“I told him what he needed to hear, and it’s the truth.”
I envisioned Nappi wearing an apron over his starched and ironed white shirt with gold cufflinks. The gold twinkled amidst the baby powder he applied to his baby’s tender behind. The image made me laugh. “Let’s go in, and I’ll fix you a drink.”
Nappi took a final look at the Camaro and stepped into the house. “You have other company, it seems. Are you certain I’m not intruding?”
I shook my head, explaining how Shelley came to be in the house with her boyfriend. “Darrell is trouble, I’d guess.
“Is it wise to have him here then?”
“Shelley needs someone, and there’s no family, no friends. Just Darrell.”
“And you, of course,” Nappi said.
I handed him a Scotch on the rocks.
“I’ll go in and introduce myself, if that’s all right with you,” he said.
It couldn’t hurt for Darrell to understand my house was visited by someone like Nappi, a man whose appearance suggested he was connected and not with the cowboys and guys who fished or owned ranches around here—I mean, in case Darrell’s fingers got caught on some of the possessions in my house.
“Go ahead. They’re in the guest bedroom.” I leaned back into the couch and took a sip of my drink.
Several minutes later Nappi returned to the living room and settled into the chair across from the sofa.
“So you’ve got yourself into another murder?” His dark eyes sparkled with interest and intelligence.
“I’m just helping out a young woman who has no one else. Well, except for Darrell.”
Nappi nodded. “She has only you then. That young man is nothing but trouble. I know.” He jiggled the ice cubes in his glass. “How involved are you going to get, trying to find her mother’s killer? And what does Alex think of all this?”
“I don’t believe Alex will be around here as often as he used to be.”
“Does Grandy know what you’re doing?”
His inquisition into what my friends and family thought about my helping Shelley was beginning to annoy me.
“I really don’t need permission from relatives and past boyfriends to help out this girl.”
“Of course not,” said Nappi.
I hadn’t heard a car drive up, but there was a knock on the door. I hoped it wasn’t Alex or Frida or anyone who might want to lecture me about staying out of the murder investigation. So I was relieved to see Grandfather Egret and Sammy. I tried to guess how they might receive the news that Shelley was a guest in my house and concluded they wouldn’t like it.
“Okay, you can come in, but not a word from either of you about Shelley being here or my getting involved in finding Jenny’s murderer.”
Nappi and the Egrets exchanged greetings, and I offered them a seat and a cup of tea.
Neither Sammy nor his grandfather drank much, although Sammy sometimes enjoyed a beer.
“We’re just here to find out how Madeleine is doing. Who’s Shelley?” asked Sammy. Grandfather Egret sunk into the couch. Sammy remained standing.
When I explained that Jenny was Shelley’s mother and that the poor girl had no one else to turn to, Grandfather Egret gave a derisive snort.
“I recognized that car. It belongs to Darrell Hogan. If he’s in this house, it’s because of Shelley, not you, Eve. He doesn’t seem your type. We’ve had trouble with him and his friends driving through the tribal land of my Seminole relatives, firing weapons from his car at the feral pigs that roam the roads. If that’s the gal’s taste in men, then she’s in for trouble and so are you, Eve.”
Guns? That was a whole lot more serious than shoplifting an item of clothing from a store in town.
“He’ll be leaving in a few minutes. Don’t worry.”
“And Madeleine’s pregnancy? No problems there?” Grandfather Egret said.
I was about to ask him how he knew about the pregnancy but stopped myself. The man seemed to know things most people did not. At times I thought he learned things from sitting outside on his front porch and talking to the swamp creatures. Her pregnancy? I had no idea. We have wood storks here, but I didn’t think they were the kind who either delivered babies or carried news of their arrival.
“Madeleine’s fine as nearly as I know, but David’s not doing well,” I said. I didn’t elaborate, and no one pressed me.
“We came to talk to you about a problem to see what you want to do about it, Eve,” said Sammy.
