Corpse Suzette

poised. Perfectly mannered and
perfectly groomed.
    Yes, she’d definitely have
to keep a closer eye on Jeremy Lawrence.
    Nobody on God’s green earth
was that perfect.

Chapter

15
     
     
     
    S avannah found Dr. La Rue in
the small building across the patio, where Jeremy Lawrence had indicated he had
just spoken to her. The tiny black woman had an enormous smile for Savannah
when they met in the middle of a hallway. She was struggling to carry a
cardboard box that looked nearly as big as she was.
    “Dr. La Rue, I presume. I’m
Savannah. Thank you for waiting for me,” she said. “Here, let me take that.”
    “I’ve got it. I’ve got it,”
Yasmina said between huffs and puffs. “More like it’s got you. Gimme
that thing.”
    Savannah took the box from
her and instantly realized why the doctor was having a difficult time. The box
was not only large but extremely heavy.
    “What do you have in here?
Lead? Water? A dead body?” Yasmina threw back her head and laughed heartily.
The sound went through Savannah and gave her the same warm feeling that she got
from hugging Granny Reid.
    “A bit of all three, my
dear,” the doctor replied as she opened a door and ushered Savannah back
outside. “How kind you are to give an old woman some help.”
    Savannah studied the doctor
over the top of the box as they headed toward a parking lot and a beautiful,
navy blue Jaguar. Dr. La Rue could have been any age, from late thirties to
sixty. It was difficult to tell. Her skin was a delicious shade of bronze and
glowed with health; her eyes were bright with intelligence and warm with
kindness. She couldn’t have been more than five feet tall, and Savannah was
sure that her own right thigh weighed more than the whole of the other woman.
    “You don’t look that old to
me,” Savannah said as Yasmina opened the trunk of the Jaguar and motioned for
her to place the box inside.
    “I’m older than these
hills,” she replied, gesturing to the mountains around them. “Older than trees
and dirt. And so are you. Don’t you believe that? Can’t you feel it in your
bones, child?” Savannah jostled the box until it fit and closed the trunk. “Oh
yeah,” she replied. “And some days these bones feel even older than that,
depending on what I’ve been up to.”
    “And what are you up to on
this fine day?” Yasmina dusted her hands off on the bright blue and purple
tunic she wore over dark blue pants. Her ears and neckline sparkled with blue
and purple beaded jewelry that might have been considered by some to be too
large for such a small person. But Dr. Yasmina’s personality easily carried
such a bold statement.
    “Like I mentioned on the
phone, I’m a private investigator and—”
    “And what are you
investigating?”
    “The disappearance of
Suzette Du Bois.”
    “I figured as much.”
    “And the murder of Sergio
D’Alessandro.”
    Dr. La Rue gasped and put
her hand over her mouth. She staggered backward and leaned on the Jaguar’s
trunk. “Murder? His murder , you say?”
    “Yes, I’m sorry to say so,
but it appears now that he was a victim of homicide.”
    “How? How was he killed?”
    “Apparently with an
overdose of Bot-Avanti, that new botulism drug the clinic has been using
instead of Botox. Someone put a lethal amount into the B 12 solution
he normally takes.”
    The doctor was obviously,
deeply affected by the news. She shook her head several times, as though
denying the information. Then tears sprang to her eyes.
    Savannah cursed herself for
not telling Yasmina more gently. How many years had she been informing people
of horrible, heartbreaking things. She should have known better.
    “Are you all right?” She
reached for the doctor’s arm. She could feel her trembling and was afraid she
might faint. “Why don’t we open the car door so that you can sit down?” she
suggested.
    “No, I’ll be okay. I
just... oh, this is so terrible.”
    She covered her face with
her hands and began to sob. Savannah fumbled in her purse and brought out a
handful of tissues.
    She stood silently by,
allowing the woman time to cry and then to partially compose herself. Finally
she said, “I can see that you and he were very close. I’m sorry for your
loss... and for the awful circumstances of his death.”
    Yasmina took a deep,
shuddering breath. “Sergio and I weren’t close,” she said. “I don’t believe
Sergio was close to anyone in his entire life. He just didn’t have it in him.
But murder.