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“I knew the dog’s name was Fluffy,” Xavier said. “What about her?”
“She was a gift from Nadia’s lover,” Gabe said. “Did my dad mention finding the dog in the house when he told you about how he’d found her body that night of the flood?”
Cicely shook her head. “No, not that I recall. Xavier?”
“No, sir. He definitely didn’t. I told him about the dog that night. The rescuers were taking some of the pets in the boats, too. If he’d seen the dog, he probably would have taken it.”
“So... I’m assuming the father of Nadia’s unborn child killed her,” Gabe said. “April said that Nadia was going to demand he marry her. And if he was already married, that wouldn’t have ended well. What if she made the demand, they had a fight, and he killed her?”
“With you so far,” Molly said. This was a better train of thought. “And then?”
“And then he took the dog back. He’d given it to her as a gift. It’s an unusual breed. It can’t hurt to ask a few veterinarians what they remember.”
Molly noted it. “Not bad. We can make some calls, ask vets who were around back then if they remember anyone bringing in a new Afghan hound after Katrina.” Still a long shot, but a fancy dog like that might be remembered.
“Wait.” Cicely held up a hand. “Xavier saw that man murder that woman while he was sitting on the roof. That means the water was at least over the first story of Nadia’s house. How did her killer get in to kill her?”
There was a long, long moment of complete silence and a lot of open mouths.
How indeed?Molly thought, irritated with herself for not having thought of that earlier.
“Well,” Willa Mae murmured. “That is another very good question.”
“He had to have had a boat,” Gabe said slowly. “Maybe her killer was posing as a rescuer.”
“There were rescues going on everywhere,” André recalled. “Ordinary folks who had a boat. Some even stole boats to do the rescues. Then there was the Cajun Navy, NOPD, and the Coast Guard. It was less than organized. I was doing rescues down on Tchoupitoulas Street, in the Lower Garden District. There were rowboats and flat-bottomed bayou boats, shrimp boats and... well, anything that floated. If her killer had a boat, he wouldn’t have stood out.”
“And he probably can’t be traced, either,” Burke said grimly.
Molly sighed. “I’m still writing it down. Knowing he had access to a boat could help later. André, what about the murders of the pathologist and the mortician? What do you know?”
“Not much. The pathologist’s office was trashed, files stolen, computers destroyed.” André hesitated, and Gabe visibly tensed. “Her lab was burned and all the drawers in cold storage were opened. The bodies burned. Not to ash, but enough to make further autopsy very difficult.”
Poor Gabe.He’d gone pale, so Molly took his hand. It trembled. Goddammit.
“Oh no,” Cicely murmured, taking Gabe’s other hand. “I’m so sorry, Gabe.”
Gabe swallowed hard. “Thank you, Cicely. I mean...” He trailed off, staring at the ceiling while a few tears trickled from the corners of his eyes. “I know he’s gone and that he wouldn’t have cared what happened to his body, but I care. I wanted to put his ashes with Mom’s.”
“You should still be able to do that at some point,” André said softly. “And it’s still likely that another autopsy could be done confirming Dr. McLain’s findings. But right now, it’s a mess. Physically and legally. It could be a while before your dad’s body is released to you.”
“But wait,” Carlos said with a frown. “That seems really obvious, doesn’t it? Trashing the pathologist’s office was like they’re saying that they’re guilty. Wouldn’t that make investigators look harder at Rocky’s death?”
“If we’re all still around to push it,” Burke said grimly.
Molly frowned. What the hell, Burke?
Carlos flinched as if he’d been struck. “Oh. Okay.”
“What the hell?” Manny exploded. “We’re not just giving up and letting them kill us!”
Xavier dropped his head to his hands. “Fuck.”
Molly glared at Burke. “We will be around. We will all still be here to push it.”
“Of course we will,” Burke fired back. “That’s not what I meant. I meant that I know it and you know it, but that’s not what Rocky’s killer is thinking. Trouble is, too many of us know now. They—whoever they are—are going to be getting desperate.”
Xavier looked up. “And make mistakes?”
