Murder in the Rue Ursulines

Epilogue

It took about two weeks for my fifteen minutes of fame to come to an end.

I can’t say I was sorry to see the pack of hyenas in front of my house gone for good. I don’t know how celebrities deal with it on a daily basis.

I didn’t talk to the press, other than Paige. When her first story for Crescent City magazine hit the newsstands, the magazine sold out the first day. It was, as she said, a great debut to make as editor in chief of the magazine. That bitch Coralie even called her to congratulate her-and Paige was gracious enough not to rub her face in it.

I, of course, would have. She’s obviously a better person than I am.

Venus and Blaine got commendations from the city for their efforts in solving the case.

I never met with Freddy and Jillian again, but about five days after Rosemary Shannon killed herself, I got another check from them in the mail. This time it was for ten thousand dollars. There was no note or anything, which was fine with me. All I cared about was whether the check would clear, and it did.

According to what I read in line at the grocery store, Freddy and Jillian’s marriage is in trouble. I can’t say that comes as a big surprise.

Interestingly enough, the gun Rosemary used to kill herself-and Joey-was a match for the gun used to kill Tim Dahkle. So, the Kansas cops were able to close an open homicide.

Paige is really happy working at Crescent City. The publisher has given her carte blanche to reshape the magazine the way she wants. She and Ryan haven’t set a date yet, but there’s no question in my mind it won’t be long.

Joey’s family refused to claim his body, so I did. It seemed like the least I could do. I’ll never know what went through his mind that night. I’ll never know if the Joey I’d talked to was just pulling an act, but I prefer to think he was just a nice kid caught up in something too big for him to really handle. I had his body cremated, and on a beautiful spring morning, I dumped his ashes into the river at Wollenberg Park.

I even allowed myself to shed a tear for him.

Jephtha and Abby are both taking a private eye course. I’m sponsoring them, and am even considering making them partners in my business.

Every once in a while, I catch a rerun of Sportsdesk, and I can’t help but feel sorry for Glynis Parrish. She really was talented. Marrying Freddy had doomed her, but there was no way she could have known that at the time.

It really makes you stop and think, doesn’t it?