Page 75 of Cursed
“If you take Gascon in now, I’m going to sue you up the wazoo for false arrest,” Dan said.
The sheriff considered his words, then shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
“You made a serious mistake by arresting a man on trumped-up charges,” Dan added.
“Now wait a minute …”
Dan plowed on. “If this whole story gets out, you’ll be the laughingstock of the law enforcement bulletin boards.”
“Are you threatening me?” Jarvis demanded.
Dan spread his hands in a gesture of innocence. “Of course not, I’m just pointing out that it’s to your advantage to switch your focus. You’ve solved a series of murders going back several months. You proved that Dwight Rivers was clawing people to death in the backcountry. That’s something to be proud of. And the community will be grateful.”
The sheriff thought that over. “And what would you say was Mr. Rivers’ motive for the murders?” he asked in a tight voice.
There was utter silence in the room—until Morgan took a step forward and spoke. “He had a geological survey done of the area and found oil on Belle Vista land. He wanted to drive Mr. Gascon away. Or get him lynched,” she added in a low voice.
Andre was staring at her. “How do you know that?”
“I found the geological survey maps you hid in a library book because you didn’t want to deal with the consequences. I have to assume Rivers had the survey commissioned.”
“He did,” Dan snapped. “We’ve been a little busy, so I hadn’t gotten around to giving you that information yet.”
Jarvis looked from her to Andre. “You know there’s oil on your property?”
“Yes,” he admitted. “But I wasn’t going to screw up the natural environment for my own profit.”
“Rivers talked to you about it?” Dan asked.
“No. He stayed out of it. But a consultant from Houston came down here and gave me the information. It was handled so that I had no idea anyone in town even knew about it.”
Dan turned to Jarvis. “You’ve got your motive.”
The other man nodded.
“And Andre Gascon is off the hook,” Dan clarified.
When the sheriff nodded again, Morgan felt some of the tightness in her chest ease.
In the next moment, the lawman focused on her. “You still haven’t given me a statement.”
“I can do that,” she said in a weary voice.
“With her lawyer present,” Dan added. “And I’d like you to do it here rather than in town. Mrs. Kirkland has been through a frightening experience, and I don’t want her stressed any more than she has to be.”
Jarvis made a sound of annoyance, but he agreed to let her stay at the plantation.
“You can use the den,” Janet suggested.
Before Dan led her away, Morgan’s eyes shot to Andre. They needed to talk. But it seemed she wasn’t going to be allowed to do that yet.
She, Dan and the sheriff repaired to the den. When they had closed the door and sat down, Jarvis got out a notebook andstarted with some easy questions—like her name, birthday, and driver’s license number. Then he hit her with something more controversial. “For the record, you’re not a librarian, are you?”
She glanced at Dan. When he nodded, she said, “I’m a private investigator hired by Mr. Gascon to find out who was murdering people in the swamp and trying to pin it on him.”
“So, you admit you were operating under false pretenses,” Jarvis snapped.
She kept her gaze steady. “That’s what undercover work is about.”
