Evangeline turned.
Im sorry, the woman said. I should call you Detective Theroux. Its justyou look so young!
Thin, blond and elegant, Lena Saunders was dressed in snug black pants and a sleeveless black sweater that gave her a chic, artsy flair. Evangeline put her age at somewhere around forty, though she wasnt sure why. The womans face was still smooth and taut and as pale as alabaster.
When she took Evangelines hand, her skin was cold, as if shed just come indoors from a brisk, wintry day.
Lets sit, she said and, leading the way, she perched on the silver sofa while Evangeline took the matching chair to her right. As they settled in, Josh appeared quietly in the doorway.
Can I get you ladies something to drink? Coffee, tea?
Nothing for me, thanks, Evangeline said.
Ill have coffee, black, Lena told him.
He cocked a brow. Decaffeinated, I assume. Otherwise, youll be climbing the walls by noon and that wont be pleasant for either of us.
She waved a dismissive hand. Stop fussing. Youre getting on my last nerve.
What else is new? he said with a grin before vanishing down the hallway.
Lena turned back to Evangeline. Josh is my assistant, but sometimes he acts as if hes my guardian.
I heard that! he yelled from down the hallway.
Lena ignored him. You must be curious as to why I was so insistent on speaking only with you today.
I am, Evangeline said. Captain Lapierre mentioned that you knew my late husband.
Johnny, yes. She smiled faintly. A lovely man. Such wonderful manners. A true Southern gentle-man.
He had his moments, Evangeline murmured, feeling an all-too-familiar pang of loneliness.
He was very helpful and so patient. Never acted as though my calls were an inconvenience, although Im sure my questions got to be tedious for him after a while.
When was the last time you talked to him? Evangeline asked curiously.
Oh, its been a few years. I was so sorry to hear about what happened. You must have been devastated.
Its been a rough time, Evangeline admitted.
I can imagine. He always spoke so highly of you. I could tell he was very much in love.
Evangelines heart gave a painful thud as she glanced down at her hands.
Im sorry, Lena said. I dont mean to bring up painful memories.
No, its fine.
They both fell silent for a moment as Lena busied herself with the coffee service Josh had brought in.
Are you sure you wouldnt like some coffee?
No, Im good. Evangeline was fascinated by the womans hands. They were smooth and pale with the long, elegant fingers of a pianist.
How did you know Paul Courtland? she asked when Lena had settled back against the leather sofa with her coffee.
I didnt know him. In fact, I never met the man, although I spoke with him once on the phone. I tried to explain why I thought his life might be in danger, but unfortunately, he didnt believe me. You may not, either, she warned.
Im here to listen to whatever you want to tell me, Evangeline said. But if you know who killed Paul Courtland, we can just skip to the chase as far as Im concerned.
I can give you a name, Lena said slowly, but it wont mean much unless I give you a bit of background information. Without context, nothing I say will sound the least bit credible.
Fine. Start wherever you like.
Lena leaned forward and placed her cup and saucer on the coffee table. Are you familiar with the concept of an evil gene?
Evangeline frowned. Ive read some research about the criminal brain. Is that what you mean?
No, not really. The criminal brain refers to the correlation between serious crime and brain abnormalities in the perpetrator. The cause of the anomalies can be any number of reasonshead trauma, chemical ingestion, birth defects. But the concept of the evil gene suggests that the propensity for violencefor evil, if you willcan be passed down genetically from family member to family member. Not only that, current studies indicate that behavior and life experiences can alter the biochemistry of certain genes and these changes can be encoded into our DNA and passed on to our children.
Are you saying that Paul Courtlands killer was born with an evil gene? Is that where this conversation is going? Evangeline asked with open skepticism.
No, not at all. Just the opposite, in fact.
Then Im afraid youve already lost me.
Just bear with me. Youll soon understand. Lena paused, as if to gather her thoughts. The subject of my current book is a woman named Mary Alice Lemay. Have you ever heard of her?
Doesnt ring a bell.
Im not surprised. Shes been confined to a state psychiatric hospital for more than thirty years. Her name has long since faded from the public consciousness.
What did she do?
She killed her three small sons. Two were hanged, one was stabbed and drowned. The boys were five, three and eighteen months. When the authorities arrived at the house, they also found evidence that Mary Alice had recently given birth to her sixth child, although they never found the infants body.
Evangeline suppressed a shudder. You said her sixth child. What about the other two?
