Greg Herren - Murder in the Rue Ursulines

I dialed into the voice-mail, and winced.

“Chanse, you miserable lying sack of shit!” It was Paige. ” I cannot fucking believe you sat there and listened to me bitch all that time about how impossible it would be to get an interview with Freddy and Jillian, and the whole time you could have gotten me in there! This is how you pay me back for all the goddamned favors I’ve done for you over the years? You are DEAD to me, you hear? DEAD. TO. ME. I am so pissed off at you right now-oh, wait a minute. They made you sign a confidentiality agreement, didn’t they? They all do that. But damn it, Chanse! How could you not even HINT at this? Call me when you get this-I promise I won’t rip off your head and shit down your neck the way you so richly deserve…Jesus Christ on the cross, Chanse. Do you have any idea what you’ve gotten yourself into? You’d better not be giving interviews to anyone besides me, do you hear me? If you do, I will skin you alive, I will boil you in oil…if you don’t give me an exclusive, I swear I’ll-“ BEEP.

I couldn’t help it, I grinned. I hit the call back button, and she answered on the first ring. “Where the hell have you been?”

“You free for lunch?” I asked, keeping my voice as calm as I could. “I might be persuaded to give my oldest friend in the world an exclusive interview.”

There was a pause. “Chanse,” she said, her voice low, “you are a witness?”

“How did you-“

“They have the television on here in the office. It just went out over CNN. You saw the murderer leaving Glynis’s house?”

Someone in the police department had already called the press. My God, I just told Venus, and already it’s on the news.

“Meet me at El Gato Negro, and I’ll tell you everything.” I replied, closing the phone.

I took some deep, therapeutic breaths, and started walking through the Quarter.

“Wow. That really sucks.” Paige said when I’d finished my tale. She shook her head and took a sip of her iced tea. “ Do you think Freddy killed her?”

I glanced around. We were the only people in El Gato Negro other than the staff. Our waiter was wiping down a table on the far side of the room. We were seated in the corner furthest from the front door. I shrugged. “I don’t know what to think, to tell you the truth. I’m pretty sure it was him I saw coming out of the house. And obviously he’s never going to admit being there. So it’s my word against his.”

“I guess I can kiss any access to Frillian goodbye then.” She rapped me lightly on the knuckles. “You couldn’t have gotten me in to see them before you accused him of being at a crime scene?” She sighed. “They’re not going to be talking to any reporters any time soon-and when they do, it’s going to be Larry King or someone like that.” She gave me a dirty look. “The good news, though, is Coralie has assigned the murder to me.”

“Well, you’re the paper’s top reporter, so of course.”

“Don’t flatter me, you’re not good at it.” She gave me a smile anyway. “But that should keep me out of the office-and away from her- for a few days at least. Huzzah!” She tapped her pen on her notebook. She’d taken plenty of notes while I was talking. “But at least I have an exclusive with the one witness who can place Freddy at the murder scene.” When I started to talk, she held up her hand. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to say you saw Freddy-since you’re not sure anymore.” She consulted her notes. “I’ll just print the description you gave me and let the readers draw their own conclusions. Although-“

“What?”

“You know, it’s entirely possible Freddy was there, but didn’t kill her.” Paige shrugged. “Try this on. Suppose, after Loren told them that Glynis sent the e-mails, he went over there to confront her, and found the body. Knowing how bad that would look, he got out of there and is denying ever being there.” Her eyebrows came together in a frown. “He went back home, told Jillian, and they decided to alibi each other because they didn’t know he’d been seen-and now they’re stuck with the lie.”

“How did he get into her house without being let in?”

“The killer maybe left the door open?” she suggested. “Freddy got there, found the door open, got concerned and went inside?”

“I suppose it could have happened that way.” I thought for a moment. “And of course, now he can’t change his story without making himself look guilty as hell.”

“Yeah.” She shook her head. “I guess it depends on whether his fingerprints are on the Emmy. In addition to yours, of course.” She shook her head. “How did Venus react when you told her about handling the Emmy?”

“Not well, and thanks for reminding me.” I pushed my plate away. I had about half of my burrito left, but I’d lost my appetite. “Did you interview Jillian’s mother yet?”

“I’m heading over there when I leave here.” Paige glanced at her cell phone. “Do you think she might know something?”

“I don’t know.” It was frustrating. “She and Jillian have been estranged for years-since before Jillian hooked up with Freddy. It stands to reason that whatever those e-mails were alluding to, she wouldn’t know. How would she?”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Paige flipped back a few pages in her notebook. “That makes sense. I kind of got the impression when I talked to her on the phone that she really doesn’t know much about them-she’s just looking to get some attention from the media. And you know me, always happy to oblige a has-been.” She made a sour face. “But you never know-she might know something pertinent. No stone left unturned, that’s my motto-and when I’m done with her I’m meeting with Sandy Carter, see how this might affect Project Rebuild, if at all. And she might know something, you never know. She probably knows Frillian better than anyone else in town, and maybe, just maybe, she can get me in to see them-now that you’ve blown it. And I have a breakfast meeting with Jim Corliss in the morning. He’s the director of Glynis’s movie.” She raised an eyebrow. “He might know who Glynis was seeing. I hear that movie sets are hotbeds of gossip. I’ll talk to some of the crew while I’m there.”

“What’s the deal with the movie anyway? I mean, now that the star’s dead…”

“When I talked with Jim he told me they were going to recast. They’d only shot a few scenes, and if they can get someone to take the part over quickly, there won’t even be much of a delay-although he seemed to think it might not be easy getting someone to replace Glynis, given the circumstances.” She sighed.

I played with the straw in my drink. My head was starting to ache. My cell phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out and looked at the caller ID. ROSEMARY SHANNON. I held up a finger to shush Paige, and answered it. “MacLeod.”

“Chanse?” the girlish voice sounded slightly out of breath. “This is Rosemary Shannon, Glynis’s assistant? We met yesterday?”

“Yes, Rosemary, I remember you.” Paige started to say something but I waved my hand and shook my head. She nodded and winked back at me.

“I was wondering if you could meet with me?” She let out a half-sob. “I just don’t know what to do. I spent most of the night being treated like a criminal by the police and I just thought maybe you could, I don’t know, maybe give me some advice?” She started breathing harder. “I don’t really have any friends here in New Orleans, and you were so nice to me yesterday, would you mind? I don’t want to impose…if you’re busy I can understand. I just need someone to talk to.”