Crescent City Murder

by Alec Peche

  “Whoa, slow down,” said Briggs and, “back-up. You know exactly where the sample was taken which would be where the truck is sighted and you want us to contact Ms. Fontaine to find out what the testing revealed, correct?”

  “Yes, if it does come back with Dicamba spray and the field owner didn't put it there we may have our source for a dispute between neighbors.”

  “Okay, I'll take that,” said Heyer. “Are you telling us you'll be staying longer in the NOLA area as your partner has arrived from California?”

  “Yes, but I forgot to ask him when he's due to return so I'm not sure how much longer I'll be here,” Jill replied feeling dumb for not asking Nathan when his return trip was. She would need to change her return ticket as soon as possible.

  She saw both Briggs and Heyer swallow and Jill wondered if that was a good sign or not.

  “Don't you want my help for a few more days?” she asked with a cheeky grin.

  Briggs sighed and said, “We'll need the farmer name of the field so we can run him or her through our systems. As for the drone, explain what you're planning to do there.”

  “If this monster truck is as big as our victim described, it's unlikely that it's parked in a garage, although it might be in a barn. I'm hoping to spot it from the air so we can interview the owner.”

  “We do have our own drone in the department. We can't use it for spying on people or near the airport. Also, I believe the jurisdiction of this farmland lies in either Livingston or St. John the Baptist County so it would be beyond our jurisdiction to fly our drone there.”

  “You have a county named St. John the Baptist?” Jill asked surprised by the use of a saint's name for a county.

  “Yes, we also have a football team named the Saints,” Heyer said with a broad smile.

  “Oh yeah, I forgot, the Saints. I'm a Green Bay Packers fan, so I forget at times that other cities have football teams that may be loved as much as we love our Packers.”

  “You're a Packers fan? Sorry about your quarterback and your season. When Drew Brees went down with a foot injury, our season was over that year,” Heyer said.

  “Yeah, our season has been terrible. We were first in our division then we had the QB injury and our backup QB needed to learn on the job, but what it's really spotlighted is how terrible our defense is. Aaron is such a brilliant quarterback that he can collect points to hide the defense's deficiencies. Though to be fair our backup has a lot of three and outs, and so it's a lot of time for the defense to be on the field.”

  “Can I just say that was an out of body experience?” Briggs said. “I've never been in the presence of two women talking football in detail. Yes, I've come across your species before, but only one at a time.”

  “You know that women buy over half of the NFL gear,” Jill said.

  “If I weren't a detective, I would be a sports writer for the Times-Picayune,” Heyer said.

  “Ladies I defer to your greater football knowledge. Can we get back to the case?”

  “Sure, I gather you're suggesting that you lack probable cause to officially take your drone to the field in question. Is that correct?”

  “Yes. I don't even know any law enforcement in that area that might turn a blind eye to our drone in the sky.”

  “Okay I have a remote airmen certificate to fly my drone. Perhaps my partner might want some fresh air today after the long flight and so could take it out to farming land to practice or to get a view of the Maurepas Swamp which is nearby, but we'd be safely away from alligators on the farmland.”

  “Those are reasonable excuses if someone tries to stop you out in farmland, but it could be dangerous, you are on the trail of a killer. Did you bring any weapons with you to New Orleans – pepper spray, perhaps?” Briggs asked.

  “You must be testing my familiarity with the laws. No I didn't transport any kind of a weapon here. In California, I own no guns or pepper spray. The only knives I have are in the kitchen. I recently obtained a black belt in Tai Chi and my partner is a master black belt in Hapkido. When I was solving a case in Texas, I purchased a can of bug killer and used that in self-defense and perhaps I'll get one here. It's better than pepper spray as it has a longer reach.”

  “I don't know what to say to that explanation other than Dr. Quint, you're a person of many qualities.”

  “Okay it's all part of the job for me. I'll wait to hear back from you on the results of the plant test that Mr. Cheval performed as well as any new information you glean from Jayden's mother.”

  “Keep us posted as well. In fact, I think I'd like a call in from you every thirty minutes until you notify me that you're back in the city of New Orleans. I don't know why but I have a bad feeling about you visiting the farm fields today,” Heyer requested.

  “Will do,” Jill replied and left the detective division. This time she took a different path through the French Quarter towards Nathan's hotel. She liked how each street seemed to represent a different adventure of sorts in learning about its history, architecture, and businesses. She thought that Nathan was likely at the hotel and sure enough he was at the registration desk checking in.

  She walked up to him and placing a hand on his back stood on her toes to kiss the side of his face. He had a sexy five o'clock shadow as he hadn't shaved yet today. He soon received his room cards and a bellman indicated that Jill's luggage would be sent up to their room.

  Chapter 14

  An hour later, they had their lives and plans sorted out. Nathan wanted to go with her to the farmland, and fortunately there was a car rental agency associated with the hotel and they soon had a vehicle to take them there. After a brief stint to brush his teeth, shave, shower and change clothes, he was ready to follow Jill's latest adventure. Like the detectives, he thought the story of the monster truck a little far-fetched. He also knew his superior martial arts skills and their rental car would be unable to withstand the crunching power of a monster truck. Then there was the issue of the gun mounted in the truck bed.

