In Deep Voodoo

by Stephanie Bond

  A hot, white light flooded the landing. The intruder threw up her overtanned arms and screamed like a wounded hyena.

  Sheena.

  Penny’s shoulders slumped in abject relief.

  “I knew it!” Sheena said, stabbing her finger in the air. “I knew you and Deke were carrying on behind my back!”

  Penny squinted. “What?”

  “If you think you’re going to get him back, you can think again!”

  Penny glanced toward the office door—at this angle, the scene inside wasn’t visible.

  “How long has this been going on?”

  “You’ve got it all wrong, Sheena. Stop talking—I have to tell you something.”

  “I want to hear this from Deke,” Sheena said, then started toward the office.

  Penny grabbed her arm. “Don’t go in there, Sheena.”

  “What—is he naked?” Sheena shouted. “Still cleaning up the scene of the crime?”

  “No,” Penny said, squeezing the woman’s arm harder. “Deke—”

  “Let go of me.” She wrenched her arm away, then ran to the door of the office. “Deke, how could you—” She covered her face and screamed, jogging in place. “Omigod, omigod, omigod. Is he dead?”

  “Yes.”

  “You killed him! You killed my Deke!”

  Penny shook her head and held out a hand to calm her. “No. I found him like this, Sheena. Just a few minutes ago.”

  Suddenly the blond’s eyes widened at the sight of the cane Penny held. Sheena flattened herself against the doorjamb, her mouth a gaping red hole. “And now you’re going to kill me, too!”

  “Calm down,” Penny said, holding up her hands. “See, I’m putting down the cane. We need to call the police.”

  In a flash, Sheena whipped her cell phone out of her snakeskin purse and pushed a button. Just as quickly she whipped up a few crocodile tears. “Hello? This is Sheena Linder. My fiancé, Deke Black, was just murdered by his ex-wife in our home.”

  Penny’s knees buckled. “What are you doing?”

  “Yes, she’s still here. Her name is Penny Francisco. We’re at 110 Charm Street in Mojo. It’s the pink house. Thank you.” Sheena snapped the phone shut. “They’re on their way.” She narrowed her eyes. “You’re going to fry for this, Granola Girl.”

  12

  Let things simmer for a while …

  Penny sat in a room at the local jail wearing baggy gray sweats borrowed from the supply room and feeling ready to come undone. At least an hour had passed since she’d been escorted to the room, since she’d left a voice message on Gloria Dalton’s cell phone, two hours since she’d found Deke’s body. By now word of the grisly murder had probably spread to every household in Mojo via Sheena’s megaphone mouth. Penny alternately tapped her fingers on the table, hugged herself, and pinched herself, just in case this was all a long, bad dream. Unfortunately, she was very much awake.

  And under suspicion.

  Under suspicion for murdering Deke. The idea was so ludicrous that she had burst into laughter several times while waiting for Chief Davis to return. If anyone was watching on the other side of the darkened window, they probably thought she had lost her mind.

  Her throat was parched, and her mouth tasted of stale vomit. Her head pounded from the countless vodka martinis. Her finger stung from the punch-needle the CSI tech had used to check her blood-alcohol level at the scene. Her pride hurt from having her clothing confiscated. And her heart had turned to lead over the fact that Deke was dead.

  And that someone had either unwittingly or purposely made it look as if she had done it.

  The door opened, and Penny’s pulse jumped. Police Chief Allyson Davis, a tall, big-boned brunette, walked in, accompanied by a rocky-faced, suited man that Penny had never seen.

  “Sorry for the delay,” Allyson said, her face pale and drawn, making her look even more severe. With the festival going on, she’d probably had a long day. “This is Detective Maynard from New Orleans—he’s going to be assisting in the investigation.”

  Penny nodded, although she had a feeling that the two of them were not overjoyed to be working together.

  “Can I get you some coffee?” Allyson asked, setting a tape recorder on the table.

  Penny eyed the machine warily. “Water, please. And maybe some aspirin?”

