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The call came in not long after midnight. Unfortunately, criminals didn’t look at their watches before committing a crime. If police officers were paid for every hour they spent performing police-related duties they could retire by their fortieth birthday. There was no such thing as a daytime shift. You never knew what hours you would work, especially during an active investigation.
He groaned as he answered his cell phone. Detective Picou knew that odd hours and late nights were part of his job.
He tried to keep his voice down, not wanting to wake Mia. After he had hung up with the dispatcher, Mia looked over at him and asked, “What’s wrong,”
He leaned down and kissed her, “Missing woman.”
Mia pushed herself upright and propped her back against the pillows. “That doesn’t sound very promising.”
“According to dispatch a distraught husband called in when his wife didn’t return home tonight after work. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
As he stepped outside, the mugginess of the night hit him. The smell of the bayou hung heavy in the air. The streets were devoid of life as he headed to Misty Olivier’s house. He had a bad feeling about this. He prayed that their killer hadn’t started hunting the women of Bear Corner.
He called Melancon, “I didn’t wake you, did I?”
“Nah, I’m out running right now. So, since you are seeing Mia I guess this isn’t a booty call.” She and Picou had a relationship where they could joke back and forth and neither took it to heart. She also hoped to add a little humor to what would be a rather grim night.
“Just got a call about a local woman reported missing.”
Melancon felt the dread building up inside of her, “Crap. Who filed the report?”
“Her husband called it in. Claims she should have been home from work hours ago. He went looking for her and couldn’t find her. Cherie’s said that she left work at her usual time.”
“What time did she get off?”
“She got off at eleven and walked home.”
Jo pulled herself out of bed and got dressed. “Where are we meeting?”
“Everyone is meeting at her house. Her husband would rather not wake up their son again, and he didn’t want to call her mother and worry her needlessly right now.”
Melancon let out a sigh, “I’ll meet you over there, what’s the address?”
Melancon pulled up at the same time as Picou. She asked, “Do you want to take the lead on the interview?”
“That’s fine; I can do that.”
The Olivier house was a typical shotgun house found in this small neighborhood. In larger towns, these would be considered starter homes, but here this was where you raised your families. Most were small two bedroom homes. Only a few in this neighborhood had three bedrooms. The Olivier’s lived in one of the smaller two bedroom homes.
It didn’t take long for Mr. Olivier to answer the door. He was dressed in a pair of cargo shorts, T-shirt and flip flops, typical Louisiana attire. His brown hair was cut short and looked unkempt.
Picou offered his hand. “I’m Detective Chad Picou and this is my partner, Detective Jo Melancon.”
After shaking hands, Mr. Olivier opened the door for them to enter the house. They made their way over the toys cluttering the floor, and Picou sat in the recliner while Melancon took the couch. Mr. Olivier paced the floor instead of sitting, clearly distraught.
He looked at them with fear in his eyes, “Do you think she is dead?”
Melancon hadn’t expected him to ask that question right away. Picou informed him, “Right now there is no evidence to support that possibility.”
“But what about the bodies found in the bayou? You can’t tell me that this is a coincidence. I don’t like that as soon as the bodies were found my wife disappears.”
Picou tried to calm him down, “Mr. Olivier there is nothing to confirm that the man who killed those people lives here. Besides, nothing has led us to believe that any of the victims are from here. We have had no missing persons’ reports filed.”
He looked at Picou, “Until now. I am so afraid that you will come knocking on my door to tell me you found her at the bottom of the bayou.”
“When did you last hear from your wife?”
“She picked me up from work at five o’clock. I dropped her off at work afterward and came home.”
“I take it she walks home from work?”
“Sometimes she calls to ask that I come get her, but she doesn’t like to wake up our son. It saves us on gas if I drop her off at work instead of going back and forth too many times.”
Jo Melancon cringed at the thought of what this poor woman may be going through. She sure hoped that their killer didn’t have her.
Picou hated this part of the interrogation, “I have some questions I need to ask you. Please don’t take offense to these next few questions. How long have you been married?”
“Almost seven years.”
Picou continued, “Everything okay with your marriage?”
“We had our moments over the years, but nothing out of the ordinary. Money has been tight, which is why she works at Cherie’s. She had a hard time finding a job that allowed her to work either nights or days when our son is in school. Jacques over at Cherie’s offered her the hours she needed, so she jumped on it.”
After leaving the Olivier residence, the police detectives elected to drive over to the police station. Once they made it back to the precinct, Picou asked his partner, “So, what do you think?”
“It is too big of a coincidence that as soon as the bodies are discovered a local girl goes missing.”
“I feel the same way. We need to find this killer before Mr. Olivier becomes a widower.”
Picou looked over at Melancon, “I want to nail this guy. His ass needs to fry.”