Michelle interrupted when she came back to the table. 'John Paul's warming up the gumbo,' she said.
Theo was turning the pages back and forth. He looked at the photo of Catherine dressed in an obvious hand-me-down that was too small for her growing body, then flipped back to the photo of Catherine dressed like a princess, clutching the two identical dolls.
'The poor thing started putting on the weight after she married,' Jake remarked.
'How would you know that?' Michelle asked. 'She never let you come and see her.'
'Her housekeeper told me,' he said. 'Rosa Vincetti and I would chat every now and again when she answered the phone.
She's a real nice woman. Very timid, but sweet as can be. She gave me a recipe for homemade pasta, but I haven't tried it out yet. She also told me she was getting alarmed by Catherine's weight. Worried her heart would blow up on her, she said.'
'Catherine was-' Michelle began.
'Weird,' John Paul shouted from the kitchen.
'And you're not?' Michelle countered.
'Hell, I'm normal compared to her.'
'Daddy, how did you find out we were getting money?' Michelle asked.
'You still don't believe me?' Jake asked.
'I didn't say that.'
'You're still not convinced, though, are you?' Jake pushed the chair back and stood. 'I got a certified letter to prove it. It came about an hour ago.'
Jake went to the kitchen counter, lifted the lid on the elephant-shaped cookie jar where he kept all his important papers, and
pulled out the envelope.
Michelle was sitting next to Theo now, looking through the album. There was a photo of her mother holding a baby in her lap.
With the tip of her finger, she touched her mother's face.
'That's Remy when he was a baby.'
Two pages later, he was looking at photos of Michelle and laughing. In every photo there was something sticking up or out.
Her hair, her shirt, her tongue.
'I was adorable, wasn't I?'
He laughed. 'Definitely adorable.'
Jake dropped the envelope in front of Michelle. 'Here's your proof, Dr. Smarty-pants.'
Michelle just shook her head and smiled. 'Daddy has lots of cute nicknames for me.'
Theo was laughing when he glanced over and saw the name of the law firm in the upper left-hand corner of the envelope.
'That's it,' he whispered. 'That's it,' he repeated and slapped the table.
'What's it?'
'The connection. It's the same law firm. Son of a…' Turning, he grabbed the letter out of Jake's hand. 'Do you mind?'
'Go ahead,' Jake said.
'But you haven't explained…' Michelle started.
Theo put his hand on hers. 'In a minute. Okay? Where are my glasses?'
'You're wearing them.'
*'Oh, right. Man, it's falling into place.'
Jake and Michelle both stared at him while he read the letter. When he finished, he pushed his chair back and stood. 'I've got to go to New Orleans.'
Michelle picked up the letter and quickly read it. According to Catherine's instructions, her attorney, Phillip Benchley, was hereby informing each of the beneficiaries of the total sum of the estate and the amount of each bequest. The Renard family was to receive four hundred thousand dollars to be divided equally among Jake and his three children. Rosa Maria Vincetti would receive one hundred fifty thousand dollars for her years of loyal service to Catherine. John Russell, Catherine's husband, would receive one hundred dollars, and the remainder of the vast estate would be given to the Epston bird sanctuary.
'Her husband gets only a hundred dollars?' she asked, astonished.
'They might not have had a happy marriage,' Jake remarked.
'No kidding,' John Paul offered from the kitchen door.
'Rosa sure didn't like him,' Jake added. 'I think it's nice that Catherine didn't forget to leave her housekeeper something. She
took good care of her.'
'John must have signed a prenuptial agreement for Catherine to control her own money,' Michelle said.
'He'll still try to contest it,' Theo said. 'What does the man do for a living?'
'He's a lawyer,' Jake told him. 'He works for one of the big banks in New Orleans. I've never actually talked to the man, and
I think that's a crying shame. Mike and I didn't even get a chance to speak to him at the funeral, did we, sugar?'
'No, Daddy, we didn't. But that was my fault. I had to get back to the hospital, and you had to drive me.'
Theo's cell phone rang and interrupted the conversation. Noah was on the fine.
'Where are you?' Theo asked.
'I just reached St. Claire,' Noah answered.
'Drive to Jake's house. Do you know the way?'
'Yeah. I'll be there in ten minutes.'
'What did you find out?' Theo walked through the kitchen and onto the screened porch. He pulled the door shut behind him.
Michelle assumed he wanted privacy and decided to set the table. John Paul was leaning against the counter, glaring at her.
'What's the matter?' she asked as she opened the drawer and got out the place mats.
'You're gonna let another FBI agent inside this house?'
'Yes, I am,' she said. 'Don't give me attitude, John Paul. I'm not in the mood. You're going to be polite to Noah.'
'You think so?'
'I know so. Daddy? John Paul…'
She didn't have to go any further. Her brother shook his head in exasperation and then smiled. 'You're still telling on me, aren't you, brat?'
She smiled back. 'It still works, doesn't it? Thank you, John Paul.'
'I didn't say…'
'You didn't have to. You're going to try to remember how to be nice.'
She went back to the table and put the place mats down. Weary, she sat down and propped her head on her hands. She kept thinking about the hundred thousand dollars, and her guilt was intensifying. Why would such a mean-spirited woman do such a
kind thing? And what else had Catherine sent her that was of such interest to the police and the men who would kill to get hold
of it?
Daddy was sitting next to her, going through the album again.
'Poor Catherine,' Michelle said. 'She didn't have many friends. At the funeral… there weren't many people. The only person who shed a tear was her housekeeper. Remember, Daddy? She was crying for Catherine, but no one else was. I feel bad about that.'
She was remembering the pitiful little procession walking through the cemetery. Rosa was carrying rosary beads and crying. John walked behind the priest and kept glancing back at Daddy and her. Since neither one of
