Chapter 1
“Someone picked the flesh off her bones.”
St. Mary’s Parish Coroner Eliza Rollins made the declaration in a perfectly flat voice. The statement was sufficiently startling to garner a reaction without any gussying up from her.
Sure enough, Chief Bolton reacted. His jaw hinged down and the chipped white coffee mug nearly slipped from his hand. He glanced around the diner then leaned across the table.
“Someone? You mean something, don’t you? An animal, maybe a bird of prey?”
“No, Fred, I mean someone.”
“There’s all kinds of animals out in the bayou,” he argued.
“True.”
He was right, of course. Any number of creatures making their homes in the Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge could, and would, go to work on a corpse dumped in their environs—a black bear, a gator, a raptor.
He nodded, happy to imagine some wild animal had torn the flesh and muscle from the body.
“But that’s not what happened to this corpse. She was plucked clean by human hands.” She twisted her own hands into a knot as she spoke.
The police chief was as close to a friend as she had, but she was intensely uncomfortable sitting across from him in an aged and cracking faux-leather booth in the town’s only diner, to convince him that she knew what she was talking about. She’d much prefer to be hunched over a stainless steel table, peering into a chest cavity, than having a conversation with a living, breathing person. Introverted was a woefully inadequate description for her personality. Painfully shy was closer. Backward, as her mama’s people used to say, was closer still.
But taking him into the autopsy room was out of the question. The last time he’d ventured inside, he’d lost his lunch—specifically, a large burger with all the fixings from the Judice Inn up in Lafayette. She hadn’t been able to eat a burger since.
“How can you be so dang sure a falcon or something didn’t get ahold of it?”
She could have explained that falcons preferred to kill their prey and only ate carrion when they couldn’t find a live meal, but then he’d start asking about hawks, and osprey, and every other bird local to the area. So she gave him a gentle look and said, “Whoever—or whatever—de-fleshed this skeleton used an awful lot of care. You’ve seen vultures go to work on a dead deer, right? It’s called a feeding frenzy for a reason. If your Jane Doe were eaten by birds, I’d expect to find notches in the bone from where the hooked beaks and sharp talons nicked it while the birds were tearing off the flesh. But this wasn’t like that. It’s tidy, neat. The skeleton is completely clean, and the bones are darn near pristine. Someone methodically, deliberately removed every bit of non-bone material. I’d go so far as to say surgically. It reminds me of the skeletons we had in medical school.”
She still couldn’t quite wrap her mind around her discovery, but that was the thing about forensics—dead men, or women, in this case, do tell tales.
Fred dropped his fork and pushed away his grits and eggs. His cheeks looked slightly greenish to her eye.
Eliza pointed to his side of bacon. “You gonna eat that?”
He grimaced and handed her the plate of still-sizzling breakfast meat.
“Are you sure about this? I mean, really sure?”
She nodded and nibbled at a slice of bacon, swallowing before she answered. “I am. And now, for the bad news.”
She was going to have to tell him sooner or later. The body had been identified as Annalise Beaufort, of the Belle Rue Beauforts. Rich, beautiful, married to a powerful businessman—she was the closest thing to a local socialite they had in these parts. Eliza didn’t run in the same circles as someone like Annalise, but she’d known her. Everyone had known her. She was always doing some sort of charity work—garden club, children’s literacy program, animal shelter. You name a cause, and, sure enough, Annalise had hosted a fundraiser for it. She’d even shown up at the morgue one day a few years ago to give Eliza a personal check to cover the burial for an unclaimed John Doe.
He closed his eyes for a moment. “Are you saying that was the good news?” he asked when he finally looked at her again.
“Afraid so. Your Jane Doe is Annalise Beaufort.” She spoke in a hushed voice so none of the other diners would hear the news over the din of clattering silverware and the blaring TV mounted in the corner.
“Well, shit.”
Chapter 2
Aroostine pulled her sweater tightly around her torso to ward off the air-conditioned chill of her new boss’s office. Grace gave her a knowing look.
“Sorry about the temperature. Apparently, building services missed their calling—they should be running a meat locker, not an office suite.” She pointed to her own suit jacket. “Wool. Year-round. It’s either that or a space heater.”
