Murder in the Rue Ursulines

Her eyes narrowed. “You were sure, and now you aren’t? May I ask why?”

I swallowed. “Well, it was from a distance of forty yards and it was dark outside. The person I saw was about the same height as Freddy, and he had the same kind of build. So I automatically assumed it was Freddy. Now I’m not so sure.” I cleared my throat.

“Have you spoken to your clients since then?”

“Yes. When I was leaving Port of Call I received an unexpected call on my cell phone from Loren McKeithen, who asked me to come to their house. This was around seven-thirty, eight o’clock; I’m not entirely sure of the time. I went over there, and once I arrived, they told me that Glynis Parrish had been murdered, and they asked me to stop investigating what I was working on, and to start looking into Glynis’s death. That was when I told them I’d seen Freddy coming out of a house on Ursulines just before six o’clock. They told me I was mistaken, that Freddy and Jillian had been together since they left Loren’s office and our meeting.”

“And that’s when you began to question your identification?”

Venus held up a hand. “Chanse, since you’re not sure-“ her voice took on a sarcastic edge, “-who you saw coming out of the crime scene, you need to give me a description. If you would be so kind.”

“Well, he looked to be about five-five, maybe a hundred and forty pounds?” I closed my eyes and thought. “He was wearing an LSU hooded sweatshirt, the hood pulled down low over his face. The upper part of the face was either covered or shadowed. When he got under the street light, I got a pretty good look at the exposed part of his face, and that’s why I thought it was Freddy Bliss. This person had the same kind of jaw structure as Freddy, but I couldn’t really get a good look at the nose. He was wearing an old pair of ratty-looking low-rise jeans, and I didn’t get a look at his shoes.

“He stopped under the streetlight, lit a cigarette, and started walking in the direction of the river, very quickly. I thought about calling out to him-thinking it was Freddy-but when he got to the corner at Dauphine Street, he started running, and then disappeared in the fog.” I shrugged. “I just went on to meet Paige.”

Venus gave me a ghost of a smile. “Did you mention any of this to Paige?”

“Um, no.”

“She’s going to kill you, you know.” The smile broadened. “She’s been bitching about having to get an interview with Freddy and Jillian for a couple of days now-and you have, or had, access to them?”

I gave her a sickly smile back. “She mentioned it at dinner, actually. But I’d signed a confidentiality agreement…”

“Like she’ll care?” Venus’ smile grew wider. “Off the record, I wouldn’t want to be you. She’s going to skin you alive.”

“Are we finished here?” Storm asked, glancing at his watch.

Venus gave him a look that would have killed a lesser person. “For now, yes. But I will most likely have some more questions for your client.” She turned back to me as she said your client. “For your sake, Chanse, I’d advise you not to speak to either Freddy Bliss or Jillian Long, and of course, don’t leave town. For any reason.”

I bit my lip. “Do you have an exact time of death yet?”

Venus sighed. “We’ve already released this information to the press, so it won’t hurt anything for me to tell you. Her assistant, Rosemary Shannon, left her alone in the house around four. Glynis Parrish asked her to leave as she was expecting someone, and she wanted to meet with the person privately. She told Ms. Shannon not to come back until after six. Shannon returned around six-thirty, and found the body.” Her eyes glinted. “And I am sure you already know that the first people Ms. Shannon called were your clients, rather than the police.”

“So, basically, she was killed between four and six-thirty?”

“Yes.”

“Fingerprints on the murder weapon? I’m asking because I touched it.”

“You what?”

“In the course of my investigation for Freddy and Jillian, I interviewed Glynis Parrish. She invited me to pick up her Emmy.” I was wincing inwardly, knowing how lame it sounded. But Storm had advised me to mention it up- front.

Venus repeated what I said, her voice displaying a dangerous edge. “She invited you to pick up her Emmy.”

I shrugged. “She said everyone wanted to.”

“Uh-huh.” She stared at me, perfectly conveying that she realized I was either crazy or a liar.

I kept silent, not wanting to blink first…

“We’re running the prints now.” She waved tiredly. She turned the recorder off. “Thank you for coming in, Chanse. We’ll be in touch.”

Storm handed her a business card. “I want you to know that my client is available whenever you need him, but the arrangements need to be made through me. No one from the police department or the district attorney’s office is to speak to him or make any arrangements to talk to him other than through me.”

Venus sighed. “Understood.”

Once we were outside the station, Storm clapped me on the back. “That wasn’t too bad, was it? Can I drop you at home?”

“No.” I replied, giving him a weak smile. “Thanks, though. I think I’m going to go have lunch somewhere.”

“Well, you have my cell if you need me.” He leaned closer to me. “Stay away from Frillian-I think that’s the wisest thing you could do right now.”

“Thanks.” I walked down Royal Street. The sun was shining, and it was in the low seventies. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and turned it on. It beeped to let me know I had a message.

I dialed into the voice-mail, and winced.

“Chanse, you miserable lying sack of shit!” It was Paige.” I cannot fucking believe you sat there and listened to me bitch all that time about how impossible it would be to get an interview with Freddy and Jillian, and the whole time you could have gotten me in there! This is how you pay me back for all the goddamned favors I’ve done for you over the years? You are DEAD to me, you hear? DEAD. TO. ME. I am so pissed off at you right now-oh, wait a minute. They made you sign a confidentiality agreement, didn’t they? They all do that. But damn it, Chanse! How could you not even HINT at this? Call me when you get this-I promise I won’t rip off your head and shit down your neck the way you so richly deserve…Jesus Christ on the cross, Chanse. Do you have any idea what you’ve gotten yourself into? You’d better not be giving interviews to anyone besides me, do you hear me? If you do, I will skin you alive, I will boil you in oil…if you don’t give me an exclusive, I swear I’ll-“ BEEP.

I couldn’t help it, I grinned. I hit the call back button, and she answered on the first ring. “Where the hell have you been?”

“You free for lunch?” I asked, keeping my voice as calm as I could. “I might be persuaded to give my oldest friend in the world an exclusive interview.”

There was a pause. “Chanse,” she said, her voice low, “you are a witness?”

“How did you-“

“They have the television on here in the office. It just went out over CNN. You saw the murderer leaving Glynis’s house?”

Someone in the police department had already called the press. My God, I just told Venus, and already it’s on the news.

“Meet me at El Gato Negro, and I’ll tell you everything.” I replied, closing the phone.

I took some deep, therapeutic breaths, and started walking through the Quarter.

Chapter Eight

“Wow. That really sucks.” Paige said when I’d finished my tale. She shook her head and took a sip of her iced tea. “Do you think Freddy killed her?”

I glanced around. We were the only people in El Gato Negro other than the staff. Our waiter was wiping down a table on the far side of the room. We were seated in the corner furthest from the front door. I shrugged. “I don’t