"Burning up out there," he said.
He pulled his tropical shirt off his chest and shook the cloth. I could smell an odor like talcum and stale antiperspirant wafting off his skin. "The contents of the DOA's purse, you got a list in your file?" he said.
"What about it?"
"Were there car keys in there, house keys on a chain, maybe a penlight on a chain, something like that?" he asked.
"Yeah, car keys," I said.
"On a chain?"
"No, as I remember, they were on a ring. They're in an evidence locker," I replied.
He held up a small Ziploc bag. Inside it was a thin piece of brass chain, no more than an inch long, with very tiny links. "Maybe this fell out of her clothes. I'm not sure. One of the paramedics found it in the body bag," he said.
"What are you getting at?"
"You said something about the DOA I couldn't forget. You said a woman who'd swallow her own wedding ring might also figure a way to tell us who killed her. So I wondered about this chain."
It was obvious humility did not come easily to Koko Hebert, and I was reminded of George Orwell's admonition that people are always better than we think they are. Koko fiddled with his Panama hat, then flipped the Ziploc bag and chain on my desk. "Did Mack Bertrand get ahold of you yet?" he asked.
Mack was our forensic chemist out at the lab. I told Koko I had not heard from him.
"The DOA's clothes had small traces of grease and rubber on them," he said.
"She was inside the trunk of a car?" I said.
"That'd be my guess. Give me a call if you need anything else." He stood up from his chair, the bottom of his stomach like a giant watermelon inside his linen slacks.
"There is one other thing, Koko. Why do you always give Helen a bad time? Why not cut her some slack?" I said.
"She's a dyke trying to do a man's job. Get a life, Robicheaux," he replied.
Lesson learned? Don't expect too many miracles in one day.
Five minutes later, Helen buzzed my extension. "I just got a call from Raphael Chalons. Clete Purcel was out at his house. Know anything about that?" she said.
"No," I replied.
"Then why was he out there?"
"Clete's uncontrollable sometimes. I've already talked to him. He doesn't listen."
There was silence on the line. I wanted to bite my tongue off. "Talked to him about what? What's he done, Dave?"
"Made a home call on Billy Joe Pitts."
"And?"
"I think he might have dropped a set of weights on Pitts's chest."
"I just don't believe this."
"That Clete went after Pitts?"
"No, that I'm having this conversation. The next time I rehire you, just put a bullet in my brain. In the meantime, straighten out this shit with Chalons."
"Why not tell Chalons to kiss your ass? He's not even in our jurisdiction."