Chapter Forty-Three

Raven told Breaker that she had something that would see this thing over in a few days. The trick was that she needed him in order to make it vanish like a bad dream. She had told Imogene the same thing, and lucky for her, Imogene didn’t hang up. They both agreed to meet her at Imogene’s place the following morning.

The three of them were now sitting at Imogene’s heavy kitchen table which was cleared of its vase of silk magnolias and matching place settings. Breaker had removed the pages from the casefile on True. They were spread all out on the table so they could absorb the full picture. Imogene had added her banker’s box of notes on the Claude DeWitt case, the unfortunate boy whose adopted parents had tortured him to death.

“I’m still not convinced on how the Sleeping Boy killer is connected to the DeWitt case,” Breaker said.

“Because he’s the one that started it all, the one that brought it all down on this town’s head.”

“How did he do that?” Imogene said.

The way she sat there with her hair wrapped, her arms folded across her fuzzy robe, reminded Raven of one of the old people when they got tired of talking to you. Too much wisdom and exhaustion to argue with a fool, her face said, but I’ll ask you a question just to make you happy. Even though it was going on one o’clock in the afternoon, Imogene had told both of them that she wasn’t changing. It was her day off and she wasn’t putting on clothes or makeup for anybody.

“I know you have a hard time believing me right now, Imogene. But trust me, this story is the key. You broke this story on a Friday. Ronnie True got his butt beat that Sunday.”

“What door do you think that key’s going to open?” Imogene asked.

“Cameron’s prison door, and the door to the place where the killer hides his victims.”

“Tell it to me again,” Breaker said.

“The motive for the killing is revenge. The killer’s trying to settle the score for Claude DeWitt’s death.”

“Still don’t see how you’re figuring that,” Breaker said.

She placed a hand over his wrist. God, it hurt to move, but she would have had her pain magnified by ninety times if she could get him to understand. “It’s in your notes, DeShawn. You found the first connection. Ronnie True and his adoption ring placed this child. I’m sure of it.”

“You mean you’re guessing that’s why True got his ass kicked?” Imogene said.

“Yes, it’s a hunch, and I think it’s the first link in the chain.”

Imogene stood up and dug into the banker’s box on the table. “Funny how I got all this shit on computer, but I find things faster by going to paper files. You’re right, Toulouse was the judge on the adoption case.”

“His son was Henri, the one at Memorial,” Breaker said.

“Right. And he was found at the construction site of the new obstetrics wing where all the babies are born. That’s like the icing on the cake for this perp,” Raven said.

“With a cherry on top,” Imogene said. “Maybe he’s satisfied.”

Her fingers dug into the collar of her robe, closing and twisting it so the scars Lovelle left were covered. Those scars would be there for life. They said quite plainly what they were. Someone had tried to strangle Imogene to death. Raven knew that Imogene wanted the Sleeping Boy killer to be finished. She wanted him to sink back into the soil of Byrd’s Landing so she didn’t have to be reminded of how Lovelle cursed this town with his brand of terror.

Raven thought about letting her think that the Sleeping Boy killer was done. But Floyd was right. Souls don’t die. Well, neither did evil, especially in places like Byrd’s Landing. If she learned anything in these last few days, she couldn’t live the rest of her life doing bad things for good reasons. She had to face that she didn’t know what good was, not for anybody. Not even herself.

In a voice that she would use with a hurt child, Raven said, “This person will never be satisfied. Revenge was this killer’s excuse for killing, that’s all. The person doing this just needs to destroy. After they’re done with this, they’ll find another excuse. The killing won’t stop until we stop them.”

Imogene listened without comment. When Raven was done, Imogene looked down at her twisting fingers and let the robe go.

“What about the other boys?” Breaker said.

“It’s all here,” Raven said, hands held above the pages of the notebook spread all over the table. “The first boy, Michael Jean Baptiste? He was related to the couple who starved DeWitt to death. Elroy Maloy? Son of the social worker who cleared the parents for the adoption. You already know about Toulouse. Everyone involved in the case has had a young male family member killed by our perp.”

“He’s not my perp,” Imogene said. “I’m not laying claim to him.”

“And the dump sites?” Breaker said.

“All places of power. The bank, BLPD courtyard, the mayor’s porch. It’s as if they’re giving the town a dressing down, like they’re saying this is your fault for not taking care of your babies.”

“How in the natural fuck did I miss all this?” Breaker said.

“Because when you started to figure it out with Toulouse, the chief shut you down. Not your fault.”

“We could have saved lives,” he said.

“Welcome to BLPD homicide, where politics is the first order of business.”

“Could have saved lives,” Imogene mocked. “Put regret in one hand, and shit in the other. See which one fills up faster. Now that you got what you want, Raven, walk your ass on down to the chief so I can get on with my day.”

“Now, you know I can’t do that,” Raven said. “I don’t have a bridge left to burn down there.”