  “No can do on the aspirin, but I’ll be back with the water.” She looked at the detective. “I’d appreciate if you’d wait to talk to my witness.”

  He nodded, but he made no promises, Penny noted.

  When the door closed, he sat in one of the chairs and withdrew a packet of chewable aspirin from his coat pocket. “I take them by the handful. Just don’t let her know I gave it to you.”

  “Thank you,” Penny murmured, then tore open the packet and chewed the orange-flavored tablets.

  “So … Ms. Francisco, how long have you lived in Mojo?”

  “Eight years.”

  “What brought you to town?”

  She shifted on the uncomfortable chair. “I moved here with my husband.”

  “You mean, your ex-husband?”

  She bit her tongue. “Yes.”

  “Where is your family?”

  She hesitated. “I grew up in a small town in Tennessee.”

  He nodded. “What town?”

  “King … ston.”

  “Kingston?”

  She coughed and nodded. “But I don’t have any family left.”

  “What do you do for a living, Ms. Francisco?”

  “I own a health food store.”

  “Across the street from the house where the murder was committed.”

  “That’s correct. My husband—I mean, my ex-husband and I owned both pieces of property. When we divorced, he kept the home we lived in, and I kept the business.”

  “Why did you and your husband divorce?”

  The door opened, admitting Allyson Davis. She handed Penny a bottle of water and glared at Maynard. “I thought I told you to wait.”

  “We’re just getting acquainted,” he said mildly.

  Allyson lowered herself into a chair. It was then that Penny noticed that the woman’s nose and eyes were red. Penny realized that Allyson had known the Black family for some time … that she and Mona, if not friendly, seemed to tolerate each other, that she and Deke had conferred on many cases. Penny suspected that this was the first homicide that Allyson had worked on since she’d arrived in Mojo; for the victim to be someone she knew must be doubly difficult.

  “Are you doing okay, Penny?” Allyson asked gruffly.

  Penny took a long drink of water, then nodded. “Considering.”

  “Do you want to tell us what happened?”

  “I already told you,” Penny said.

  “For my sake,” Maynard said, his voice apologetic.

  “And I’d like to hear it again,” Allyson said, “just to make sure I didn’t miss anything.”

  Penny fidgeted with the label on the bottle. “Has Gloria Dalton arrived yet?”

  “Your attorney? No.”

  Penny wet her lips. “Perhaps I should wait.”

  Allyson pursed her mouth. “Why do you need an attorney, Penny? I thought you said you didn’t kill Deke.”

  The woman had already convicted her, Penny realized suddenly, and the knowledge pushed her sweat glands into overdrive. “I didn’t kill him,” she said evenly. “But until the evidence can be processed and I’m cleared, I want my attorney to be involved, and I’d rather not have to go through all of this again when she arrives.”

  “What if I told you that we already have enough to arrest you on?”

  A rap on the door sounded. Allyson frowned and pushed to her feet. When she opened the door, Penny sagged in relief to see Gloria step inside. She was wearing a suit, but no makeup, and she looked flushed. Behind her glasses, her blue eyes were bloodshot. Penny squinted—Gloria’s eyes were normally green, like her own. Her contact lenses must be colored.

  “I’m Gl
oria Dalton, Ms. Francisco’s attorney. What’s this all about?”

  “It’s about murder,” Allyson said dryly. “Your client’s ex-husband is dead, and she was discovered at the scene.”

  Gloria looked at Penny, then back to Allyson. “Is she under arrest?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Where are her clothes?”

  “Her clothing was bloodstained, plus she threw up all over herself—and the body. We offered her something clean to wear.”

  Gloria blanched. “I’d like to talk to Penny alone.”

  “It’s fine, Gloria,” Penny said. “I don’t have anything to hide, I just wanted you to be here when I gave my statement.”

  Gloria looked at Allyson. “A moment, please?”

