Dead In The Water (Rebecca Schwartz Mystery #4) (The Rebecca Schwartz Series)

There’s no way that much gunk could come out of such a little wormy thing.”
    “Chill out, will you?” Keil was furious he hadn’t gone through the great adventure with us. “Everybody’s already heard what a hero you were. About a hundred and nine times.”
    “Ricky hasn’t!”
    “Keil,” I said, “there’s something I never got a chance to ask you. I chased somebody in the warehouse the day after Sadie was killed. That was you, wasn’t it?”
    “What makes you think that?”
    “You had access to a key—your mom’s, or maybe Ricky’s that you got from Amber. You’re about the right height and build. And you got a phone call that sounded like a job a few minutes before I left the house.”
    He looked very smug, very pleased himself. “Trap Door’s clientele is strictly confidential.”
    “Oh,
sure
,” said Esperanza. “Like attorney-client privilege, right, Rebecca?
Mr
.
Important
.”
    She sounded like a brat. I knew there could be only one explanation—she was getting a crush on him.
    I said, “Okay, you don’t have to tell me. But let me guess, okay? Humor me.”
    He shrugged.
    “The client’s name started with ‘A.’”
    Libby took up the game. “Amber!”
    “And she wanted you to recover a certain piece of property for her.”
    “The pearl!” Both girls were into the spirit now. Maybe I’d successfully changed the subject.
    “I was kind of wondering how much you charge for a job like that.”
    “Confidential.”
    “Ha. I know! That’s why she gave you her Swiss army knife.” Libby preened herself over her deduction.
    Ricky started. “Santa Claus brought her that knife.”
    “Oh, Ricky, who believes in Santa Claus? Don’t you want to know what it feels like to pick one up a hagfish?”
    “Don’t they wiggle?”
    “Oh,
wiggle
. Wiggle! It’s like having a whole handful of snakes at once. And they’re so slimy the only way you can keep hold of them is to squeeze real tight, but then they might pop right through your hands. So you’ve got to hold them in both hands, and you’ve got to be
real
quick and just when you…”
    But that was far as she got. Keil had just about had it with Libby and Esperanza’s Excellent Adventure. “Hey, Mom,” he interrupted, “what’s for dessert?”
    Finally! A change of subject that worked. Marty served the pie with clouds of whipped cream, airy and sweet like the kind of dreams we all hoped to have again.
     
    THE END

 
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    Next in the Rebecca Schwartz series is OTHER PEOPLE’S SKELETONS . Find it at www.booksbnimble.com or www.amazon.com .
    The Rebecca Schwartz Series
(in order of publication)
     
DEATH TURNS A TRICK
     
THE SOURDOUGH WARS
     
TOURIST TRAP
     
DEAD IN THE WATER
     
OTHER PEOPLE’S SKELETONS

Also by Julie Smith:
     
    The Skip Langdon Series
     
    NEW ORLEANS MOURNING
    THE AXEMAN’S JAZZ
    JAZZ FUNERAL
DEATH BEFORE FACEBOOK
(formerly NEW ORLEANS BEAT)
    HOUSE OF BLUES
    THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS
CRESCENT CITY CONNECTION
(formerly CRESCENT CITY KILL)
    82 DESIRE
    MEAN WOMAN BLUES
     
    The Paul Mcdonald Series
     
    TRUE-LIFE ADVENTURE
    HUCKLEBERRY FIEND
     
    The Talba Wallis Series
     
    LOUISIANA HOTSHOT
    LOUISIANA BIGSHOT
    LOUISIANA LAMENT
    P.I. ON A HOT TIN ROOF
     
    As Well As
     
WRITING YOUR WAY: THE GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL TRACK
    NEW ORLEANS NOIR (ed.)
     
    And don’t miss ALWAYS OTHELLO, a Skip Langdon story, as well as the brand new short story, PRIVATE CHICK, which asks the question, “Is this country ready for a drag queen detective?” More info at www.booksBnimble.com .

Acknowledgments
     
    The Monterey Bay Aquarium is a real and very wonderful place much as depicted herein except for one tiny detail—it’s staffed by perfectly lovely people (not a murderer in the bunch), many of whom contributed to this book not only with