“Day ain’t over yet,” Imogene said.

“So, you think one of DeWitt’s birth parents is the killer? Or someone close like that?” Breaker asked.

Raven turned to gaze at Breaker. She looked at him a long time, thinking. Well, they already thought she was crazy. Might as well keep talking and remove all doubt.

“I think it’s the birth mother, or someone doing the bidding of the birth mother.”

She told them about Ozy and the piece of bear claw he had in the back of his VW truck.

“How in the hell can those guys get away with just taking people’s stuff?” Breaker asked.

“Where did he say he got it?” Imogene asked.

“White house on Lakeshore. It was in the outside garbage.”

Imogene started laughing. She stood up laughing, punctuating it with a ‘Lord, Lord’ on the end. Shaking her head, she went into the kitchen and came back with a pitcher of Bloody Marys she had been trying to pawn off on them all morning.

“Raven, I always thought you were crazy, but whew, chile, I never thought you were as crazy as you really are. White house on Lakeshore. You sure you don’t want some of this? That and two aspirins from the beating you took might make you come to your senses.”

“Who else could it be?” Raven asked her.

“Well, if Ozy is telling the truth, and not making it up, it could be anybody up or down that street,” Imogene said.

“Everybody up and down the street don’t know Clyde and Noe. Edmée Crowley does,” Raven said.

“Wait? You mean Dr. Fabian Long’s wife? The CEO at Memorial?” Breaker said.

“The one and only,” Imogene said dryly.

“That’s a stretch,” Breaker said. “But hell, I’m willing to play. Sure it ain’t him?”

“Yes, I’m sure. It’s her,” Raven said.

“But she loves kids,” Imogene said. “She’s done so much for kids in Byrd’s Landing it ain’t even funny.”

“That’s why she slaughtered them like animals so they wouldn’t suffer, washed them, wrapped them in blankets,” Raven said. “Because she still cares.”

“Why Clyde and Noe?” Imogene said.

“Because Clyde’s mother worked for Ronnie True. His mother said that Clyde liked money, liked to work for it. But his stepfather said he liked to hustle for it. What if Clyde tried to blackmail Edmée?”

“Please, a young kid like that? Blackmail?” Imogene said. “What has she got to hide? And why Noe?”

“I think Noe was unexpected. She lured Clyde over and he asked Noe to go with him. Maybe Clyde was scared, I don’t know. As far as what she’s got to hide is concerned, she may seem like she’s open about her childhood, but she’s real careful about sharing the details. Copycat, maybe,” Raven said. “Or she could also be the Sleeping Boy killer.”

“Edmée doesn’t have it in her. She’d be too afraid of breaking a nail,” Imogene said.

“The other night she told me she was a country girl. She and her cousin lived on a farm.”

“Girl, that evidence is as weak as a wet cracker.”

“Maybe, but not when you put it all together with what Ozy said. And take a look again at Claude DeWitt’s death, the day he died. July 12th.”

“What has that got to do with anything?” Imogene said.

“Remember Noe’s birthday party, and that memory game she’s always playing with Clyde? That was the only date Edmée didn’t want to comment on. I think she was too upset to answer the question.”

“How can you remember the date from a game?” Breaker asked.

“That was my stepmother’s birthday,” Raven said. “That’s how I remembered it.”

“Still pretty thin,” Breaker said.

A frustration so strong welled up in Raven that she found her hands moving before her thoughts commanded them. The next thing she knew the papers Breaker had laid out on the table were in the air and fluttering to the floor.

“I know it’s circumstantial. But it’s all I got,” she said.

“What about the boot print from Memorial? The soil samples. Get anything from that yet?” Breaker asked.

“The bootprint is from an Ariat all-weather work boot, but that doesn’t tell us anything unless we want to knock on every door of Byrd’s Landing like we were in a blooming Cinderella movie. It’s way too soon for the soil sample,” Raven said. “If only we could prove that Claude DeWitt was Edmee’s kid. The timing’s right, but she had an abortion.”

“What?” Imogene said. “That girl didn’t have an abortion. She gave that baby up for adoption.”

“How do you know that?” Breaker said.

“Because the floozy was trying to take my man,” Imogene said.

“He’s not your man,” Raven said.

“He is, he just doesn’t know it yet. I did a little checking to see if she had some skeletons in her closet aside from being married. I needed to know what I was up against. I found out that she had a kid that she gave up for adoption.”

“You mean you sitting here the whole time with that info and you decide to keep it to yourself?” Breaker said.

“I’m sure those records are sealed. How do you know all of this?” Raven asked.

“Honey, people’s mouths aren’t sealed.”

No one said anything for a few seconds. “Okay,” Imogene said. “Let me put it this way. June Darling, Ronnie True’s paralegal? She’s not an Edmée fan.”

“Why didn’t you say something earlier?” Raven asked.

“Because it doesn’t mean anything.”

“Don’t you see?” Raven said. “It means everything.”