Bonavere Howl by Caitlin Galway

Author:Caitlin Galway
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781771833554
Publisher: Guernica Editions
Published: 2019-06-10T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

“GATOR TRAPS,” SAID the detective. He scrawled a pen across a pocket-sized notebook.

“Yes, sir,” I said.

“And you know him, the man you saw.”

“Not well,” I said. “I know who he might be, I mean.”

“With a mask over his face. That’s some eye you’ve got.” Detective Hudson smiled. His skin was pale with a plastic sheen, and bloodshot veins sprouted over his cheeks. He brought his finger to his mouth and absently rubbed his lower lip. “Forgive me, Miss Fayette, but you understand that Mr. Fields ain’t the only redhead in all of Louisiana.” His eyes darted between me and Fritzi, squished beneath his wrinkled brow. “You ladies goin’ to tell me what this here is really about?”

“Sir, I’m not saying I know anything for certain, but surely this is cause to speak with Mr. Fields. We’re only trying to help.”

“That’s awfully generous of you,” he said, dropping his notebook onto the table, “but we’re talkin’ about one of the most influential men in the city, and you want me to stroll up to his doorstep, embarrass him in front of his neighbours, harass him with a bunch of questions about gators and . . . masked men, was it? All ’cause you got a hunch. That ain’t how this is done, sweetheart.”

Fritzi reached over and tapped Detective Hudson’s notebook. “Seems to me my sister’s been talking a lot more than you’ve been writing.”

He raised his brow. “Princess, you got a man, an unidentified man, potentially huntin’ off season. Prolly he was there collectin’ old traps, whoever it was. We feel right awful ’bout what’s happened to your family, but y’all need to go home, maybe rest some. The whole lot of you needs to stop comin’ on down to the station every other day thinkin’ you’re dang Rocky King.”

“The boy who was with me, his family’s fished for years, and he said this man didn’t look like a hunter at all. He didn’t even have the right boots. Now I was reading about patterns of missing people — ”

Detective Hudson laughed, causing the whites of Fritzi’s eyes to flare.

“Don’t laugh at my sister,” she said.

His greying hair gave off a creamy shine, and he brought his fingers to it, exposing a patch of sweat under his arm. After an agitated pause, he rose from the table. “Girls, I’ve got a lot of work on my plate today. Miss Bonnie, see, you didn’t catch this man’s face. Did she tell you that ’fore you came here?” he asked Fritzi. “Because that there is what we call unreliable.”

“We just want you to talk to him. We won’t go around tellin’ everybody, if that’s what you’re worried about.” I blotted the sweat above my upper lip with the flat of my hand. My chest was on fire, about to burn through the front of my dress. “The girl he was with,” I said, catching my sister’s confusion, “she looked directly at me, sir. She saw me, but she pretended as though she didn’t.

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