  Jill tested her drone inside the hotel room while Nathan was getting ready. He'd picked an older hotel with high ceilings which gave her more space to practice her craft. They decided beforehand that if a big truck approached they would quickly get in their car and head for the highway. The truck likely was not street safe and would lack cornering maneuverability. While Jill flew the drone, Nathan would watch for the approach of any vehicles. If she had to, she could operate the drone from the car if they had to make a quick getaway. It flew up to 100mph and surely they wouldn't be going that fast in the rental car. Besides if she was lucky, she'd find the truck parked and would know in advance if anyone started it up.

  She looked at Nathan as they left in the rental car and said, “You ready for another adventure?”

  “No, but I've accepted living on the edge with you. This is an uncommon enemy in that if the monster truck is real, it could squash us like bugs. At least your detective friends know where to look for our bodies. I'm glad they made you report in every thirty minutes. At least the cavalry will come for our bodies.”

  “My, aren't you an optimistic soul today. It must be because you're tired from the overnight flight.”

  Jill handed him a mug of coffee and set about locating the farm based on geographic coordinates on an app she downloaded back at the hotel. She'd never tried finding a destination that way before. It seemed to work like any other mapping software and it looked like it would take about thirty to forty minutes to arrive at their destination.

  Looking out the window she said, “It's so flat and green here, and I bet when we get out of the car, we'll hear insects buzzing.”

  “They're probably celebrating right now with the excitement of your arrival. I bet they can smell you coming and can't wait to sink their fangs into your delicious blood.”

  “Thanks for that visual, but I fear you're right, and I didn't apply any bug spray this morning, so there'll probably be swarms of them when I get out of the car. Ugh. Then I'll look like I h
ave chicken pox by the end of the day with welts. Someday when I'm bored, I should experiment with my blood to find out why it's so attractive to insects. At least I don't generally have problems with bees. Tell me about the winery you're visiting here.”

  “Actually, it's a distillery.”

  “Rum?”

  “No, gin, vodka, and absinthe.”

  “Wow, you could have fun with those labels and now you have the trifecta of the label business – wine, beer, and spirits. Congratulations sweetie!”

  “Yeah, I'm pleased. The contract I signed with this owner was for a lot less money than usual, but I had many reasons for wanting to work with this owner. I hope I don't live to regret my decision.”

  “You're pretty good at sizing up owners. I think all of the owners you don't like have been with you a long time. So either you were looking for their business as you were starting out as an artist, or you hadn't had enough experience to develop the owner-meter in your mind yet.”

  “True and the only thing that keeps me from firing those owners is a sense of loyalty to them for helping me build a reputation in my business.”

  “So what did you like about this owner?”

  “He's in a part of the country in which I have no clients, and he has a small production and is an artist himself. He wants to migrate from his current design of classic New Orleans symbols like the fleur-de-lis to perhaps a more European design. As more distilleries open in the New Orleans area, part of the way to separate himself from them is to make his label different. So we're meeting tomorrow.”

  “That sounds artistically exciting melding the new and the old. I bet you'll design a fantastic new label for him!”

  “If we survive the monster truck today.”

  “We will. We're really good at avoiding death.”

  They had been driving through agriculture fields for the past ten minutes. They were south of the Mississippi River with mostly farm fields and few homes.

  “We're coming up to our destination, slow down as these numbers change fast,” Jill said looking at her phone.

  “Stop. This is it.”

  Jill had pre-assembled the drone so they could make a quick entrance and exit to the farmland. Their goal was to be out there for less than five minutes. They were surrounded by farm lands and despite being a botanist she hadn't thought to look up what a soybean plant looked like. She knew what a bean plant looked like, but given that she had the geocoordinates she assumed she was looking at soybeans. Looking around she couldn't tell where a monster truck might come from, so she set about to get a 360-degree view of her location. The drone was up, camera recording and transmitting to the cloud and she went out as far as she could which was about one-thousand feet or three acres. She spun it around and captured about half of what she needed. So much for looking for a truck, she was moving at such a dizzying speed she couldn't stop to identify shapes on the ground. Fortunately, she'd be able to slow it down once she got back to the hotel.

  “Babe, we have a problem, it's time to go,” she heard Nathan say calmly.

  “Okay,” she said walking back to the car continuing her movement of the drone, she'd now captured another ninety degrees with the final quarter to go. She heard a loud motor in her vicinity but didn't want to take her eyes off the drone. She got in the car planning to bring the drone back to the car and lower it through the sunroof. She checked it out at the hotel to make sure it fit and it would. She kept her eyes on the drone as Nathan started the car.

  “Babe we have another problem,” he said knowing that Jill hadn't taken her eyes off of the drone screen to assess her surroundings. “The monster truck has arrived and it's blocking our exit from this one-way street.”

