sighed. “And the worse part is you know Carter’s not going to play ball on this. We’ll have to get information third- or fourth-hand once the paramedics talk.”
“You know, it really does seem unfair that you can’t get a shred of information out of the man who got out of your bed to go to work,” Gertie said.
“You know Carter,” I said. “All that honor and respecting the rules and crap.”
Gertie nodded. “The military ruins a lot of people that way.”
My cell phone rang and I lifted an eyebrow in surprise. Carter.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Listen, I have a situation here,” he said. “I have to keep the scene secured until forensics can get here and since this is probably related to Detective Casey’s investigation, I can’t turn it over to Deputy Breaux. Unfortunately, the good deputy is still putting off enough fumes to make your eyes bleed so I can’t send him to the hospital with Tiffany either. So would you guys mind getting over there so that she has someone with her and has a way to get back home?”
“Sure,” I said. “Ida Belle and Gertie are already here.”
“Of course they are.”
“Is Tiffany hurt badly?” I asked.
“She got a good crack on the head and the paramedics think she should have it checked. She didn’t argue, so I have to assume it hurts bad enough that she agrees. They left a couple minutes ago. How quickly can you get going?”
“We just have to find Gertie some clothes, then we’ll be good.”
There was a long silence.
“Is she sitting in your kitchen naked?”
“No. She’s wearing your T-shirt but I’m not telling you which one.”
“Call if you need anything,” he said and disconnected.
I looked at Ida Belle and Gertie, unable to contain my excitement.
“We’re up.”
Since Gertie and I weren’t exactly the same size and Carter’s shirt looked more like a really short dress, we made a quick stop by Gertie’s house for her to run in and change and grab a wet washrag to try to get the rest of that mask off her face as we drove. She yanked the curlers out on the way as well and ran a brush through her hair, which resulted in a confused mess of straight, curly, and frizzy. Finally, she pulled a hat out of her new purse and called it done.
“I can’t believe Carter is sending us to the hospital,” Gertie said. “Maybe spending the night with you is influencing him.”
Ida Belle snorted. “Not even close. Not to disparage any of Fortune’s, um…skills, but this one is so obvious to me.”
“Really?” I asked. “Then fess up, because I’ll admit to being a little floored myself.”
Ida Belle grinned. “Think about it—what are we going to do when we get to the hospital?”
“Try to get information out of Tiffany before Detective Casey shows up,” I said. “Ooooohhhhhh…”
“Exactly,” Ida Belle said. “He knows good and well we won’t be able to resist getting the story and he’s using us to keep himself in the loop since it’s no longer his case.”
“Sneaky,” I said. “I can appreciate that.”
“Seems a bit one-sided,” Gertie said. “Him expecting us to feed him information when he never helps us out.”
“That is where that honor and rules thing comes in again,” Ida Belle said. “Carter can’t talk to us or he’s breaking the rules, but we can talk all we want because we don’t have those limitations.”
“True,” I said, “but the problem comes in where Carter has to give Casey anything he finds out. So how does he explain that? Carter and Casey have both warned us about getting in the middle of things.”
“Well, then, I guess if we don’t tell Carter anything, then we can’t get into trouble, can we?” Gertie said.
Ida Belle laughed. “I can’t wait to see the look on his face when Fortune lays that one on him. He thinks he’s being sly but he hasn’t thought it all the way through.”
“That’s what happens when you have to jump up in the middle of the night and work,” Gertie said. “It’s hard to think when your rollers are pulling on your scalp.”
“I don’t think Carter has that particular problem,” Ida Belle said. “But lack of sleep is a good enough deterrent against long-term thinking ability. It’s been a long week for him, and then add the disappointment of having his case yanked from beneath him and I imagine he’s got a good round of mad piled on the disappointment, especially after that whole thing with Emmaline and St. Ives.”
“I