Gertie finished serving and took a seat next to Lucinda. “I heard through the grapevine that Ralph was worried about an audit. Could that have had something to do with it?”
“Carter asked me the same thing,” Lucinda said, “but I don’t know anything about an audit. Besides which, Ralph’s been dealing with that sort of thing for over thirty years. I’d think if he was going to collapse over it, it would have happened before now.”
“You don’t think…” I looked over at Ida Belle and Gertie, then back at Lucinda. “I mean, you were saying the other day how his nephews wanted money and he wouldn’t give them any…”
Lucinda’s eyes widened. “I hadn’t even thought. Carter said there was no sign of forced entry and the gun was right there beside him on the floor, but I suppose…”
She shook her head. “No. I’m not going to think that. Carter will do his investigation and maybe whatever was wrong will come out. Maybe Ralph had an aneurysm and didn’t know what he was doing. I saw something like that on the news once.”
“Did Carter say when it might have happened?” I asked.
Lucinda shook her head. “I called him yesterday morning asking if he’d take a look at the outlet in my bathroom. Ralph is—was—handy with that sort of thing. I thought it strange that he never called me back, but sometimes he gets busy with client work. But when he didn’t answer again this morning, I decided to check on him. Past a certain age, you never know…heart and all.”
Gertie patted her hand. “You did everything you could. Chances are, he was already gone before you called the first time.”
Lucinda nodded and wiped her nose with a tissue. “I know you’re probably right, but I just keep thinking if I’d gone over sooner, I could have done something.”
“That’s a natural thing to think,” Ida Belle said. “But I don’t think there’s anything you could have done. Please don’t stress over it.”
“You’re all too kind,” Lucinda said. “I really appreciate the clear thinking. It makes me feel a little better.”
“Well,” Ida Belle said, “if you don’t need us for anything, we’re going to get out of here and let you get some rest. You look exhausted.”
Lucinda nodded. “I don’t feel so great.”
“If we can do anything to help with the arrangements,” Gertie said, “please let us know. I’ll bake that chicken casserole you like and bring it over.”
“Thank you,” Lucinda said. “Thank you so much.”
We headed out of the house and climbed in my Jeep. As I pulled away from the curb, I looked over at Ida Belle. “Well?” I asked.
“I was about to ask you the same thing,” she said.
“This is what I think,” I said. “I think Ralph was already dead yesterday morning when Lucinda called because he doesn’t strike me as the type of guy who would ignore a call from his cousin for an entire day, especially an older female cousin living alone.”
“I think you’re right on that,” Ida Belle said.
“If he was already dead yesterday morning,” Gertie said, “that means the Seal brothers could have done it.”
“No sign of forced entry,” Ida Belle reminded her.
“He would have let them in the house,” Gertie said. “It would have never occurred to Ralph that he’d be in any physical danger from the brothers. He just didn’t think that way.”
“That’s probably true enough,” Ida Belle said. “So where does that leave us?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. I have a feeling it would be a waste of time to ask the brothers if they popped their uncle, but I’d also like to see their reaction. Let’s keep this under our hat for now and we’ll address it when we get back from the cemetery.”
Ida Belle nodded. “I hope we find that crypt and this all ends today. The body count is rising too fast for my taste.”
“Mine too,” I agreed.
I wanted to believe that the logical line of thought was the way things had gone down, but there was an unsettling feeling I had that I couldn’t get rid of. Finally, I pulled the Jeep over to the curb and yanked my cell phone out of my pocket. Before I could change my mind, I sent a text.
Ida Belle and Gertie were both staring at me with somewhat surprised expressions.
I handed Ida Belle my phone, and she read out loud the text I’d sent to Little Hebert to Gertie.
Can you do an asset check on Ralph Lynch?
Their eyes widened.
“You don’t think?” Ida Belle asked.
“I think there’s more to it than we can see,” I said. “Maybe Ralph is only some boring accountant caught up in a shitstorm with his troubled nephews. That’s probably the case, but I’d like to be sure.”
“Or maybe there’s more to that audit rumor than Lucinda thinks,” Gertie said. “Only it wasn’t about a client.”
I nodded. “Exactly. Either way, I’d like to know if Ralph had a good reason to check out or if it’s more likely someone checked him out.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
It was almost eleven before we arrived at the cemetery, and the party was a bit bigger than I’d originally planned for. In addition to Mannie, Big and Little had both decided to join us, although Big was quick to say that he would be waiting in the Hummer, performing lookout duties. Ida Belle and I tried to convince Gertie to remain behind with him, but she was insistent that her knees were better and she wanted to be there when we found the goods.
I just hoped that if we located the crypt, there was something inside to find.
So many things could have happened in ten years. Gary could have changed his mind and removed the evidence. Someone else could have entered the crypt and found it. A storm could have taken out the crypt and the evidence along with it.
Mannie had printed a layout of the cemetery and mapped the most efficient route through the maze of crypts. We were just about to head out when Big received a phone call and signaled for us to hold up. When he hung up, he looked at me and smiled.
“One day,” he said, “you’re going to have to tell me your secret. Your friend Ralph had an interest in several real estate holding companies. Buried in a maze of ownership structure, of course, but my people were able to get through it. The properties were bought and sold over ten years ago, but the estimated value of them today is about ten million.”
“Holy crap!” Gertie said. “That’s some serious assets for a small-town accountant.”
Big nodded. “Apparently, the IRS thinks so as well, especially since he only reported a couple hundred thousand in profit from the sales.”
I didn’t even bother to wonder how Big had gotten information from the IRS. Clearly he had sources everywhere.
“So it looks like the audit story might have held some truth,” I said.
“Yes,” Ida Belle said, “but the bigger question is where he got the money to buy the properties to begin with.”
Big nodded. “Indeed. It might also interest you to know that Ralph is the accountant of record for a man rumored to be running the drug trade for one of the families in New Orleans.”
“Do you think the brothers knew that?” Gertie asked.