“I really wish he’d just do that shady small-town thing and let you in on things,” Gertie said. “You’re not any more likely to be injured doing your job than he is doing his.”
“Given that Carter doesn’t spend much time around you and your handbags, that’s not exactly accurate,” Ida Belle said.
I laughed but I was already thinking about the conversation I needed to have with Carter. Then as if thinking about him summoned him, my phone rang.
“Someone blew up a dumpster at the motel,” Carter said. “I don’t suppose Gertie is short a stick of dynamite?”
“What motel?”
“The one with the exploded dumpster. I suppose you don’t know anything about the guy rolled up in his comforter, either.”
“That doesn’t sound like something I’d be involved in.”
“Given what he was wearing—or the lack thereof—it sounds exactly like something you’d do, and his description was rather specific, right down to your bra size.”
“Gross.”
“So you want to tell me why you broke into that guy’s room and assaulted him with his own bed linens?”
I gave it a moment’s thought. I was planning on telling Carter about Dexter and Marissa anyway. And given that Naked Dude and the clerk could easily identify me and I’d given the clerk my business card, it seemed like a waste of time to keep denying things.
“Dexter might be in the room next door to Naked Dude,” I said. “Dexter and his girlfriend.”
“What?”
“Look, we found out some things today that you need to know. And before you say it, I know you can’t give me information and honor and police stuff and blah, blah, blah, but if those two were responsible for Molly’s death, then I want them to go down. So does my client. The only manner I have to take care of that personally isn’t exactly legal and probably not advisable.”
“Probably?”
“Nobody likes Dexter.”
“Okay. I’ll take down some information and meet you at your house in about thirty minutes.”
“Ally is at my house.”
“Then meet me at the sheriff’s department.”
I hung up and sighed.
“Naked Dude ID’d me,” I said.
“How could he?” Gertie asked. “There are plenty of hot blondes running around southern Louisiana.”
“Probably not many that can single-handedly immobilize a guy in a comforter,” Ida Belle said.
“He knew my bra size,” I said.
“Gross.”
They both spoke at once.
“My feelings exactly. Anyway, the description and the exploding dumpster pretty much had us dead to rights, so I couldn’t see any reason to lie about it. When we get to Sinful, just drop me off at the sheriff’s department and I’ll go face the music.”
“Do you think we have enough for Carter to arrest them?” Gertie asked.
“I think we have enough for suspicion of murder,” I said. “But we don’t have enough to make a case.”
“Hopefully Carter has some evidence from the boat,” Ida Belle said. “Put it together with what we have and he might be able to make a case to the DA.”
I nodded. Everything we knew was damning but it still wasn’t right. I was missing something and I had a feeling that it was right in front of me but I couldn’t see it.
Chapter Seventeen
I figured Carter would be a while getting to the sheriff’s department, so I headed over to the General Store to grab a soda and chat with Walter. I hadn’t stopped in since my last food pickup, and I was interested to see if he was as nonchalant about the upcoming nuptials as Ida Belle was. He looked up as I walked in and gave me a huge smile. Gertie was always saying if she were younger she’d go after some guy, but I had the opposite thought. If I were older, I’d be shoving Ida Belle in front of a bus and going for Walter.
Walter was thoughtful and kind and despite the fact that he didn’t run his mouth, he didn’t miss much. He was funny and smart and so handsome with his silver hair. No matter when I saw him, he always had a smile for me and he always had time. If I was being honest, Walter was the father I would have liked to have had. Life would have been so much simpler. But maybe simple wasn’t part of my journey.
“You flying solo today?” he asked as I grabbed a soda and pulled up a stool in front of the counter to sit on.
“Nope. Been flying with company all day today but I have to meet Carter in twenty minutes, give or take. So I figured I’d pop in here and check your blood pressure. You ready for the big day?”
I didn’t think Walter could get any cuter but the blush that crept up his neck was priceless. Ida Belle had really won the lottery with this guy. And even though I knew and respected her reasons for not marrying him sooner, I still found myself wondering why the heck not.
“I suppose I should be,” he said. “Lord knows, I’ve had plenty of time to prepare.”
“Couple decades at least.”
“A bit more than a couple but I’m not telling.”
“Ida Belle isn’t telling either, so you’re safe.”
“What are you meeting Carter in town for? You having a bite over at the café?”
“I wish. Unfortunately, I’m in trouble.”
He chuckled. “You don’t say.”
“I know. Shocking, right?”
“What are you in trouble over this time or can you say?”
“A naked guy tied up in a comforter and an exploding dumpster.”
Walter’s eyes widened. “That sounds like the start of the kind of joke you tell in a bar.”
“It kinda ends that way too. Let’s just say it’s been an interesting day.”
“So this naked guy—I thought the bachelorette party was this Friday.”
“It is. And trust me, no one wants that guy rolled up in the comforter dancing there. Not even Gertie. We were actually on a case. There was this conversation I wanted to overhear at the motel and things didn’t go smoothly.”
He stared at me for a couple seconds, then started to laugh. “The three of you are going to be the death of Carter.”
“What about you? Your lady is right in that mix.”
He shrugged. “I know Ida Belle thinks she’s going to give me a heart attack with her behavior, but the truth is I turned that one over to the good Lord years ago. Figured he was the only one who had a chance of getting through her hard head. I just try to keep my worry to a minimum and my knowledge of what she’s doing to even less than that. Ida Belle does her part by refusing to tell me stuff.”
“I wonder if Carter will ever get to that point with me,” I said.
“Can’t hurry these things. After all, it’s hard for two old dogs to change their ways.”
“Carter’s not that old. His ways shouldn’t be set in concrete yet.”
“I was talking about me and you.”
“Oh. Ha.”
“The truth is, you’ve had a lot more adjusting to do than Carter. A lot more compromising. You had to realign the entire scope of your life. Relearn everything you knew about everyday living. About friends and family. That’s a big load on a person in a short amount of time. Carrying that load can get a bit heavy.”