by Nathaniel Dahlbert?”

“Did I call police?” Mrs. Bolzoni moved next to Jim
Bill. She leaned down, stared him straight in the face, and spoke loudly, as if
sitting in a wheelchair affected his hearing and sight. “If I knew such thing I
call police. Did I call police to rescue her? No, you weed chewer. Do you know
Tina was captive?”

“No, ma’am. May I ask something else?”

“You make it quick, for the woman of the Judge Ross
Carew needs to eat while the stew is hot.”

“Did you ever visit Alessandra when she was at River
Heights Villa?”

“Of course.” Mrs. Bolzoni drew a dry wash rag from her
pocket, wet it in the sink, and began wiping Tina’s table. “They keep this
place filthy.” She shook the washrag at Jim Bill. “I love my daughter and that
rusty hair guy, he help her.”

Jim Bill said, “Do you know the rusty hair guy’s name?”

“Nathaniel Dahlbert. I look it up. Not a frog name.”

Jim Bill said, “When you visited Alessandra, did you
ever see Tina?”

“You asked that already. You sneaky man. But I never
see Tina at the rusty hair guy’s place. I go see Alessandra, we sit in big room
with bunch of people and talk. I tell her I love her and that she must get
better so she come work with her old momma who’s not so spry in the bones
anymore, not to mention the insides acting up, which I never talk about to no
one, but keep it all behind the teeth.”

Rosswell hid his eyes from Mrs. Bolzoni’s line of sight,
bowed his head, closed his eyes, and prayed for strength.

Tina had eaten the portion of stew Mrs. Bolzoni had
offered. “That was delicious, Mrs. Bolzoni. Thank you.”

“Then you must eat more.” She poured the remainder of
the stew into Tina’s dish. “I cannot eat for the tests of the doctor.” A wave
of the hand dismissed any concern she might have.

“Mrs. Bolzoni,” Rosswell said, “what kind of tests?”

“Nothing.” She turned to Tina. “I got the Judge Ross
Carew room set up with crib. You come back and let me take care of you till you
feel like going home. You got many rough times and these”—she pirouetted her
head until she’d drilled Ollie, Jim Bill, and Rosswell with her eyes—“
men
got not one idea how to take care of a new momma and a new baby.” Mrs. Bolzoni hovered
over the crib, her hands clasped. “A fine baby. He looks like you, Tina. God
has smiled on the baby. You cannot tell that Ross is the father.”

The weather had taken
a
cool turn—if seventy-five degrees can be considered cool—after a slow
and gentle all day rain, encouraging Jim Bill, Rosswell, and Tina to sit on the
balcony of Rosswell’s room at The Four Bee. Jonathan David, his tummy full,
slept soundly in his crib next to his mommy and daddy’s bed.

The rain had stopped. Clouds had fled to wherever
clouds go when they’ve outlived their usefulness. Although it was still
daylight, the sun had moved behind the ridge toward town.

Rosswell heard the river mourn. A sad cry for the
murdered woman rose from the bank full stream. Others may’ve heard only the
rushing of the water. Rosswell detected the minor chords the Mississippi River sang
for Mary Donna Helperen.

Before he asked the question, Rosswell checked his
son. Satisfied that all was well, he said, “What’s the big secret?”

Jim Bill opened both hands, as if to show he had
nothing to hide. “Maman initiated you into the Guardians of Dina.”

“She threw the necklace at me and told me to wear it.
If that’s an initiation, then, yes, I was initiated.”

Tina, her hands on her stomach, said to Jim Bill, “You
explained some of that in the hospital room. But I’ve got more questions. Are
the Guardians of Dina a secret club or something?”

“Or something. We operate…off the books.”

The significance of an observation from last Sunday morning
hit Rosswell. “Theodore and Philbert are wearing the same kind of necklace.
They’re in on it, too.” Another sighting of the necklace surfaced in his brain.
“Nicolas Rodriguez has one.” More questions tumbled in his brain. Rosswell
settled on the most important one. “And what exactly do you do…I guess I should
say…what do WE do off the books?”