  Allyson signaled to Maynard, and they left the room. As soon as the door closed, Gloria strode over to the table, her expression pinched. “Penny, I’m not a criminal attorney!”

  “I know. But relax—I didn’t kill Deke. I just wanted someone here that I could trust.”

  Gloria pulled her hand down her face, clearly agitated. “Are you sure you don’t want me to call someone who could better advise you?”

  “Yes. The last thing I want is for Allyson to think I’m lawyering up on her.”

  “Allyson? Do you know the chief personally?”

  “Everyone knows everyone in this town.”

  Gloria shook her head, but after a few seconds, she acquiesced. “Okay, but if I interrupt, you have to do what I say.”

  “Agreed.”

  Gloria squinted. “Do you know you have glitter all over your face?”

  Penny rolled her eyes. “Yes. I may never wear makeup again.”

  “This is against my better judgment,” Gloria declared, then asked Allyson and Maynard to return. Soon they were all crowded around the table.

  “No recorder,” Gloria said firmly.

  “It’s for your client’s protection as much as ours,” Allyson said.

  “No recorder,” Gloria repeated.

  Allyson frowned but nodded curtly. “Okay, Penny, let’s start at the beginning.”

  Penny shifted again—her rear end had gone to sleep sitting on the hard metal. “You mean when I arrived at the house?”

  “Let’s go back further. How did you spend your evening?”

  “Friends gave me a party at Caskey’s. I was there until about ten o’clock.”

  “And what was the party for?”

  She clasped her hands around the water bottle, now speckled with glitter from her hands from touching her face. “To celebrate my divorce.”

  “From Deke Black?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did anything unusual happen at the party?”

  Penny thought of the voodoo doll episode, but it was just too, too ludicrous. “Not really. It was a small crowd. Everyone seemed to have a good time.”

  “We’ll need a list of everyone who attended. What did you do after you left the party?”

  Penny looked up to gather her thoughts. “I went back to my apartment and I had—let’s see—four voice messages from Deke that he needed to talk to me.” Then she winced. “No, wait, I need to go back … before I left Caskey’s, I ran into Sheena Linder and she told me that Deke was looking for something at the house and that he thought I might know where it was.”

  “For the record, Sheena Linder is Deke’s girlfriend?”

  “Yes.”

  “And she’s the woman that he had an affair with that ended your marriage.”

  Penny wet her lips. “That’s … correct.”

  “Okay, so Sheena tells you that Deke wants to talk to you. Did she tell you he was home?”

  Penny frowned. “I don’t remember exactly. I guess I just assumed that he was home, since he wasn’t with her.”

  “Where is your apartment?”

  “Over the beignet shop, across from Caskey’s, on the square.”

  “Uh-huh. So why did you decide to go to see Deke?”

  “The phone was busy.”

  “Why didn’t you just keep calling? Or let him call you back if it was so important?”

  “Because I—” Penny stopped. B.J. She’d forgotten all about meeting him. A flush began to work its way up her neck. How long had he waited? “Because I … wanted to go back and enjoy the festival.”

  Maynard pivoted his head to address Allyson. “Do you mind if I ask a few questions?”

  Allyson’s mouth twitched. “Go ahead.” Although it was clear that she did mind.

  “So, Ms. Francisco,” he said, “you decide to walk to the house to see what your ex-husband wanted.”

  “Right. It’s only a three-block walk.”

  “Do you have any idea of what he was looking for?”

  “None whatsoever.”

  “Can you venture a guess?”

  “Knowing Deke, it was probably a cigar lighter, or something like that.”

  “Mighty helpful of you to be so worried about what it was he needed.”

  Penny took another drink from the bottle of water. “I’ve tried to remain cordial after our split.”

  “You didn’t have any animosity toward your ex-husband?”

  “No.”

  “None at all? I should warn you that we’ll be questioning your friends and employees.”

  Penny swallowed hard. “Well, I wasn’t pleased that he had the house we lived in painted pink.”

  “That’s all?”

