“Other channels?” Gertie said.
“She probably took that to mean the friend had a way of getting them contraband,” Ida Belle said. “Girlie magazines, maybe some drugs.”
“So Beulah mailed a pair of underwear to this post office box,” Gertie said. “I still can’t wrap my mind around the lengths he went to in order to convince her that their relationship was real.”
“It’s wicked,” Ida Belle said. “I know it’s an old term—one my mother was fond of—but it fits.”
Gertie nodded. “We have to find him.”
“Do you think any of his other victims will talk to us?” I asked.
“Bessy and Willa won’t,” Ida Belle said. “They’re both friends of Celia. Myrtle was supposed to let us know if there were any more complaints, but I haven’t heard a peep out of her.”
“I’m afraid most will keep quiet,” Gertie said.
“Probably true,” Ida Belle agreed.
“Okay,” I said, “then let’s approach it a different way. The Sinful Ladies are all single and older. Do you think any of them was a victim?”
“No,” Ida Belle said. “I sent out an email to all members earlier today, and they’ve all responded that none were victims.”
I frowned. “And you think they’re all telling the truth?”
“I’m certain of it,” Ida Belle said. “I stressed the importance of information. They all understand what’s at stake. They wouldn’t hold anything back, especially when I’m outright asking.”
“But isn’t that strange?” I asked.
“Well,” Ida Belle said, “the Sinful Ladies wouldn’t be the best target. Our members are single because they chose to be, not because of a lack of options, and several were widowed young. It’s not the cat lady group.”
“Exactly,” I agreed, “but how would anyone know that simply by looking at profiles on Facebook? Why would Beulah look any different, from a potential target standpoint, than one of your members?”
Ida Belle scrunched her brow. “I don’t suppose anyone could know simply by looking online.”
“Right,” I said, “which goes right back to my saying that whoever is doing this has a lot of information on the people of Sinful, a lot more than I initially thought.”
“You think he’s intentionally avoiding the Sinful Ladies?” Gertie asked. “But why? Why not give it a try?”
“I think he wanted to avoid the two of you finding out what was going on,” I said. “Think about it. If he pulled this scam on one of the Sinful Ladies, she would have reported it to you guys, right?”
“Almost certainly,” Ida Belle agreed.
“And you two would have encouraged her to file the appropriate police reports, then you’d have gone on a manhunt, just like we are now.”
Ida Belle nodded. “So he picked women he thought would keep quiet. But he made a mistake with Beulah.”
“Yes,” I said, “and I bet that piece of information has made it around to him by now.”
“Oh no!” Gertie said. “He’ll shut up shop and we’ll never find out who he is.”
“That would be the smart thing to do,” I agreed.
“Maybe he’s not that smart,” Ida Belle said. “Or maybe he’s addicted to the rush and won’t be able to quit.”
“I hope that’s the case,” I said, “because otherwise, he’ll be harder to find.”
“He’s not going to hit on me, is he?” Gertie looked disappointed. “All that time spent on sexy pictures and the tattoo.”
“It’s a huge long shot,” I agreed. “But maybe we can figure out who he did move in on. You guys know all the older single women in town. Let’s start a list of everyone who’s not in the Sinful Ladies.”
“And then what?” Gertie asked. “We can’t go knocking on doors and demanding they tell us if they were swindled.”
“Why not?” Ida Belle asked. “The worst they can do is shut the door in our face.”
“The more of them that we can get information from,” I said, “the more likely that we can find some sort of pattern.”
“There is one other victim we’re aware of,” Gertie said.
I shook my head. “Celia will never talk to us.”
“She doesn’t have to,” Gertie said. “I happen to know that the election auditors confiscated her laptop as part of their investigation. They’re using a conference room at the Southern Inn just off the highway on the way to New Orleans.”
“Oh no,” I said. “If we get caught, it could compromise the audit.”
“So we won’t get caught,” Gertie said. “One of my cousins works in housekeeping at the hotel. I bet she could get us in.”
“And why would she do something like that?” I asked.
“Shirleen has always been a bit of a troublemaker,” Gertie said. “She’d do it just because she’s not supposed to.”
I looked over at Ida Belle. “Well?”
She shrugged. “It would give us more to go on, and it’s certainly not the worst thing we’ve done, or the most dangerous.”
“So now the decision bar comes down to the percentage chance that we’ll be killed?” I asked.