Before Elise could give the episode much thought, Strata Luna continued. 'There is one person you might want to talk to. I thought about him a few days ago. His name is James LaRue. He comes to Black Tupelo sometimes, sniffing round my girls, asking questions.'
'What kinds of questions?' Elise asked.
'About me.'
'I wouldn't think that would be so unusual. People are curious about you.'
'Newspeople, yes. Reporters, yes. But a retired scientist? What does he wanna know? I ask myself. I finally agreed to speak to him on the phone.'
'And?' Elise asked.
'Said he was studying tetrodotoxin. Writing a book. But I think he was looking for a place to buy tetrodotoxin. He insinuated I use it to get high.' She lifted her chin and looked down her nose. LaRue was unworthy of her. 'People wanna see me for many reasons. Some are curious. Some want a story. Others just want their fortunes told.'
'You tell fortunes?' Elise asked.
'Used to. Years ago, when I was hardly more than a child. 1 gave a few people some good advice on stocks and lottery numbers. People who've heard 'bout my early success have offered large amounts of money for advice. But I don't do that no more.'
'Why'd you quit?' Gould asked. 'I'd think fortune-telling would be less unpleasant than… escort service.'
'Humans are intuitive, but few know how to channel that power, including myself. I couldn't foresee the deaths of my own children. I could pick stocks and lottery numbers, but I couldn't save the people who meant the most to me.'
All three fell silent. Strata Luna finally looked across the table at Gould. 'It's a beautiful fountain, isn't it?'
Gould was once again staring past the potted plants, creeper vine, and magnolia tree, to the fountain. Strata Luna's direct statement caused his cup to slip. He caught it as it rattled against the saucer.
'Do you have any children, Detective Gould?' Strata Luna asked in a way that seemed deliberate as well as elusive. 'Alive or dead? Because we must always remember the dead.'
Did she question everyone about offspring? Elise wondered.
Gould pulled his gaze from the statue. He stared at Strata Luna for a long time before attacking her question with one of his own. 'You lost two children, didn't you? Two girls?'
'I had two daughters,' Strata Luna said. 'Both are dead. Deliliah drowned, and Marie hung herself.' She glared at him, her voice angry. 'But you would have already known that, so why talk about it to me?'
'Just my job,' Gould said, refusing to be intimidated.
'I know what people say. They say I killed them. Is that what you think? Is that what you're implying? Are you looking for a confession?'
Gould blinked, apparently figuring he'd gone too far. 'The question was out of line. I'm sorry.'
His words might have fooled anybody else. But Strata Luna was a perceptive woman. She would know he didn't mean them.
'Would a mother kill her own child?' Strata Luna asked.
'It happens,' Gould said flatly.
The sudden tension and hostility between the two was palpable. Should she jump in? Elise wondered. Or let the scene play out?
'Not this mother.' Strata Luna jabbed a finger at herself. 'This mother would never kill her own children.'
'I said I was sorry.'
'Words are real. Even if you can't see them, or hold them. Once you send them out in the world, they have power. Never speak words you don't mean.'
Gould was trapped. There was no response that could placate the woman. Elise had decided it was time to intervene when Strata Luna spoke again.
'You need to stop your self-destructive ways,' she told him.
The eye lock was broken.
Gould suddenly made a big deal out of peering into his empty cup. 'Did I miss something? Did you read my tea leaves?'
Always turning everything into a joke.
'I try to guide people,' Strata Luna said. 'I try to keep them from being foolish.'
Gould replaced his cup on the saucer. 'Thanks for the advice.' His voice may have been level, but Elise didn't miss the underlying sarcasm.
He stood. 'I have a couple of questions for Enrique.'
'He should be in the house unless he's left for the grocery store.' Strata Luna waved behind her, clearly glad to be rid of Gould. 'Feel free to look around. I have nothing to hide.'
'I'll catch up in a minute,' Elise told him.
Gould nodded and strode away.
'He could use some lessons in self-discipline,' Strata Luna said once he was gone.
'Detective Gould's okay,' Elise said, surprised to find that her opinion of him had changed for the better. He was more than holding his own, and sometimes a detective had to ask tough questions to get the right answers. His tactic had been a good one, just misplaced.
'Thanks for agreeing to see us,' Elise said, getting to her feet.
Strata Luna reached out and grabbed her arm, fingers squeezing tightly. 'Sit down.'
Elise remained standing. 'Remove your hand.' Now it was her turn to confront Strata Luna.
The woman released her hold, apparently realizing her forceful nature hadn't gone over well.
'Have you thought of something about Gary Turello you forgot to tell us?' Elise asked, her voice now remote and businesslike.
'No.'
Elise checked her watch. 'Then I have to go. You have my card. Call if you think of anything.' She began to walk away.
Strata Luna's next words stopped her. 'Your mother was one of my girls.'
Elise felt a heavy thud in the pit of her stomach. She pulled in a breath and swung around.
'Her name was Loralie,' Strata Luna said. 'She was beautiful. Exotic. Popular with the men. Oh, I'm sorry. You didn't want to hear that.'
Elise waited.
Strata Luna picked up a cookie, turning it this way and that. 'Did you know that when I heard you'd been left in a cemetery, I thought about adopting you myself? But I knew they wouldn't give a baby to somebody like me. Not even a baby with devil eyes.'
Was she being intentionally cruel? Elise wondered. 'Why didn't you come forward when the police were requesting citizen help?'
'What good would that have done, with a prostitute for a mama? Your best chance was to remain a mystery. And Jackson Sweet was dying…'
'Where is she now?' Elise's heart pounded. Her palms were clammy. 'Loralie?'
'She has a new life that has nothing to do with who she once was. A life that has nothing to do with you.'
Elise would have felt differently toward her birth mother if she'd been given up for adoption in the normal way. What kind of cruel legacy was a cemetery to leave a child? 'I want her full name.'
'I can't give it to you. Not without asking her permission.' Strata Luna took a casual sip of tea that had to be cold. 'Would you like me to do that for you?'
Do that for you?
Her word choice was particularly disconcerting. 'What's this about? What do you want from me? First you tell me about Jackson Sweet. Now you bring up the name of a woman you claim is my mother. Why exactly did you agree to this visit?'
Strata Luna's haughtiness fell away. 'My daughters are dead.' She looked up at Elise. There were tears in her eyes. 'You're a connection to my past. To a better time. A time before evil came to Savannah.'
