They climbed a twelve-foot ladder and boarded Channel Nine’s float, which was designed as a TV newsroom. The four evening news anchors sat up high while everyone else stood around the sides, tossing goodies to the crowd.
With considerable fanfare, toasts and merriment, the parade began right on time at eleven. As the tractor pulling their float rounded the corner onto St. Charles, people lining both sides of the street started screaming for beads. Cate and Landry got into the spirit along with the others, and by the time the parade ended on Tchoupitoulas almost three hours later, an exhausted Cate said that was one experience she’d never forget.
Around three they walked through the Quarter to Landry’s apartment, dodging throngs of revelers in the streets. The Calypso ball didn’t begin until nine, so they crawled in bed for a short nap, leaving the doors wide open to hear the sounds of Mardi Gras in the Quarter.
Cate used the guest bathroom to fix her hair and put on makeup. As she dressed, Landry quipped that if she didn’t speed things up, they’d miss the ball.
She laughed. “I’m taking my time. I don’t get much chance to wear fancy clothes. Ever, in fact. Don’t criticize me for trying to be the belle of the ball. I want to be the one who wears the glass slipper!”
At nine a sedan and driver provided by WCCY took them to the Roosevelt Hotel, and the ride was a blessing. With Mardi Gras just days away, many streets were barricaded to allow pedestrian traffic only. A twenty-minute walk to the hotel would have been impossible in Cate’s floor-length purple satin dress and spike heels.
Although the Blue Room of the Roosevelt wasn’t the fanciest meeting room in New Orleans, it was arguably the most famous. Since the 1930s, the venue welcomed the cream of New Orleans society, who dined and danced to the music of such greats as Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey and his brother Jimmy.
As Landry and Cate located their table, Ted joined them, commiserating with Landry how they weren’t meant to be wearing tuxedos. They visited the bar, filled their plates at sumptuous buffet stations, and danced one number after another. When Landry declared her the most beautiful woman in the room, she joked that it was time to slow down on the alcohol.
He shared with his boss about last night’s ghost tour, the woman who dreamed for years about a building on Toulouse Street she’d never seen, and a homeless man who had the same dreams. He added, “We went inside the building ourselves for a minute, and it felt to me like something was going on in there. Spooky stuff.”
“Was it spooky enough for a Bayou Hauntings episode?
“It’s too early to tell, but I’m intrigued. We’ll see where it goes from here.”
At the stroke of midnight, their big boss from Chattanooga was regally introduced as King of Calypso while purple, green and gold streamers cascaded down from the ceiling. The king and his queen led the guests in a celebratory dance, after which the party wound down.
Landry and Cate left soon afterward. It had been a long, incredible day, and she had her heels off within seconds after entering the sedan for the short drive home.
“Thanks for an amazing time,” she said as she kissed Landry good night. They snuggled down under the duvet and were asleep in minutes.
CHAPTER SEVEN
The next morning Ted rapped on Landry’s office door and said, “I came by earlier to see how you enjoyed the party last night, but you were concentrating on whatever’s on your computer. Are you researching that building on Toulouse, and have you turned up anything interesting?”
Landry smiled. Ted’s enthusiasm was refreshing, and his barrage of questions was typical. But Landry never volunteered information in the early stages. Some tales ended up as incredible adventures while most didn’t. This one was just beginning.
“Sorry, Ted. I sometimes tune out things around me when I’m concentrating. Yeah, I’m looking into that building, but it’s too early to tell.”
Ted shook his head. “’Too early to tell’ won’t cut it after I saw you working hard earlier. You’ve already found something — I can feel it. Give me a hint!”
Ted was a diehard Bayou Hauntings fan. He considered his job as station manager boring compared to the adventures Landry had experienced in the two years he’d been with WCCY-TV. He’d tagged along with Landry’s film crew visiting spooky houses, eerie buildings and haunted cemeteries, and he loved every minute. That was why he wouldn’t accept a brush-off from Landry. He wanted more.
Landry leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers behind his head. “There must be thousands of ghost stories about the French Quarter, and I’m surprised I never heard this one. It’s a hell of an interesting story. Sometime around 1800 a wealthy young couple named Lucas and Prosperine LaPiere bought property on Toulouse and built the building that’s the focus of the story. He ran a brokerage business on the ground floor and lived upstairs with his family. Across a courtyard in the back was another building where his servants lived.
“At some point he hired — or perhaps owned — a beautiful quadroon named Elberta, who was a house servant. As happened often in those days, at some point she became his mistress. Long story short, Elberta soon had her rich sugar daddy in her
