Chapter Eight #2
“That was pretty much a waste of time,” Daniel said once Pierre had left the room to go back to the swamp.
“Did you pick up anything on his facial features that might tell you he’s lying?” Clay asked.
“Not really, but what I did see was a lot of repressed anger. As far as I’m concerned, he’s still our number one suspect,” Daniel replied. “But all we have right now is a very weak circumstantial case against him, and I don’t believe Jackson will take on the case as it stands right now.”
Jackson Scott was the district attorney. Generally, he was a good friend of law enforcement, but he ruled strictly by the book, and there just wasn’t enough here for him to want to take on the case.
“At least we now have his fingerprints, thanks to the bottle of water we gave him,” Luke said.
“Yeah, but so far we have nothing to compare them to,” Clay replied.
“That could change once we get things back from the lab,” Luke said.
“Maybe we need to go back to the swamp and find out who Pierre runs with. He might not drink when he’s gator hunting, but maybe he has some friends he drinks with when he’s not hunting. Perhaps he told one of his buddies about the murder,” Daniel said thoughtfully.
“Then why hasn’t anyone come forward?” Clay asked.
“You know those gator hunters hang tight with each other, and they have a general distrust of law enforcement,” Daniel said. “Still, I think it’s best if we spend the afternoon talking to as many of the gator hunters as we can find.”
Daniel looked at his watch. “Why don’t we break for lunch now and meet back here at one o’clock.” It was now a quarter after twelve. “At that time, we’ll head back into the swamp and hopefully find someone who Pierre trusted with all his secrets.”
“Sounds like a good plan. I’m heading to The Burger Joint. Do you want me to pick you up something?” Clay asked.
“Yeah, just get me the usual,” Daniel replied. The usual was a double cheeseburger and fries.
The two men left the room and Daniel headed to his office. It was only noon and he was already tired. With a plan to continue his investigation into Pierre set, he now thought about how he could continue moving forward in Angelique’s case.
The fact that she couldn’t think of anyone she’d had words with in the past spoke highly of her pleasant personality. But there had to be somebody she had ticked off.
Marianne Lutgen. Was it possible the swamp woman had built up a deep resentment…a hatred for Angelique? He definitely needed to have a little chat with her. According to Angelique, Marianne might have also had a deep resentment toward Mystique. Definitely somebody who needed to be questioned.
The men returned with their lunches, and Daniel told them about his plan to find Marianne in the swamp and interview her. He wanted his two top officers to be with him as he never knew what he might encounter in the thick vegetation and wildness of the swamp.
“We go from a stinky gator hunter to a cute gal who likes to party.” Luke shook his head and grinned. “Never a dull moment in Dark Waters.”
They finished eating and were about to leave the office when Daniel’s phone rang. It was Jacque LeBlanc, the gator hunter who lived in the very depths of the swamp.
“Ranger Chauvin,” Jacque said.
“What about him?” Daniel asked.
“He’s always been a strange dude, but he’s definitely being more secretive and stranger lately. While out in the swamp I’ve heard him mumbling to himself, and several times in the last couple of days I’ve heard him mention Mystique and Angelique’s names. His shanty is just to the north of mine.”
“Thanks,” Daniel said. “I appreciate the tip.” When he hung up the phone, a new bolt of adrenaline rushed through him. “A new suspect…let’s head out.”
Once they were all three in the car, Daniel explained what Jacque had said. “You two know anything about this Ranger guy?” Daniel asked.
“I’ve seen him around town. From what I know of him, he’s not a very friendly guy,” Luke said.
“Doesn’t he hang out around the hardware store?” Clay asked.
“That’s where I usually see him,” Luke replied.
“What in the hell does he have to do with Mystique and Angelique,” Daniel asked.
“Hopefully, we’re going to find out,” Luke replied.
They rode in silence to the swamp entrance. A new hope swept through Daniel as he considered another suspect. When they reached the swamp, they walked for about a half an hour into the thick vegetation. When they were almost to Jacque’s place, they began to look for a shanty to the north of his.
“This looks like the place,” Daniel said as they came upon a small shanty not too far from Jacque’s. The boards of the structure were a weathered gray and the front window sported dirty curtains, but no glass.
As they approached, Daniel caught a whiff of the scent of acetone and rotten eggs and cat pee. Apparently, Ranger had a meth lab either inside his shanty or someplace nearby.
Out of an abundance of caution, Daniel pulled his revolver, and Luke and Clay did the same. “Ranger Chauvin,” Daniel yelled when they reached the bottom of the porch stairs.
