Mostly Murder by Linda Ladd Read Free Book Online

serious?”
    â€œYes, sir.”
    â€œWell, that’s just great. Especially if the local news gets hold of it. Cause of death determined?”
    â€œNot sure about that yet. Her hands and feet were bound. She’s was severely beaten.” Claire hesitated. “He sewed her eyes and mouth shut with some kind of heavy-duty thread.”
    â€œYou sure it’s connected with voodoo?”
    â€œZee and Nancy think so. We’re all here and getting ready to bag her. Is that okay with you?”
    â€œYes, go ahead, but let Nancy oversee it.”
    â€œThe victim lives in New Orleans. Do we have permission to go up there and search her house?”
    â€œYes. Put a call in to Rene Bourdain. You know him, don’t you?”
    â€œYes, sir.” Rene Bourdain had been Bobby LeFevres’s partner at NOPD when Claire lived with Bobby and Kristen, but she hadn’t known him all that well and she hadn’t seen him since she came back. It would be good to connect with him again, though. He had always been nice to her, way back when.
    â€œOkay, call him. Get permission. See what you can find out. And keep it as quiet as you can.”
    â€œYes, sir.” Claire punched off. “Okay, let’s take her in. Zee, we need to get over to New Orleans before dark and check out her address. If she is Madonna Christien, we need to notify her next of kin.”
    Notification of kin was not Claire’s idea of fun and games. An entire family was going to be shattered by this. They’d never be the same again after they saw the crime scene pictures of what some monster had done to their baby. She hoped they would elect not to view them.
    â€œZee, you worked at NOPD, right? Do you know how to get hold of Rene Bourdain? That’s who Sheriff Friedewald said to contact. We’ve got to get permission to search this address.”
    â€œSure, Rene and I are pretty tight. We worked together in narcotics, but now he’s headin’ up the detectives over there. He’s a good guy. He’ll get us in.”
    While Zee moved away and talked to Rene, Claire tried to remember exactly what Rene Bourdain looked like. He had visited the LeFevreses often when she’d lived there, but only a vague recollection of his facial features came rolling up out of that misty memory fog. Which happened a lot since she’d come out of that pesky coma. Black told her that she’d remember most things, but that other memories might never come back. She could think of more than one horrible thing she wished she couldn’t remember, but Rene Bourdain didn’t meet that criterion. Most everything was coming back, slowly but surely, including that short but happy time she’d spent with the LeFevres family when she was around ten years old.
    Zee hung up and turned around. “Rene’s gonna meet us there.”
    Claire turned to Nancy. “You coming back with us or going in with the body?”
    â€œIf you’ll bring the Tahoe back to the office, I’ll go in the van with the body. Better to document the transfer myself.”
    â€œOkay, let’s go, Zee.”
    Zee spoke up. “This has gotta be a crime of passion, Claire. Beating her up like that, and all. That’s what I think.”
    â€œWho knows what motivated this lunatic? Jealousy or revenge, probably. Or maybe, it’s just one of those If-I-can’t-have-you-nobody-can kinda things. Whatever, I want to get him off the streets.”
    â€œWell, if I was you, I sure wouldn’t hang around out here by myself anymore. He may be nuts, but I bet he put your face on that doll for some crazy reason.”
    Claire shrugged. “Yeah, probably. We’ll find out soon enough. Nancy, wait until I get to the morgue to do the autopsy, okay?”
    She and Zee walked through the house, descended the front porch steps, and headed for Nancy’s Tahoe. The midday sun was warm on Claire’s hair and felt good