Ch. 16f Tomorrow is Another Day

[Silver Priest]

At least their visit had done some good, even if it was unrelated to their primary objective for being here.

"I wish you the best, Mr. Trahan. If you'll forgive me for being forward, should your mother ever sadly pass, I think you should go after her. There seems nothing else keeping you here, and you're still a relatively young man. You should not spend the rest of your life suffering and wondering what could have been." It was perhaps somewhat ironic the detective was offering relationship advise, but years of quiet observation had left him with some wisdom.

[Philulhu]

Trahan nodded sadly, shaking their hands as they left.

Library use, please.

[jp1885]

[7] = 7
Library Use 66 1d100: [ 7 ] = 7

[Philulhu]

As the door closed behind them and the lock clicked, Ivy let the pages of the Bible riffle through her fingers. She saw no notes nor annotations and the pages had a crispness that suggested it was little used.

Nine-tenths of the way through, the pages fell open, a bookmark placed underneath a verse from Romans:

’3:13 - Their throat is like an open place of death; with their tongues they have said what is not true: the poison of snakes is under their lips.’

As a sliver of ice slid down her spine, Ivy felt her thumb unconsciously brush over the bookmark, feeling the multiple, overlapping bumps. She lifted her thumb and looked at the snakeskin bookmark beneath… …

[jp1885]

Grim-faced, Ivy holds up the snakeskin bookmark for the others to see.

"A placeholder in Romans - ’3:13 - Their throat is like an open place of death; with their tongues they have said what is not true: the poison of snakes is under their lips.’"

"Coincidence do you think? We should speak to Trahan's mother - clearly she knew something was up."

[Mr. Handy]

"I had a feeling she would have made notes," says William. "Good catch. That's definitely relevant. Yes, let's talk to his mother next."

[Philulhu]

Saturday March 14th, 1931 2.00pm
Trahan Bungalow, Middle Ridge Road, Johnson Bayou, Cameron Parish, Louisiana



A few doors down from Billy Trahan’s house, the mailbox outside a bungalow declared that it belonged to another member of the Trahan family. A white-haired old lady sat on a rocking chair on her porch, staring at them as they approached.

”Who are you and what did you want with my Billy?” she snapped.

[Mr. Handy]

"Good day, ma'am," says William, tipping his hat. "My name is William. My friends and I are visitors, and we just wanted to talk to Billy and ask him a few questions. We'd like to ask you some questions too, if you can spare a few minutes of your time."

[Philulhu]

”Questions? What questions?” the old lady asked, her eyes narrowing.

[Mr. Handy]

"Well, we asked him about his wife," says William. "He gave us a Bible she left behind, and she had marked an interesting verse."

[Silver Priest]

Alex smiles and offers a nod, thinking this woman could give Ivy a run for her money when it came to intensity.

[Philulhu]

”Who do you think you’re nodding at?!” the old lady snapped at Alex.

”And she had a Bible, did she? Wonders will never cease! Surprised that little golddigger could pick up the good book without setting herself on fire!!”

[Mr. Handy]

"The verse she marked was Romans 3:13," says William. "'Their throat is like an open place of death; with their tongues they have said what is not true: the poison of snakes is under their lips.' Do you have any idea why that verse would be significant to her? The bookmark was made of snakeskin too."

[Philulhu]

”’cause she’s a snake, would be my guess! I don’t know where she’d have got that!” snapped the old woman. ”I told Billy she was a no-good hussy! Wouldn’t surprise me if she’d been fooling around while he was at work. She was always going here and there after he took himself off to work in the mornings!”

[Mr. Handy]

"Where did she go?" asks William.

[Philulhu]

”All over! Sometimes she was out the door as soon as Billy had gone to work. She didn’t bother washing the dishes first!” grumbled the old woman.

”She’d talk to anyone. I saw her with that young priest more’n once, but she could be out until Billy was due home from work. I couldn’t see where she went from here, but I’d see her scurrying back and rushing around to make the place look presentable so as he didn’t get suspicious!”

[Mr. Handy]

"Thank you, ma'am," says William, making a mental note to ask the priest.

[Philulhu]

OOC:   Any further questions for Mrs T?

[jp1885]

Mention of the ‘young priest’ causes Ivy to frown. Were they mistaken in confiding with Father Ortega?

“What is your opinion of the new priest? Your daughter-in-law is clearly a flighty creature; it seems odd that Father Ortega would associate himself with such a woman.”

[Philulhu]

”Hmmph!” was the reply. ”I’m sure he’s had the calling, but I’d rather talk to someone my own age, rather than someone barely out of school!” she said.

Ivy was starting to get the impression that Mrs Trahan was the sort of older person who would complain about anything…