Chapter 10
I pulled into Sinful, planning to park in front of the sheriff’s department and charm Carter into letting us see Quincy and Petey, but those plans went out the window when I saw Celia standing on the sidewalk, glaring at me.
“This can’t be good,” I said.
I parked farther down in front of the General Store and as we climbed out, Celia came stomping over toward us. Her face was red, and in the bright pink dress with huge yellow flowers, she looked like a really tacky overstuffed chair.
“What kind of nonsense are you up to now?” Celia asked. “I know Quincy didn’t assault you. Carter thinks he can fool me, but he can’t.”
“Carter had nothing to do with it,” I said, and pointed to the red marks on my arm. “Quincy grabbed me. The proof is right there.”
Celia narrowed her eyes. “Oh, I have no doubt that a lot of people would like to grab you and shake you until you left town, but I know you’re up to something.”
“The only thing I’m up to is shopping,” I said. “And you’re in my way.”
“If Quincy really assaulted you,” Celia said, “how come you haven’t filed a report yet?
I asked Carter and he said you would file it after you’d seen a doctor.
He’s in the office now. It wouldn’t take a minute to get your statement in writing.
Then you could be certain that woman-beater Quincy and his criminal son wouldn’t be walking around Sinful. ”
If I gave Carter a statement, Celia would see to it that Quincy sat in jail until he went to trial.
A trial that I would have to testify at, starting with stating my name with my hand on a Bible.
Not a good look for someone whose entire identity was a lie.
And even if there weren’t that tiny problem with lying under oath, I didn’t want Quincy in jail any longer than he had to be.
“The doctor said I needed to ice my arm, take some aspirin, and rest,” I said, “which is what I’m going to do as soon as you stop your yapping and let me go buy some aspirin. I’ll file the report when I feel better. I doubt Quincy is a flight risk.”
“You may pretend to be all injured innocence,” Celia said, “but I don’t buy it for a minute. Whatever you’re up to, you’re going down for it this time.”
“You better hurry up,” Gertie said. “The election recount results will be in soon.”
Celia glared at her. “And when they proclaim me the winner—again—things are going to change around here. The days of you two running this town are over.”
“You may get to be mayor of this town,” Ida Belle said, “but you will never matter.”
Celia’s eyes widened and she sputtered for a moment. Apparently unable to think of a witty comeback, she whirled around and stalked off down the sidewalk, then plopped down on a bench in front of the sheriff’s department.
“Well, I guess strolling in the sheriff’s department and nicely asking questions is out,” I said.
“With the demon queen sitting there, people will be afraid to go in or out,” Gertie said. “What do we do now?”
“We go into the store,” I said, “like we were pretending to do in the first place, and have a chat with Walter. Maybe Carter told him something. We can regroup there.”
We went inside the store and loitered between the aisles while Walter finished up with a customer, then headed for the register when the store was empty. Walter frowned when he saw us coming.
“I got word that you heard about Petey,” he said. “Carter called earlier and had me bring a couple sleeping bags and pillows down there for Quincy and the boy.”
“Heard about it and already working on it,” I said.
“Good,” Walter said. “Setting that boy up for poaching is downright evil.”
“So you think someone set him up too?” I asked.
“What the heck else could it have been?” Walter asked. “That boy didn’t kill those gators, so whoever put those lines, hooks, bait, and alligator skins in his boat couldn’t have had anything else in mind.”
I looked over at Ida Belle and Gertie, who both looked worried. No wonder the state told Carter he had to hold Petey. The evidence was definitely tilted in the wrong direction.
Walter looked back and forth among us, probably wondering why we hadn’t spoken yet. “You didn’t know about the evidence, did you? Well, crap. I’ve gone and repeated police business that I shouldn’t have.”
“Don’t look at it as breaking a confidence,” Gertie said. “Look at it as saving us from having to break and enter to get a peek at Carter’s files.”
Walter gave her a pained look. “Please don’t give me details. Just having a good idea what you are up to is enough to get me in hot water with Carter for not telling.”
“You let the horses out of the barn,” Gertie said. “Don’t be getting all self-righteous with us now.”
“She’s right,” Ida Belle said. “Might as well finish up what you started.”
