Dangerous Mercy: A Novel (18 page)

“Let’s get back to your marriage for a minute,” Jude said. “So you and Jeanette were getting along?”

“We were great. Close. She was everything to me—” Barry buried his face in his hands for a moment and then folded his hands on the table. “Yes, we were getting along.”

“And there wasn’t anyone else? Not even during the times you were away on business?”

“Absolutely not. I take my vows seriously.”

“Was Jeanette as committed as you were?”

“I’m sure she was.”

“If we question her girlfriends, are they going to tell us the same thing?”

Barry’s eyebrows formed a bushy line. “Jeanette and I were great together. Ask anyone.”

“I’m asking you.”

“And I answered you.”

“Getting used to caring for twins can’t be easy,” Jude said. “It had to change things in your marriage.”

“It did. But it was a good change.”

“Sometimes couples grow apart when the demands of raising kids enters the relationship.”

“We didn’t.”

Jude locked gazes with him. “Why did you need a million-dollar life insurance policy on your wife, Barry?”

“I took that out when the twins were born.” Barry rolled his eyes. “I make a
lot
of money, Sheriff. That policy amount was totally in line with our lifestyle. If I’d planned to kill Jeanette to collect the money, I’d have insured her for three times that.”

“Insuring her for a lower amount might’ve been one way to avoid suspicion.”

“I didn’t need the money, Sheriff. I’ve got more money than I’ll ever spend.” Barry raked his hands through his thick, dark hair. “Look, I know you have to ask these questions. The husband is always scrutinized when the wife is murdered. But I’m telling you, Jeanette and I loved each other. And I had nothing to do with her murder.”

“Don’t get defensive, counselor. We’re just doing our job.”

“I’m sure you’re enjoying being on the questioning end. And you could grill me all night, but you’d end up with the same information. Why don’t you save us time and stress and just take my statement so I can go home to my boys?” Barry’s bottom lip quivered, and a tear spilled down his cheek. “Please … you know there’s no way I had anything to do with Jeanette’s murder. If you’re trying to break me, my heart is already broken. You don’t have to do this.”

Jude shifted in his chair. Hadn’t he, on one level, enjoyed making Barry Stein answer the questions for a change? He glanced over at Aimee, hoping she hadn’t noticed. “Anything you want to ask Barry?”

“I think we have what we need,” she said.

“All right, sir. You can go. If we have more questions, we know where to find you.”

Barry got up, and a deputy outside the door escorted him away.

Jude sat for a moment, feeling both sheepish and baffled.

“I believe him,” Aimee said.

“I’m not sure yet.” Jude turned his pencil upside down and bounced the eraser on the table. “It really bothers me that we can’t connect Jeanette Stein to the other victims. The killer changed his MO slightly, and the victim had nothing at all to do with the layoffs or the foreclosures.”

“You’re still thinking this was a copycat?” Aimee said.

“It was a perfect opportunity for Barry to do away with his wife, if he wanted to cover his tail.”

“He said they were getting along fine.”

“I know what he said. I want us to dig into Jeanette’s background. Someone wanted her dead. Why?”

CHAPTER 19

Adele stood at the front door and waved to Murray as he got out of the old truck that had been a source of entertainment the day before.

“I’m a little late,” he said. “It took longer to clean up than I planned, but the painting is done, and my customer is happy.”

“I have a feeling all your customers are happy.” Adele held open the front door and let Murray inside, aware that Isabel had walked the other way and disappeared into her room.

Murray turned and went into the kitchen. “Are the locks still in the pantry?”

“Yes, right where you left them. Why don’t you take a break before you change the locks and have a slice of praline cake with me?”

Murray flashed a boyish grin. “You don’t have to ask
me
twice.”

“Me either. I’ve had a craving for this all day.” Adele opened the refrigerator. “This is the last of it. It’s all ready. Let’s sit here in the kitchen.”

She reached in the refrigerator and handed Murray two plates, each with a slice of cake and a fork, and then took out two glasses of milk and sat across the table from him.

“I had such an enjoyable time picking out the computer,” she said.

“I did too.” Murray took a huge bite of cake. “So you’ve mastered email?”

“I don’t know that I’ve mastered it, but I’m comfortable now. I’d like to learn how to browse.”

“That’s easy enough. I’ll be happy to show you how it works.”

