“That guy couldn’t buy a two-dollar voodoo doll, much less a collectible,” Aidan assured him. “I’ll check him out, don’t worry.”
“But why do you want him around? Or is it just that you feel sorry for the guy?”
“I kinda do. If he’s telling the truth, maybe we can find a few things for him to do around the place, even fix him up a bit. Mainly, he’s been around. He was Amelia’s ‘ghostly presence.’ On the other hand, he thinks there are ghosts in our graveyard, too. Who knows, maybe he does know something, even if he doesn’t know he knows. Know what I mean?”
Zach nodded. “All right. Check him out. I’ll keep Jeremy in the loop.”
They said goodbye, and Aidan drove on.
His first stop was the gas station. He spoke to the manager and found out that there was indeed a Jimmy Wilson who worked there nights. The manager looked at Aidan as if he wanted to say more, so Aidan waited.
“I guess I should tell you he’s an ex-con, but I checked his record. He wasn’t even arrested for breaking and entering, just petty theft. He was found with a woman’s handbag in an alley up in Shreveport. He gave the bag right back. He was on drugs, but his stint in the slammer cleaned him up. Hey, someone has to give those guys a chance, and Jimmy was honest with me from the get-go, so I took him on. You didn’t have any trouble with him or anything, did you?” he asked.
“No, no trouble,” Aidan said, and thanked the man. “I was just making sure he really works here.”
“He does. My hire, my mistake if anything goes wrong.” The man looked at him worriedly.
“Everything’s fine,” Aidan reassured him. “I was thinking of giving him some odd jobs around the place, that’s all.”
“You’re one of the Flynns, right?”
“Yes.”
“I hear you plan on keeping the house, opening her up for special events, school groups, stuff like that.”
“We’re hoping to.”
“That’s great. Well, I hope it works out for you.”
Aidan left, fairly certain from his conversation that at least some people didn’t harbor any ill will toward them.
From the gas station, he intended to head in to see Lily Fleur. If he couldn’t get her to give him the names and contact information for the other guests who had been there the same night as Jenny Trent, he would have to head over to see Hal Vincent and somehow cajole the policeman into helping him.
It was still early to go see the older woman, though, and somehow he found himself driving down Decatur to make the loop back onto Royal Street. When he did, his heart lodged in his throat.
There were two police cars drawn up in front of Kendall’s building.
Aidan barged in. And “barged” was definitely the right word. The officer standing at the door never stood a chance of stopping him.
Kendall handed steaming mugs of coffee to Sam Stuart and Tim Yates, a couple of local cops she’d known forever. They had been just up the street when they’d gotten the call. She’d barely had time to get dressed before they arrived.
Another couple of officers had arrived in their wake, one stationing himself at the front door and the other going to look around the courtyard. Suddenly the one by the door was shouting, and she looked up to see Aidan racing toward her, the cop flying after him. The other three jumped forward to help their buddy.
She rushed forward, yelling, “It’s all right! He’s a friend!”
“What the hell happened?” Aidan demanded. “Are you all right?” He glared at all four cops, who stepped back warily.
“You sure he’s all right?” the cop who’d run in from the courtyard asked.
“He’s a friend, honestly,” she said.
“And a P.I.,” Aidan added.
The cops all returned to their original positions, and Sam and Tim, though they still looked stunned by Aidan’s dramatic entrance, went back to drinking their coffee.
Kendall herself felt blindsided by Aidan’s sudden appearance, yet inwardly warmed. Surely this meant that he actually cared, at least a little.
“Sam, Tim, this is Aidan Flynn. You know his brother Jeremy.”
“Nice to meet you—I think,” Tim said, reaching out a hand.
Aidan took it, still staring at Kendall. “Well? What the hell happened here?”
“Nothing, really,” she said quickly.
“A prank. Has to be,” Sam told him reassuringly.
“There was a voodoo doll at my back door,” Kendall explained. “I just thought I should call someone.”
“Was it like the ones at the house?”
“Someone left a voodoo doll out at the plantation?” Tim asked.
“Three of them,” Kendall said. “Handmade ones. I rated the cheap kind,” she told Aidan lightly.
“Where is it?” Aidan asked.
“We’ve bagged it, and we’re taking it in,” Sam explained. “I didn’t hear anything about voodoo dolls out at the plantation.”
“That’s because I didn’t call the police,” Aidan said.
“Well, yeah, you should have,” Sam said. “That’s malicious mischief.”
“And almost nothing can be done about it, right?” Aidan said.