by BJ Bourg
I mulled over his words and realized he was right about a lot of what he’d said, especially the part about the suspect gunning me down like he had gunned down Jenny. If that happened, Grace would be the one sitting there mourning the loss of her dad, just like Alice was doing right now. I gritted my teeth. Under no circumstance could I let that happen to my daughter. Under no circumstance? Even if it meant getting the drop on the suspect and putting him down like a ruthless animal?
I shook my head to clear it. I was getting way ahead of myself. At the moment, we had no clue who the killer was, and, unfortunately, the interview with Alice was not getting us any closer to him.
CHAPTER 22
Amy seemed to be bonding with Alice, so I excused myself and waved for Wanda Pierce to follow me. Once we were standing in the hallway, I asked if her husband had any enemies.
Her expression turned to one of shock and she clutched at her neck. “Do you think someone targeted Chad?”
“We don’t know anything at the moment, which is why I have to pursue every angle,” I explained. “Did your husband have any enemies?”
“Oh, no, everyone loves Chad.”
Just like her daughter, Wanda was referring to Chad in the present tense. The finality of what they’d been told hadn’t settled in yet.
“What did he do for a living?” I asked.
“He’s a vice principal at Attakapas High.” Attakapas was an unincorporated town in Central Chateau Parish and it was home to one of the parish’s high schools. Wanda frowned and her eyes misted over again. “He was recently promoted and he was really looking forward to when Alice would go to his high school.”
“Any problems at school?” I asked.
“No, none. He loved his job.”
I pulled out my phone and accessed a picture I’d taken of the keys that Mallory had found along the bayou side. Turning the screen to Wanda, I asked if she recognized the keys.
“That black thing is the keyless remote to his car, that gold one is the house key, and the other gold one is for his shop.” She leaned closer and squinted. “I’m not sure what the silver key is for. I’ve never seen it before.”
That got my attention. “Really?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I’ve never seen that key.”
I shifted my feet, not liking the question I was about to ask of this new widow. “Is it possible that your husband might have been having an affair?” I asked slowly, measuring my words. “I’m not saying he was and we have no evidence to indicate—”
“Oh, God, no,” she said with a dismissive wave of the hand. “He would never do anything like that.”
I only nodded, wondering how many people had thought the same of their spouses, only to be shocked later when it was revealed that they were nothing but common cheaters. Wanda hadn’t asked how her husband was killed and I didn’t volunteer the violent nature of the attack. It was possible Alice had already told her, but it also left me wondering if this was, indeed, a crime of anger.
“What about Chad’s co-workers?” I pressed. “Were any of them jealous when he got promoted?”
She was thoughtful. “I mean, I have no way of knowing that. If there was a problem, he didn’t mention anything. As far as I know, all of the students love him and so do the teachers and other staff members.”
“What about friends? Did he have a best friend—someone who might know if he’s having problems with anyone?”
“I mean, he has friends at work, but he doesn’t necessarily have a best friend.” She scowled. “He would usually come to me if he’s having problems with someone, but he hasn’t said anything. I know he had problems with a few students, but nothing serious.”
I asked a few more questions and then showed her the picture again. “Are you sure you’ve never seen this key before?”
She took another good look and then shook her head. “No, sir.”
Right then, the door to the counseling center opened and Amy emerged. She nodded in Wanda’s direction and then looked at me. “Okay, it looks like we’re done here, unless you have something else you wanted to ask Alice.”
I shook my head and thanked Wanda before following Amy down the hall and out into the parking lot. I called Susan from my Tahoe and asked if there had been any sightings in town.
“No,” she said, “everything’s quiet. If I didn’t know better, I’d think last night was just a regular night in town. The locals are talking about it and a few tourists stopped me on the street to ask if it was safe to move around the area, but other than that, people are just going about their lives like nothing happened.”
I told her I’d be back in town later and ended the call. Before heading back to Mechant Loup, I drove to Attakapas High School. It was three o’clock and most of the students had already left for the day.
“What’re we doing here?” Amy asked as she stepped out of my Tahoe and followed me toward the large steps at the front of the school. I could hear the sound of drums beating in the distance and figured the marching band was practicing out in the fields behind the school.
“I want to talk with the principal and find out if anyone here had a vendetta against Chad,” I explained after telling Amy what I had learned from Wanda. “And I also want to know if he was sleeping with any of the other teachers. The silver key looks like a house key. It might be to some secret rendezvous spot.”
Amy grunted. “It wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened.”
I pulled open the large door and stood aside for Amy to pass. “Wanda seems to think he was an honest man,” I said. “I hope she’s right.”
“You know what they say about a woman’s intuition.” Amy gave me a sideways glance. “Unless she’s trying to cover for her man, she knows what’s up.”
Even if I wanted to argue—and I didn’t—I wouldn’t have had time, because we had reached the office. I smiled when I saw Donna through the glass staring down at a notepad on her desk. A tall woman with blonde hair, Donna was Principal Stewart Finane’s executive assistant, and she was a wily one. A man had once entered the school trying to imply that he was a cop, but he hadn’t fooled her one bit.