“I’d like that.” Adele took a bite of cake and savored it a moment. “Did you happen to see Noah this afternoon?”

“He stopped by the house where I was painting. Told me he quit his job at Langley Manor until Flynn’s murder is solved and that he could use my help to drum up more business. He’s been living at Haven House for two years, and that’s the limit. He’s going to have to make other living arrangements.”

“Poor man thought he was going to move out to Langley Manor. This change of plans was quite a blow.”

“Tough break, all right.” Murray was quiet and seemed lost in thought. Finally, he said, “You trust Noah?”

“I wouldn’t have him working for me if I didn’t. Why?”

Murray seemed hesitant to answer and then replied, “Just curious. You probably know him better than I do. He and I talk about surface stuff, but I don’t really know him.”

“Did he tell you that his ancestors were slaves at Langley Manor when Josiah Langley was using the house for the Underground Railroad?”

“Yes, he did tell me that. Just nothing about himself.”

Adele let the icing melt in her mouth. “His ancestor Naomi was a slave there and gave up her chance for freedom to help the Langleys shelter the slaves on their way up North. It’s just amazing that, six generations later, Noah is working with Langleys to keep the history alive. It would be tragic if that was marred by the suspicion surrounding Flynn Gillis’s death.”

“It doesn’t bother you that Flynn’s body was found out there?”

“Well, of course it bothers me,” Adele said. “But not because I think Noah had anything to do with it. The Langleys are getting cancellations right and left. It’s like a dark cloud hanging over them. The sheriff needs to get to the bottom of it.”

“Father Vince says the sheriff is too busy trying to get the Bathtub Killer to worry about Flynn’s case.”

“That’s probably true,” Adele said. “It’s such a shame. It might be a long time before the truth about Flynn’s murder is uncovered. In the meantime, Noah won’t be able to totally shake the suspicion, even though the sheriff doesn’t have anything on him.”

“Might make it hard for him to find work.” Murray took a gulp of milk. “I like the guy, but I’ll admit to you
I
have doubts. Why would an innocent man just turn in his keys and walk away from a job he loves? Don’t get me wrong, even
if
it’s true that Noah killed Flynn—and I’m not saying it is—that doesn’t make him a dangerous person. Flynn pushed a lot of people to the edge. It could’ve just been a crime of passion.”

Adele felt hot all over and was rendered mute for a moment. “You can’t be serious. Noah doesn’t have a mean bone in his body.”

“I believe that, Adele. But Flynn might’ve pushed him too far.”

“Have you said this to the sheriff?”

“Of course not. It’s just a gut feeling. I don’t have any proof, and I like the guy. I don’t think he’s dangerous or anything. But I can’t help but wonder if Flynn pushed him over the edge.”

“And you don’t think a man that can be pushed to kill someone out of anger isn’t dangerous?”

“Not necessarily. Not if his anger was only directed at one person.”

Adele mashed the cake crumbs with her fork, trying not to show how disturbing she found Murray’s comments to be.

“For example,” he said, “Moses got mad and murdered a guy who was abusing an Israelite slave. And he wasn’t a violent man.”

“I’m not sure I’m comfortable with that analogy. Are you suggesting that Noah had grounds to kill Flynn?”

Murray shook his head. “I’m just suggesting that sometimes the murderer isn’t a violent person, and the deed could’ve been a one-time thing—a crime of passion. But again, I don’t have proof that Noah did
anything
wrong. There’re just unanswered questions in my mind. I probably should’ve kept it to myself.”

Yes, I wish you had
. “I think we should probably not go down this line of conversation. It’s unfair to speculate on something neither of us knows anything about.”

“You’re right,” Murray said. “I’m sorry. That was really out of line.”

Zoe stood outside the eatery, under the gallery that overhung the sidewalk, and smiled at passing tourists, handing them two-for-one dinner coupons for Zoe B’s.

A limousine pulled up in front of the Hotel Peltier, and the doorman helped the new arrivals to climb out while the bellman unloaded their bags. On the gallery above the Coy Cajun Gift Shop, Madame Duval stood amid a jungle of greenery and flowers, holding her white poodle and watching the bustling activity on
rue Madeline.
The bright orange sale sign in the front window of Sole Mates seemed to draw shoe-loving ladies like a magnet.