“The legal system isn’t set up to deal with human
trafficking the way it should be handled. The official way is slow and clumsy.
The rapists and kidnappers and slave buyers get too many rights. Most of them
never get caught. The ones who do get caught get off too easy. Some guy can go
into a bus station in New York City and buy a truckload of girls before
breakfast. The women make babies that are sold all over the world. And after
they have their babies, they themselves are sold for sex slaves. It’s a
business that brings in billions of dollars a year.”

“Vigilantes?” Tina frowned. “I don’t like that idea.”

“Vigilantes?” Jim Bill drew a tobacco pouch from his
pocket. After opening it and staring for a moment, he slid it back. “I guess
you could call us that.”

Tina’s frown hadn’t mellowed. “You’re anti-government?”

Jim Bill drew the pouch out again. “Hell, yes, I’m
anti-government. I work for the government and I know how dangerous it is.” A
smidgen of tobacco sneaked into his mouth.

Rosswell said, “The Book of Genesis tells the story of
Dina, hottie daughter of Leah and Jacob. Dina fetched water at the camp’s well,
chit-chatting with her girlfriends, and along came Schechem, son of Hamor. Quite
the big shot. Schechem kidnapped and raped Dina, then told Hamor he wanted to
marry her.”

“What a scumbag,” Tina said.

Jim Bill said, “It gets better.”

Rosswell went on. “Jacob told Hamor that if all his
male tribesman got circumcised, they could work a deal. Hamor agreed. Three
days later, when all the newly circumcised guys hurt like hell, Dina’s brothers
killed all the rascals. So much for plea bargaining.”

Tina folded her arms across her chest. “The Guardians
of Dina rescue women and girls who’ve been bought or tricked or kidnapped?”

Rosswell said, “You’re living proof.”

“Gustave helped Nathaniel kidnap me. How could Maman
and Lazar work with them? The old woman and her brother were secret vigilantes
who were supposedly guarding women? That makes no sense.”

Jim Bill said, “To Maman and Lazar, Gustave was a
source of information, that’s all.”

“Why would they have
anything
to do with such a bastard?”

“Here’s an example,” Rosswell said. “If you want to
find out what evil is, you read Hitler and Marx. That doesn’t make you evil. It
helps you know what evil is.” He grasped her hand. “Jim Bill also found out more
about the woman I saw thrown in the drink.”

Tina laid her hand on his arm. “Who was she?”

“Mary Donna Helperen from Piggott, Arkansas. Swimming
champion at the University of Arkansas. Working on her physics doctorate. Her
parents are Norwegian immigrants.”

Tina said, “Oh, dear God. What talent has Nathaniel
robbed from the world? We’ll never know.”

“There’s more.” Rosswell rubbed his hands on his
pants. “Do you remember me telling you about the deckhand seeing Charlie give
Turk what she thought was a file? When they were on the ferry a week ago Sunday?
That’s when Jasmine saw the file.”

“I remember. You thought they were passing dope in
that envelope.”

“I was wrong. It was indeed a file. Mary Donna had
gotten sick. Nathaniel had connections with a doctor in Illinois who would
treat his prisoners for the right amount of money. Charlie, Ribs, and Turk were
taking her to that doctor. Frankie Joe and Turk were along to distract Jasmine
and Captain LaFaire.”

“Who told you all this?”

Jim Bill said, “The details will all come out at Gustave’s
trial. I’m not telling you who the informants are.”

“Sorry. What was I thinking? Anyway, go ahead,
Rosswell.”

“Before they crossed the river, Mary Donna got to
feeling really bad. I think she’d stepped from the white van and fainted. Complications
from pregnancy. Someone created a diversion by thumping on the opposite side of
the ferry when she fainted. Then she fell into the river.”

“Maybe they threw her into the river.”