“Hey, Donna, it’s been a long time,” I said cheerfully as we stepped into the office. “How are you?”
The smile fell from my face when Donna twisted around and I saw the tears streaking down her face. She took several deep breaths when she realized who I was.
“We just found out,” she said mournfully. “What happened? Who could’ve done this to him?”
I scowled and shook my head. “To be honest, I was hoping we might be able to get some answers here.”
She sniffled and quickly stood to her feet. “Come with me,” she said. “I’ll take you to Stewart’s office. He’ll want to know what’s going on.”
CHAPTER 23
Stewart Finane had an impressive beer gut. Although short, he was an average-sized man, but his stomach always entered a room about five minutes before the rest of his body did. Had he been a pregnant woman, he would’ve been described as all baby.
“Hello there, Detective Wolf,” Stewart said, coming out from behind his desk and sticking out his frail hand. “It’s nice to see you again.”
I involuntarily cringed when I gripped his clammy hand. It felt like I was shaking a dead fish. Once I reclaimed my hand, I coyly slipped it in my pocket to dry it.
“It’d be better if it was under different circumstances,” I said, moving aside while he greeted Amy. She shook his hand and I saw her face blanch a little. It appeared she didn’t know what to do with her mitt, so she shoved it in the back pocket of her jeans.
As Stewart shuffled back to his desk, Amy and I sat across from him and I addressed the man.
“I guess you know why we’re here.”
“I do.” He frowned. “We got a call from his wife earlier today saying he wouldn’t be in. All she told us was that there had been a bad accident. And then one of our teachers found out that the murder victim from the campground was C
had. It sent a shockwave through the school. We’ve never had anything like this happen to a staff member before. It…it’s all so unnerving.”
I nodded and watched as Stewart pressed his palms to his face. He remained in that position for a few long seconds and then leaned back in his chair, dropping his hands wearily to his knees.
“Wait a minute,” Stewart began, his expression suddenly turning curious. “When you first entered my office you assumed I already knew why you were here. So, that means you aren’t here to notify me of Chad’s passing.”
“No, we need your help,” I said. “Since this is where Chad Pierce worked, this is where we’ll find out the most about him. He probably spends more time here than he does at home. We need to know who his friends were, if he had any enemies, if he talked to anyone about problems he might have had with anyone—things like that.”
“I’ve worked with Chad for about ten years, but we rarely discussed our personal lives. When you’re trying to manage the day-to-day operations involving the education of 1,300 students over four different grades levels on a campus the size of ours, well, there’s little time for anything else.” Stewart scowled thoughtfully. “While I am ashamed to say I knew little about what was going on in Chad’s personal life, I do know who can help you.”
Stewart snatched up the handset and punched in an extension. He waited for a second and then said, “Donna, can you get in here, please? We need your expertise on a matter.”
When he returned the handset to the cradle, he said, “Donna is pretty close to the executive staff, so she might be able to help.” He chuckled wryly. “Sometimes, I think she knows more about my own personal life than I do.”
Donna appeared in the doorway within seconds.
“Yes, sir?” she asked, quickly scanning Stewart’s desktop, as though trying to anticipate what he might need. Her eyes settled on an empty mug on his desk that read, I love New Orleans. Before Stewart had a chance to say anything, she asked, “Do you need more coffee? Some for your guests?”
“No, thank you.” Stewart waved for her to enter the office. “Detective Wolf and Detective Cooke would like to speak with—”
“Just call me Clint,” I said, interrupting him. “No need for titles.”
He paused, nodded, and continued. “They came here today to find out what we know about Chad.”
“Oh, really?” There was a befuddled expression on her face. “I thought they were here to make the notification, but I told them we had already found out about it.”
“We need to know if there was anyone who might want to hurt him,” I said slowly. “We’re just covering all of the bases, you know?”
Donna started to speak when an elderly woman appeared in the doorway behind her. She wore a thick skirt and a uniform shirt and she was pushing around a yellow utility cart.
“Is this a bad time to take out the trash?” the woman asked, taking in the faces of everyone in the room. Her gray eyes rested on me for a long moment and she frowned. She seemed vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t place her. Her jet black hair had certainly come from a bottle, so maybe I would recognize her with white or gray hair.
“No, Stella, it’s okay,” Stewart said, pushing back his chair and reaching under his desk. He handed a bag to Donna, who handed it to Stella, who shoved it deep into a large bag that hung from the utility cart. She took one last look at me before hurrying away.
I shrugged and turned back toward Donna. “Anything that might help?”
Donna frowned. “To be honest, I haven’t really spoken with Chad on a personal level at all this year, except to ask about Alice. We’ve had our hands full with the incoming freshmen this year. There’re two groups of kids who have it out for each other, and Chad is constantly breaking up fights among the two. I know he spent about a week testifying in court last month.”
