“Yeah, I’ll just…” The last thing he wanted to do was carry the thing with his hands.
“Here,” Alex said and pulled off her T-shirt, exposing the tank she wore beneath it. “Wrap it in that as best you can.”
Holt returned to the bank and secured what was left of the leg as well as he could, then returned to Mathilde and Alex.
“Let’s go,” he said.
The trip back to the dock took longer than Holt would have liked, but actually went faster than he expected. Mathilde hadn’t overstated her claims of physical fitness. The old woman moved at a good clip through the swamp and never once asked for a break. He couldn’t help but think they could have used someone with her fortitude in his troop in Iraq.
A million questions rushed through his mind, but he managed to keep them all in. Talking would have slowed them down and winded Mathilde. The sooner they got to the hospital in New Orleans and got her medical care, the sooner he could cover everything that needed covering.
Chapter Ten
“How is she?” Alex asked the doctor as he stepped out of the room.
“The alligator clipped her good on her hand,” the doctor said, “but missed the nerves. She was lucky.”
“And otherwise?”
“Oh, she’s healthy as a horse, especially for her age. I guess there’s something to be said for living off the land.”
“And her mental faculties?”
The doctor smiled. “Now, that would be your area, not mine, but if you want my opinion, I think she’s alert, focused and completely sane.”
Alex let out a breath of relief. “Thanks.”
“Can I question her?” Holt asked.
The doctor frowned. “Of course, she’s healthy enough to be questioned, but what crime is involved with being attacked by an alligator?”
“That alligator had a human leg in his mouth,” Holt said, “and there’s a missing girl that we have reason to believe was on the island.”
“Wow,” the doctor said. “Well, then please go about your business. I hope you find the missing girl.” He gave Alex a nod and left.
Alex and Holt entered the room, where Mathilde sat propped up in a hospital bed, her bandaged hand clutching a television remote that she held above her head, as if the height would make it function better. Alex froze for a moment and a wave of fear washed over her. With her arm in the air and her silver hair loose and awry, it flashed Alex right back to that day. That day she and Sarah saw something that wasn’t possible.
She took a deep breath to calm her racing heart and stepped up to the bed.
“Can’t get this thing to stop making noise,” Mathilde complained, pressing the buttons on the remote. “A person can’t think with all that racket.”
Alex took the remote from her and turned off the television. Mathilde slumped back on the bed. “Thanks,” she said.
“How do you feel?” Alex asked.
“I’m fine. All this fussing about, trying to give me that poison in a bottle. Told the woman I just need my herbs. Young folk don’t know anything these days.”
“Ms. Tregre,” Holt began, “you may not be able to return to your island for a while. If you’re in pain, the medicine can help. I assure you, it’s not poison.”
“Says you. And what do you mean, I can’t return to my island? You said earlier I wasn’t under arrest.”
“No, but I do need to ask you some questions, and your answers coupled with other facts will dictate how I move forward. Can you answer questions now?”
“Of course. I’m talking, aren’t I? Get on with it so I can get back to my quiet life. Too many people here. Always talking. I like silence.”
Alex dug into her purse and pulled out her tape recorder that she was never without. “You can use this.”
Holt pressed Record and began. “Let’s start with the alligator. He had the remains of a human leg in his mouth when we came across him. Do you have any idea who that person could be?”
“No. Ain’t nobody lives on that island but me, and ain’t nobody supposed to be there but me.”
“Did you see or hear the alligator attack the man?”
“No. I was walking the shoreline, checking my fishing lines, and was on him before I knew it. He got my hand before I could get away.”
“Was the person there when you came upon the gator?”
“Just the piece you saw.”
“Do you have any idea what time that was?”
Mathilde snorted. “Don’t have no use for time. When it’s dark, I sleep. When it’s light, I work.”
“Do you have any idea how long you were lying there before we found you?”
“About as long as it takes to cook a meal and eat, I suppose. However long that is.”
“Maybe an hour,” Alex suggested.
“What difference does it make what time it was?” Mathilde asked. “The only thing left was the leg, and the man shouldn’t have been there to begin with.”