“What problem?” What had I overlooked?
“It’s clear from the police’s interest in the protest that they think one of the protesters is responsible for Jenny’s murder.”
“That seems likely,” I said. I’d already considered that. It meant the three of us and Madeleine were likely suspects in the eyes of the law.
“So the police are looking closely at us,” Sammy continued.
“I know that, Sammy. So is there another problem I don’t know about?” I stopped talking for a minute. “Unless … we don’t have alibis? When was she killed? Do they know? And where?”
“We don’t know,” said Sammy. “I don’t think the police know yet.”
“I’d ask Frida, but she probably wouldn’t tell me. And she’d say I was interfering with her case.” I was stumped. If we had no information other than what we had this morning, what did Sammy think he knew?
“We should line up a lawyer for the next time your friend Detective Frida questions us,” said Sammy.
“Don’t be silly. She knows none of us would kill anyone,” I insisted.
“We’re Miccosukee,” said Grandfather Egret.
“And you, dear Eve, are their friend—you and Madeleine,” said Nappi.
Uh-oh. Now I got it. We were about to run into the racism of some of the folks around here.
Nappi slapped his hand on his knee. “I think I have what you need.”
We all looked at him expectantly.
“A lawyer who is familiar with these parts, who knows the system and won’t be run off by it. And who is respected by the authorities and the judicial system in the county.” Nappi took his cell out of his pocket and held up his finger for quiet.
I, of course, ignored him. “A Yankee?” I asked. “That’s worse than being Native American around there.”
“Just so,” said Nappi. He turned his back to us and spoke for only a few minutes on his cell. When he turned back, there was a smile of deep satisfaction on his face. “He’ll be right here. You folks can be the judge of whether he fits your needs or not.”
I made a pot of tea for the Egrets, and we all settled in with our beverages. We didn’t have long to wait.
I heard a car pull up in front of the house; then someone rang my bell. I opened the door to a short, dark-skinned individual dressed in an expensive cowboy-cut gray suit and black alligator boots.
“Ms. Appel?” he said.
I nodded. Nappi got up from the couch and walked over to us.
“This is Jacob Lightwind, attorney-at-law. He’s done some work for me, and he knows more about the rural Florida system of law than any other attorney in this county or the next.” Nappi smiled, and this time the smile deepened and spread, revealing his brilliant white teeth. It was Nappi to the rescue. I knew Madeleine wouldn’t like using a lawyer Nappi recommended, and David would probably agree with her. They remained skeptical of Nappi’s character and morals, but I’d never seen him behave other than in a most upstanding way. That he might have done things in other settings—things I might have found reprehensible—I shoved to the far recesses of my mind.
“Mr. Lightwind,” I held out my hand, “I’d like you to meet two friends of mine, Sammy and Grandfather Egret.”
“I’ve never seen you around here, but I know you by reputation,” said Grandfather. “I believe you are—”
“I’m half Cherokee, half African-American. I was raised in West Palm and have practiced law here for over thirty years. I’d be pleased to represen
t you and your friends, should the need arise.”
I heard another car pull up. By now the street in front of my house looked like a used car lot.
I opened the door to trouble.
Chapter 5
Frida stood on my porch, and I could tell from the cop-like look on her face that hers was not a social visit.
“Finished with the house search?” I asked. “And now you’re here to tell us what you found.”
She ignored me. “This is nice. You’ve gathered most of the people I need to question again. And a few others.” She looked around the room, then her gaze came to rest on Mr. Lightwind. “And you’ve brought in the big guns to make my job all the more difficult. Why do you hate me, Eve?”
Frida knew I didn’t hate her. She knew I liked her. A lot. But she always assumed the worst of me. I wanted to correct her about the lawyer, but Nappi beat me to it.
“Mr. Lightwind came at my suggestion.”
“I’ll just bet he did.” Frida sounded even more annoyed by the news that Nappi had called Mr. Lightwind, not me.
