House of Blues

lump crabmeat's eighteen-fifty a pound."
    "So? Pompano's nine-fifty. Would we serve
tilapia or drum as the catch of the day? Of course not—a restaurant
of this caliber serves pompano."
    "If I bought crab at that price, we'd have to
charge so much for it, no one would order it."
    " Well, can't you get imitation crab?"
    "Your husband always said, 'This is Hebert's,
Ms. Phillips. You order crab remoulade, it better be crab.' "
    " We'll just do half and half," said Sugar.
"Nobody'll know the difference" Her expression said she was
absolutely confident no one had ever had such a clever idea.
    " Reed tried that about five years ago. You know
what happened? The chef walked out."
    "Can't we just get a new chef?"
    Nina closed her eyes and picked up the receiver
again. "Mr. Daroca, I'll have to call you back." She
glanced briefly at Skip, apparently deciding she didn't mind if she
had a witness. "Sugar, you've had a bad shock. I know you must
feel you have to take up the slack, with Arthur and Reed gone, but
you've really got to give yourself a break. You shouldn't be here,
stressing yourself out at a time like this." She brushed hair
off her forehead. "God knows I wouldn't be if I had any choice."
    "Nina Phillips, don't you patronize me."
    "I'm not patronizing you, I'm just trying to do
what's best for the restaurant right now."
    "It's not your restaurant."
    Skip wondered how Nina was going to answer that one.
Sugar was apparently one of those people who specialized in the
unanswerable. Her own mother was one as well.
    Nina brushed at her hair again. "Sugar, honey, I
know you want to do what's best, but you have to remember, your
husband was raised in this business. Reed went to Cornell to learn
how to run a restaurant; I've had five years' experience here, and
five before that over at Dooky Chase's. You can't just walk in one
morning and take over a multimillion dollar business."
    Sugar looked as if she couldn't decide whether to
destroy the room or cry. It was a small child's anger and hurt Skip
saw on her face.
    She must have been some mom, Skip thought. A
giant—sized four-year-old.
    Nina's voice was very gentle. "Now, I'm going to
talk for a minute with Detective Langdon. When I'm done, I need to be
able to make my groceries."
    Sugar looked briefly at Skip. Her eyes were furious,
but the hurt and humiliation in them far outstripped the anger. She
turned and left on noisy high heels, yet Skip thought "stalked
out" too dignified a term for her exit. She thought she heard a
sniffle as the older woman passed.
    Nina was too frustrated for discretion. "She's
like a five-year-old. She suddenly decides she's something she isn't,
and no one can tell her different. Life's been pretty easy for a
couple of years, ever since she became an artist—never had a lesson
in her life, but at least she didn't bother anybody. Now she's an
expert on the cost of crab—can you imagine?"
    "Sorry it's a bad time, but I really need to ask
you some questions."
    Nina was suddenly all business. "Of course. I
apologize for all this."
    "First of all, do you mind if I have a look
around Mr. Hebert's office?"
    Nina hesitated. Was it her call? Skip could almost
hear her wondering. Finally, she sighed, evidently deciding she was
in charge. "Go ahead. But I'll stay with you."
    As Skip began going through papers, Nina reached for
the phone and dialed. "Grady Hebert," she said. "Your
mama's been down at the restaurant creating havoc. If you don't keep
her out of here, there's not going to be any Hebert's."
    She hung up, presumably having vented her spleen on a
machine.
    Skip searched quietly, found nothing that meant
anything to her. When she was satisfied, she said, "I'rn puzzled
about something. Mrs. Hebert isn't acting very bereaved. How did she
and Arthur get along?"
    Nina thought about it. "I guess they more or
less hated each other. But she probably still misses him."
    Unless his death was a hit. It wouldn't be the first
time.
    " I've got to tell you, this is how she is,
though. She runs around in circles so she doesn't have to sit down
and think about anything. The more upset she is, the crazier she
makes everyone else."
    " I really came to talk about Dennis. You're
pretty sure he's really off drugs?"
    "He's a pillar of AA. Has been for years."
She glanced quickly at Skip. "Believe me, I'd know if he was
using again. Reed would tell me. And she wouldn't put up with it for
a minute. That was part of the deal when they got married."
    " It seems like