Hallowed Bones (37 page)

My own spirits dropped a notch or two, but I had another angle. "Maybe we've been going at this all wrong," I said, remembering what Starla had said. "Maybe someone killed Rebekah to hurt Doreen, not to protect themselves."

Tinkie's eyebrows lifted. "Interesting." Even her posture improved. "Doreen's bound to have enemies."

"Maybe jealous competitors."

"Yes, and possibly local religious groups who find her untraditional teachings to be suspect."

"The problem is opportunity."

Tinkie's eyebrows dropped. "That's a good point. We settled on our original suspects because they had motive. If we change the motive, we have to rethink the whole suspect angle."

"Once we find Doreen, I'm going to wring her neck," I said.

"I'll help."

We finished our drinks and walked back through the crowds toward the Monteleone. Tinkie was lost in her own thoughts, and from the look on her face, they weren't pleasant. When we got to the hotel, she lingered at my door.

"Do you want to spend the night here?" I asked.

"You heard the fight, didn't you?"

"Yes." There was no point lying.

"I'll never love anyone more than Oscar, but I don't know if I can stay with him." She walked into my room and took a seat on the double bed I didn't use. "What am I going to do?"

I sat down beside her and put my arm around her. "I'm all out of answers for either one of us."

"I want a child, Sarah Booth. You know I love Chablis, but that isn't enough anymore. I want a baby. And Oscar says we can't have one."

"You'll work it out. You love each other too much not to."

"I was foolish to listen to my father. He said that Oscar would change his mind. I can't blame Oscar for this. Not really. He said all along he didn't want children. I have only myself to blame. And Daddy."

"Tinkie, you still have plenty of time to have a baby." The clock was ticking, though. I heard each tock inside my own womb.

"I don't want to be sixty when my kid graduates from college." She pushed a strand of hair back from her face. "It just galls me to think of Connie risking her baby to make Coleman pay. I'd like to slap her into next Sunday."

"Not a bad game plan," I said, and we both grinned.

From the depths
of sleep I picked up the ringing telephone. In the other bed, Tinkie sat up and snapped on the light. The bedside clock showed six in the morning.

"Sarah Booth?" Coleman's voice was tired, but the desperation was gone. In fact, so was all emotion.

"How's Connie?" I asked. Out of the corner of my eye I watched Tinkie slide back beneath the covers. She put a pillow over her head to give me some privacy.

"Doc finally got her to open the door and give up the gun. She rode with him to the hospital. They've got her on some IVs to get some nutrition in her."

"And the baby?"

"She won't have a sonogram or any of the tests Doc recommended. She says if we keep pushing, she'll leave the hospital."

"But at least it's a step in the right direction."

"Do you think Doreen could call her?" Coleman asked. "Maybe if she'd talk to her over the phone. It might make a difference. Doc did great, but he's at the end of his rope with her. He says she needs professional help, but she won't go. Doc's afraid to suggest any psychiatric medications because of the baby."

"I have to find Doreen this morning. I'll ask her."

"Connie's in room 208." There was a pause. "Thank you, Sarah Booth."

"I wish I could do more." I hung up the phone with an empty feeling. Coleman wasn't desperate, but he also wasn't there. I had the feeling I'd talked with a stranger.

"I gather Connie's in the hospital," Tinkie said.

I passed along what I'd learned, then ordered coffee from room service. I was too awake to consider going back to bed, and I had work to do. I was so angry with Doreen that the thought of waking her up didn't bother me in the least. After a cup of coffee I started getting dressed.

"I'm coming, too," Tinkie said as she headed to the closet to raid my wardrobe. "Your clothes will be a little big, but they'll do." She looked at the phone. "Oscar didn't even call."

Doreen was on
her patio drinking coffee when we arrived. The smile that originally lit her face faded as she saw our expressions.

"Bad news?"

"Doreen, who is Rebekah's father?" Tinkie said. "The DNA tests came back. There wasn't a match with any of the three."

A confused look touched Doreen's face. "That's impossible. It had to be one of the three."

"Not according to the tests."

"Then there was a mistake. It was either Michael, Oren, or Thad."

She spoke with such conviction that I felt my righteous anger waver. "Are you sure?" Doreen had never made a secret of her sexual activities. Maybe she'd just gotten confused.

"Look, Sarah Booth, I believe in miracles, but this wasn't an immaculate conception. I know who I slept with and I know when I got pregnant."

"Could you have confused the dates?"

"The only men I've slept with in the last two years are those three. I don't think there's a margin there for error."

"Get dressed," I said. "We're going to the Eighth District. We'll be there when LeMont arrives. There's something funny going on here and we need to find out what it is."

While Doreen dressed, we filled her in on her dead brother's obsession with her, and Kiley's attempt to barter information for money.

"Give it to her," Doreen said. "But I want to meet my nephew."

We took a taxi to the police station, and on the way, Tinkie told Doreen about Ellisea.

Instead of commenting, Doreen watched the now familiar Vieux Carre pass by the window. At last she spoke. "Thad never said a word. What a burden that secret must have been." She shook her head. "Thad will be destroyed when it gets out."

"I know," I said.

"He isn't a bad man." She turned back to the window and fell silent for the remainder of the ride. Tinkie and I shared a glance, but we, too, had our own thoughts to pursue. We still weren't talking when we pulled up at the station house and got out.

We were seated on the felon's bench when LeMont walked in promptly at eight. He only shook his head when he saw the three of us. Without wasting a word, he motioned us into his office. "What now?"