Walter looked torn, so I jumped in. “Look, all we want is to get Petey cleared. We can do that a lot faster if we can disprove the evidence against him, which would be a heck of a lot easier if we knew what that evidence was. We were going to ask Carter—or, as Gertie said, steal it if necessary. But with Celia Arceneaux sitting guard in front of the sheriff’s department, we can’t get in to talk to anyone. ”
Walter stiffened. “Celia is sitting in front of the sheriff’s department?”
Gertie nodded. “Her fat butt is plopped on the bench right outside the door.”
Walter banged his hand on the counter, and we all started. He was usually so calm, but right now he looked mad enough to spit. “What the hell is that woman trying to do? She’s tearing this town apart with her hate. And to what end?”
“To get to me,” Ida Belle said quietly.
Walter let out a sigh and shook his head. “I will never understand a desire for a reckoning so strong that you burn down your own house to get it, but that’s exactly what Celia seems determined to do.”
“Then help us win,” I said. “Tell us what you know. It’s either that or we break in the back door of the sheriff’s department and wait for Carter to leave his desk. It’s not optimal.”
“I’m afraid what I know isn’t good,” Walter said.
“I told you the gear for hunting alligator was found in Petey’s boat.
His fingerprints were on it, and when the game warden picked him up, he said Petey was walking in circles, mumbling incoherently, and had blood on his shirt that matched blood on the piece of tail in the boat. ”
I frowned, completely confused. “Why does Petey even have a boat?”
“He had it before the accident,” Gertie said. “Quincy never got rid of it. I think he felt like doing that meant he was admitting Petey was never going to get better.”
My chest tightened a little at Quincy’s dilemma. “Where was the boat kept?”
“As far as I know,” Gertie said, “he never moved it from JC’s.”
I waited for the rest of the explanation, but apparently, Gertie thought she was done.
“JC Hammond owns a little stretch of dirt with a boat ramp,” Ida Belle explained. “Several locals pay him a small amount to keep their boats there. Mostly those that live in the neighborhood and don’t want to clog up their driveways.”
“I assume, since I’ve never seen it, that this stretch of dirt is remote?” I asked.
Ida Belle nodded. “It’s a couple miles outside of town, but JC’s place is the only thing down the road.”
“So no reason to go there other than for the boat,” I said, then I looked up at Walter. “Why was the game warden there digging through boats, anyway? And is that even legal?”
“All a game warden needs is suspicion of illegal activity and he can search a car, boat, house, whatever,” Walter said.
I perked up. “Really? That sounds like the perfect job for me—not having to get permission for anything.”
Walter nodded. “There is some truth to that.”
“So why was the game warden checking Petey’s boat?” Ida Belle asked.
“He claimed it was an anonymous tip,” Walter said.
I rolled my eyes. “I bet. The poacher heard that Carter was investigating, so he planted that stuff in Petey’s boat, then called it in himself.”
Ida Belle frowned. “I’m sure you’re right, but it doesn’t explain how the blood from the boat got on Petey.”
“Maybe he was in the boat,” Gertie said. “It’s not in the water, and with Ramona seeing him standing near the bank…I don’t know, maybe he’s trying to return to the way things used to be.”
I nodded. “Then he found the stuff in there, touched it, not understanding why it was in his boat, then freaked out a little when he found the gator tail, which would explain the acting incoherently and mumbling.”
“We ought to check out the boat,” Gertie said.
“I’m sure the state confiscated it,” Ida Belle said. “What we really need to do is talk to Petey. If he knows who the poacher is, we can figure out a way to get proof.”
“Wait a minute,” Walter said. “You think Petey knows who the poacher is? And what’s all this about Ramona saying he’s standing near the bank?”
We filled Walter in on our visit with Ramona and our theory that the reason Petey was being set up was because he’d seen the poacher during his wanderings.
When we were done, Walter blew out a breath. “I’ve been racking my brains trying to figure out why anyone would want to harm that boy. I bet you’ve hit on it. But what kind of person does that to someone like Petey?”
“A desperate, despicable one,” Gertie said.
“And arrogant,” Ida Belle said. “I’m sure he thinks no one will question the evidence.”
“To hell with Celia,” I said. “Let’s just go in the back door. I’ll call Carter and tell him to let us in. We won’t even have to pick a lock. Do it all aboveboard. More or less.”
I pulled out my cell phone and dialed him up. He answered on the first ring.
“Gertie would like to get in to see Petey and Quincy,” I said. “She’s worried.”