“I have a little announcement to make, then I’d like Mr. Egret and his grandson to follow me down to the station again. No doubt you’d like to bring your legal representative.” She directed her comments to the Egrets.
“Not me? Not Madeleine?” I asked.
“Oh, I’m not through with the two of you, but for now, I’d just like to talk with the Egrets.”
I waited for Frida’s “little announcement,” knowing that it could not be good if it meant she’d tracked the Egrets here.
“We found the rest, well, most of the rest of Jenny’s body. It was out near your airboat business, Mr. Egret.” She looked straight at Grandfather.
“That doesn’t mean you found where she was killed,” Attorney Lightwind said. “It could have been at the mud bog racing site. Can I correctly assume the ground was so churned up around there that you can’t be sure she wasn’t killed in the same place Eve found her head? That’s not evidence of who did it.”
“We’ll talk about that at the station. Now, if the Misters Egret would like to come along in their truck ….” Frida directed her next suggestion to the Egrets. “Or you could ride with me. My partner is waiting in the car.”
“We can drive ourselves,” Sammy said and started guiding his grandfather to the door. At that moment Darrell and Shelley emerged from the guest room.
“Lotta people,” observed Darrel, then gave a nervous laugh when he saw Frida. “Cops too. Is this some kind of a party I don’t know about?”
Frida fastened her gaze on Shelley, then Darrell, and finally on me. “You had to offer her a place to stay, didn’t you? You just couldn’t stay out of this.”
“She don’t need no place to stay. She’s coming with me.” Darrel draped his arm over Shelley’s shoulders in what might have been seen as a protective gesture. To me it looked more possessive than caring.
“Is that what you want, Shelley?” I asked.
She hesitated a minute then nodded.
Damn. With all the people visiting and Darrell taking up her time in the guest room, I hadn’t had the chance to ask her questions I needed answers to, such as when had she last seen her mother. I knew Frida had asked, but Frida wasn’t about to share the answers with me.
“Well, okay, honey. Maybe we can have lunch tomorrow.”
“She’ll be busy,” Darrell said.
Shelley gave me a sideways glance as Darrel shoved the Egrets to one side and hustled her out the door. I signaled her to call me. She nodded understanding and smiled.
Frida, the Egrets, and Attorney Lightwind left also.
Nappi and I stared at each other.
“I should call Madeleine and fill her in,” I said.
“You do that, and I’ll make us another drink.” Nappi got off the couch and came over to me. “It’s going to be fine, Eve. You know how the cops are, even your friend Frida. They have to look at the most likely suspects first, those with obvious motives. They’ll probably be doing background checks on the protesters. I know most of them are good people, but some probably have a long history of participating in these kinds of rallies, and I’ll bet there’s been violence associated with some.”
I nodded. “I know.”
I did know. I’d seen violence erupt before. Madeleine had too. Frida would soon find out how familiar we were with protesting against environmental destruction and how that knowledge was obtained. Until then, I’d try to prepare Madeleine for the possibility that the past wouldn’t stay hidden. I wondered what Madeleine had told David about her “green” side.
“Hi, David,” I said when I connected. “I know I’m the last person you want to hear from, but I am Madeleine’s best friend and partner. I think you know I’d never put her in harm’s way.”
There was silence for a minute on the other end; then I heard Madeleine’s voice.
“Eve, did you hear the good news? The doctor at the hospital confirmed it: I’m pregnant.”
“I heard. That’s wonderful. The two of you must be thrilled, but I wish you had told me before.”
“Are you still mad at me?”
I sighed. “I’m not mad at you, but like David, I’m worried about you. And the baby.”
“I didn’t know he stopped by your place to blame you for my participation in the protest. I just chewed him out good for that. He wants me to quit working. I told him we can’t do that. We have possibly two shops to run.”
“Don’t worry about that. We can work it out.” I assured her everything would be fine, then told her about Shelley, Darrell, and our legal representative, Mr. Lightwind.
