Read Online Louisiana Lament by Julie Smith - Free Book Online Page A

dead. I think something was going on with her, something she wouldn’t tell me, and”—he swallowed—“I think she got killed for it.”
    Yeah. Something was going on. Like she was doing heroin.
But that didn’t ring true for Talba—she couldn’t see Babalu doing heroin any more than Jason could. “What do you think it was?” she asked.
    “I don’t know.”
    “You must have some idea.”
    He was finally drinking his coffee, taking huge gulps purely for the caffeine. “No. I don’t. Babalu was a very mysterious person.”
    Talba sighed. “You’re not kidding. Anybody who calls themselves Babalu Maya’s got
something
going on. Do you even know her real name?”
    “Sure. Clayton Robineau.”
    “Well, there’s two names that don’t go together.”
    “Why?”
    “Clayton sounds like she owns the town. Robineau probably pumps gas.”
    For the first time, Jason cracked a smile. “You’re probably right. She’s from a town named Clayton. Near Baton Rouge. Robineau’s her married name.”
    “She was divorced?”
    “Yeah.” His face closed down with sadness and defeat.
    “But I don’t know much about the ex-husband. She wouldn’t talk about him.”
    “Well, I’m intrigued about this town thing—her having the same name, I mean. What kind of family did she come from?”
    He’d known that was coming. He all but winced. “She hadn’t introduced me to them.”
    “You sure y’all were engaged?”
    “You know we were. It was in your client report. I read it.”
    “You’re not describing a person who acts like they intend to get married.”
    “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. She was distant. And a lot more so lately.”
    “All right.” Talba was taking notes now. Maybe he really was a potential client. “You must have known something about the family.”
    He nodded and crossed his legs, apparently grateful she’d asked him a question he could answer. “Her father was a banker. I guess that makes you a big deal in Clayton.”
    Talba’s mind ran a movie: “
You’ve got that deb look… ‘Carefully cultivated. We were trailer-trash, actually.’”
    “And her mother was some kind of beauty queen once upon a time.”
    Talba frowned. “That’s a weird way to describe your mother.”
    “I don’t think so. The way Babalu told it that was the important thing about her. Look, there was a reason she didn’t introduce me to her family. She didn’t get along with them.”
    “She was estranged from them?”
    “I guess so. Partially, anyway.”
    “Okay. What’s their name—Babalu’s maiden name?” Jason was easy to read—or else he was such a practiced actor he made you believe what he wanted you to. He looked utterly amazed. “Patterson.” He set down his coffee cup on her desk. “I swear to God, I didn’t even know till after her death. I had to get her best friend to tell me.”
    She raised her eyebrows. This was getting ridiculous.
    “Where were you planning to get married? The bride’s home town?”
    “She wouldn’t discuss it.” His voice was clipped, his eyes vacant.
    Talba put down her pen. “Okay, she was mysterious. But when you get right down to it, who’d want to kill her? Any ideas?”
    He shook his head.
    “Well, I’ve got one,” she said. “How about your girlfriend?”
    “Valerie? Are you kidding? She was just having a fling.”
    “Is that what you were doing?”
    “Sure.”
    Talba pursed her lips. How like a man to assume that, because he had no investment in a relationship, the woman didn’t either. “Well, how well do you know
her
? Maybe she’s nuts.”
    He leaned back in his chair, putting his right foot on his left knee. “Okay, maybe I deserved that. I don’t know, it wasn’t that I didn’t want to know Babalu, it was just that…”
    That mostly you wanted to have sex with her.
She said, “Mind if I ask what you two talked about? It doesn’t seem to have been family history.”
    “Music,” he said. “Poetry. Acting.” He