Murder in Lake Palourde

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Murder in Lake Palourde - book excerpt

Chapter One

Jimmy sat on the end of the pier with his toes dangling in the blue waters of Lake Palourde. Marsha sat between his widespread legs with her feet under the edge of the pier. Jimmy was running his hands up and down his girl's body, enjoying the feel of her soft flesh underneath the flimsy top.

“Stop it.” She pushed his hands down.

He began to caress her legs right up to her cut-off jeans.

She shoved his hand away. “I told you I didn’t want to do that. What if somebody sees us?”

“Who's gonna see us out here? Do you see anyone around?”

He put his hand back on her leg.

“Boats are out there on the lake. One of them might have some binoculars or something.”

“Ain’t nobody out there with binoculars. If there’s anyone out there, they’re fishing. They ain’t worried about what we’re doing on the pier.”

He ran his hand up her blouse once again. She pushed it away.

“Have you forgotten that Daddy is the preacher? What would he say if he caught us out here doing this? I’d be grounded for the rest of my life.” She pointed at him. “And he’d kill you for sure. Or he’d have you arrested and tell your parents.”

Jimmy laughed. “I think if he had me arrested, my parents would probably know about it.”

“Let’s wait until after it gets dark anyway. I’d feel better if nobody can see us.”

Jimmy quit laughing. “Are you serious? Are you really gonna let me do it this time?”

Marsha quietly nodded. “We’ve been dating for almost a year. I know how tough it’s been on you with us not doing it and all. I know what the other boys are saying to you. I just don’t wanna get pregnant.”

“Don’t worry, baby. I brought protection with me just in case.”

He reached into his back pocket.

Jimmy ran his hand up and down her body and rested it on her breast. She didn't resist. They started to kiss when she pulled back and yelled.

“Stop.”

Jimmy’s hand stopped moving. He looked at her confused.

“I thought we—”

She pushed his hand away and stood up. He tried to hold on to her leg, but she jerked it away and crept to the far edge of the pier. She shielded her eyes, focusing on the choppy waters of Lake Palourde.

“Look. Out there. There’s something floating out there.” Marsha pointed at a white object bobbing in the small waves. “Oh, my God. It’s a body.” 

Chapter Two

“Who is it?” Kristi peered over Hawk Theriot’s shoulder.

“I don’t know. The body is pretty bloated. It’s a male. I can tell that much. The crabs and turtles got to it already.”

He replied without looking up.

“Your jurisdiction or mine?”

“You’re the acting Sheriff of St. Mary Parish. We don’t know where he was killed and how far he floated. It’s your call.”

She laughed. “I’m only the acting Sheriff because you had a friend on the bench at the courthouse. Otherwise, I’d still be unemployed after the fiasco with the Treasury Department.”

Hawk smiled at the petite lady in uniform.

“Look how much you learned about the job and the Basin during that fiasco. You know more about the job than almost anyone, especially after they had to fire the entire staff.”

“Any ID in his pockets?”

Hawk hauled the body onto the small pier. A crowd of onlookers stood on the bank only twenty-five feet from them.

One lady gasped.

“That’s Coach McClure,” she yelled. “That’s Coach McClure.”

Hawk then saw the resemblance of the body to the ex-coach of the football team at Morgan City High School. The Medical Examiner’s car pulled up to the end of the pier. Two men exited the car with a body bag in hand.

Hawk stood when they neared the body.

“One lady thinks it’s Coach McClure. I can’t be sure with the bloating and the bites but it looks like him. I found nothing in his pockets to verify the identification.”

The closest man responded. “I wouldn’t doubt it. He didn’t have too many friends left in town. It was just a matter of time before somebody tried to use him for alligator bait.”

The two men loaded the body into the bag and hauled it on a gurney back to the car. When they rolled away, the onlookers followed them in morbid curiosity. They left Hawk and Kristi alone on the pier. They walked to the edge of the pier.

