progeny.”
“But her mother had already done that by killing the father and sons,” Evangeline pointed out.
“Not completely. A few weeks after Rebecca left Pinehurst, Carl Lemay was found murdered in an old farmhouse on the outskirts of Texarkana, where he’d relocated after being released from prison.”
Evangeline rubbed the sudden tingles at the back of her neck. “You think Rebecca was responsible?”
“Yes, I do. And I think she was responsible for two other murders, as well. Remember I told you that Charles Lemay’s sister, Leona, moved to New Orleans? She married a man named Robert Courtland and they had two sons, Paul and David.”
Evangeline stared at her in speechless shock.
Lena inclined her head slightly. “Now you see where all this has been leading. David and Paul Courtland are the direct descendants of Earl Lemay. They are the first cousins of the little boys who died more than thirty years ago at Mary Alice’s hand. Paul and David were, so far as I can determine, the last male members of the Lemay family.”
“If all that’s true—” which was a very big if in Evangeline’s book “—Rebecca Lemay’s mission would be over, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes, except for one thing.”
“And that is?”
“Carl Lemay was stabbed to death in his bed,” Lena said. “But the use of snakes with Paul and David Courtland—”
“Wait a minute,” Evangeline said with a frown. “How did you know about the snakes? It wasn’t in the paper.”
Lena shrugged as if how she’d obtained the information was of no consequence. Evangeline remembered what Lapierre had said about the woman. She was well-connected in the NOPD.
“I think Rebecca is now working with an accomplice,” she said. “The Courtland brothers weren’t just killed. There was an element of torture involved. I think Rebecca Lemay has hooked up with someone who has his own calling.”
Evangeline thought of the blond woman who had supposedly been following Paul Courtland just before he died.
“Do you know what Rebecca looks like?”
“I have a picture of the girls before they were separated, but I have no idea what they look like now.” Lena bent forward and pulled a photograph from the pages of a book lying on the coffee table. She handed the picture to Evangeline.
The shot might have come from the pages of a Southern magazine, Evangeline thought. In the background, cypress trees dripped with Spanish moss, and in the foreground, two breathtaking little blond girls in white dresses clung to one another’s hands as they smiled for the camera.
“They look exactly the same,” Evangeline said. “How do you know which is which?”
“If you look closely, you’ll see the one on the right is a smidgen taller than the other one. I believe that’s Ruth.”
For the longest time, Evangeline couldn’t tear her gaze from those angelic faces. It was hard to imagine that one of them would grow up to be a cold-blooded killer, no matter her motivation.
“Do you have any idea of Rebecca Lemay’s whereabouts?”
“It’s possible she’s gone back to where she grew up in Lafourche Parish. The nearest town is Torrence. I’ve been in contact with the sheriff’s department down there. The old Lemay house has been abandoned for years, but a few days ago, a fisherman spotted someone in one of the upstairs windows. They actually thought it was Mary Alice, but of course, that’s impossible. I think they may have seen Rebecca.”
“Did anyone from the sheriff’s department check it out?”
“I haven’t been able to verify that. People in that area are still a little touchy about what happened. I doubt anyone’s all that anxious to go out there to that old house. Too many ghosts.”
When Evangeline handed her the photograph, Lena took a moment to carefully tuck it back into the book.
“I would very much like to speak with Rebecca Lemay,” she said. “I would go down there and check that sighting out for myself, but as Captain Lapierre probably explained, I don’t leave my house much these days. I’m afraid I wouldn’t get very far. That’s where you come in.”
“You want me to go down and check it out for you,” Evangeline said. “I can’t do that. Like I told you on the phone, I’m no longer working this case. I was sent here today to hear what you have to say and report back to Captain Lapierre. What she does with the information is out of my hands.”
Lena bent forward, her eyes very direct. “I have a proposition for you, then. It’ll need to be off the record, I’m afraid.”
“No way,” Evangeline said bluntly. “I don’t work like that.”
“Johnny was right,” she said with a wry smile. “You are a tough nut to crack.”
It was still weird to hear her talk about Johnny so casually. Even more weird to think that he might have been in this house, might have sat in the very chair that Evangeline now occupied. In the course of one day, her husband had begun to seem like a stranger to her.
Lena studied Evangeline’s face for a moment.
“All right,” she said. “I’ll lay all my cards on the table. If you want to tell your superiors what I’m proposing, that’s up to you.”
“And just what are you proposing?”
“I want you to find Rebecca Lemay for me. In return, I’ll do everything I can to help you find out what really happened to Johnny.”
Mitchell called right after Evangeline left Lena Saunders’s house. She could tell something was wrong by the tense sound of his voice.
“Where are you right now?” he asked.
“I’m on my way back to the station,” she said. “Why? What’s wrong?”
“Nathan Mallet’s body was found at Mount Olive Cemetery this morning. He was shot to death.”
Evangeline was so shocked and distracted by the news, she almost failed to brake for a red light. She clutched the steering wheel as she came to a fast stop. “My God,” she muttered.
“It’s a real shocker, all right.” He paused, then said, “Look, I gotta ask you something, Evie.”
“The answer is yes. I saw Nathan yesterday.” Her heart started to hammer against her rib cage. Evangeline knew she’d done nothing wrong, but she had a feeling this wasn’t going to go down well.
“What time did you see him?” Mitchell asked.
“It was right after you called. Somewhere between seven-thirty and eight. I saw his Mustang parked at the cemetery so I went inside and looked around for a bit. Then I came back out and waited for him by his car. We spoke for a few minutes and then I got back in my car and drove off. That’s it, Mitchell. Nathan was alive when I left him.”
“I wasn’t implying otherwise. I just wanted to make sure you know how you’re going to answer if someone else asks you that question.”
“If?”
“However you want to handle this is fine by me. As far as I’m concerned, we never talked yesterday.”
“Thanks.” Evangeline was touched by his loyalty. Of all the things that had been turned upside down in her life lately, Mitchell’s friendship was a staple. “I would never ask you to do that,” she said. “Besides, I’ve got nothing to hide. Like I said, Nathan was alive when I left him.”
“How did he seem?”
“He was nervous. He kept looking around, as if he was afraid to be seen with me. But I figured I’d just caught him by surprise.” The light changed and she started through the intersection. “Have they found anything yet?”
