Page 159 of Blue Moon

“No, I’m sorry. Seven or eight years ago?”

Then the records were probably gone. In New York, a business only had to keep records for three years after they filed a tax return.

“So Anton just showed up one day and offered you a house?”

“No, not like that. He called out of the blue and swore he wanted to make things up to the two of us, said he’d always felt bad when he couldn’t provide. I’d split from my boyfriend the month before, so I wanted to get out of town, and Anton told me he had a buddy that would do him a great deal on the rent here. It’s real nice. Way better than my old apartment.”

“Does he visit often?”

“Every few months. And the last time… That was when I said to myself, ‘Carole-Ann, he’s stopped taking his medication.’”

“What made you think that?”

“He had this weird obsession with Egyptian stuff, but he only really talked about it when he was sick. When he started calling me Fulvia, I figured he’d quit his pills.”

“Did you try encouraging him to take them again?”

“What was the point? Like I said, Anton always knew best, and he hated the side effects. The medication made his mouth real dry, plus he put on weight.” She folded her arms. “But I’m telling you, he won’t have hurt anyone. Whatever happened, it’s just a misunderstanding.”

“Do you have any way to contact Anton?”

“No,” she said, but she answered too fast, and she wouldn’t meet my gaze either. Carole-Ann Murray was lying. And not only was she lying, I had a horrible feeling that when we left, she might try to warn Hebert that we were getting closer. She said she only cared about the rent money, but she’d been with the guy for three years, and now that the money worries had melted away, there were still other feelings lurking beneath the surface.

“This is the only other address we have for Anton, so I’ll leave my associate outside in case he shows up.”

“He won’t come here.”

“Even so, we can’t take the chance.”

“So he’s just going to sit out there? On the street?”

“He won’t leave the engine running. Environmental concerns and all that.”

“My neighbours will call the cops. People don’t wait on the street around here.”

“Oh dear. That’s…unfortunate.” Sad face. “We were hoping to handle this a little more sensitively than the police probably would.”

As I hoped, Carole-Ann took the bait. “I guess it would be okay if he parked on the driveway.”

“We’d really appreciate that. Truly. I’ll make sure he finishes assembling that furniture before he heads out.”

“There’s no need for?—”

“It’s the least we can do.” Thirty minutes, and Slater would charm her the way he charmed every woman with a pulse. “I’m going to leave you my number. If you hear from Anton, would you let me know?”

“Uh, sure. I guess.”

Slater understood the brief, and when I got outside, I called Tulsa while I waited for a car to pick me up. The pool car we’d borrowed earlier would have to stay here.

“Any luck?” I asked.

“No. You?”

“The ex claims she doesn’t know anything, but for sure she doesn’t hate him as much as we were led to believe. Or rather, she likes the money he inherited.”

“Is she telling the truth?”

“I don’t reckon she knows where he lives, but five bucks says she has a number for him. I think she’ll try to call. Slater’s gonna stay here to keep an eye on her.”

---