“The little girl that we’re looking for…her father is also missing.”
Mathilde sighed. “That’s not good. Do you think he brought the girl to the island? Why would he do that? The island’s mine, but even if it wasn’t, it’s no place for city people.”
“You said you found the barrette. Can you tell us when you found it and where?”
Mathilde nodded. “Day before yesterday. It was on the bank around near where the alligator was today.”
“But you saw no other signs that anyone had been on the island?”
“Wasn’t any footprints, and the marsh grass didn’t show any sign that someone had docked a boat along that bank.”
Holt looked over at Alex who gave him a slight nod. As far as she could tell, the woman was being truthful.
“Ms. Tregre,” Holt continued. “We visited the island two days ago and when we were leaving, someone tried to shoot us. Was that you?”
“Of course not! You think I’d waste bullets on people? There’s a lot more dangerous things on that island than people.”
“Maybe not,” Holt said.
Mathilde scrunched her brow and stared at the wall behind him for a couple of seconds, then nodded. “Maybe not anymore.”
Holt sighed. “That’s all the questions I have for you, Ms. Tregre. When the doctor releases you, I’ll be glad to take you back to the island, but I’ll have to ask you not to leave the state until my investigation is complete.”
“Ha.” Mathilde snorted. “Wouldna left the island excepting you made me.”
Alex stared at Mathilde, questions burning in her mind. Questions she knew Holt wouldn’t appreciate and questions that normally would have been the last thing on her mind. But she knew if she didn’t ask, she’d regret it.
“Ms. Tregre,” Alex began, “you said you were going to use the barrette to do a reading. What would that tell you?”
“Whether the owner of the barrette was alive, for one. And if she was on the island, I might get a direction from the smoke. It’s hard to tell as the farther away they are, the harder the reading.”
“Do you think you can still do that?”
“’Course. Assuming I’m back on the island. Ain’t gonna work from this bed. Full moon starts tonight. That’s what I was waiting for. Lot more power with the full moon.”
“There’s something else. Something I’m hoping you can explain.”
“I can try.”
She told Mathilde about the crows that had fallen onto Sarah’s house and yard. Mathilde’s eyes widened and she started shaking her head before Alex finished telling the story.
“Did they fall in other yards or just your cousin’s?” Mathilde asked.
“Just Sarah’s.”
“And she’s the mama of the missing girl?”
“Yes.”
“That’s not good. And the crow was watching the girl before she disappeared, you said?”
Alex nodded. Mathilde stared down at her blanket and picked at a loose thread with her fingers. Alex could tell she knew something but didn’t want to say.
“What does it mean?” Alex asked. “Is it an omen?”
Mathilde took a deep breath and blew it out, then looked up at Alex. “No. It’s a curse.”
* * *
H
OLT PLACED HIS HAND
on Alex’s arm to steady her as they left Mathilde’s room. Mathilde’s words had shaken her, and despite his refusal to believe there was anything going on here but a very real crime committed by very real people, he had to admit the woman was kinda spooky.
“She’s telling the truth,” Alex said, her voice shaky.
“I agree,” Holt said, “but is her truth our reality?”
“Ah, you’ve just hit on the most difficult part of my job. Yes, it’s possible that someone can absolutely believe what they’re saying even if it’s not true.”
“And do you get that from her?”
Alex frowned. “It’s too hard to say with minimal contact. Mathilde’s a recluse and practices the old ways. Those two aspects already put her outside of normal, and you’d have to exclude any behaviors due to those in order to get to the root of her mind.”
Holt sighed. “So we don’t know any more now than we did before. Not for certain.”
“I’m inclined to lean toward believing her statements as factual unless they’re proven otherwise.
And
we have the leg.”
“Which isn’t going to do us a bit of good unless the person’s DNA is in the system.”
“There’s still a chance. I had the nurse pack it for us.”
“Good. We can take it to the lab. See what they can find.”
Alex nodded and walked down the hall toward the exit. Holt watched her for a couple of seconds, wondering what had stopped her cold the moment they’d stepped into the old woman’s room. It must be something to do with what she and Sarah had seen on the island when they were kids. The old woman unnerved Alex, and that was something he’d never seen before.
