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AFTER A STUNNED MOMENT of silence, Ida Belle and her friends shouted their protests at the determined deputy.
“You’re crazy!”
“Prove it!”
“She doesn’t have to answer your questions!”
Louanne held up her hand and quieted them. She smiled and calmly said, “Why, Deputy Broussard, is that any way to greet a member of the public? Here’s how you do it. ‘Hello, Miss Boudreaux. You’re looking well.’ ‘Thank you, Deputy Broussard. I could say the same about you.’”
And she’d be right. His fifties were treating him well. He still had a full head of thick, dark hair and it was obvious he exercised regularly.
He cleared his throat. “I’ll keep that greeting in mind, Miss Boudreaux. However, this is a serious matter. I have been assigned as lead deputy in Wade Guillory’s murder, and it has come to my attention that you had discussions with Wade last night at a rental house he was spiffing up.”
Louanne glared at Deputy Broussard. “And who might have told you that about me?”
He smiled. “Bonnie Cotton and Paul Corbett. Apparently, the night he was murdered, Wade had dinner at home before returning to the rental to continue his work. While there, he called both Bonnie and Paul to inform them that he was renting to your niece and her friends.”
She thought a moment. “Well, I don’t deny I went over to talk to Wade. That was about six, six thirty.”
He sniffed. “The coroner has placed a preliminary time of death at about 10:00 to 10:30. Around that time, a woman matching your description was seen speeding away from the house in a convertible. Excuse my brusqueness, but did you go back at ten to ten thirty?”
“If I had, I’d have said so.”
He stretched his neck. Glared at her. “Think hard on that.”
“Now, why would I have to tax my brain cells with extra thinking for nothing? I was home at ten, ten thirty.”
Gabby started to agree with her, but Louanne shut her up with a hard glance. “And before you ask,” Louanne said, “I was alone.”
Gabby cleared her throat.
“Very much alone,” Louanne said.
“So no alibi, then?” asked Broussard.
Louanne raised her brows at her prisoner. “That’s correct. No alibi.”
Deputy Broussard pulled his attention toward Gabby. “And who are you?”
Once again, Louanne cut Gabby off before she could speak. “Her name’s Sandy. She was one of my superiors from my World War II days. You served, didn’t you, Deputy?”
He puffed up his chest. “Of course I did.” He looked down at Gabby’s wrist. “Care to tell me why you have a pair of handcuffs around one of your wrists?”
“Because it would be too hard to pick berries if they were on both wrists,” Gabby said.
Louanne laughed. “And she has a great sense of humor. Sandy has signed on as an associate of mine, Deputy. We were testing the efficacy of this particular brand of handcuff. To see if maybe I should order more.”
Gabby smiled, catching on. “That’s right. And, if you ask me, Louanne, I say we pass on this model.” She held up her cuffed wrist and let the other half of the handcuffs dangle. “I broke through this one in record time.”
Ida Belle could tell Deputy Broussard wasn’t buying it. She also knew why Louanne wasn’t using Gabby to verify her whereabouts last night. The last thing Louanne needed right now was Deputy Broussard to go blabbing to Sheriff Lee that Louanne was harboring a prisoner. He’d waste no time hauling Gabby in and taking credit for returning her to the court system.
“An associate, is that it?” Deputy Broussard asked. “You’re in the bounty hunter business. Isn’t that correct, Miss Boudreaux?” He rolled his eyes. “How you obtained a license is beyond me, because for the life of me I’ve never heard of any other female bounty hunter. Now you expect me to believe there are two of you?”
“Welcome to the Seventies, Deputy,” Louanne said.
Ida Belle glanced at Gertie and Marge. They needed a distraction and they needed one quick. Ida Belle was good at quick distractions, but Marge and Gertie were the masters.
Marge threw her hands in the air. “And why is that so hard to believe? Because women are too weak to be bounty hunters?”