Aroostine took a moment to be thankful that she was working from home eighty percent of the time. Her workspace was the big, comfy chair in front of the crackling fireplace; one of her mother-in-law’s quilts draped over her legs; Rufus dreaming golden retriever dreams at her feet. “Duly noted,” she said with an uncertain smile.
She and Grace Solnick were still doing the dance of a new employee and supervisor, feeling their way through the unknown to establish what she hoped would be a strong working relationship. If she were very lucky, maybe someday she’d count Grace as a mentor. But after three years working for the federal government, she wasn’t going to hold her breath on that part.
Grace flashed back a smile of her own and then got down to business. She swiveled around in her chair and reached gingerly into an open Bankers Box that sat on her credenza. Aroostine’s pulse quickened with anticipation. What sort of plundered Native American antiquity had the Office of Tribal Affairs located? A death mask? A headdress? A rare totem or talisman?
With great care, Grace removed from the box ... A basket?
Aroostine kept all traces of disappointment from reaching her face. It was a beautiful basket, tightly woven with a colorful pattern. But it looked bright and new, as if Grace had stopped at the craft store on her way into the office and used her fifty percent off coupon in the storage solutions aisle.
Grace handed the vessel across the desk and placed it in Aroostine’s hands. She examined it, turning it over then peering inside, even though she had no clue what she was supposed to be looking for.
“This is an Atchafalayan basket,” Grace said.
“Atchafalayan?”
“The Atchafalaya tribe, down in the bayou in Southern Louisiana. They’re renowned mainly for their cane basket weaving. Well, and now the casino, of course.”
Of course.
“So this is a special basket?”
“I’m not sure what purpose it would have served; it could have held water or grain or something, but all their baskets are special at this point.”
“Why’s that?”
Grace rose and circled the desk, bending her head over the basket in Aroostine’s hands. “There are only three living Atchafalayan weavers. None of the patterns or processes exist other than in their memories.”
Aroostine’s breath caught in her throat. “But, they’re writing them down, right? I mean, to memorialize them?”
Grace shook her head. “I don’t know. One would hope. But the point is no one else knows how to make the baskets. It’s very involved. That’s not wicker or bamboo.”
Aroostine ran her fingers over the taut weave. “What is it?”
“River cane. They gather it, split it, peel it, dye it. Then they weave one of several styles of baskets using one of the patterns they’ve committed to memory.”
Amazing. The basket’s weave was so precise, so uniform she’d have bet anything it was machine-made. The idea that an artisan, working from memory, had created the pattern was almost unbelievable. She had to pull her eyes away from the mesmerizing basket.
“And we’re sure this basket is an antiquity? It doesn’t look old.”
Grace nodded in agreement. “I know. But it appears that it is. When we got it, I emailed a picture to the tribe.”
“Wait—where did you get it?”
She peered over the top of her glasses. “It showed up in the mail. No note, no explanation.”
“Huh. Interesting.”
“Right. As I was saying, the Atchafalaya maintain a cultural museum outside Belle Rue, on their reservation. The curator, a man by the name of Mike Felton, called me as soon as he saw the email. None of the remaining weavers can make that pattern. He says they haven’t seen it in nearly a hundred years.”
Aroostine took another look at the basket then tilted her head. “Grace, I’m no expert, but I really don’t think—“
Her boss spread her palms apart. “That’s the problem in a nutshell. We don’t have an expert. The only people who can tell us definitively whether this is a stolen relic or a very well-done knockoff are down on the bayou. So, pack your bags.”
“Got it.”
Grace pierced her with a look. “This may not sound like a particularly glamorous first assignment, but you should know it’s important to the tribe to find out where this basket came from.”
She nodded, “Sure. Of course, I understand. It’s important to their cultural heritage.”
“That’s true. It is. But from what Mr. Felton told me, it’s also important to their financial well-being.”
“How so?”
Grace shrugged. “I guess you’ll find out when you get there.” She turned her attention to a stack of folders on her desk and flipped the top one open.
It was clear that she’d just been dismissed, so Aroostine stood, cradling the possibly rare basket in the crook of her arm. “Can I borrow your box?”