Sooner or later, she was going to have to face whatever she’d tucked away, because it seemed as if it was coming full circle. The same way his past was for him.
* * *
H
OLT HANDED THE LAB TECH
the container with the leg and explained the situation. The tech’s eyes widened as Holt described the condition of the body part and how they came by it.
“I’ll get right on this,” the tech said. “Just fill out the forms at the front desk and leave me a phone number where I can reach you.”
Holt nodded, and the tech left the front office with the container. The administrative assistant at the front desk handed him the paperwork, a clipboard and a pen, and he moved to some chairs at the back of the room to enter the necessary information.
“How long will it take?” Alex asked.
“Days, probably. They have to take a sample and type the DNA, then run it through the system.”
“So not like on TV?”
“Not even close.”
Holt completed the forms and returned them to the front desk. He pulled a card with his contact information on it out and handed it to the administrative assistant. “Can you please attach that to the paperwork? It has all my contact numbers on there. I’d like to know something as soon as you do.”
“Of course,” the woman said and stapled the card to the top of the paperwork. “I think that’s all we need for now. We’ll be in touch as soon as the lab finishes their work.”
“Thank you,” he said, and they made their way to the front door.
Before they stepped outside, the door to the secure area of the building flew open and the lab tech hurried into the waiting room. He looked excited when he saw them standing there.
“Good, I caught you,” he said.
“You found something so quickly?” Holt asked.
“This is one of those rare instances where we can identify the body part with absolute certainty. The leg had a pin in it with a serial number.”
“And you can track the person by that serial number?” Holt asked.
“Absolutely. A simple phone call and I have your John Doe identified as one Mr. Bobby Rhonaldo.”
Alex sucked in a breath and felt a wave of dizziness pass over her. Holt placed one arm around her shoulders and guided her to a chair. She bent over, drawing in a deep breath, then rose back to a sitting position.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I knew it was possible. I thought I was prepared.”
“Mr. Rhonaldo is her cousin by marriage,” Holt explained to the anxious tech.
“I’m very sorry,” the tech said.
“I hate to have to ask you this,” Holt said, “because I know the leg is in bad condition and the handling hasn’t been all that great on my end, either. But can you check to see if there’s evidence of any other person?”
“What do you mean?”
“Mr. Rhonaldo’s six-year-old daughter is also missing. I’m hoping she wasn’t with Mr. Rhonaldo.”
The tech’s eye widened. “Oh, no. Of course, I’ll do what I can, but it will take a while.”
Holt nodded. “Her DNA is already in the system—Erika Rhonaldo. Whatever you can do, I’d appreciate.”
* * *
T
HE KILLER WATCHED AS THE
cop and the doctor left the lab. He’d followed them as they took the old woman to New Orleans and hidden in a linen closet across from the old lady’s room. He’d heard their entire conversation after they’d interviewed the woman.
If only they’d arrived on the island ten minutes later. The alligator would have finished the job. The old woman had ruined it all by interrupting the beast while he was having a snack. Of course, there was also the small issue of why his associate had chosen that location in the swamp to dispose of the body. Something he’d failed to mention when he reported shooting at the fake sheriff and the woman the first time they visited the island.
The associate was only supposed to place the barrette on the island so that they could further incriminate the old woman. Apparently, he thought he’d combine two jobs into one, and now his laziness was about to upset the entire mix.
If Bobby Rhonaldo’s DNA was in the system, the lab could identify who the leg belonged to. Then everyone would know for certain that Bobby Rhonaldo hadn’t left the country with his daughter, which was unfortunate. His boss’s idea to stage things to also implicate the old woman had been a good one, but he wondered if it would be enough.
With Bobby’s body found on the island, even more evidence pointed toward the old woman. It was all circumstantial, but even the woman shrink wasn’t convinced the old woman was sane. All the rumor and uncertainty coupled with the past would play right into convicting the old woman in everyone’s mind, if not in court. Still, it would be even better for him and his boss if that leg was not identified.