Greg Herren - Murder in the Rue Ursulines

I’d considered taking a Xanax, but Storm had vetoed that. He felt it was better for me to have an anxiety attack in front of Venus rather than have my mind addled by drugs.

“So, you have information about the killing of Glynis Parrish?” Venus’ face was impassive. “Why does that not surprise me?” She shook her head. “You always seem to have your nose stuck into places it shouldn’t be.”

“Yes.” I replied, ignoring everything else she’d said. It was a technique I recognized, trying to goad me into saying something I shouldn’t.

“Start at the beginning.” She pulled a digital recorder out of her jacket pocket. “Any objections to having this interview taped?”

“None whatsoever, Detective,” Storm replied.

She gave him a look that was part irritated, part affectionate. “Thank you, counselor. How’s the family? I haven’t run into that annoying brother of yours lately.”

“He’s doing quite well.” He returned her look with a broad smile.

She clicked the recorder on. “Good. Shall we start?”

I glanced over at Storm, who gave me a slight nod. “Yesterday afternoon, I was hired by Loren McKeithen to conduct an investigation on behalf of clients of his. The clients were Freddy Bliss and Jillian Long.”

The only change in her facial expression was the slight lift of her right eyebrow. “And what, pray tell, did they hire you to find out?”

“Don’t answer that,” Storm interrupted. “I am instructing my client not to answer any questions regarding the investigation he was hired to conduct.” He opened his briefcase and handed her a copy of the confidentiality agreement.

Venus pulled out a pair of reading glasses and read it over. A vein was throbbing on her right forehead-a sign she was getting irritated. “All right then. But I have to ask, in that case, what are you doing here then, Chanse?”

“Last night, I was meeting Paige for dinner at Port of Call.” I went through the entire thing, from the moment I found a parking spot till I rounded the corner of Ursulines and saw someone walking out of the house. “At the time, Venus, I would have sworn it was Freddy Bliss…but now I’m not so sure.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You were sure, and now you aren’t? May I ask why?”

I swallowed. “Well, it was from a distance of forty yards and it was dark outside. The person I saw was about the same height as Freddy, and he had the same kind of build. So I automatically assumed it was Freddy. Now I’m not so sure.” I cleared my throat.

“Have you spoken to your clients since then?”

“Yes. When I was leaving Port of Call I received an unexpected call on my cell phone from Loren McKeithen, who asked me to come to their house. This was around seven-thirty, eight o’clock; I’m not entirely sure of the time. I went over there, and once I arrived, they told me that Glynis Parrish had been murdered, and they asked me to stop investigating what I was working on, and to start looking into Glynis’s death. That was when I told them I’d seen Freddy coming out of a house on Ursulines just before six o’clock. They told me I was mistaken, that Freddy and Jillian had been together since they left Loren’s office and our meeting.”

“And that’s when you began to question your identification?”

Venus held up a hand. “Chanse, since you’re not sure-“ her voice took on a sarcastic edge, “-who you saw coming out of the crime scene, you need to give me a description. If you would be so kind.”

“Well, he looked to be about five-five, maybe a hundred and forty pounds?” I closed my eyes and thought. “He was wearing an LSU hooded sweatshirt, the hood pulled down low over his face. The upper part of the face was either covered or shadowed. When he got under the street light, I got a pretty good look at the exposed part of his face, and that’s why I thought it was Freddy Bliss. This person had the same kind of jaw structure as Freddy, but I couldn’t really get a good look at the nose. He was wearing an old pair of ratty-looking low-rise jeans, and I didn’t get a look at his shoes.

“He stopped under the streetlight, lit a cigarette, and started walking in the direction of the river, very quickly. I thought about calling out to him-thinking it was Freddy-but when he got to the corner at Dauphine Street, he started running, and then disappeared in the fog.” I shrugged. “I just went on to meet Paige.”

Venus gave me a ghost of a smile. “Did you mention any of this to Paige?”

“Um, no.”

“She’s going to kill you, you know.” The smile broadened. “She’s been bitching about having to get an interview with Freddy and Jillian for a couple of days now-and you have, or had, access to them?”

I gave her a sickly smile back. “She mentioned it at dinner, actually. But I’d signed a confidentiality agreement…”

“Like she’ll care?” Venus’ smile grew wider. “Off the record, I wouldn’t want to be you. She’s going to skin you alive.”

“Are we finished here?” Storm asked, glancing at his watch.

Venus gave him a look that would have killed a lesser person. “For now, yes. But I will most likely have some more questions for your client.” She turned back to me as she said your client. “For your sake, Chanse, I’d advise you not to speak to either Freddy Bliss or Jillian Long, and of course, don’t leave town. For any reason.”

I bit my lip. “Do you have an exact time of death yet?”

Venus sighed. “We’ve already released this information to the press, so it won’t hurt anything for me to tell you. Her assistant, Rosemary Shannon, left her alone in the house around four. Glynis Parrish asked her to leave as she was expecting someone, and she wanted to meet with the person privately. She told Ms. Shannon not to come back until after six. Shannon returned around six-thirty, and found the body.” Her eyes glinted. “And I am sure you already know that the first people Ms. Shannon called were your clients, rather than the police.”

“So, basically, she was killed between four and six-thirty?”

“Yes.”

“Fingerprints on the murder weapon? I’m asking because I touched it.”

“You what? ”

“In the course of my investigation for Freddy and Jillian, I interviewed Glynis Parrish. She invited me to pick up her Emmy.” I was wincing inwardly, knowing how lame it sounded. But Storm had advised me to mention it up-front.

Venus repeated what I said, her voice displaying a dangerous edge. “She invited you to pick up her Emmy.”

I shrugged. “She said everyone wanted to.”

“Uh-huh.” She stared at me, perfectly conveying that she realized I was either crazy or a liar.

I kept silent, not wanting to blink first…

“We’re running the prints now.” She waved tiredly. She turned the recorder off. “Thank you for coming in, Chanse. We’ll be in touch.”

Storm handed her a business card. “I want you to know that my client is available whenever you need him, but the arrangements need to be made through me. No one from the police department or the district attorney’s office is to speak to him or make any arrangements to talk to him other than through me.”

Venus sighed. “Understood.”

Once we were outside the station, Storm clapped me on the back. “That wasn’t too bad, was it? Can I drop you at home?”

“No.” I replied, giving him a weak smile. “Thanks, though. I think I’m going to go have lunch somewhere.”

“Well, you have my cell if you need me.” He leaned closer to me. “Stay away from Frillian-I think that’s the wisest thing you could do right now.”

“Thanks.” I walked down Royal Street. The sun was shining, and it was in the low seventies. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and turned it on. It beeped to let me know I had a message.