A Purr Before Dying by T. C. LoTempio

Author:T. C. LoTempio
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mysteries & Thrillers
Publisher: Beyond the Page
Published: 2023-02-02T00:00:00+00:00

I wasted no time bundling Chantal into my SUV and heading out to the Cruz police station. The uniformed woman who sat at the front desk wasn’t one I recognized. She wore a name tag that read Officer Adams, and both her thinly penciled eyebrows rose when Chantal said she was there to see Remy Gillard. She pulled a stack of fat folders in front of her, thumbed through them, and finally pulled a sheet of paper out of one.

“Remy Gillard was just brought in,” she said. Her tone was hard, but there was a sympathetic gleam in her eye as she looked at Chantal. “You can wait in the lobby or come back later. It’ll take a couple of hours to process the paperwork and get him in the system.”

“Is Detective Anderson in? Or Leroy Samms?” I asked.

Officer Adams peered at me over the rims of her wire-framed glasses. “Detective Anderson is occupied. I’m not sure where Special Agent Samms is.” The phone at her elbow rang, and she gave me a pointed look. “Excuse me.”

I took that as a dismissal, and guided Chantal over to a bank of chairs on the left wall. She sank into one and looked up at me. “What do we do now?” she moaned, balling her hands into fists. “You know as well as I, Nora, that my brother would never kill anyone.”

“Since Anderson and Samms are unavailable right now, the next step is to get Remy a good lawyer.” I said. “I can give Peter Dobbs and Hal Frey a call, see which one is available to take Remy’s case.”

Chantal leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes. “Yes, please do that,” she murmured.

Fortunately I had both numbers on speed dial on my phone. In both cases I got voicemail. I left a message for each to call me regarding an urgent matter and then looked at my friend again. “I read Remy’s cards this morning,” she said. “The Tower, reversed, kept popping up. That card usually foretells of impending disaster.” Her lips parted in a gigantic sigh. “What do we do next?” she asked.

“Well, once he’s booked and we get him a lawyer, there will be a preliminary hearing as soon as they can get it scheduled, the sooner the better. I’m sure either Peter or Hal will try to get Remy out on bail.” I paused. “In a murder case it can go pretty steep. Does Remy have any money socked away, any investments you know of?”

The corners of Chantal’s lips twitched. “My brother? He is so frugal his shoes squeak, you know that, Nora. He has the first dollar he ever earned. And of course there is Poppies. Our parents put the business in both our names.”

“You might have to put the business up. But don’t panic yet. We’ll see how things go. Damn, I wish Anderson or Samms was available. I want to know what they found at the gazebo.”

“Maybe you should ask Blaine Carmichael,” Chantal said tonelessly.

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