Read Online Imogene in New Orleans by Hunter Murphy - Free Book Online Page B

the pace.” She gripped her purse and hustled down the hallway. Billy held open the door to the room as Imogene and Goose trotted inside.
    Imogene bolted the door and used both chains to secure it. “Boys, this ain’t been no vacation yet, I tell ye.” She limped to the corner of the room and sat in a chair. “The Gilbert boy’s dead, Neil’s in the can, and we hardly got a roof over our heads.”
    She held her purse tightly over her shoulder, almost guarding it, as she had done since leaving the crime scene. It was unusual for her to take such care with it. Jackson watched as she removed her shoes and sunglasses without ever relinquishing the bag. She even visited the bathroom with the purse around her shoulder.
    As soon as she closed the door, Jackson turned to Billy, who was sprawled out on the bed near the balcony door. The bed felt like feathers and was as lush as anything Jackson had ever seen. He belly flopped beside Billy, shaking the frame, and scooted up to him while his mother was in the bathroom. “Hey, sweetie, have you noticed your mother holding that purse closer than usual?”
    “Yes, of course. She’s acting crazy ever since she saw Glenway’s body.” He put his wrist above his eyebrows. He looked a bit like a fainting Southern belle. “She thinks she’s Miss Marple. I really wish we’d go back to Harristown.” Billy’s face was flushed.
    “We can’t leave now. Not with Neil in jail and Glenway dead and that Lieutenant Rogers apparently ‘in charge’ of the case.” Jackson massaged Billy’s arm.
    Billy sighed. He had his eyes closed and his arm strapped into the blood pressure cuff. “I knew you would say that. You’re just like Mama. Always up for an adventure. But this isn’t an adventure, Jackson. This is serious. We should’ve gone to Florida like I suggested.” He pressed the start button on the monitor.
    Jackson kissed Billy’s rosy cheek. “Something doesn’t seem right to me about that lieutenant. Do you know when he stormed into Glenway’s studio he was holding a duffel bag? When he saw Neil, he threw the bag in the corner.”
    Beep, beep, beep . Billy glanced at the monitor. “That reading’s elevated for me. See what y’all have done?” He sat up and took a sip of water from a bottle on the nightstand. “Goose, your daddy and grandmother are stressing me out.” Goose waddled over to the bed and sniffed the vanilla-scented air of the room.
    Imogene swung the bathroom door open, still clutching her purse, and walked over to sit down on the bed opposite the boys. “Y’all already goin’ to sleep? It ain’t even dark yet.”
    “No, Imogene, we’re just resting.” Jackson stretched.
    “Shoot, that’s all y’all study. Restin’. You two oughta be in a rest home. Shouldn’t they, Gooey?” She leaned over to the beast as he sauntered toward her. She reached in one of the bags they’d carried in and removed a beefy dog bone and dropped it in his mouth. “Come on, Goo. Let’s go see this here balcony.” She walked to the French doors, which were secured by a lock and two latches, one at the floor and one in the top corner. She grunted to undo the first one, and as she did, the binding of a leather book became visible over the flap of her purse. It almost fell out. Jackson saw it and sat up on the bed.
    She tried for the tall latch but couldn’t grasp it. The heavy curtains on the doors shook as Imogene stretched against it, so Jackson helped. As he reached over her head, he got a closer look at the mysterious leather book, but she saw him and stuffed it back in the bottom of her purse. He unlocked the door anyway, and she hurried out with Goose.
    “Boys, this is fine livin’ here.” The balcony ran the length of the hotel above Toulouse Street. Two other rooms shared the space. Below, the valets popped their heads out from the covered parking area. Imogene looked to her right. Cars streamed by on Rampart Street a few blocks away. Below the balcony,