"How did you get the samples for the DNA tests?" Tinkie asked.

"The men voluntarily gave us a swab."

"The technician personally took the evidence?" I asked.

"Look, I wasn't in the room watching. The men came in at different times. They volunteered to do this. I didn't think it required a watchdog."

"Can you check with the technician?" I asked. "Something's wrong here."

LeMont picked up a file folder, his face growing red. "I've about had it with you," he said. "We're professional investigators. Just because the test didn't show what you wanted it to show doesn't mean it was a bad test."

"It has to be one of the three men," I said softly. "There are no other candidates."

My tone must have surprised him. He put the folder down. "Ms. Mallory?" he said.

"One of those three men is the father," Doreen said. "There's no doubt. I have no reason to lie about it."

LeMont shook his head slightly and sighed. "All right. I must be losing my mind. I'll ask the technicians. Wait here."

He was gone for almost half an hour, but when he returned, his face was glum. "The technician said he took the swabs personally, but he did leave the room briefly when one of the men was there. He had a call of nature."

"Which man did he leave?" I asked.

LeMont sighed. "He doesn't remember. He's going back through his records to figure it out. If he's successful, he may keep his job. Now beat it. I have work to do."

I gave Tinkie and Doreen a look, and they stepped out of the room.

LeMont gave me an irritated scowl. "What now?"

"Cece knows about Ellisea."

"Knows what?"

He was going to try and bluff it out. "That she was once a man."

His face seemed to relax. "So, it's happened at last. Over the years, Ellisea has made a lot of enemies. When Henri told me about her car, I knew some creep had dug up the truth. I figured they'd try to blackmail her." He leaned back in his chair a little. "It's a relief, you know. I told her a long time ago to tell the truth. But you have to understand her family. Her father wanted to kill her. Callie defended Ellisea." He shrugged. "When Eli decided to have the operation and become a woman, Henri made it very clear that she'd be the best woman in the world. An international beauty. Or else. He really put the screws to Ellisea, and when she doesn't live up to his standards, he sends one of his boys to beat her up a little."

I remembered the glimpse of her in the window. So she had been beaten, but not by her husband, as I'd assumed. "I can almost feel sorry for her," I said.

"You should. She's spent her entire life trying to live up to Henri's expectations, and you know what? She'll never be good enough. Eli was a gentle kid. Always wanting so desperately for his father to love him. But Henri was never much of a father, not even at first. Henri left Callie with Eli back in the swamps while he went to
New Orleans
to build his empire. That's how we grew up together. My family looked out for Callie because she was alone. Henri hardly saw Eli through the first thirteen years, and then when he finally spent some time with Eli, Henri realized that he would never have the son he wanted. He was repulsed by his own child. And he's made her suffer every day of her life." He stood up. "I guess I'm the only friend Ellisea has."

DOREEN
and
TlNKlE were waiting for me on the street. After a brief discussion, Doreen went to the Center to call Connie, per Coleman's request. With the paternity issue back in play, Tinkie and I decided to get busy checking deep background on our three primary suspects.

Tinkie chose to talk with Michael, and I went to the local newspaper office to dig up anything I could on the senator and Oren Weaver. If hurting Doreen was the motive for killing Rebekah, I figured there had to be some past connection between one of the men and Doreen Mallory. Doreen insisted there was no prior contact, but memory could be deceptive. The public record was easy enough to check.

I spent the next three hours poring over files at the
Times-Picayune.
Thaddeus Clay had been born in
Slidell
, just across the lake from
New Orleans
. His father had been a lawyer with big ambitions. By the time Thad was seven, they were living in the Garden District of New Orleans, on the top rung of the upper middle class.

Like his father, Thad went into law, became a public defender, and was hired as an assistant district attorney. Ellisea was a top runway model at the time, and she swept Thad into the world of glamour, power, and fame.

I couldn't help but wonder if Thad had known about Ellisea's sex change from the start. How much of himself had he traded for what his wife's family could buy him?

I returned to my reading. Clay's rise was meteoric. First it was attorney general, lieutenant governor, governor, and
U.S.
senator, in which position he'd accrued a tremendous amount of power. But Doreen appeared to be correct. There didn't seem to be any common ground between the senator and Doreen until he became her lover.

The clippings on Oren Weaver were much thinner. Weaver burst onto the
Louisiana
scene in 1974 with a tent revival outside
New Orleans
. There were a few articles quoting local clergy who were offended by Weaver's claims of healing, but no real scandal. And no mention of any incident that might have provoked Oren's desire to punish Doreen. All in all, it was a disappointing effort.

I hurried to the luncheon date with Cece and Tinkie. Luck was in my favor and I snagged a parking place just as my phone began to ring. Caller ID showed Kiley. "What do you want now?" I asked.

"Do we have a deal?"

"Since you're so proficient on the Internet, why don't you e-mail Doreen some pictures. Doreen wants to see her nephew before she gives you anything."

"What are you talking about?"

"Adam's baby. Doreen wants to see him."

"Joshua's dead."

I felt a weight on my chest. "How did he die?" Shaken-baby syndrome, neglect--I prepared myself for anything.

"It was SIDS. He just stopped breathing."

"When did this happen?" I asked. The information was so unexpected that I had trouble grasping it.

"Joshua was about four months old. It was just after Adam died." She took a breath. "He was so beautiful. I just went in to get him up and he was cold."

"Was there an autopsy?" I asked.

"There wasn't any need. The coroner ruled it was Sudden Infant Death Syndrome right away. They didn't need to cut my baby up. He just stopped breathing."