The Casquette Girls by Alys Arden Page B

afraid to mention every tiny detail. What may seem insignificant to you might be a clue to the trained mind.” He flipped open a small pad.
    “Right.” I could see the protocol running through his head as he clicked the pen. I guessed his promotion had been unexpected.
    I avoided my father’s gaze as I recounted my run-in with the blue-eyed corpse.
    “And where were you coming from?”
    I cringed and questioned whether telling the truth about this next bit was critical. Lying to a cop didn’t seem like a good idea. I sighed.
    “I was coming from NOSA. I went to see if there was any information about school reopening.”
    I refused to look my father’s way but imagined wisps of smoke coming out of his ears . I knew I shouldn’t have lied last night. Paris threats or not.
    “And he was dead upon arrival?”
    My mind wandered back to the street scene. “His blue eyes just stared at me… like he had died horrified.” And then my own eyes began to sting as I waited for the next question. I quickly wiped them and felt my dad’s hand on the top of my back.
    “So, I’m going to take that as a yes?”
    I nodded, and the detective handed me a folded handkerchief from his pocket.
    “Were there any visible signs of violence? A wound? Blood?”
    “Not that I could tell, but I didn’t hang around for very long.”
    “Did you see any other people, any other witnesses?”
    “No, I didn’t see a single person on my walk, not once I crossed Esplanade into the Marigny. Except for him.”
    “And this was around eleven a.m.?”
    “Yes, right before it started raining. I got soaked. I tried to call the police right away, but the line was busy, so I kept calling when I got home.”
    “And you went straight home from the crime scene?”
    I contemplated telling him about the strange shutter incident, but an image of me being dragged to Charity Hospital in a straightjacket popped into my head.
    “Yes, I went straight home.”
    “Did you witness anything else that might be strange, unusual, or bring further evidence to this case?”
    “No, that’s it.” My throat tightened.
    “Well, thanks for calling in the body, Adele. The longer these things sit in the heat, the more evidence we lose.” There was something too complacent about the way he said ‘these things.’ How many dead bodies had he seen in the last couple of months?
    “Has there been other news about the case?” I asked.
    “These things are complicated, but we’re ruling it as a homicide for now.”
    Great, my dad was definitely going to put a lock on my doo r.
    “That neck certainly didn’t snap itself,” he finished. “It’s crazy out there, Mac. This is the twelfth body we’ve found in the past three days, most of them in the last twenty-four hours.”
    “What?” my father softly yelled.
    That did seem excessive, even for New Orleans.
    “All the same. Necks snapped and—”
    “Have you identified him yet?” I interrupted before my father decided to never let me out of the house again.
    “We don’t have any suspects yet. The crime scenes have been completely clean, but…” He stopped himself, probably realizing he was giving away more information than he should.
    “No, I mean the dead man.”
    “Oh, Jarod O’Connell. He had a local driver’s license. We haven’t been able to locate any family, yet, so we don’t know much else.” He downed the last sip from the strawberry and stood up. “Thanks for the coffee, Mac. I’ll keep you posted about the curfew. I understand it’s gonna cramp your biz when people get back into town.”
    “Much obliged.” Dad gruffly shook his hand, and we followed our guest to the front steps. My father put his hand on my shoulder, as if I might take off running down the street.
    Detective Matthews climbed back into an unmarked Crown Vic. No wonder I hadn’t noticed it when I walked up. I really need to start paying better attention.
    He cranked the engine, rolled down the passenger window, and yelled