There was a long silence.
“I know you don’t like Nappi to get involved in our affairs, but we might just need this lawyer, if you get my drift,” I said.
“I do.”
“I’ll bet David doesn’t know anything about what happened, uh, before, does he?”
“It’s history, Eve. Long ago. Of course I didn’t tell him.”
“I think you should. Frida will find out, and then we’re in trouble. Besides, I saw someone at the rally I recognized, and I think he recognized me too.”
“Who?’
“I can’t remember his name, but I’m sure he’s from up North.”
We talked for a few minutes longer, then agreed we’d meet tomorrow at our RV shop.
I ended the call. This hadn’t been a good day, not for anyone. I felt defeated and more than a little guilty that I hadn’t been able to figure out why Madeleine had been so sick the week before the protest. Dumb me. I thought it was the flu. She knew and didn’t share. It still rankled some.
Nappi walked over and put his hand on my shoulder. “I’m assuming you’ll tell me about whatever ‘trouble’ you and Madeleine are hiding if necessary. And you’ll certainly be honest with your attorney.” He handed me my drink. “It’s a short one. We need to get some food in our stomachs. How about the Burnt Biscuit for ribs? Unless you already have a date ….”
Nope. No date. I hadn’t heard from Alex since we’d argued at the police station earlier today.
Things in my life certainly had gotten jumbled—good with bad with who knows what the future might bring. A rack of ribs might make it better. I slugged down my drink and pasted an uncertain smile on my face. The smile didn’t remain there long. My cell rang and I heard Shelley on the other end of the call.
“Eve? I wanted to talk to you, but Darrell, well, he’s just so concerned about me, you know?”
No, I did not know that. What I saw in my house was not concern—more like possession and control.
“He was certainly clear that you were leaving with him.”
“See, that’s Darrell. Always so protective.”
“How long have you known Darrell?’
She ignored my question. “I need to talk with you.”
“Darrell seemed against that idea.”
“I know. He thinks no one else can take care of me like h
e can.”
I wasn’t certain how much longer I could listen to her delusional view of the guy before I said something negative about him. I held my tongue because, for now, Darrel appeared to be her lifeline.
“I’d like to come to the store tomorrow. In the morning.”
“Are you bringing Darrell?”
She giggled. “Don’t be silly. I told him I needed to go shopping for something appropriate to wear to the,” she stopped talking and the giggles turned into sobs, “funeral.”
“We open at ten. I’ll see you then.”
“The young woman you took under your wing?” asked Nappi after I put down the phone.
I remembered what Jenny had said about Darrel. Then there was Grandfather Egret’s story about the guy coupled with what I had observed here tonight.
“She needs someone’s wing to shelter her, and I think Darrell Hogan is poor mother-hen material.”
“What does she think?”
“I don’t get the feeling she’s doing much thinking when it comes to Darrell. Her grief over her mother’s murder and a big dose of adolescent hormones are getting in the way of intelligent reasoning.”
Tonight was one of the karaoke nights at the Biscuit. The music coming from the bar area was sometimes pleasant, but most of the singers sounded like me in my shower. I ignored the music when it was bad and tried to forget about the day’s events by tapping my foot to the tunes I recognized and liked.
Nappi ordered the whole rack of ribs.
“Ribs sound good,” I said.
“I’d recommend the smaller portion for the lady,” said the waitress.
I looked up and realized I hadn’t seen her at the Biscuit before.
“You’re new here?” I asked.
She nodded, her smile firmly in place.
“I thought so. I never order anything but the whole rack of ribs. I may be skinny, but I’ve got quite an appetite, wouldn’t you say, Nappi?”
“I would,” he agreed. “So I think we should go with double orders of coleslaw.”
The waitress hurried away with a strange look on her face.
“Southern ladies try never to look as if they eat much, so I guess that makes me other than a lady.”
Mud Bog Murder Page 5