“Possible. I don’t really know what happened. She was
a strong swimmer. Maybe she revived when she fell in and started swimming for
shore. Maybe she jumped in to escape.” Rosswell pulled at his bottom lip for a
few seconds, trying to complete his thoughts. “Her folks are driving to Sainte
Gen so they can accompany the body back to Arkansas.”

“How incredibly sad. A woman is killed by slavers in
the middle of the United States in the twenty-first century.” Tina watched the
river for a while. “Why did Nathaniel have Ribs killed?”

“The best anyone can figure out, Ribs panicked.
Probably made noises like he was going to the cops.”

“Maman Fribeau pointed you to the cave where you found
Ribs’s body. Was she in on it? Or Lazar?”

Jim Bill said, “Damn it, Tina, you’re nosy.”

Her face grew red and her eyes widened. “I am the one
who got kidnapped!”

Rosswell said, “Don’t hold anything back from the
victim.”

“You’re both right,” Jim Bill said. “It was Maman’s
way of telling Rosswell two things.” He fingered the gold star hanging from a
braid. Rosswell wondered if Maman had given it to Jim Bill. Or, if not, where
did it come from? Rosswell hadn’t for a second taken his off. Except when he
cut the screens at Nathaniel’s house. And when he widened the hole in the wall
of the delivery room.

Rosswell said, “The two things she told me were that,
first, there was a dead body. Ribs. And, second, there was a live woman. You.”

Jim Bill glanced at his watch. “Bigger fish and all
that. Keep in touch.”

When Jim Bill opened the door to leave, an older man
and woman stood there, the man’s hand raised as if he were going to knock. The
woman cradled an infant covered with a yellow blanket.

The man said, “We look for Judge Rosswell Carew.” He
spoke with an accent that Rosswell thought sounded like some European language.
German? Dutch?

“Hello again.” Jim Bill pointed to Rosswell. “That’s
the man.” The fire marshal smiled as he saluted Rosswell, then left.

“Judge Carew, I am Stig Helperen and this is my wife
Hedda.”

Rosswell’s mouth tasted of sand. “Mary Donna’s
parents.”

“Yes,” the woman said, also in the same accent as the
man’s, which Rosswell now realized was Norwegian. “A young woman called Jill
identified for us our grandchild. The men of authority handed the baby of Mary
over to us. We take her back to Arkansas.”

“A baby girl.” Rosswell walked to the child. “May I
see her?”

Hedda pulled the blanket back. “She is Andrea Jane.”

Stig offered his hand to Rosswell. “We thank you.”

Rosswell, unable to speak, shook hands with Stig, then
watched the grandparents and grandchild leave.

Finally alone, Tina leaned over Rosswell and whispered
in his ear, “Hug me.” They embraced for a long time without speaking. Then Tina
said, “Tell me the truth if you know it.”

“Always.”

“Why didn’t Nathaniel kill me? Or, for that matter,
you?”

“Nathaniel’s been swept away. Death by water. His
facility will be turned over to people who care about other people. His
organization has fallen apart.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“Nathaniel was an old man. Twenty years older than me.”

“Rosswell, that’s not what I asked.”

Rosswell broke from her and walked to the balcony
where he grasped the railing. “I’ll tell you Jim Bill’s theory, the one he came
up with after talking to the suspects and informants.”

Tina joined him on the balcony. “Let’s hear it. I’m a
cop, remember?”

Rosswell smiled at her. “Oh, do I ever.” He gazed out
on the river. “Nathaniel hated me for destroying his dope ring. He wanted our baby
born. When that happened, he was going to kill the baby. Then you. And, after I’d
watched both of you die, he was going to cripple me. I’d still be alive, but
barely.”

“I’m glad the weirdo drowned.” Tina hugged him again,
wrapping her arms around him tightly and pressing herself to him. “Never let me
go.”

“Hey, you two, get a room,” Ollie yelled.

