Chapter Two #3
“I have a general idea,” Daniel replied. Over the past week of the investigation, he had become more familiar with who lived where in the swamp.
The swamp was a close-knit community where everyone seemed to know everyone’s business. Daniel was hoping to connect with somebody who knew something about the murder of one of their own.
He followed the narrow trail into the dense vegetation. Small animals scurried out of his way and overhead birds squawked from the treetops. Fish jumped in a large pool of water they passed on the right.
They walked by several shanties and finally came to the one where George Trahan resided. George was a gator hunter and fisherman. The shanty was relatively small, and when Daniel knocked, the door was opened by Desiree Augustin.
Desiree was tall and lean and quite attractive. Her dark eyes widened at the sight of them. “Chief LeCroix,” she greeted.
“Hi, Desiree. We need to speak with George. Is he here?” Daniel asked.
“Yeah, he’s in the kitchen. Come on in.” She opened the door wider to allow them entry.
They entered into a small living room with a cot shoved against one wall, obviously acting as a sofa, and a wooden rocking chair. The space was neat and clean, and as Desiree gestured them to sit on the cot, George entered the room.
George greeted them all and then sat in the rocking chair facing them, his dark brows raised in obvious curiosity. Desiree stood by his side, a hand on his shoulder.
George was a big man, with broad shoulders and a thick chest. Unlike most of the gator hunters who wore their hair long, George’s dark hair was short and neatly trimmed.
However, his brows were heavy, giving him a slightly menacing look even when he smiled.
So, this was the man Angelique had dated, Daniel thought.
“Gentlemen, what can I do for you this morning?” he asked in obvious curiosity.
“We’d like to ask you a few questions,” Daniel said. “Perhaps there’s someplace we could go to speak to you in private?”
“This is fine. I don’t have any secrets from Desiree.” He smiled up at the woman, and she patted his shoulder with a smile of her own.
“I understand you were dating Angelique Santori for a while,” Daniel said.
“I was,” George replied. “She’s a beautiful woman. She’s very bright, and it was a real pleasure to spend time with her. I dated her for about a month before she broke things off with me.”
“I also understand that Mystique wasn’t a big fan of yours,” Daniel continued.
George laughed. “Yeah, she made it very clear from the get-go that she didn’t think I was good enough for her daughter.”
“Did that make you angry?” Daniel asked.
“Not angry enough to kill her,” George replied, his dark eyes slightly narrowed. “I had nothing to do with Mystique’s death. I had absolutely no reason to kill her.”
“Maybe you believed that she got Angelique not to see you anymore,” Daniel replied.
George laughed once again. “Have you met Angelique Santori? Nobody tells that woman what to do.”
“Where were you on the night Mystique was killed?” Luke asked.
“I was right here with Desiree,” George replied without hesitation.
“I can tell you he was here with me all night,” Desiree said.
“I’m telling you I had absolutely no reason to kill Mystique,” George said. “I’ve moved on. I started seeing Desiree again, and I’m very happy in my relationship with her.”
“Do you know who might have wanted her dead?” Daniel asked.
George shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I don’t have a clue.”
“So, what do you think?” Luke asked a few minutes later as they left George’s shanty.
“I don’t think he’s our man,” Daniel replied. “He’s right in that he had no reason to kill Mystique. We’ll head on to Pierre Guidry’s place and see what he has to tell us.”
“He’s the guy who had a personal relationship with Mystique?” Luke asked as they headed deeper into the swamp.
“According to Angelique, he was Mystique’s lover for years. Nola told me there was some bad blood between them at the time of Mystique’s murder.”
“So, he’s a very likely suspect,” Clay said.
“We’ll soon see.” Daniel continued to lead the other two men along the narrow trail. It was a hot and sunny day, but they were now deep enough in the vegetation that it was a bit cooler and the sun couldn’t quite pierce through the leaves overhead.
When he’d come out here the day before, he’d had to ask several people for directions to Pierre’s shanty. He knew very little about the man other than, like George, he was a gator hunter. He was hoping this early in the morning, the man would be in his shanty and not out somewhere in the swamp.
He came to a fork in the path and took the narrower one that veered off. Once again animals rustled the brush on other side of them, and there were pools of water they had to either jump over or maneuver around.
