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Cardozo looked stunned by the end of it, André a bit less so because he’d gleaned bits and pieces along the way.
“That is an incredible story,” Cardozo said. “I’m... wow. Impressed.”
“As you should be,” Burke said lightly. “We’re damned good investigators.”
“We found links between Ducote’s wives and his mistresses,” Molly added. “He gave Nadia a necklace and we found a photo of his first wife wearing either the same one or one identical to it. The same with Ashley and Joelle. The day Ashley visited Burke, she was wearing the same necklace that Joelle had on yesterday when we found her.”
“That man was bold,” André murmured.
“I’m surprised none of his wives or mistresses offed him first,” Farrah said, disgusted.
“He may have killed Lucille, wife number one,” Molly said. “She died just like Gabe’s father did.”
“We’ll add that to our formal investigation,” André promised.
“What about Mule?” Burke asked. “Have you connected him to any of Tobin’s goings-on?”
“And Paul Lott,” Gabe added. “He was my father’s attorney, but we think he was part of his murder as well.”
“You’d be right,” André said. “We found Paul Lott’s laptop in Tobin’s house when we searched it. Took our tech guys a little while to break through his security. Paul Lott had planted a keystroke counter on Rocky’s laptop and the Metairie sheriff’s department found a tracker under Rocky’s truck. We think Lott planted the tracker after Rocky asked him to set up a trust for Xavier.”
Burke frowned, darting a glance at Antoine. “I specifically checked for a tracker on Rocky’s truck. I didn’t find anything.”
“It was an older model,” André told him. “The battery had given out at some point in the past six weeks since Rocky’s death. The Metairie sheriff saw it when they put the truck up on a lift to check the undercarriage.”
“That’s how they knew my dad was looking for Dr. Benson,” Gabe said quietly.
Molly slipped her hand into his, just to remind him that he wasn’t alone. He squeezed lightly and turned to press a kiss to her temple. “I’m okay,” he said.
“That’s how he knew about me, too,” Xavier said, quieting his tone as well.
It was easy for folks to forget that this was Gabe’s father they were discussing so clinically. Molly would make sure they remembered that.
“But,” André continued, “Rocky was too wily and secretive, so Lott didn’t know where Xavier was.”
“Not until I called him for help,” Xavier muttered.
“Which was the right thing to do, given what you knew,” Gabe said firmly. “Dad’s priority was keeping you safe.”
“And we will be grateful forever,” Cicely said. “Your dad was a good man.”
Gabe’s smile was sad. “I know. But why did Lott do it?”
“Money,” André said gently. “We found a deposit of fifty thousand dollars in Lott’s bank account. We haven’t traced it yet, but I expect it will have come from either Ducote or Mule. Payment was made the day before your dad was killed.”
Gabe swallowed hard. “He killed my dad for money. When he died, did it hurt?”
“A lot,” André replied, his tone grown cold. “We believe Tobin killed him and... well, Lott did not die painlessly.”
“Good,” Gabe murmured. “I’m glad. That might make me a monster, but I’m glad.”
“Not a monster,” Molly said softly. “Just human. Don’t feel guilty about how you feel. André, why did Tobin kill him?”
“Lott had asked for more money. I guess they figured it was easier to kill him than to keep paying him.”
“But how did Paul Lott know that Ducote and Mule wanted the information?” Molly pressed.
“Lott kept impeccable records,” André said. “Back at the tenth anniversary of Katrina—when Rocky had tried to resurrect the case and told them he had an eyewitness—Lott was approached by Mule, who knew that Lott was willing to do shady deals. Lott agreed to keep an eye on Rocky. He never had anything to report until Rocky asked him to set up the trust for Xavier. At first Lott thought Xavier was Rocky’s illegitimate son. But then he did a check on Xavier’s full name and found that he was a survivor of Katrina. It was the Katrina link that sent Lott to Mule. That and the fact that he was facing bankruptcy. I don’t know how Lott and Rocky met, though.”