Jasmine, Alessandra, and Ollie had walked under the
balcony and were watching Rosswell and Tina.

Rosswell yelled back, “We’ve got a room.”

Ollie said, “Hear any ghosts up there?”

Rosswell, recalling the afternoon delight moans they’d
mistaken for departed spirits, grimaced. “No, Ollie.”

Tina said, “What are you all doing on this lovely day?”

Ollie said, “We’re celebrating that Nathaniel Dahlbert
is, as the British say, up the spout.”

“More than that,” Alessandra said. “We’re celebrating
being alive and free.”

Rosswell said, “You’re a warrior. A fearless warrior.”

Jasmine said, “We thought we’d go to that new drive-in
for a flick.”

Tina said, “Drive-in? You mean where you sit in a car
and watch a movie?”

Alessandra said, “Exactly. It’s a monster movie.”

Ollie grinned. “It won’t be dark for awhile, so I’m
treating the girls to a steak dinner at Mabel’s.”

“The girls?” Tina squinted.

Ollie said, “That’s what I said. The girls.”

The trio moved for Alessandra’s car, but before they
reached it, Alessandra turned and came back. “Judge, Momma’s doctor says she
needs to slow down. She’s under too much stress.”

“What’s she going to do?”

“First thing, she says, is move away from the frogs!”

Alessandra wheeled about and joined Ollie and Jasmine.

“Oh, boy,” Rosswell said when the trio was out of
earshot. “A triple date.”

“I don’t even want to think about how Ollie attracted
those two beautiful women. Both at the same time.”

“I wonder if Candy Lavaliere knows about this?”

“Rosswell!” A smile tugged at Tina’s face. “You mean
Ollie and Candy have been…uh…”

“Talking.”

“I thought he was talking to Jasmine or Alessandra. Or
both of them.”

“Who knows?” Rosswell shook his head. “Anyway, Alessandra
is indeed an undercover cop and an actress with a list of law enforcement
skills a mile long. She was never in rehabilitation. It was a scam to get her
in Nathaniel’s facility to look for you.”

“Is Jasmine an undercover cop, too?”

“No. Just the best deckhand on the Mississippi River.
That’s what her daddy told me.”

Rosswell’s cell phone rang. His bank. Again.

“Judge Rosswell Carew.”

“Is this Judge Rosswell Carew?”

“Yes, Muriel, it’s me.”

“This is Muriel Thornmorton, calling for Judge
Rosswell Carew.”

“Hello, Muriel Thornmorton. This is Judge Rosswell
Carew.”

“At the bank.”

“Yes, I know where you work.”

“In Marble Hill.”

“And how are things at the bank?”

“They’re fine, but that’s not why I called, Judge
Carew.”

“Tell me, Muriel, why you called.”

“Something odd happened.”

“What’s that?”

“There was a blank envelope deposited at the bank.”

“Muriel, this is really a bad time. I’m busy. Perhaps
you should talk to—”

“The envelope was deposited early this morning, the
best I can figure.”

“Shouldn’t you tell your supervisor?”

“The envelope wasn’t sealed.”

Jonathan David stirred. “Did you know that Tina had
her baby?” The baby belched, scratched his sheets, and made a funny noise.
Rosswell had accepted the fact that babies made strange sounds, most of them
meaningless.

Muriel wasn’t interested in the kid. “The envelope
wasn’t empty.”

He was going to hear this story whether he wanted to
or not. He tried to think of something intelligent to say.

“That is odd, isn’t it, Muriel?”

“No, not really. I run into unsealed envelopes every
day. Blank, unsealed envelopes. Happens every day.”

“Then, I guess I’m not sure why you’re calling me.”

“I opened the envelope and there was a single sheet of
paper with a message printed on it.”

“A message?”

“Printed. By a computer.”

Rosswell suspected she might get to the point
eventually but thought maybe he could help her along. Mrs. Bolzoni should have
supper on the table any minute. That was something he didn’t want to be late
for.