“What did he mean by the remark he made?”

Hawk was scanning the water to see if he could spot anything else floating that would give him a clue to how the coach died.

“Only that Coach McClure wasn't the most popular man in town right now.”

“Why not? Did they lose a lot of games?”

Hawk shook his head. “Actually, they’ve won district the last four years. His team went all the way to the finals two years ago and almost won the championship.”

“And they were mad about him losing the championship game?”

Kristi wrinkled her brow.

“It was something else.” He shrugged. “I’ve heard the story, but I’m not sure of all the facts.”

“Tell me the story. We’ll sort out the facts later.”

They sat on a bench overlooking the blue calm waters of Lake Palourde.

“After the season two years ago, he opened a bar and grill in town. He hired a few cheerleaders to be bartenders. The problem was that they were only seventeen years old. The minimum age to get a liquor license in Louisiana is eighteen.”

“If he owned the bar, he should've known the rules.”

Hawk nodded.

“He did. He said they were waitresses and only filled in behind the bar one night when both of his bartenders didn’t show up. The school didn’t buy his argument and took away his coaching responsibilities.”

“That seems harsh to me if he made an innocent mistake.”

Hawk threw an oyster shell into the water.

“The principal of the school had a son on the team. He thought his son should have been the starting quarterback and blamed Coach McClure for not playing him in the championship game. So part of the reason was personal. At least that’s what some people around here are saying.”

“So the principal got his revenge because of the cheerleaders working behind the bar.”

Hawk continued to scan over the waves.

“That didn’t sit too well with Coach McClure. He blamed the principal and the School Board for what happened to him. He ran for a seat on the School Board and a seat on the City Council. He won both.”

“It doesn’t sound like he was that unpopular if he won both elections.”

Another oyster shell found its burial place in the depths of the lake.

“It was what he did afterward. As a member of the School Board, he dug around in the files for the new high school St. Mary Parish just built. He found the principal had gone around the bidding procedures and turned him in to Shawn, the Sheriff you replaced. He forced Shawn to make a report and turn it over to the School Board. Everyone on the board knew Coach McClure was the one who was responsible for the report. Anyway, they fired the principal and he lost his job and his retirement.”

Kristi rose and stood beside Hawk.

“If he went around the bidding procedures, then they should have fired him.”

“It’s not that simple. When they made the bathrooms, they forgot to design one to be handicap accessible. School was about to start and the principal didn’t think there was enough time to go out on bids and get the bathrooms redone before classes started. So it wasn’t like he was putting money in his pocket. He was trying to make sure the handicapped kids could use the restrooms or he would’ve had to postpone the school year. He did what he thought was best.”

Kristi nodded. “I see. And Coach McClure used his dilemma against him.”

“Upset a lot of folks in town. But what McClure did next really got the people in an uproar.”

“What's that?”

“He forced the other members of the School Board to vote to file a lawsuit against the principal to recover the cost of refurbishing the restroom. They did and they won the suit. The principal lost his savings, his home and ultimately his marriage of over thirty years.”

Kristi gazed out over the lake.

“That’s cruel. And it’s a shame.”

“I agree. The thing that is puzzling is how Coach McClure got enough of the School Board members to vote with him on the lawsuit. Nobody’s been able to figure that out yet.”

Kristi shook her head. “Sounds like he was a busy man.”

“Busier than a five dollar whore at a sailor’s convention. He was mad and he wanted to get even. He did but looks like it might have all backfired on him.”

“Why don’t we work on this one together since we’re not sure where he died? Besides, I don’t have a lot of experience at this yet. I could use the help.”

“I don’t mind helping you at all.” He squeezed her shoulders. “Where do you want to start?”

Kristi looked across the water. The setting sun cast a beautiful glow on Lake Palourde. She turned to Hawk and smiled.

“At the café. I’m hungry.” 

Chapter Three

“Are you gonna eat those fries?”