The aroma of bread baking beckoned Zoe back inside. She walked over to the table by the window where Grace was seated next to Father Sam and across from Hebert and Tex.

“You fellas ready for me to take Grace off your hands?”

“
My eye!”
Hebert glanced up at her. “I’m jus’ about to beat Père Sam at dis game o’ checkers. I always win when Grace is watching. Isn’t dat so?”

Grace gave a nod and giggled.

“Shoot, you just win—period,” Tex said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“So you goin’ to
make a babine?”
Hebert grinned, exposing a row of stained teeth. “Or you goin’ to man up and play?” Hebert took his red king and jumped three of Father Sam’s pieces.

“Mercy, I’m the one who should pout.” Father Sam sat back in his chair, his arms folded.

“Dat all you got?” Hebert’s tone was playful.

“Absolutely. You’ve shamed me enough for one day.”

Savannah appeared at the table with the coffeepot, and the mood instantly turned somber.

“Y’all don’t have to stop enjoying yourselves on my account,” she said.

Tex set his mug where she could reach it better. “Doesn’t seem right for us to be laughin’ and carryin’ on when you’re hurtin’ so bad.”

“Sure it does.” Savannah filled Tex’s mug and set a few tubs of creamer on the table. “Aunt Nicole loved to laugh. She was the most positive person I’ve ever known. She wouldn’t want the rest of us to be morose and gloomy because of what happened to her.”

“When’s the family coming?” Zoe said.

“Different times. They all live in Louisiana and don’t have far to drive. Mother and Daddy are helping my grandparents plan the funeral.”

Hebert looked up, his faded gray eyes full of compassion, his voice tender.
“Ça viens?”

“It’s coming together fine, all things considered. Aunt Nicole’s casket will be placed in the family mausoleum. We’re having a private service there before the funeral at Saint Catherine’s. Police Chief Casey has promised to keep the media away so we can lay her to rest with just family and close friends present.”

“How’s da family doing?”

Savannah patted Hebert’s stubbly cheek. “Not well, but thanks for asking. My grandparents keep saying they never expected to outlive any of their children. But murder? How do they even begin to deal with what their daughter might’ve been thinking and feeling in her last moments?”

“Dey can’t. Remember how it was when Remy was hanged? His papa and all o’ us suffered when we dwelled on it. Dat didn’t change what was.”

“I know.” Savannah filled Hebert’s cup. “But right now, they don’t know how to stop thinking about it.”

“Dey will.
Un jour à la fois.
”

Savannah nodded. “One day at a time.” Her eyes were suddenly blue pools. “Great. That’s exactly what I didn’t want to happen. It’s better if I don’t talk about it here at work.”

“It might help to talk about it with friends,” Father Sam said. “We all love you and thought the world of Nicole. We’ll help you through it.”

Savannah wiped her eyes. “I can’t help but wonder how that attorney is handling his wife being murdered. At least Aunt Nicole didn’t have a husband or kids.”

“I’ll say one ting,” Hebert said. “Most folks will change dere tone, now dat a young
mère
was murdered. Dey gonna want da man responsible put away.”

“Hebert’s right,” Savannah said. “The public didn’t care when they thought the victims were just greedy CEOs. Aunt Nicole wasn’t like that, though she’s been lumped in with the others. The victim who’s going to draw attention is the young mother who left behind a husband and twin babies. I have to believe everyone is outraged over that.”

“I sure am.” Zoe helped Grace out of her booster chair and picked her up. “I wonder how Jeanette Stein is connected to all this.”

“Maybe it’s her husband,” Savannah said. “It could’ve been a payback for something he did.”

Hebert shook his head. “Dis is da reason I never wanted to live in New Awlins. But now da violence is here, too.”

That night after dinner, Adele sat in the overstuffed chair in her bedroom, mulling over her earlier conversation with Murray. She had never doubted Noah’s innocence until now. What if Flynn had pushed him too far? What if he
was
capable of murder? Should she be so trusting when even his closest friend wasn’t?

Adele picked up the phone and keyed in the numbers to Danny Clinton’s cell phone and then hung up. Had he ever failed to get back with her in a timely manner? What good would it do to push him? On the other hand, when had it ever been this critical? Adele rekeyed the numbers. Danny knew her well enough to know she wouldn’t press him if it wasn’t important.

“Hello.”

“It’s Adele Woodmore, Danny. Is this a good time to talk?”