Kent Conwell - Tony Boudreaux 09 - The Crystal Skull Murders Read Online Free

got
an hour to kill before Getdown Joe shows up”
    Doreen pulled out a small pad and scribbled some
notes.
    I frowned. “What’s that?”
    With the same dour expression on her face, she
replied, “I’m making notes.”
    Despite my mixed feelings toward her, I muttered,
“I’m glad to see that”
    She looked up, a puzzled frown replacing the sour
expression on her face.
    I pulled up to a red light and opened my cell phone. I
called Billy Joe Martin at the morgue. He and I went
back years at Sam Houston University in Huntsville.
    I explained I knew the identity of the old wino they
had autopsied last week, and that I was looking for a
pawn ticket in his effects.
    “Come on over, Tony. I’ll see what I can find out.”
    I dropped the cell phone in my pocket.
    “Friend of yours?” Her tone didn’t have as sharp an
edge as earlier.
    “Yeah. We were in the Criminal Justice program up
at Huntsville until I changed majors.”
    She arched a curious eyebrow.
    I chuckled. “I decided to teach English.”
    Her eyes grew wide.

    “Hey,” I added with a grin. “It takes all kinds.”
    “An English teacher, huh?”
    I couldn’t be sure, but I thought I caught a fleeting
smile over her lips. “Yeah” I sighed and flexed my
fingers about the steering wheel. “English in a school
where kids didn’t want to learn and where every administrator’s mission in life was to please the parents.”
    For a moment, I figured that maybe we were beginning to communicate. “What about you? How’d you
end up here?”
    Her face grew hard, and the tone in her voice indicated she didn’t want to talk about it. “Let’s just say it
was a choice I made”
    I glanced at Doreen as we pushed through the glass
doors at the Travis County Morgue. Against the far wall
was a semicircular counter behind which sat three mature women in front of computers. I nodded to the first
and smiled. “Could you tell Billy Joe Martin that Tony
Boudreaux is here?”
    She reached for the phone and indicated a row of
leather chairs against one wall. “You can wait over there”
    As we waited, Doreen scribbled a few additional
notes in her notepad. After she dropped it back in her
pocket, she looked around at me. “From what you said
earlier, I assume you take notes also, huh?”
    I nodded. “Yeah” I pulled out several blank 3 x 5
cards from my pocket. “This is what I keep my notes on. Each card details a single factor: a comment, an act,
anything pertaining to the case. Detailed note taking is
essential. You’re smart to do it.”

    To my surprise, she smiled. “Thanks”
    “Hey, Tony.”
    We looked around as Billy Joe pushed through the
door and let it swing shut behind him. I jumped to my
feet, my eyes fixed on his hands, which held nothing. A
wave of disappointment washed over me.
    He hurried over, and we shook hands. I introduced
him to Doreen. “Sorry, Tony. All the old man had on
him was thirty-six cents in change and a bag of Bull
Durham tobacco”
    “And that’s it?”
    “That’s it. By the way, you said you had his name”
    Disappointed, I nodded. “Yeah. Chadley Beauregard
Collins, nickname, Rosey”
    Billy Joe whistled. “Hey, I think if that was my
name, I’d go by Rosey too. You know where he came
from?”
    “No. I met him on Sixth Street a few years ago. You
finished with him?”
    “Yeah. We’ll plant him tomorrow.”
    I glanced at Doreen, then leaned toward Billy Joe. “I
want to give this old man something better than Potter’s
Field. I’ll make arrangements with Maxton Funeral
Home to pick him up”
    A perplexed frown played over Billy Joe’s face and
then an expression of understanding replaced it. He winked at me. “If you need a few extra bucks, let me
know.”

    “Thanks, buddy.”
    Back in the pickup, Doreen looked at me curiously
and then buckled herself in. Her eyes fixed on the road
ahead, she said, “What was that all about, the funeral
home business?”
    With a