Bones on the Bayou: A Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery Short Story Read Online Free

Eve.”
    “You are such a bad liar, Sarah Booth. You didn’t find Oscar at Finch Lake. He was somewhere along Silver Bayou, wasn’t he? Oscar instigated that stupid blow-up doll prank.”
    I couldn’t confirm or deny it. “Please, Tinkie. Let me do what I can to find the truth before this gets blasted out of proportion.”
    “I can help. I’m the best person to help. As Oscar’s wife, I wouldn’t have to testify against him.”
    She was right about that, but the burden of proof would weigh heavily on her. “Let me see what I can do. If I need you, I’ll call. In the meantime, when Oscar wakes up, see what he can remember.”
    “Take me back to the hospital. He’ll talk or else.”
    I put an arm around her shoulders. “We can’t jump to conclusions. We don’t know anything other than a tasteless joke has been played. Enzo may be rolled up in bed with a hot woman.”
    “Oscar jumped to conclusions, and that’s why he’s in the mess he’s in.”
    True, but saying so wouldn’t help. “He loves you.”
    “And I love him. I still want to kick his butt into next Sunday. Oscar wouldn’t hurt a fly, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t kidnap Enzo in a drunken fit. If he did that and Enzo presses charges…” Tinkie turned away. “The situation could be dire.”
    “Dire? Well, maybe not dire.” I tried to hedge the truth, but things were pretty freaking dire.
    “Take me to the hospital, please.” Tinkie’s mind was made up, and I had work to do with Harold. I drove her there in silence, the miles ticking by, just like the minutes.
    Harold had hidden Oscar’s Land Rover at the back of his house. I found him outside with high intensity lights, Luminol, and what looked like a real crime scene detection kit. “Where did you get that?”
    “It’s your Christmas present. It was supposed to be a surprise,” he said, totally unrepentant. “I thought, what better use? That’s how I found the three dark hairs.” He held out the baggy. “Where can we run DNA?”
    “Hold your horses, Gil Grissom. We don’t know a crime has been committed.”
    “Oh, a crime has definitely been committed. Cece has photos of the man doll. She emailed them to me. I’d say that’s a crime against nature. A noose! Not a man who saw those photos will fail to get the willies. Thank God she isn’t running them in the newspaper.”
    I had to laugh and it did make me feel better. “Boys and their toys.”
    “Very clever,” he said. “Now take a look at this lipstick.”
    The bright coral shade was definitely not Tinkie’s. Harold was right about that. “Only a person with olive skin could carry that color.”
    “So it isn’t Tinkie’s. I am vindicated! And it was in the front seat and the hairs in the backseat. The story the evidence tells me is that Oscar had a woman with him in the front seat and they abducted Enzo together.” He picked up a magnifying glass a la Sherlock Holmes and faced me, one eye huge and unblinking. “We must find the woman!”
    “Brilliant deduction,” I grumbled. “How do you suggest we go about sussing her out?”
    “We contact Cece Dee Falcon. If anyone knows this brand and shade of lipstick and who might wear it, it’s Cece.”
    “You are smarter than you look, Harold.” I pushed the magnifying glass aside.
    “I may take up deducing in my spare time,” he said.
    “Heaven save us.” I caught his hand and tugged him toward the roadster. Enzo’s continued absence concerned me. Harold and I couldn’t evade questions for much longer.
    Cece’s office in the back of The Zinnia Dispatch looked like a mini-nuclear explosion had occurred. She was hidden behind the files stacked on her desktop, but I could hear the tap, tap, tap of the keyboard.
    I rattled the bag of cream cheese Danish I’d picked up at the bakery next door. None of us had had time to eat. Cece’s manicured hand slid into the bag and brought forth a pastry. I passed the bag to Harold, who held a tray with three fresh