Both girls, ages six and eight at the time. They didnt have so much as a scratch on them. In fact, there was some indication that the youngest daughter, Rebecca, may have helped with at least one of the slayings. But at six years old, she could hardly be held accountable for her actions, especially if she believed, as her mother apparently did, they were carrying out Gods will.
Is that what she claimed? It was Gods will that she murder her sons?
She said she killed her sons to save their souls from eternal damnation.
Did it work?
I beg your pardon?
Her motive. Did the jury buy it?
She was found not guilty by reason of insanity and sent to a state psychiatric hospital rather than to death row, so yes, I suppose it worked.
Evangeline knew it happened, mothers killing their own children, but it was something she would never be able to fathom. She certainly couldnt lay claim to any mother-of-the-year awards, but shed sooner take her own life than harm J.D.
Mary Alices husband was a man named Charles Lemay, Lena continued. When he was just five years old, his father, Earl, was convicted of raping and murdering three young women in East Texas and burying their bodies on the family farm. He was sent to the Walls Unity in Huntsville and was executed some years later. Charless mother moved the family to Texarkana where she remarried and her three children took their stepfathers last name.
I dont blame them, Evangeline murmured.
So far as Ive been able to determineand Ive been researching this case for nearly a year nowthe family lived a fairly normal and middle-class life until the older boy, Carl, was arrested for the murder of a female classmate when he was seventeen. Her body was found buried in a vacant lot adjacent to the familys backyard. The girl had been raped and beaten to death, just like his fathers victims.
The evil gene, Evangeline murmured.
Carl Lemay was also sent to Huntsville. He remained incarcerated for more than forty years before he was finally paroled as an old man.
Lena bent forward and picked up her cup. But the coffee had cooled by this time, and she set it back down with a grimace.
After the mother and stepfather died, Charles and his sister, Leona, moved to Louisiana. They both settled in New Orleans, but some years later, Charles got a job as a sales rep with a chemical company in Houma. Around that same time, he started using the name Lemay again. And this is when he met Mary Alice.
After the mother and stepfather died, Charles and his sister, Leona, moved to Louisiana. They both settled in New Orleans, but some years later, Charles got a job as a sales rep with a chemical company in Houma. Around that same time, he started using the name Lemay again. And this is when he met Mary Alice.
Did she know about his past?
Probably not at that time. But I think she must have found out about it later. Im certain that was a factor in what she did to her sons.
So she married this Charles Lemay.
Lena nodded. Yes, against her familys wishes, apparently. He was older. Very handsome and charming and by all accounts, it was love at first sight for Mary Alice. But right from the start, there were disturbing signs. Charles Lemay was cunning and manipulative, and Mary Alices family and friends were put off by his controlling nature. But she ignored their warnings and married him anyway.
They almost always do, Evangeline said.
Yes, Ive known women like that, too, Lena said. Whats that old saying? They cant see the forest for the trees. Mary Alice couldnt see past her husbands charm and good looks. Not at first anyway. He bought a place on the bayou in Lafourche Parish, and he and Mary Alice settled in. The house was out in the country, miles from the nearest neighbors, and since Charless job required extensive travel, Mary Alice was alone much of the time.
He isolated her, Evangeline said.
Exactly. And then the babies started coming. Before she was thirty, Mary Alice had five young children for which she was almost solely responsible. When the two girls reached school age, she homeschooled them at Charless insistence. You see, he not only isolated his wife, he also isolated the children. The only time any of them were allowed to socialize was at worship services. They attended a nondenominational charismatic church, and if youve never attended one of these services, the intensity can be a shock to your senses. The power of those sermons and the concepts of prophetic manifestations and demon chasers must have had a compelling impact on Mary Alice. On her children, as well, I would imagine.
By charismatic, youre talking about snake-handling churches, right? Evangeline felt both dread and impatience for what she suspected lay ahead.
There are only a handful of small congregations that observe this practice, Lena said. But, yes. The church where Mary Alice and her children worshipped believed in taking up serpents.
Lovely, Evangeline thought with a shiver. Please go on, she said. I didnt mean to interrupt your train of thought.
No, thats fine. Youre bound to have questions. Believe me, I know how all this sounds. But as I said, context is everything. She paused, as if trying to remember where she left off. One day Charles left on a business trip and never returned. He just simply vanished. Everyone assumed hed walked out on his family. But when the police arrested Mary Alice for the murder of her children, she also confessed to killing her husband. She claimed shed discovered that he was abusing their young daughters. She also feared that he may have been responsible for the disappearances of at least two young women from towns that were along his sales route.