“Did he tear through your bank account?” It was a bold question to ask, but I had to know.
Rather than delay or deny, CeeCee bobbed her head. “He did. He didn’t take quite as much from me as he did from others I know. I caught on relatively quickly. I don’t have any love for him.”
I had to admire her fortitude. “Most people wouldn’t admit that.”
“I have no reason to hide it,” she countered. “Everyone in my circle is aware of what happened. I don’t see the point in hiding it.”
“He was never really prosecuted,” I pointed out. “People opted to let him go free rather than testify.”
“I was never asked to testify. Had I been, it wouldn’t have been easy, but I would’ve done it.” She sipped her tea again and placed the cup on the table. “What’s this all about? Why are you interested in Beau?”
She’d been honest with me, so I decided to repay her in kind. “Did you hear about the bodies found by the railroad tracks?”
CeeCee nodded, her eyes narrowing. “Beau was one of those men?”
“I don’t have confirmation on that,” I cautioned. “I overheard his name in conjunction with the case. The sheriff’s department isn’t releasing names until they’ve identified all the victims. That leaves my hands tied ... except for Beau.”
“Hmm.” CeeCee tapped her bottom lip and leaned back in her chair. “I hadn’t heard that he might be part of that group. Is it true they were wearing Santa suits?”
I nodded. “I was there for the initial discovery.”
“Do you know how they died?”
I pictured the initial mangled body. “There was talk it could’ve been a train accident before the other bodies were found. The sheriff is being very tight lipped.”
“I bet.” Her eyes flitted with amusement, and then she shook her head. “I don’t know what to tell you. I have no idea why Beau would be in a Santa suit, or how he would end up dead with those other men.”
“What about you?” I focused on Janet. “Were you one of the women he bamboozled?”
Janet had the reaction I expected from CeeCee. She shook her head. “Of course not!”
“Janet, don’t lie,” CeeCee admonished. “The information will come out eventually if Beau really is one of the dead. You should get ahead of the story.” She fixed her attention on me. “Janet also fell for Beau’s story. She was a victim before me. Had she said what she knew at the time, we might’ve been able to end things sooner.”
Janet balked. “I couldn’t tell people. It was embarrassing.”
“Yes, well, sometimes embarrassment is necessary for the greater good.” CeeCee shot her a quelling look, one that told me who was in charge in their relationship. “As for Beau, I heard he was sniffing around some of his previous victims looking for help several weeks ago. Actually, it could be months now.”
Now we were getting somewhere. “Did any of these women take him up on the offer?”
“Not that I’m aware of. I don’t know anybody who would let him back into a bed let alone a life. He burned his bridges. If he is one of the dead, perhaps karma finally caught up with him.”
Janet made a protesting sound with her tongue. “That’s a horrible thing to say, CeeCee. Even if he did wrong, he was still a human being. To end up dead like that, out in the cold, and in such a bad area ... well, it’s just awful.”
I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. The situation was far from funny, but the fact that Janet was more upset about the area where the bodies were found than anything else had me internally laughing.
“Well, I guess that’s it.” I pulled two business cards from my back pocket. I always kept them handy. “If you guys hear about anybody Beau was sniffing around, please give me a call. I’m trying to track his movements so I can figure out how he ended up by those train tracks.”
“I’ll ask around,” CeeCee promised. “I’m not sorry he’s dead, of course, but I’m not a fan of murder. If there’s a killer out there, he or she must be punished.”
At least we were on the same page there.
11 Eleven
I left my car at Eliot’s shop so we could drive to Detroit together. I filed my piece from his office — something I did regularly before he blindsided me with the proposal.
“This is cozy, huh?” Eliot’s smile was broad as he met me by his office door. “It’s like old times.”
I recognized what he was getting at but wasn’t thrilled with the prospect of encouraging him. “Let’s go.”
Easygoing as ever, he nodded. “Sure. Let’s go down to a halfway house in Detroit. I’m sure that will be a lovely visit.”
“I was thinking you could buy me dinner in Mexicantown.”
He brightened at the suggestion. “Now that’s a horse I’ll gladly ride.”
I was still pondering his response when I climbed into his truck. “You say weird stuff sometimes,” I said as he fastened his seatbelt.
“That’s pretty funny coming from you.”
“What do I say that’s weird?”
“You once spent two hours explaining why Jason Voorhees was a better killer than Freddy Krueger.”
“And I still maintain that’s true. Jason was truly frightening in at least half the Friday movies. Freddy is only scary in three movies.”
“I assume you’re including the original Nightmare film in that assessment.”
“One, three and New Nightmare.”
He cocked his head. “I pretty much agree. I also liked Freddy vs. Jason.”
“Everybody likes Freddy vs. Jason, but that’s an entity all its own, though. It doesn’t belong in either franchise.”
“Fair enough.”
Eliot focused on the road after that. Rush hour traffic was in effect, but we were heading in the opposite direction, so it wasn’t too bad. Workers going north were trapped in gridlock.
ELIOT PARKED IN A CITY LOT one block down from our favorite Mexicantown restaurant. He linked his
