“You think this is related to Gil’s death?”
He shrugged. “No idea, but I don’t like the timing, and anything that might be related is something she needs to know about.”
“Okay. Let me know if there’s anything I can do. Or Ida Belle’s ladies. If Tiffany needs someone to sit with her or go to the hospital or whatever.”
I followed him downstairs and let him out.
“Remember to reset the alarm,” he said as he hurried for his truck.
I frowned as he drove away, then ducked back inside and set the alarm. Something was up. Figuring I would catch hell if I didn’t inform all interested parties right away, I sent a quick text to Ida Belle and Gertie. That way, I’d gotten in timely notification even if they didn’t read it until morning.
Break-in at Tiffany’s. She sustained head injury. Carter on his way. That’s all I know.
A couple seconds later, I got a text back from both of them.
On my way.
Be there in a sec.
I turned off the alarm, unlocked the door, and headed to the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee, wondering if anyone in Sinful had regular sleeping hours. By the time the coffee was done, Ida Belle was already in her usual chair and we were just waiting on Gertie. She rolled in a couple minutes later, and one glance at her had me wishing she’d taken a few minutes more.
She was wearing neon-orange booty shorts with Hot to Trot stamped across the butt. Paired with that was a hot-pink tank but with weird straps under and on the sides of her boobs—like she was wrangling them like a calf at a rodeo. She hadn’t even bothered with shoes. Half the rollers were coming out of her hair and the remnants of whatever face mask she was trying this time was spotted across her face. Pink glitter twinkled on her scalp.
“Good God, give her a robe,” Ida Belle said.
“Fortune doesn’t own a robe,” Gertie said. “She’s too young for robes. And too fit. If I was built like her, I’d walk around naked all the time.”
“You’re already half naked and you’ve never been built like Fortune,” Ida Belle said.
I went into the laundry room and grabbed one of Carter’s T-shirts. “This will have to do,” I said, mentally adding robes to my list of things to buy since I was about to install a hot tub. I didn’t need the drama that might come with Gertie and the tub and the lack of a fenced yard. Plus, the point of the tub was decompressing, and seeing Gertie dressed like an MTV reality show wasn’t going to do it. Ida Belle’s shooting her wouldn’t be very relaxing either, except maybe for Ida Belle.
Gertie pulled on the T-shirt, which helped matters since it was fairly long on her, and then we all sat with our coffee.
“So, a break-in at Tiffany’s,” Ida Belle said. “That’s unexpected.”
I nodded. “And makes no sense.”
“Doesn’t seem like much about this case makes sense,” Gertie said. “Do you have any ideas?”
“Not without more information,” I said. “I mean, the usual reasons for a home invasion are to attack someone or steal. We don’t know if anything’s missing, but it sounds like they popped Tiffany hard enough that the paramedics were on their way.”
Ida Belle shook her head. “If they were there to hurt Tiffany, they’d be calling for the coroner, not paramedics. If they were there to steal, then what?”
“Maybe Gil had a collection of something valuable,” Gertie said. “Coins, stamps, art?”
“You saw his taste,” Ida Belle said. “And I can’t imagine him collecting anything else that a thief would zero in on. Besides, if Gil collected anything of value, he would have driven everyone crazy talking about it.”
“True,” Gertie agreed. “Maybe it was an opportunity thing. Someone figured Gil wasn’t there anymore and Tiffany would be easy to work around. Maybe he figured out he could pick up loose cash, jewelry, and electronics.”
“But Gil was out of town a lot with the acting troupe,” I said. “Someone could have tried that stunt before now, with a lot less risk since all eyes are on Tiffany now due to the murder investigation.”
Ida Belle nodded. “It does seem foolish. I don’t suppose we think this one is faked like the chicken might have been, do we?”
“For what purpose?” Gertie asked.
“Well, it probably gives her a valid reason to leave town,” I said. “Carter wouldn’t insist she remain in the house, and I can’t imagine Casey wants that liability, either. No law enforcement would. And even if there was an officer to leave with her, they still can’t force her to remain in an environment where she feels unsafe. If it turns out she’s innocent, there could be hell to pay.”
Ida Belle slowly nodded. “It’s rather extreme, assuming that crack on the head was hard enough to need medical attention, but it still wouldn’t be the craziest thing I’ve seen.”
“No,” Gertie said. “The craziest is chopping off a dead man’s head and sending him off through the park on a horse. Instead of figuring out reasons for the crazy, we’re just adding to the list of things we have no good explanation for.”
I sighed. “And the worse part is you know Carter’s not going to play ball on this. We’ll have to get information third- or fourth-hand once the paramedics talk.”
“You know, it really does seem unfair that you can’t get a shred of information out of the man who got out of your bed to go to work,” Gertie said.
“You know Carter,” I said. “All that honor and respecting the rules and crap.”
Gertie nodded. “The military ruins a lot of people that way.”
My cell phone rang and I lifted an eyebrow in surprise. Carter.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Listen, I have a situation here,” he said. “I have to keep the scene secured until forensics can get here and since this is probably related to Detective Casey’s investigation, I can’t turn it over to Deputy Breaux. Unfortunately, the good deputy is still putting off enough fumes to make your eyes bleed so I can’t send him to the hospital with Tiffany either. So would you guys mind getting over there so that she has someone with her and has a way to get back home?”
“Sure,” I said. “Ida Belle and Gertie are already here.”
“Of course they are.”
“Is Tiffany hurt badly?” I asked.
“She got a good crack on the head and the paramedics think she should have it checked. She didn’t argue, so I have to assume it hurts bad enough that she agrees. They left a couple minutes ago. How quickly can you get going?”
“We just have to find Gertie some clothes, then we’ll be good.”
There was a long silence.
“Is she sitting in your kitchen naked?”
“No. She’s wearing your T-shirt but I’m not telling you which one.”
“Call if you need anything,” he said and disconnected.
I looked at Ida Belle and Gertie, unable to contain my excitement.
“We’re up.”
Since Gertie and I weren’t exactly the same size and Carter’s shirt looked more like a really short dress, we made a quick stop by Gertie’s house for her to run in and change and grab a wet washrag to try to get the rest of that mask off her face as we drove. She yanked the curlers out on the way as well and ran a brush through her hair, which resulted in a confused mess of straight, curly, and frizzy. Finally, she pulled a hat out of her new purse and called it done.