Kristi pointed at the pile of French fries left on Hawk’s plate from the seafood platter he had at Jade’s Seafood in Morgan City.

“Be my guest. They’re all yours.”

He handed her his plate and she raked the fries onto hers along with some hush puppies and two or three fried oysters. Hawk looked at her and shook his head.

“At least the death of Coach McClure didn’t ruin your appetite.”

She barely glanced up.

“I told you I have a thyroid issue. The doctors can’t seem to get it working the way it’s supposed to work.”

“Enjoy it while you can. If I ate half as much as you, they’d have to use a wheelbarrow to get me around. I don’t see how you do it.”

“Not much choice on my part until they get my thyroid working. Gotta eat to stay alive.”

“So does the rest of humanity. But we don’t have to eat everything in sight to do it.”

“Quit complaining. You weren’t gonna eat that stuff, anyway. Just think of it as saving the homeless.”

“You aren't homeless. You’re staying at my house until you can get a place of your own.”

Kristi popped an oyster in her mouth.

“In my book, if I don’t have a place of my own, I’m homeless. Besides, if I move out I’ll have to cook for myself and you’re a good cook. It’d be a waste of talent if I didn’t use yours.”

Hawk shook his head. “Flattery will get you everywhere.”

“It won’t help me solve the death of Coach McClure.”

She dipped a fry into the spiced ketchup.

“Who knows? He might have fallen out of his boat while he was fishing, hit his head on a cypress knee and drowned.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

Kristi ate the last of Hawk’s fries.

“Did you notice his throat when he was on the pier?”

“Should I have?”

She looked across the table at the ranger.

“There was a long even slash from one side to the other. Crabs and turtles don’t make long even slashes. Whoever killed Coach McClure was right next to him. This was a murder and a very personal one.”

“Why didn’t you say something at the pier?”

“I didn’t want to get ahead of the Medical Examiner’s report.”

Hawk took a sip of the ice tea.

“But I’m positive somebody murdered the coach.”

Kristi motioned to the waitress. “Can you bring me some bread pudding with the whiskey sauce on top?”

She waited for the elderly lady to nod.

“Thank you. Oh, don’t forget the whipped cream. I don’t think I could eat it without the whipped cream.”

Hawk laughed. “I think you could manage without the cream. You managed your soft shell crab plate and half of my seafood platter. I don’t think you would've had any trouble with the bread pudding.”

She smiled. “Might as well get it the way I like it. Do you know who killed the coach since you figured out how he died?”

“Not even close. I don’t know why he died, much less who killed him. We’ve got our work ahead of us.”

“Not until I get my bread pudding, we don’t. Did I forget to order a cup of coffee to go with it?” 

Chapter Four

The man in the doorway appeared drawn and haggard in the stained, wrinkled shirt.. His shoes reflected the same care as his shirt.. Hawk and Kristi brushed the chairs off before they sat down.

“Walter, you were the principal of Morgan City High until two years ago. Is this correct?”

“I was the principal for sixteen years.”

Hawk looked across the small coffee table in the rundown apartment.

“You lost your job because of a bidding procedure?”

Walter didn't look straight at Hawk. Instead, he found his own feet of interest.

“Not really. I lost my job because of Coach McClure. He had a vendetta against me because I didn’t think he was representing the school in the best light possible.”

Kristi took out a small pad.

“Let’s start with the basics. You know he owns a bar right off the campus. Right?”

“Yes.”

Kristi glanced at her notes. “I understand he hired students to work as waitresses there.”

Walter sighed. He paused a long time before answering. “Yes.”

“And you discovered at least one of them filled in as a bartender? Correct?”

“There were at least two,” Walter replied. “And that is the story we let out for public consumption.”

“There was another one? Story, I mean.”

Walter looked over at Kristi and hesitated and then back at Hawk.

“There is the real story that led to his demotion.”

Hawk glanced at Kristi.