  She wet her lips and glanced at Gloria—when they’d been alone, she should have told her attorney about the fact that Deke might have been hiding assets. Gloria must have seen something in Penny’s expression, because she lunged forward in her seat.

  “My client already said that she endeavored to remain cordial. Move along or this interview is over.”

  Maynard sighed. “Okay, tell me what happened when you arrived at the house.”

  “I rang the doorbell, but no one answered. I assumed Deke was still on the phone, and when I leaned on the door, it opened.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “So, let me get this straight—the door was open when you got there, and you didn’t think it was strange?”

  “Not really. The front door always swells until winter—you have to apply a lot of pressure to close it. I just assumed whoever had closed it last didn’t take the time.”

  He leaned his chin on his hand. “So you just went into the house?”

  Penny bristled. “I announced myself.”

  “Did Mr. Black answer?”

  “No.”

  “Then what did you do?”

  She decided to skip the fact that she’d snooped a bit. “I heard the television in his office—the door was ajar, and I could see that the light was on. I yelled a couple of more times from the foyer, then I went up and I … found him.”

  Maynard leaned back and crossed his arms. “Can you be more specific?”

  She moistened her dry lips. “I opened the door and he was lying on the floor, with that thing coming out of his chest.”

  “The wire stake.”

  She nodded.

  “We’ll get back to the stake,” he promised, “but tell me what happened next.”

  “I knelt over him to see if I could find a pulse, but there wasn’t one.” She closed her eyes briefly. “And that’s when I got sick … I was just so scared, and I’d had a few drinks at Caskey’s.” She grimaced. “I don’t usually drink.”

  Maynard sighed heavily. “So you threw up on the deceased. Then what? Did you call 911?”

  “No. I thought about it,” she added quickly. “But then it occurred to me that whoever had killed Deke might still be in the house. I heard a noise downstairs, so I picked up a cane to defend myself.”

  “But if you were afraid, why didn’t you call 911?”

  Because I was more afraid that this would happen. “All I could think about was getting out of that house. Then I realized it was only Sheena coming home.”

  “She said you were going to kill her with the
cane.”

  Penny sighed. “I thought she was an intruder—I was trying to protect myself.”

  “Did you strike her?”

  “No, I didn’t lay a hand on her.” Not since she’d pushed her into traffic, that is.

  “So you’re saying that Mr. Black was already dead when you found him?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Are you willing to take a polygraph?”

  “Yes.”

  “Strike that,” Gloria interrupted. “It’s too early in the case to discuss a polygraph.”

  Maynard pressed his lips together. “Let’s get back to the wire stake that was used to kill Mr. Black. Did you recognize the stake, Ms. Francisco?”

  She bit her lip. “Yes.”

  “From where?”

  “It looked like the same kind I used to stake off a garden next to my health food store.” Next to her, she felt Gloria stiffen.

  “And I understand that this garden was a bit of a contentious point between you and your ex?”

  Penny sighed and massaged her temples, which still pounded. “Deke was never in favor of me starting the health food store, and when I suggested the garden to expand business, he was against it, yes.”

  “But you went ahead with your plans?”

  “As soon as the divorce papers were final, and the land was mine.”

  “When was that?”

  “Earlier this week.”

  “And do you have any idea why anyone would kill your ex-husband in such a bizarre manner?”

  “No.”

  “Who had access to the wire stakes?”

  “I bought them at the local hardware store. And there are several in the ground next to my business—anyone could have gotten one.”

  Maynard sighed. “Ms. Francisco, do you believe in voodoo?”

  She felt the blood drain from her face. “No.”

  “But isn’t your health food store called The Charm Farm?”

  “That’s because it’s on Charm Street,” she explained. “And because I sell organic products.”

  “We’ve heard a rumor about a voodoo doll at your divorce party.”

  Penny’s stomach rolled, emitting an untimely gurgle. “It was a gag gift. One of many I received.”

  “Tell us about the doll,” he encouraged.