There was no response. “Ranger, it’s the police department…come on out,” Daniel yelled loudly.
The door flew open and a tall, lanky man stepped out. He had on a pair of jeans and a dirty blue T-shirt, and it appeared he not only cooked the illegal drug, but also indulged in it as well. His thin face had the typical meth sores that he obviously picked.
“What’s up? What’s up?” he asked, his features twitching as he danced back and forth from foot to foot. “What do you want? What are you all doing here?”
“Ranger, we have a few questions to ask you,” Daniel said.
“I got answers,” Ranger replied. “I got plenty of answers, so ask away.”
“How well did you know Mystique Santori?”
Ranger’s eyes opened wide. “You mean the witch lady? It’s a good thing somebody slit her throat and killed her so she couldn’t say anymore wicked curses.”
“Did she put a wicked curse on you, Ranger?”
“She might have,” the man replied as his dark eyes narrowed. He reached up a hand and worried one of the sores on his cheek. “I think she did. Yup, I’m almost positive she did.”
“Why would she do such a thing to you?” Daniel asked. He put his gun back in the holster as he felt no physical threat with the man.
A smile slowly curved his lips. “’Cause I told her I wanted her daughter.”
“Which daughter?” Daniel asked.
“Angelique. That Angelique is mighty fine, and I intend to have her as my own one day very soon. I plan to marry that woman.”
“What did Mystique say to you when you told her that?” Daniel asked. A new tension swept through him. Was it possible he was looking at the man who had killed Mystique and attacked Angelique? Was he the person who had left that note on the door for Angelique to find?
Ranger’s smile turned into a deep frown. “She laughed at me. The bitch told me I would never be good enough for her daughter, and that’s when I think she cursed me ’cause after that she haunted me in my dreams…very bad dreams.”
“I’m sure all that made you very angry,” Daniel said.
“Oh, it did. For sure it did.” He dropped his hand back to his side.
“Were you angry enough to slice her throat, Ranger?” Daniel asked.
“Whoa.” Ranger took a step backward. “I had nothing to do with that. You can’t pin that on me because I didn’t kill anyone, especially the witch lady. I was scared of her.”
“What about Angelique? Did you break into her shanty in an effort to hurt her or maybe kidnap her?” Daniel asked.
“Hell no.” The man was beginning to get quite agitated. He continued to dance from foot to foot, and his whole body twitched.
“I had nothing to do with that,” he said. “I would never attack Angelique or try to hurt her. She’s like a queen…a goddess on earth. When I’m ready, I intend to court her like a real gentleman. Why are you after me anyway? I catch fish and gators—that’s all I do.”
“That’s not quite true,” Daniel said. “I can smell what else you do, Ranger,” Daniel said.
Ranger narrowed his eyes once again. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His body tensed up as he glared at Daniel.
“Why don’t you let us inside and show us around your shanty?” Daniel said.
“I don’t got to let you in,” Ranger countered as his body tensed up even more.
“Don’t make things difficult on yourself, Ranger. I can have a search warrant for your shanty in my hand within the next half an hour or so. Just let us in now and if you aren’t doing anything wrong, then we’ll get out of your face.”
Ranger stared at him for a long moment, and then he suddenly lunged off the porch and headed into the woods. “Stop,” Daniel cried.
“Ranger, halt or I’ll tase you,” Luke yelled.
The three men gave chase as Ranger raced just ahead of them. Bushes scratched and ripped at Daniel’s arms and more than once a tuber threatened to trip him up.
He didn’t see the gun. He didn’t see it until Ranger stopped, pulled it out of the back of his jeans and fired.
BY NINE O’CLOCK that evening Angelique assumed Daniel wasn’t coming. It would have been nice if he’d called to let her know that, but he hadn’t.
She decided to go ahead and change into her new, forest-green nightgown. She’d thrown away the nightwear that she’d had on when she’d been attacked and had decided today that it was time for a new one. She’d made a quick stop into All That Jazz, and now it was time to change into what she’d bought.
She’d spent much of the afternoon running errands. Along with the nightgown and matching robe, she’d picked up the gasoline for her generator and a new block of ice for her cooler.
She’d also stopped in the grocery store and had picked up a few more things. She now had everything she needed to stay in her shanty for about a week without needing to go out for anything.
It had been gloomy all afternoon, and she had just gotten home from running her errands when the skies opened up and it began to rain. Even now as she got ready for bed, a steady rain beat down on the roof. It was rhythmic and soothing.