“What really happened? We’re not interested in the politically correct version.”

The ex-principal slumped back in his chair like all energy drained from his body.

“When I first heard Coach McClure was hiring students, particularly football players and cheerleaders in his bar, I had several concerns. Foremost, we can’t offer one segment of the student population a benefit not available to all of them. Here we were offering athletes and members of the cheer squad special perks. To see if the rumors were true, I took my wife to the coach’s bar and grill for dinner one night. Every student working there fell into one of the two categories I mentioned.”

Walter picked at some lint on his shirt before gathering enough energy to continue.

“I didn’t want to make a scene in front of his customers, so I waited until the next day at school to approach Coach McClure.”

“How did he respond to your concerns?”

Walter sighed. “Not well, I’m afraid. He told me to mind my own business. When I tried to explain to Coach this was my business, he told me the bar and grill was his business and had nothing to do with the school.”

“Did it?”

“It’s a matter of interpretation. As a faculty member, teacher or coach in St. Mary Parish, all of us have a clause in our contracts that says any actions we take either on school grounds or off of school grounds that may reflect poorly on the school district may result in disciplinary action. I considered what he was doing as reflecting poorly on the school.”

“Would you consider this a gray area?” Kristi asked.

“Somewhat. That’s why the conversation was contentious.”

Hawk continued to make notes in his pad.

“What disciplinary action did you take as a result of the conversation?”

The ex-principal finished the coffee in his cup and searched the bottom of the cup for answers.

“None at first. I don’t—didn’t have the authority to demote or take disciplinary action vested in myself alone. I had to present the facts to the Personnel Committee. If they felt justified, the Committee could have presented the case and made a recommendation to the full school board. The full board would've had to take up the matter in a closed-door session. If the full board voted to proceed, they were required to hold a public hearing and present the case to the community.”

He stared at his empty cup.

“We were nowhere near all of that when I had the conversation with Coach McClure.”

“What happened next?” Kristi asked.

“I continued to hear rumors about Coach’s bar and grill. One rumor contained incidents of abuse to the students working there.”

“Abuse? Do you mean physical abuse?”

“Sexual abuse.”

Kristi sat erect in her chair.

“Sexual abuse? How in the world could they be abused in a restaurant?”

Walter turned to face Kristi.

“We heard specific rumors. I didn’t feel comfortable approaching Coach McClure about them since the previous conversation hadn't gone well at all.”

Kristi still hadn't closed her mouth. “What did you do?”

“I met with the Executive Committee. There were three of us on it and I expressed my concerns to them.”

Hawk asked, “Why didn’t you turn it over to Security? Why the Executive Committee?”

“Our school system doesn’t have a mechanism in place to deal with a situation like the one we were facing. In hindsight, we should've contacted the Sheriff’s office with the allegations and our suspicions. But the facts were so flimsy in this case. We didn’t want to start even more rumors without some hard evidence.”

Kristi laid her coffee cup on the table beside her chair.

“How did you get around it? Morgan City isn't New Orleans or New York City. Not much goes on around here without somebody finding out.” She paused. “And if one person knows, the whole town knows.”

“You’re exactly right. That’s why we took the action we did. We hired a private investigator and paid for him out of our own pockets.”

“Hold on.” Hawk raised his hand in the air. “You guys hired a private investigator using your own funds to investigate a St. Mary Parish school employee?”

Walter rubbed his eyes.

“I didn’t say it was the smartest decision we’ve ever made, particularly looking back at it now.”

Hawk whistled.

“I can understand that statement, for sure. Whose idea was it?”

“I don’t remember. Truthfully, I don’t.” Walter shook his head. “It was an idea that came up along with several others. Our main concern was protecting the students.”

Kristi leaned back in her seat.

“There must have been another way. I can see why Coach McClure had a problem with how you handled it.”

“Again, we’re looking at this in hindsight.”

Walter stood up. “Can I get you more coffee?”

