“I can’t,” I said. “The coroner probably can but I don’t think they’ll be calling us with that information.”
“So for now,” Ida Belle said, “we work the theory that either the Seal brothers got the information on the location of the SUV from Willie then killed him, or the three of them boosted the SUVs from Hot Rod’s shop and had a falling-out later. Maybe because they didn’t find what they were looking for. Maybe for another reason.”
I nodded. “I think that’s as good as we can do for now.”
“I think we need to find out more about the Seal brothers,” Ida Belle said.
“I agree,” I said. “Any ideas on that?”
“We should speak to Lucinda,” Ida Belle said. “Ralph won’t talk, but if anyone knows the dirt about those boys it will be her.”
“Then let’s pay Lucinda a visit,” I said.
As I was about to stand, my cell phone rang, and I frowned when I looked at the display. “It’s Little,” I said, and answered it.
“Miss Morrow,” Little said, “I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time.”
“No,” I said. “Your timing is great. Is anything wrong?”
“I’m afraid so. We picked up a notice on police channels that a Willie LeDoux has been found dead in his home. I know you were trying to track him down, but it appears someone has beaten you to it.”
I started to talk but then couldn’t decide what I would say. Did I tell Little we had already searched the cabin or did I protect our cover? Turns out I didn’t have to decide, because Little spoke for me.
“I assume your hesitation in reacting is because you were the anonymous tipster that called in Willie’s unfortunate circumstances,” he said.
“I, uh, might know something about that.”
“Big and I suspected as much,” he said, and I could practically see him smiling when he said it. “Did you discover anything that identifies the men who attacked Hot Rod?”
“I’m afraid not. We found an auction flyer that had Ida Belle’s SUV on it, though. We think that was how Hot Rod acquired the vehicle. Willie had the flyer stuffed between the pages of a magazine.”
“That’s interesting,” Little said. “So Mr. LeDoux had knowledge of where the SUV was located, which means he could have been the person who attacked Hot Rod.”
“Yes, but then there’s a question of who killed Willie.”
“And given his colorful pursuits,” Little said, “his death might have been because of the key or something else entirely.”
“Exactly.”
“I’ll do some more asking around about our friend Mr. LeDoux and see if someone else had a reason to prefer him out of commission. I assume you had no luck with the key?”
“I’m afraid not,” I said. “Aside from Willie, who couldn’t talk, and the auction flyer, there wasn’t much to find. Definitely nothing the key would fit. We know Willie worked with the Seal brothers in the past, and they’re our best suspects now, but like you said, Willie probably had dealings with plenty of shady types.”
“And that complicates things,” Little said. “Unfortunately, inquiries as to the Seal brothers’ whereabouts have also turned up nothing. It’s as if they walked out of prison and vanished.”
Which was interesting in and of itself, because most people who were released from prison went looking for money, either from people who owed them before or an easy crime to pick up some walking money. Which brought me right back around to the key. Maybe it was that simple.
“Thanks for trying to run them down,” I said. “If you come up with anyone else Willie might have been involved with, let me know. Maybe the next guy will still be breathing.”
“I can’t make any promises there,” Little said. “I doubt Mr. LeDoux spent a lot of time in the company of suburban dads or your average office worker.”
“Probably not.”
“It goes without saying that you need to watch your back,” Little said. “If you want assistance in that regard, all you have to do is call. I can provide Mannie at your disposal as long as you need him and in whatever capacity.”
“I appreciate it, but we’re good for now.”
“Very well then. I’ll be in touch when I have more information.”
I disconnected and filled Ida Belle and Gertie in on the conversation, then we headed out for a chat with Lucinda.
Despite the heat, Lucinda was out front doing something to flowers in her beds. Gertie called it deadheading, but that didn’t sound right. I suppose I could have asked for clarification, but then I was afraid someone might ask me to help do it. Lucinda looked up from her flowers as we climbed out of my Jeep and waved at us.
“You’re just in time to save me from heat exhaustion,” she said. “I made a fresh batch of sweet tea this morning. Let’s go inside and have some.”
She didn’t have to ask me twice. I still thought Louisiana heat combined with the ridiculous humidity the state managed should be illegal. The only other time I’d experienced something like it was on one mission in the Brazilian rain forest. The dry heat of the desert was much kinder to equipment and my lungs.
We headed inside through a pleasant living room painted a muted shade of green and down the hallway to a kitchen off the back of the house. The kitchen was not muted at all. It was bright yellow with blue and yellow decorations. Lucinda motioned to the kitchen table, and we took a seat on white farmhouse chairs with blue plaid seat cushions.
“I like your kitchen,” I said.
Ida Belle and Gertie stared at me, both looking somewhat confused.
“What?” I asked. “It’s cheerful. I didn’t say it made me want to cook or anything.”
Lucinda laughed and set a pitcher of tea on the table. “It was this way when I bought the house. The whole thing was rather bright. The living room used to be this very odd shade of orange and the master bedroom was a vivid purple. I changed everything but the kitchen. I don’t like rooms shouting at you as soon as you walk in, but for whatever reason, I couldn’t bring myself to change the kitchen. It just looks right somehow, even though it’s not my taste at all.”
She placed glasses with ice on the table and poured us all glasses of tea, then took a seat across from me. “So what are you ladies out doing this fine hot day?”
I looked at Ida Belle, indicating I wanted her to take the lead. I didn’t know Lucinda and still hadn’t quite gotten the hang of that Southern chat thing they were so good at.
“Actually,” Ida Belle said, “we wanted to talk with you about the Seal brothers.”
Lucinda nodded. “The café wasn’t really a good place to get into such talk and God knows, Ralph has a conniption fit every time I mention them.”
“Has he heard from them since they got out?” Ida Belle asked.
“Yes,” Lucinda said. “They called the day they got out, asking for money. I thought Ralph was going to have apoplexy just trying to tell me about it.”