“Yeah, we had two boys jump another boy in the bathroom,” Stewart explained. “The victim was hospitalized with a fractured bone in his neck and a broken nose. He had to undergo surgery.”
“What happened with the case?” I asked.
“The two boys were convicted and sentenced to spend a year in the juvenile justice center,” Stewart said. “They were also expelled from school, so even when they’re released they won’t be allowed back on campus.”
I nodded and rubbed my face thoughtfully, glancing at my notes as I considered my next line of questioning. Finally, I looked up at Donna. “Please understand that as a law enforcement officer, I value the privacy of others, and what people do in their private lives is none of my business. However, it’s most often what people do in their personal lives that result in their murders. During the course of my investigations, if I uncover personal information that leads to a murderer, then that information will eventually come out in court, but if the information has nothing to do with the case, it dies with me.” I paused and took a breath. “So, can you tell me if Chad had any personal issues with a faculty member or a student?”
“No.” There was no hesitation in Donna’s response. “Chad doesn’t fraternize with the students. He’s a strict professional. Other than having to discipline students from time to time and offering support to those who need it, he’s had no issues.”
“What about other staff members?” I pressed. “Has he had any relationships with anyone?”
“He has friends,” she said, a little defensively, “but if you’re asking if he’s had any affairs, then absolutely not. He loves his wife. He’s the only one I know of who still sends flowers to his wife after being married for so many years.”
“How do you know he still sends flowers?” I asked.
“I’m the one who usually orders them for him,” she said proudly. “He doesn’t know what the colors of the roses mean, so I have to tell him when to send what. And sometimes, roses aren’t the answer. A woman might be in the mood for—”
“When was the last time he sent flowers to his wife?” I asked, not interested in learning the proper protocol for sending flowers—that’s what florists were for.
“Oh, wow, it’s been a while.” Donna scrunched her face in thought. After a moment, she said it was probably in early August, at the beginning of the school year.
“What about enemies?” I asked. “Did he have any problems with students or faculty members? Anyone who might want to hurt him?”
“Heavens, no.” She shook her head for emphasis. “You’d have to know Chad. While he could be a disciplinarian when he had to, he hated it, and he never argued with any of the staff. He and I have disagreed about things before and, rather than arguing, he would smile and say that different opinions are what make the world so colorful and beautiful—or something like that.”
I grunted to myself. There was nothing beautiful about what had happened to Chad Pierce and Deputy Jenny Billiot, and the only color I’d seen out at the crime scenes was red.
CHAPTER 24
An hour after walking into the school, Amy and I were stomping down the large concrete steps outside, no closer to finding Chad Pierce’s killer than when we’d first entered.
“Well, that was a dead end,” Amy grumbled, glancing at her watch. “What’s next on the agenda?”
I glanced at the time on my phone. “I was hoping we would’ve heard something from Tracy Dinger by now.”
“Well, I’m sure the casings from the campsite will match the casings from Jenny’s murder.” Amy’s voice turned obviously somber when she mentioned Jenny. “I guess the most important thing will be finding out if the firearm was used in other crimes.”
“Yeah, an IBIS hit would help,” I said, reaching for the door to my Tahoe. “It might lead to a suspect.”
I was about to pull open the door when a soft voice called from behind me. I turned to see the elderly woman from earlier walking toward me. I smiled. “Hey, how are you?”
“You don’t remember me, do you?” she asked.
“No ma’am, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. It was a lon
g time ago.” She held out a forgiving hand. “I’m Stella Edwards. You worked my husband’s case.”
The name immediately rang a bell and I took her hand in both of mine, squeezing gently. “Yes, I remember now! How’ve you been?”
“I’m good. I’m still running, thank God. After the accident, they said I’d never run again.” She slapped the front of her upper leg. “I might be a little slower, but these old limbs haven’t quit on me yet.”
“I’ve always heard we only have so many miles in us,” I said. “Do you think it’s true?”
“Oh, sure.” She nodded confidently. “But the miles are so plentiful that we can never use them up in one lifetime.”
That revelation from this marathon runner gave me hope, but I suddenly realized there was more to her visit than simply catching up.
“You know something, don’t you?” I asked, moving closer to her. Amy had walked around and was watching curiously.
Stella glanced over her shoulder and then leaned closer. In a quiet voice, she said, “I think I know something.”
“About Chad?”
She nodded.
I glanced toward the school. There was no one in sight.
“Would you feel better talking at the station?” I asked. “Or we could come to your place.”
She shook her head and handed me a square piece of purple paper. “Do you remember my daughter, Tiffany?”
I scrunched my face. “Didn’t I meet her in the hospital?”
“Yes, you did. She was married then, but she’s now divorced and living in an apartment in Mechant Loup.” She indicated the paper she’d just handed me. “Tiffany’s address and phone number are on that paper. I just talked to her and she said it was okay for you to contact her.”
I was slightly confused. “Does she know something about the case?”
“I don’t know, but she knows something about Chad.”
“What about him?”