“No, thanks.”

The old man shuffled into the kitchen and returned with a full cup of black brew.

“Sheriff Blocker, you haven’t known Hawk as long as I have. He's done some things. Shall we say he skirted some rules? And when I say skirted, you couldn’t even see the rule book from where he was. But his heart was always in the right place.”

Kristi laughed. “Please call me Kristi. I’ve known Hawk long enough to know his style doesn’t always fit in the orthodox box most people play in. His box is more like a suggestion box. He only follows the suggestions he wants to do. Especially filling out reports fully and truthfully.”

“Wait a minute, guys.” Hawk held up his hand again and looked at Kristi. “And girls. We’re not here to discuss my habits. We’re here to get background on the coach and try to figure out why he’s dead.”

Walter took a sip of the hot coffee.

“Where was I?” Walter continued. “Oh, yeah. The investigator. We decided not to publicize our suspicions and hired the investigator. There were only three of us. The other two gave me their permission to hire someone. We pledged to cover one third of the cost each. They elected me to carry out the plan and the very next day I hired an investigator.”

Kristi scribbled more notes. “Who did you hire?”

“Next Day Investigations up in Baton Rouge. Catchy name, huh? That’s what caught my attention, anyway. We wanted something done in a hurry. What we didn’t want to do is hire someone from Morgan City. If we had, we might as well have taken out an advertisement in the newspaper.”

“Can we get the contact information for Next Day?” Hawk asked.

“I should still have it in one of the old files somewhere. If not, they’re still in business in Baton Rouge. They won’t be hard to find.”

Hawk nodded. “How long before they started?”

Walter gave him a tired smile. “Just when the name implies. They started the very next day. Actually, they met with us the next day and had a man in the bar and grill the next night.”

“What did he find out?”

“We had a report in three days.” Walter paused. “The contents shocked us. The cheerleaders weren't waitresses at any time. When they reported to work, He immediately assigned them a job behind the bar.”

Hawk looked up from his notepad. “I understand they were too young to get a liquor license.”

Walter nodded vigorously. “True. But that was secondary to the main findings.”

Kristi shook her head. “Uh oh. I don’t like the sound of where this is going.”

Walter took a long gulp from his cup. “We didn’t either. You need to go by the facility to see how it’s set up. If you’re eating in the main dining area, you can’t see the bar area. The investigator started by having dinner in the main area. He saw nothing alarming. All the waitresses were young and attractive. All the waiters and bus boys were built like athletes. He pretty well confirmed our suspicions about the favorable treatment for athletes.”

“What else did he find?”

“After he finished his meal, he went to the bar for an after dinner drink.”

“And?”

“He found Coach McClure in the bar.”

Walter took a long drink from his coffee cup. Hawk thought he smelled something other than coffee in the cup. “Behind the bar.”

“Nothing wrong with that as long as he had a liquor license and he had to have one to own the business.”

“He did. One license for the establishment and a personal license. We checked. It was what the investigator saw that got our attention.”

Kristi sat on the edge of her seat.

“What did he see?” she asked.

“Behind the bar were two young girls he later identified as members of the cheer squad. Both were way too young to be serving drinks to customers. At least two years too young.”

Kristi rubbed her eyes.

“Wouldn’t that have been enough to take to the Personnel Committee?”

Walter nodded. “It was only the beginning. He put in his report Coach McClure was encouraging the two young ladies to match drinking shots of tequila and whiskey with some customers. The investigator moved to a table in the back of the bar and sipped on a beer so he could stay awhile without being conspicuous. As you might've guessed, with them not weighing much, it didn’t take long for the girls to become intoxicated.”

Kristi closed her eyes. “Uh-oh.”

“Yeah, uh-oh is right. After a little while, Coach McClure began to tease the girls and got them to fondle each other. It wasn’t long before they weren't serving drinks behind the bar.”

Kristi opened her eyes and stared straight at the ex-principal.