Grace jerked her thumb toward the credenza. “Take it.”
As Aroostine nestled the basket in the box, Grace looked up. “Oh, one more thing. The tribal leaders know you’re coming, but in case you need to involve local law enforcement, your guy is Frederick Bolton. He’s the chief of police for St. Mary’s Parish.”
Aroostine made a mental note. “Got it. Does he know I’m coming?”
“No. And I wouldn’t make it a point to introduce yourself. You never know about these locals. No need to invite a turf war if you can get in and out under his radar.”
* * *
After Fred’s initial shock wore off, he leaned across the table. “You’re sure it’s Annalise? It’s a positive identification?” he asked in a wistful voice.
Eliza gave him a look. “Teeth don’t lie. The forensic odontologist at LSU double-checked the dental records for me. I wouldn’t be saying it if I wasn’t sure.”
When Annalise had gone missing, the entire parish had been in an uproar. Fred had worked five days straight, barely stopping to eat or sleep, chasing down leads. The press had swarmed their tiny town. Even Governor Alcorn had taken a break from his nonstop reelection campaigning and made an appearance. Then Annalise’s husband, Cal Beaufort, called a press conference.
Eliza remembered she’d stopped in the middle of an autopsy to watch Cal, grim-faced, read aloud from a letter that he’d said he’d received from France. Annalise had written that she’d had enough of Louisiana and small town life and was starting over in Provence. She apologized for worrying everyone.
And that had been that.
More or less, at least. Fred had confided over beers one night that he didn’t quite believe the story. Something about Annalise’s passport and flights out of New Orleans. And sometimes there were whispers in church about someone’s cousin who swore they’d seen her in Florida. But, the reality was nobody was going to push the issue and keep the spotlight shining on poor Cal. He was humiliated enough as it was.
Now, here Eliza was, opening up a can of stinking, slimy worms.
“How long has she been dead?” Fred choked out the words with effort.
It was Eliza’s turn to lose her appetite. She gave the answer she hated. “I don’t know.”
He squinted at her, waiting for her to elaborate.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know. All I can say is she died some time between last December, when Cal reported her missing, and last Wednesday, when that Fish & Wildlife volunteer found her.”
“Come on, doc. Help me out here.” He pleaded with his eyes and took a swig of his coffee.
“It’s impossible to say because she’s been, you know, de-fleshed. If she had her skin, I could take a stab at a time of death based on the rate of decomposition. But ...”
“And you’re sure her skin was removed intentionally?”
“Yes. I’m still sure. I’ll still be sure if you ask me again in ten minutes,” she said more snappishly than she’d intended.
They sat in silence for a long moment.
“Well, sonofabitch,” he finally said. He took out his wallet and threw a twenty on the table. “Sorry to cut this short, but I have a call to make.”
“The FBI?” she asked. She would gladly turn this political hot potato over to a federal task force.
He pierced her with a look. “No, not the feds. Cal. And then, I guess, the governor and the rest of the politicians.” He grimaced and shook a handful of Tums out of a container.
“You shouldn’t take so many of those at once.”
He ignored the unsolicited medical advice. “Listen, Eliza. Don’t go saying anything to the feds. And tell that dental professor at LSU to keep a lid on it, too. They’re gonna get wind of it sooner or later. I just need to manage the process. You hear?”
She nodded. She didn’t like it, not one bit. But she nodded just the same.
He jammed his hat on his head and turned as if he were leaving, but then he turned back to her and lowered his voice to a whisper. “You think we have a psychopath loose in the bayou? You think he’s gonna strike again?”
She had no way to predict that, and he knew as much. But those were the questions that had been thrumming in her chest ever since the body team had dropped off the Jane Doe. Belle Rue, the parish seat of St. Mary’s Parish, was the sleepiest of sleepy towns. Neither she nor he was equipped to deal with a serial killer who skinned his victims. And they both knew it.
Instead of answering directly, she said, “Maybe you should reconsider reaching out to the feds.”
Fred’s face closed off and he frowned at her. “Over my dead body.”
They shared an awkward laugh at the fitting cliché, but Eliza couldn’t seem to shake the chill that had settled into her own bones.
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