Vieux Carré Voodoo

by Greg Herren

  Colin interrupted me. “That’s impossible.”

  “I am a private eye, after all.” I snapped. “I may not work for a huge international investigation corporation—one that occasionally stoops to killing people, I might add—but it is my job.”

  Colin sighed. “Will you stop being so defensive? It’s impossible because Marty Gretsch only has one grandson, and that child is only twelve years old.”

  Chapter Six

  THREE OF WANDS

  There is a tendency to scatter one’s energies

  I thought about it for a moment. I only had my client’s word that he was actually Levi Gretsch. I hadn’t asked for ID or anything, but maybe Millie and Velma had. The bankbook, though, had been in that name. I found it hard to believe the Whitney Bank would have allowed him to open an account without any identification.

  But of course, identification could be forged, and I somehow doubted the new accounts clerk at any bank branch would be trained to spot fake papers.

  “He came downstairs and hired me to find someone named Moonie,” I went on, deciding not to say anything about the bankbook, or searching his apartment. “He had a letter from his grandfather, and a picture taken in Vietnam of three GIs. On the back of the photo were written the names Marty, Mattie, and Moonie. The letter didn’t give any names…it just said one of them died over there, and the other lived in New Orleans and was called Moonie. It also said that Moonie had ‘what they were looking for.’” I frowned. “If this guy wasn’t Levi Gretsch, how did he get the letter?”

  “Maybe he was the one who killed Marty Gretsch,” Colin said, his face grim. “Maybe all Marty would tell him was that Moonie had it, and he lived in New Orleans.” He started pacing. “Yes, that makes sense. So, after Marty died, he came here and pretended to be Marty’s grandson, as a cover. It would work—no one here would doubt his story. They’d have no reason to.” He shrugged. “People here tend to take strangers at their word.”

  “Yes, they do,” I heard myself saying. Mom gave me a dirty look, and I was sorry I’d said it.

  Colin had the decency to blush. “So, he comes here pretending to be Levi and starts looking around for Moonie. He doesn’t have any luck, so he decides to hire you to find Moonie for him.”

  “If that’s true, then he didn’t kill Doc.” I thought about it for a moment. “Because I didn’t know Moonie was Doc until after he was already dead—and I still haven’t told Levi.” I explained how I’d found the picture of Doc in his military uniform on the floor and recognized him from the picture Levi had. “Venus and I went back to my house to talk to him about it, but he wasn’t there. But the gate was open—”

  “The gate was open?” Mom interrupted me. “That’s very weird.”

  “I know, Mom, it worried me.” Mom was well aware of Millie and Velma’s fixation on security. “Levi’s apartment door was open, but he wasn’t there. Venus seemed to think he may have just gone out or something and forgot to lock his door, or thought he had and it hadn’t caught, or something like that. I didn’t have a really good feeling about it.”

  “I don’t like the sound of this at all.” Colin’s voice was grim. “What else did he tell you?”

  “He told me his mother went to school with Millie—”

  “That can’t be true,” Mom interrupted. She’d gone to McGehee with Velma; they’d been classmates. Millie had also gone to McGehee, but was a few years ahead of them. “If the child of someone we went to school with had moved into Millie’s building, she would have told me. He’s been here for about a month, and I have met him a few times over there. Millie never said a word about him being the son of one of our classmates. Why would he tell you that? It’s a stupid lie, because surely you could verify that with Millie or Velma.”

  “Maybe Millie just forgot to tell you, Mom,” I replied, but had trouble believing it myself. It wasn’t like Millie. She’d been active in the McGehee alumni association. She was proud of having gone there—as opposed to my mother, who considered it a disgraceful symbol of her overprivileged upbringing. If the grandchild of someone she’d gone to school with had moved in upstairs from her, Millie would have told everyone about it.

  And even more to the point, it had to be a lie. If Levi’s grandmother had been from New Orleans, as he’d claimed, then he had family here. It was possible he might not know his New Orleans relatives—but Millie would have. She would have access to records through her involvement with the alumni association. “Maybe he didn’t want anyone to know about it?” I went on, but the words sounded hollow to me. “Maybe he asked Millie not to say anything?”

