like him could kill a woman in a rage, but taking the time to sew her eyes shut? Good God, that took a sick person, a special kind of monster, one who no doubt hid in the dark and crept around like some kind of poisonous spider. A famous local sports legend did not fit the profile. Then again, desperate people did reckless things. And some celebs thought they were above the law and above getting caught, much less convicted of wrongdoing. Unfortunately, lots of times they were right.
Claireâs cell phone vibrated alive, then started to sing. She grabbed it, thinking it was Black checking in for the night. A little disappointed, she saw Rene Bourdainâs name. Claire punched on quickly, hoping he had some good news. âDetective Morgan.â
Moving into Nancyâs office again, she was glad for the interruption, since Nancy had just started the Y-cut incision that would open Madonna Christienâs torso.
âJack Holliday agreed to talk to you tomorrow, but he wants to do it at his house out in the Garden District. Heâs throwinâ some kinda shindig for his Special Olympics kids out at the Dome first and wants to talk to you after that. Itâs for some kind of organization heâs a part of out at Tulane.â
Claire sat down in Nancyâs swivel chair and watched Nancy through the window. âSo he really is into charity work? Doesnât sound much like the pastime of a cold-blooded, voodoo killer.â
âYou might be surprised. Ted Bundy worked a suicide line, if I recall. I just hope the media doesnât show up. If they do, stay under the radar and donât mention my name, even if youâve got to end the interview. If heâs got somethinâ to do with this, all hellâs gonna break loose around here, and your murderâs gonna go viral in about three seconds.â
âChill, Bourdain, we donât have anything on him yet. Except the restraining order and the victimâs apparent obsession with him.â
âI hope to God youâre right. Some people around here still worship the ground he walks on. Maybe weâll get lucky, and he can point you to somebody who had it out for her.â
âWeâll see, I guess.â
âFrom what Iâve learned so far, your victim isnât any angel. Prostitution charges and weed possession. Also got intel that she did some stripping at a biker bar off Magazine. Lowlife dive called Voodoo River.â
âWell, that just fits right in with all the other weirdness, doesnât it? Want us to check it out? Say the word and weâre on it.â
âBe my guest. But yaâll be careful. The biker gang that hangs out there? They call themselves the Skulls, and they wonât like you cominâ around snoopinâ on their turf. Madonna Christien was into drugs, too, and thereâs probably gonna be more charges thatâll come up on her rap sheet. Iâll get back to you when I get the full report.â
âWhat about her apartment? Forensics find anything we can use?â
âYeah, they picked up a lot of latents. Two unknown, another off one of the hurricane glasses that came up as Madonna Christien, alias Jilly Johnston, alias Shannon Martin. But the Madonna one is her real name. She was incarcerated under that name for soliciting tourists on Bourbon Street about a year ago. Recordâs clean since then.â
âShe works the Quarter?â
âDid the stroll back then. Looks like she turned that gig into some kind of call girl business, not exactly the high-priced kind, but still better than working the streets.â
âRene, you said you knew Holliday personally, right? Is he really hard up enough to pay for a hooker?â
Rene snorted and smothered his laugh. âHell no. He can have any woman he wants. Havenât you seen the guy? Women chase him. But any man would pay for a hooker, given the right circumstances. Men are men. You gotta know