“You said it, I didn’t,” Deputy Broussard said. “And you’re already skating on thin ice, little girl, spouting off all that women’s libber stuff to the sheriff. You might want to keep those libber lips zipped.”
“Oh, my libber lips don’t need to say anything to make my point.” Marge stuck her hands behind her back.
“Don’t do it, Marge,” Gertie warned. She looked at the deputy. “Men aren’t supposed to know all the powers we females possess.”
Ida Belle could tell Marge was unhooking her bra through her shirt. She sighed. This was definitely not the kind of distraction she had in mind. But once Marge got going, there was no stopping her.
Marge then stuck one hand through the sleeve of her shirt, removing one of her straps from her shoulder.
“What are you doing?” Deputy Broussard asked. When Marge didn’t answer, he looked around at the other women. “What’s she doing?”
Gertie sighed. “Well, Deputy, you’re about to witness one of women’s secret talents. The ability to remove our undergarments while leaving our outerwear intact.”
Deputy Broussard’s jaw dropped. “You stop that right now,” he said, pointing to Marge.
Marge pulled one strap through her sleeve. She then stuck the other hand in the opposite sleeve and did the same, yanking the bra out through the sleeve and allowing it to dangle from her hand. The deputy’s eyebrows shot upward.
“Anyone got a match?” Marge asked.
“You put that thing back on!” Broussard demanded.
“Oh, well, our secret talent doesn’t extend to putting it back on,” Gertie said. She frowned as she gazed at the bra. “Wait a minute. That’s mine. See? There’s a little ink ‘G’ on the back.”
Marge looked. “Oh, yeah, I was wondering why the cups felt so small and tight.”
Gertie slugged Marge.
“You set fire to that thing and I’ll arrest you,” Broussard said.
Gertie yanked the bra away from Marge and stuffed it in her purse. “I ordered this special from Montgomery Ward. I’m not letting it go up in flames.”
Louanne stepped out of the doorway and placed an arm around Deputy Broussard’s shoulder. “Why don’t we go inside and have some cookies and sweet tea, Deputy, and Marge will go home and put on proper undergarments?”
He looked dazed for a moment, then looked around. “Where’s the other gal?”
“Well, I suppose Sandy is off to test more handcuffs.” She gently prodded him through the doorway. “You look like a gingersnaps man, am I right? You’re in luck because my associate happened to whomp up the finest gingersnaps in all Louisiana.”
Louanne nodded for the three of them to leave and shut the door.
Gertie took the bra out of her purse and handed it back to Marge. “That was a cheap shot at my chest size, by the way.”
“Bra burning would not have been my choice of distractions,” Ida Belle said as she headed down the porch steps. “You could have landed in jail.”
Marge laughed. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”
Gabby appeared on the path ahead of them. “I don’t get it. Why didn’t she just let me speak up? I know she was here at that time. Her boyfriend Cole was arriving the next morning for a brief visit, so I was in her kitchen baking up some gingersnaps for him.”
“She doesn’t want to get you involved,” Ida Belle said. “Why don’t you finish collecting your berries? Just stay out of the deputy’s way. And don’t worry about Louanne. She’s tough.”
“I hope you’re right,” Gabby said.
Marge, Ida Belle and Gertie returned to Louanne’s dock and climbed down into Big Eddie’s boat.
“Now we have another reason to get involved,” Gertie said. “Especially since she won’t let Gabby alibi her.”
“She might have to,” Marge said. “She and Sheriff Lee’s daddy had a rocky relationship when he was sheriff. His son seems hell-bent on continuing it.”
“Yeah, but you know your aunt,” Ida Belle said. “She knows Gabby won’t get justice if she’s sent back to stand trial. We all know in the end she’s going to let her go. Until that happens, Louanne doesn’t want to advertise her existence. Even if it means she won’t get an alibi.”
Ida Belle started the motor and shouted above the noise, “Let’s go find out who really did murder Wade Guillory.”