  “Even if he had, it wouldn’t matter to her,” Mom pointed out. She was right. Millie wasn’t good at keeping secrets, and the grandson of a long-lost classmate was just too good a story for her not to share with friends. If she hadn’t said anything to Mom—then there was nothing to tell.

  “Marty Gretsch’s wife was from Ohio,” Colin said, after punching some buttons on his cell phone. “She wasn’t from New Orleans. She died about ten years ago.”

  “Why would he risk telling such a lie? It was a huge risk to take. It doesn’t make sense.” I scratched my head. “It would have completely blown his cover…” But come to think of it, I hadn’t seen either Millie or Velma all day. “Mom, do you know where Millie and Velma are?”

  Mom shook her head. “I asked them to ride in the parade, but last night at dinner they told me they were just going to stay in today. Velma had a rough week…” She narrowed her eyes. “Why do you ask?”

  “I haven’t seen either one of them all day.” My heart started racing. I stood up. “Venus and I knocked on their door—there was no answer. I think we need to get back over there as fast as we possibly can.” The gate had been open. No answer when I’d knocked on their door. A stupid lie told by someone who wasn’t who he said he was. I swallowed. “He told me that lie because he knew I wouldn’t find out about it.”

  Which meant Millie and Velma… I stopped that thought in its tracks, before it could take hold. It was possible they were fine. It was possible they had been asleep and not heard us knocking on the door. Not seeing them all day didn’t mean anything. Sometimes I could go for days not seeing them, or hearing any noise from their apartment. There was absolutely no need to panic or worry.

  Easier said than done—I could feel the worry creeping up my spine.

  Don’t panic. Millie and Velma are more than capable of taking care of themselves. They are two tough ladies. Remember, Millie clobbered Frank that time with a frying pan when he was holding a gun on you.

  But it wasn’t very reassuring.

  “Let me call first.” Mom picked up her phone and dialed quickly. After a few moments, she turned the phone off. “It went to voicemail.” She bit her lower lip and crinkled her forehead.

  That wasn’t good, and we both knew it. Velma always answered her phone. She was a lawyer, and no matter what time of day or night it was, she woke up and answered the phone by the third ring. She always claimed the first ring woke her, the second ring cleared her mind, and she was wide-awake and alert by the third. If she didn’t answer, she either wasn’t there or wasn’t able to get to the phone.

  At this hour, she should have answered.

  “Maybe we should call the police—” Mom started, and cut herself off when she looked at Colin.

  I made a decision. “The police won’t go over there just because they aren’t answering their phone. Calling them would be a complete waste of time.” I closed my eyes. “Colin and I can go over there,” I said, hating the very idea of it. I still didn’t completely trust him. I wasn’t sure I believed his explanations about the Mardi Gras case—it all seemed a little too pat to me. I can’t tell you about it was an incredibly convenient line. But I didn’t want to go over there alone—who knew if the Pleshiwarian with the knife was out there waiting for me—and one good thing about Colin was he was really good in those situations. The guy was great with weapons, had been trained in
hand-to-hand combat by the Mossad, and was fast. I was just going to have to trust him—for now. “For all we know they may have gone out of town for the night.” Even as I said it, I knew it wasn’t true. Any time they left town, they asked me to feed their cat. That cat was their baby; they wouldn’t leave him overnight without making sure I was going to feed him.

  Mom grabbed her purse, but Colin stopped her. “You aren’t coming with us, Mom. You need to stay here and wait for Dad to get back from the morgue.”

