There had already been press about her partying habit and apparently it caught up with her.”
“So what happened with Gil and Liam?” I asked.
“There was an insurance policy that Gil was still the beneficiary on, but she didn’t have much else except furniture and personal items,” Gertie said. “Apparently, her lifestyle was running about par with income. And since Gil didn’t have a career to speak of there and was going to have to find a way to make money now that the big child support checks were gone, he came home to Sinful so that his mother could help him with Liam.”
“And became Sinful’s famous resident actor?” I asked.
“And an insurance salesman,” Gertie said.
“Ha!” I said. “I was close with that car salesman guess. But why haven’t I met the guy? Usually insurance salesmen hit up someone new in town before they’ve even unpacked.”
“He bowed out of the business for the last few years for the most part,” Ida Belle said. “I assume he draws a percentage off of existing policy renewals, but he stopped actively seeking new clients himself a while back. Rumor has it he inherited a good amount when his mother died, so he probably doesn’t need to work anymore.”
“He was a good salesman, though,” Gertie said. “He was always a looker and had that smooth personality. That and his acting ability had most people trusting and liking him, and so he did a good business.”
Ida Belle frowned. “If only he’d been a better parent.”
“I take it his acting ability didn’t extend to being Mr. Mom?” I asked.
Ida Belle shook her head. “He mostly left Liam to his mother to raise. Even when he purchased his own house, I think Liam still spent more nights at Josephine’s than he did with Gil.”
“And then there was the Tiffany disaster,” Gertie said.
“Who’s Tiffany?” I asked.
“Tiffany is from Mudbug originally and was Liam’s girlfriend,” Gertie said. “Until she married Gil.”
“Wow!” I said. “I did not see that one coming. Definitely not parent of the year.”
“Not even of the afternoon,” Ida Belle said. “As far as I know, Gil and Liam haven’t had much to do with each other since then.”
“I can’t imagine they would,” I said. “So how did Gil die?”
“I just heard about it yesterday so I don’t really know much,” Ida Belle said. “Apparently, Gil had finished up rehearsal in New Orleans Monday night and was in the parking lot about to leave when he was held up. He was shot once in the chest and the guy made off with his Mercedes. Far as I know, the police haven’t found the car or the shooter.”
“That car is probably on a container ship ready to go overseas,” Gertie said.
Ida Belle nodded. “That is one of the criminal benefits of boosting cars where there’s a port.”
I slouched back in my chair, my mind trying to process everything I’d learned. When I finally sat back up, I stared at Ida Belle and Gertie.
“But why was he strapped headless to a horse?” I asked.
Gertie shook her head. “That is the $64,000 question.”
I woke up the next morning feeling invigorated, which left me at somewhat of a mental impasse. Was it wrong to be excited over a headless dead man riding a horse through the park? Since he’d been killed days before, I wasn’t sure where the line between respect for the dead and intrigue over the Headless Horseman routine was drawn.
Merlin was feeling especially irritable and had run across my forehead at 6:00 a.m. Then he’d proceeded to pounce on imaginary bugs—mostly on my body—until I’d gotten out of bed to give him breakfast and then let him out for a bathroom break. I knew he was aggravated at his limited outdoor time but I’d already been warned that black cats sometimes disappeared around Halloween. So it was best to keep him inside more than out, especially after dark. Unfortunately, only one of us understood the reasons.
I poured coffee and sat down at my kitchen table, mulling over everything Ida Belle and Gertie had told me the night before. Carter hadn’t come by or called but that didn’t surprise me. That crime scene must have been a bear to try to work, and he had the crowd, the body, and the horse to deal with. And that was just in the park. I didn’t even want to imagine how informing the widow about her husband’s night ride had gone.
I figured he’d be into work early but I wasn’t about to