Finally, they reached Pierre’s shanty. It was a small, badly weathered structure with a porch that listed slightly to the right. Daniel knocked on the door. There was no reply. He knocked once again.
“All right, all right,” a deep voice yelled from within.
After a couple of moments, the door flew inward and Pierre glared at them all.
He was a tall, muscular guy with long black hair that hung on either side of his strongly sculptured facial features.
Daniel guessed the man to be in his mid-to-late sixties, but physically he was in great shape.
“What in the hell is going on here?” He was clad in a gray T-shirt and a worn pair of jeans that had holes in the knees. “What are you all here for?”
“Pierre, we have some questions for you. Can we come in?” Daniel asked.
Pierre hesitated a moment. “It’s not exactly company ready in here,” he said as he then opened the door to allow them in.
The interior of the shanty was as dismal as the outside. It was one room with a potbellied stove in one corner and a cot covered in a gray sheet shoved against another wall. Several articles of clothing hung from a makeshift closet and the kitchen consisted of two cabinets and a small countertop.
It smelled gamy, the odor mostly emanating from a shelving unit that held large rusty hooks, thick fishing line and various kinds of bait to catch gators.
“As you can see, this place isn’t built for entertaining,” Pierre said. “So, let’s make this fast. I’m assuming you’re here about Mystique’s murder. That woman was my soulmate. I loved her with all my heart and soul. We loved passionately and we fought just as passionately.”
“A crime of passion, people could understand that,” Daniel said softly. “Is that what happened, Pierre? Maybe you went to talk to Mystique about getting back together with her and the two of you fought and somehow things got out of control?”
Pierre took a step closer to Daniel, his features twisted with anger. “Didn’t you hear me the first time? I loved that woman and could never hurt her like that.” The man’s eyes appeared to darken and his hands fisted at his sides. “I didn’t kill her, although I’d sure as hell like to know who did.”
“That’s what we’re trying to find out,” Daniel replied. “Where were you on the night she was murdered?”
“I was out in the swamp…hunting a particular gator I want to catch.” Pierre’s nose thinned as he drew in a deep breath and then released it. “I was alone and I was out most of the night.”
“Did anyone see you out and about that night?”
“I doubt it,” Pierre replied.
“Do you know of anyone else who might have wanted to harm Mystique?” Daniel asked.
“No, not off the top of my head. So, are we done here?”
“If you think of anyone let me know. Pierre, don’t go off half-cocked on your own. I wouldn’t want to have to lock you up.”
“Got it,” he replied tersely.
“I’m serious, Pierre,” Daniel said.
“I said I got it,” Pierre said. “Now, are we done?”
“RIGHT NOW, I’d say he’s our number one suspect,” Daniel said, once the men were on their way back to their car.
“He’s got no alibi for the night of the murder,” Luke said.
“And I would say the man definitely has a temper,” Clay added.
“It’s very possible he went to Mystique’s that night in order to get their relationship back on track,” Daniel said.
“Maybe this time Mystique was through with him for good and when she told him that, he flew into a wild rage and he wound up slashing her throat,” Luke said.
“All we have to do is prove it,” Daniel replied.
On the way back to the station they drove through The Burger Joint, a drive-through that served a variety of fast-food sandwiches. They carried their lunches back to a small conference room that had been dedicated to the solving of Mystique’s murder.
On top of the table were photos from the crime scene, along with reports from the interviews that had taken place so far. There were also a few notes on the large whiteboard that kept track of the investigation. Unfortunately, it was pretty bare at the moment.
They cleared spaces on the table and then sat to eat their lunch. As they ate, they talked about what they’d done so far and what they intended to do next.
Once they were finished eating, Daniel wrote George Trahan and Pierre Guidry on the whiteboard. He put a star next to Pierre’s name. They had their first official suspect.
“Let’s head out to Charles Lathrop’s house and have a chat with him about the love spell Mystique did for him,” Daniel said. “According to his personal assistant, he was supposed to be back in town by ten this morning.”
He wasn’t sure where the investigation would go next, as they had interviewed everyone Nola had told them about and those who they knew had visited Mystique as clients.
What would really help was getting his hands on the book that Mystique had kept on her clients. However, he hadn’t heard anything from Angelique to let him know she’d found it.
He was surprised to realize he was looking forward to touching base this evening with Angelique. He only wished he was bringing her what she wanted most—the name of her mother’s murderer.