  “I am not about to let you—”

  “He’s right, Mom.” I hated that he still called them Mom and Dad. I could feel my face starting to flush. I can worry about that later, I decided. “We’ll call you when we get there.” She started to protest again, and I cut her off. “We need you to be here, in case something over there goes wrong.” I glanced at my watch. Ten minutes or so to walk back to my place, another five or so to unlock the gate and get upstairs. “If you haven’t heard from us in twenty-five minutes, call Venus. Tell her everything.” I hoped Venus would listen to her…but at least she already knew some of what was going on. Besides, I grinned to myself, I knew my mother. She wouldn’t get off the phone until a squad car was on its way—she’d threaten to sue everyone from the mayor on down until Venus moved on it. I stood up, and started to head for the back door.

  “Wait a minute,” Mom said. She walked over to a cabinet. She opened a drawer and pulled out a Glock. She checked to see if it was loaded, and tried to hand it to me. “You’d better take this—just to be on the safe side.”

  I shook my head. “Thanks, Mom, but I’d better not. I don’t have anywhere to carry it.”

  “I have a gun.” Colin slipped a shoulder holster over his left arm and pulled a black wool blazer on over it. He kissed her on the cheek. “Remember—no call in twenty-five minutes, and you call the cops.”

  She nodded. “Please be careful, boys.”

  We went out the back door and I made sure it was locked behind us. I let Colin lead the way down the back stairs, since he was armed. He opened the door to the street, and checked both ways. “Looks clear,” he said, standing aside to let me go past out to the sidewalk. He shut the gate and made sure the latch clicked. He gave me a crooked grin. “Since when has Mom kept guns in the house?”

  “Papa Diderot gave her that Glock after the levees failed,” I said as I started walking up Dumaine toward Decatur. “When she and Dad came back to the Quarter, we were still worried about looters. She still objects to guns on principle, of course, but she’s not crazy.”

  He didn’t say anything until we reached the corner at Chartres. He motioned for me to stay back as he checked both directions, but it was deserted. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here for that,” he said softly. “I almost went crazy with worry about you and the family. The news footage—it was so awful.”

  “It wasn’t exactly pleasant to live through,” I said tartly.

  “I wanted to jump on a plane—”

  I cut him off. “I appreciate the sentiment, Colin.” We rounded the corner at Decatur. There were some people milling about on the sidewalks in the bright lights of the bars. I breathed a sigh of relief. There were too many people around for someone to try anything. I started walking faster. “And we can talk about all that some other time, okay?” I hated making the concession. I didn’t want to talk to him about anything. I knew it was a childish mentality, but seeing him again had opened a wound I’d thought closed long ago. It still hurt. And that made me angry with myself.

  The truth was I would never have closure until we talked. There were things I needed to say to him.

  “You’ve changed,” he said as we walked past a group of gutter punks squatting in front of a secondhand store with their dog.

  I bit back a sharp retort. Finding out someone you love is a paid assassin will do that to you. I forced down the hurt and anger and swallowed. “I know,” I said quietly. “I’ve changed a lot since the last time you saw me, and I don’t like it. I miss the person I used to be. I want to be that person again. But I don’t know if that Scotty can ever come back. Too much has happened.” And I added, “Frank’s changed, too, you know. I’m not the only one you’ve hurt. I can’t believe you haven’t even asked about him.”

  “Mom told me he was out of town,” he said quietly.

  “Lucky for him,” I said.

  He had the decency to not reply.

  We reached my building, and I pulled out my keys. I unlocked the gate, and he stopped me from going in. I nodded as he pulled out his gun and headed through the darkness. I watched him check the courtyard, and he motioned me to come forward. When I reached him, he whispered, “I’ll go up first, you follow, okay?” I nodded, and he started up the stairs without making a noise.

  It was creepy how he could do that.

  I followed him. We stopped in front of Millie and Velma’s door. I took a deep breath and began pounding on it. There was no response, no sound of movement inside the apartment. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears. “Go up and see if Levi’s in his apartment,” I hissed at Colin as I fumbled through my key ring for the key to their apartment.

  Colin nodded. “Wait for me before you go in.”

  “Okay,” I replied. He started up the stairs, again not making any sound. I smiled to myself. I wasn’t about to wait for him.