  “Oh,” she said looking up and doing a quick assessment. “What if I bring the drone down and crash it right in front of the truck and then I'll act like a witless dumb blonde.”

  “This I got to see. You're usually a failure at acting stupid, but I'm guessing our lives are on the line so have a go at it. I'm going to text your detective that we're in trouble.”

  “Goodbye Lucy, it was a short but fruitful life,” she said and then guided the drone right in front of the moving monster truck, and she saw it get crushed under its wheels.

  “Lucy? You named your drone Lucy?”

  “Yeah as in 'Lucy in the sky with diamonds', that fabulous Beatles song. It seemed to fit her. I just destroyed a five hundred dollar drone all in the effort to prove we're guileless tourists practicing our flying.”

  Nathan had used Jill's phone to reach the detective on a video call. He'd been worried from the get-go about Jill's hair-brained scheme and had checked in with the detectives to assure himself that they could reach him via video call if necessary. If he was going to die by a monster truck, he wanted a video of it for the police.

  They were at a standstill as the monster truck blocked their progress back to the highway. The truck was indeed a monster, it was so high that Jill and Nathan were looking at tires and the shock absorber underbody of the truck. They could not a see a driver or passenger or what might be in the truck bed. Nathan had the phone facing out of the windshield with Detective Briggs observing from his end. Meanwhile, Jill reached over and honked the horn making both Nathan and the detective jump at the sound. Still, the truck stood tall blocking their way like a twelve-foot high growling Rottweiler.

  Nathan studied the road wondering if they could make a run for it on the crop side. There was a little bit of easement and he'd bet the big truck couldn't corner that fast. He hoped he wouldn't blow it. He waited another minute and the truck just sat there engine revving, massive tires looking threatening. He said to the detective and Jill. “Keep your fingers crossed I'm going to make a run for the side of the truck.” Nathan passed Jill her phone and studied the road. His side had a ditch, but Jill's was gently sloped. He hoped his vision was correct about that as he'd noticed many pools of standing water since traveling to this destination. The only thing worse than being squished by the truck was being covered in one of those pools of vermin-infested water just before you were squished.

  Then he floored the vehicle and they slid by the monster truck before it could react to block them. Nathan concentrated on driving, and Jill looked out the back window to see if they gave chase.

  They did not. The truck was not moving. When they cleared the truck by a safe range, they ended the call with the detective. With the promise to come straight into the station.

  “Maybe they didn't see us move,” Jill proposed. “The cab is so high they don't have good visibility.”

  “That's a fantasy. I think this was an effort to intimidate us or perhaps the people in the truck knew it had crushed your drone and their work was done. Is there anyone in the truck bed? “

  “No. In the story my victim told to his friend, there were one or two men in the back of the bed with mounted rifles and the man pulled out what the victim thought was going to be a sidearm, but was instead a cell phone and took his picture. The truck is so high that we can't see if there is a gun mount that's empty at the moment. Also, the monster truck kicked up a lot of dust so they must not have come on this road as it's paved. I can't wait to see my footage and while I mourn Lucy's death, I'm glad I paid extra for the technology to transmit the video to the cloud.”

  “I hope it worked. I'd hate to have Lucy die in vain,” Nathan said with a relaxed smile now that they were beyond the monster truck. They still had roads to cover before getting back to New Orleans but they wouldn't get stuck on any other one way roads from here on out.

  Jill had used her cell phone to dial into the drone's cloud site. She was just looking for a hint of video coverage which she found despite the poor cell tower coverage in the area. They headed back to the hotel and Jill gathered up her laptop for the walk with Nathan to the police station. He hadn't been to New Orleans before, but immediately liked what he saw on their walk through the French Quarter. Jill pointed out a few sights she had come to know including the
carousel bar that she and Jo visited.

  Chapter 15

  Jill was directed to the detectives' division and she soon introduced Nathan to Briggs and Heyer.

  “That was quite an adventure you had out there,” Heyer said. “I would say that it didn't meet our standards of southern hospitality.”

  “We ran a search on the vehicle from the picture you sent us, but as you can imagine as the vehicle isn't street legal, there's no registration,” Briggs said. “I wasn't surprised by that finding.”

  Jill looked at Nathan impressed that he thought to send the detectives a picture when she hadn't. She grinned to herself that Nathan was becoming a good detective and a part of her team whether he wanted to or not.

  “Are you able to monitor police traffic in other jurisdictions?” Jill asked.

  “Why?” Detective Heyer asked.

  “I just wondered if a complaint was made to the police of the jurisdiction that that farm was located in to complain about someone flying a drone. Just a curiosity question.”

  “I'll look into it. Let's look at your footage, sorry about your drone.”

  “Yeah, me too. It was a great tool for surveying my vineyard from the air. You can see different problems. I'm going to miss Lucy.”

  “Lucy?” Asked Heyer, puzzled.

  “Don't ask. It's her drone's name.”

  Detective Heyer didn't entirely drop her puzzled look, but they moved on to look at Jill's laptop and then she had to look away.

  “Wow, that's a nauseating speed in the air. Can you slow it down?” Heyer asked.