La Vida Vampire

“Then what exactly did they say?”


“They were staying in a modern place on the beach where they watched the sunrise.”

“That’s it?”

“You want to hear this or argue with me over every detail?”

“Go on.”

“That’s about the time Yolette made a crack about Millie’s perfume. She said it was strong, and that her first husband—no wait, her late husband—had an aunt who overused Shalimar.”

“Was Millie insulted?”

“She was when Yolette said it had made the dead husband sick.” I paused. “In fact, Millie looked more than insulted. She looked—”

“Angry?”

“Stricken. Insulted, but sort of sad at the same time.”

“Then what?”

“Millie asked how Yolette’s husband died, and Etienne said it was an accident.” I looked at the table, then back at him.

“But in my head I heard, Murder. ”

He gave me the narrowed eyes. “In your head?”

I took a deep breath and blew it out. “I’m psychic, okay? I mean when I’m not blocked by the dark of the moon, I can hear thoughts, or I have flashes about people or have the occasional vision. Not constantly, but more if I focus. That night it was close to a new moon, but the energy of the group must’ve been so weird that I picked up the odd thing here and there.”

“Why can’t you do this all the time?”

“Beats me. It’s like a channel with various amounts of static at various times. Something will burst through, then static again.”

“So when you picked up Murder, who was thinking it?”

“That’s the thing. I don’t know.” I got up to pace around the table. “I thought it was Millie at first, just because she was the one who asked about the dead husband. But the voice sounded more masculine in my head.”

“So Etienne said it was an accident and you, what? Simultaneously heard Murder in your head? Heard it afterwards?”

I stopped pacing. “It was more simultaneous.”

“Can you smell lies, Cesca?”

I shook my head. “Not exactly. I can smell a change in body odor when people are under stress. Sometimes that means they’re lying, sometimes it’s just nerves.”

“So you didn’t detect that either of the Fourniers were lying.”

“No, but people lie effortlessly all the time.”

He rubbed his face. “Point taken. What about the guy you call Gomer? Where was he?”

“Watching the Fourniers.” I closed my eyes and tried to picture him. “He was tense, but that’s all I remember.”

“And you didn’t see him at Scarlett’s later?”

“No. I didn’t sense him around at all, but then I didn’t sense the Fourniers or Stony in the restaurant either.”

“Did Gomer seem to know anyone on the tour? Hang around anyone?”

“He stuck close to the wiseguys—the men who sounded like Sopranos characters. Gorman stayed close to the Fourniers. The rest of the tourists stayed in the groups they came in.”

“How about Tuesday? Your notes say the Fourniers seemed to have had a fight.”

“They weren’t lovey-dovey like on Monday, and Yolette was in a real snit about something.”

“How did Etienne act?”

“Like he didn’t care. He flirted with me, but I gave him the brush-off. Then he walked with Millie and her ladies, Yolette walked in front of them right behind the writer group. Gomer walked with Gorman.”

“Did you overhear any conversations?”

“Nothing that struck me until Detective March said Gorman had been fishing. Then I remembered hearing Gomer and Gorman talking about deepsea fishing, and Gorman mentioned a trip.”

“He tell Gomer where or when?”

I shook my head. “Not that I heard. When I tuned in to them, I was listening for trouble, not a vacation report.”

Saber jotted more notes, then tore a fresh sheet of paper from the pad and handed it to me. “Grab a pen and help me summarize this.”

Can you say please? I thought but snagged a pen from the junk drawer. This all seemed jumbled to me. Maybe writing the key points would crystallize the information.

“Let’s start with Gorman,” Saber said, as I wrote. “Hates vampires. Made overt threats against Cesca and the Fourniers. Confirmed member of the Covenant. Weapons found in his home, two being tested for ballistics match. May have known where victim was staying, but alibi in Key West during times of both the murder and vandalism.”

Saber glanced up from his notes. “Need me to slow down?”

“Nope, I’m fine. Who’s next?”

“Gomer aka Holland Peters. Gave false name to Cesca. Knew Fourniers were staying in a house on the beach, but did he know where? Carries concealed. May have known details of Gorman’s fishing trip. Motive to kill Yolette? Motive to vandalize truck? Why lie about identity?”