  He reached the midpoint landing. Once he was out of sight, I turned the key in the deadbolt and swung the door open. I reached for the light switch just inside the door. The hallway lit up, and their big gray tabby, Scout, began weaving around my legs, howling. He did that when he was hungry—which meant he hadn’t had his evening meal. “Just a minute, Scout,” I said. I left the door slightly ajar so Colin could follow me in. “Millie? Velma?” I called. “Anyone home?”

  I heard a muffled sound coming from the living room at the end of the hall. It sounded—it sounded human. For a moment I thought about waiting for Colin and his gun, but the sound came again. Hoping I wasn’t walking into some kind of trap, trying to convince myself that I was being ridiculous, and sorry I hadn’t taken Mom’s Glock, I crept down the hallway and reached around the corner to flip on the lights.

  “Damn it!” I burst out once the room flooded with light.

  Millie and Velma were gagged and tied to dining room chairs. They were facing me, and both of their heads bowed with relief when they realized it was me. Their wrists and ankles were duct-taped to the chairs. Velma started making urgent noises. I hurried over to her and said “sorry” as I grabbed one end of the duct tape and ripped it off her mouth. She howled.

  I turned to Millie, who closed her eyes as I ripped the tape from her lips.

  “I didn’t think you were ever going to come,” Millie whispered hoarsely.

  “I’ll get a knife,” I said, dashing into the kitchen. I grabbed a steak knife from the knife stand on the counter and ran back into the living room.

  “Get me free,” Velma demanded. “I have got to go to the bathroom.”

  I sawed through the tape on her wrists. Once they were free, I went to work on her ankles. It seemed to take forever, but finally she was loose. She stood up as I moved over to Millie and started sawing at her tape. “My damned legs are asleep,” Velma cursed as she somehow managed to flop her way over to the wall and, holding on to it, groped her way to the bathroom.

  “What happened here?” I asked as I finished freeing Millie’s arms.

  “That damned new tenant!” Millie said, her lips compressed in a tight line. She shook her head. “Before you get my legs free, would you be a dear and get me a glass of water?” I nodded. Her voice followed me out of the room. “It was around three, wasn’t it, Velma? We were reading the New York Times, and I heard you moving around upstairs. I wanted to ask you about something—I can’t think now what it was—and your door was open, so I walked in, and that young bastard was going through your desk!” She was trembling with barely contained anger. “I demanded to know what he was doing in your apartment
, and I picked up the phone to call the police, and that’s when the bastard pulled the gun on me.” I handed her the glass and she downed it in one gulp. I knelt down and started working on her ankles. “He marched me down here and tied us up.”

  “If I ever get my hands on that young prick—” Velma growled from the kitchen. I heard the faucet turn on. She walked back into the living room carrying two glasses of water. She handed one to Millie and started sipping from the other one. “I’ll make that little punk sorry he was ever born.” I suppressed a grin. Velma was a woman of her word. For Levi’s sake, I certainly hoped he was on his way out of town with a one-way ticket.

  “He made me tie up Velma, and then he did it to me,” Millie went on, taking another sip of water. She stood up, stretched her arms, and wiggled her legs to get the circulation going again. “I thought for sure the little prick was going to rob us, but he didn’t. He didn’t do or say anything.” She shuddered. “All he did was whistle while he was doing it, like it was something he did every day, you know, like it was no big deal…and then he just left.”

  “We were lucky.” Velma sat down on the couch. “He could have raped and killed us.” Her voice was grim. “But you’re wrong, Millie. He did take something—you just didn’t see it.” She pointed to a row of hooks on the wall by the kitchen door. “He took a set of keys.” She shook her head. “We’re going to have to have all the goddamned locks changed.”

  So he wanted a set of keys to every door in the building, I mused. I was only half listening to Velma as she went on a tirade about what she was going to do to Levi if she ever got her hands on him. Why? He didn’t want access to this place, he has his own keys for his own apartment and the gate—the only keys left are the carriage house, the coffee shop, Millie and Velma’s, and—

  My apartment.

  But why would he want a key to my apartment? He’d already been inside.