Sweet Mystery Read Online Free PDF Page A

left most of it to you, which
is fine with me.” Neville wore a sad smile. “I’m surprised Daddy
even made a will. He wasn’t one to think about dying.”
    “Lucien really did love you. He bragged about
you behind your back.” Rae hugged her older brother’s meaty arm.
“‘My son is a big-time supervisor running an entire chemical lab,’
he used to say.”
    “Yeah, well...” Neville turned away, rubbing
his eyes. “I just wish we hadn’t spent so many years being mad at
each other.”
    Rae and Neville stood quietly, wrapped in
memories of their father. Tomorrow they would sit with Jarvis
Eames, a childhood playmate and now a lawyer, and go over Lucien’s
will. Then perhaps Rae would have a better idea of which direction
she would take.
     
     
    ***
     
     
    “What do you think they’re going to do about
his land?” Ellis Mouton dabbed at his lips with a delicate motion
as he watched Darcy’s expression.
    “Sell it if they have any business sense.”
Darcy took a sip from the china cup, filled with strong Louisiana
coffee.
    Darcy, the color of cafe au lait, was dressed
in an impeccable, custom-tailored suit. He was sitting in the plush
office of Mouton Enterprises. Ellis Mouton was one of the
wealthiest white men in Acadia Parish, just like his father and
grandfather. In fact, the Mouton family had been prominent in
Louisiana for almost two hundred years.
    Ellis raised a dark eyebrow at him. “To
you?”
    “Not even Neville Dalcour would stomach
that,” Darcy said. “No, Simon will make them an offer.” He wore a
sly smile.
    “We need that property for a new plant.
Pantheon won’t wait forever. Bob Caskill is coming down next week
to meet with us.” Ellis put down his cup. “I want this to happen
before there can be a lot of screaming from those folks who live
around there.”
    Darcy laughed. “So what if they do? Promise
them jobs and build a few pre-fab houses to replace their swamp
shacks, and they’ll quiet down.”
    “What about their property? They won’t want
to give up the land so easily.”
    “Give them money to buy beer and they won’t
care,” Darcy retorted.
    “You don’t think much of your people, do
you?” Ellis wore a superior look. His lip twitched at the effect of
his words on Darcy.
    “My people don’t live in shacks,” Darcy
snapped. He pulled back his shoulders. “Creoles with intelligence
would never squat in the bayou the way those people do. Fact is
we’d be doing them a favor by clearing the way for a plant to be
built.”
    Ellis gave a soft chuckle. “Now if we could
just convince them of that.” He frowned after a few seconds. “What
about the environmentalist?”
    “Busy fighting Langston Industries over in
Beaufort. That should keep them well occupied for months. The
timing is perfect.” Darcy nodded with satisfaction.
    “And the report from the civil engineer?”
Ellis rubbed his chin. “The flooding problem–”
    “Bailey wrote his report so that we can argue
that flooding is not appreciably increased by construction on that
land.” Darcy waved a hand, as though making his point
disappear.
    “But it interrupts the flow from that small
creek, which means water will back up into Bayou Latte. Those
houses back on Decuir Road could be under water with one hard
rain.”
    “Bailey said it would have to rain buckets
for several days. Even so, we can work with the Corps of Engineers
to dredge Bayou Latte and part of the lake.”
    “That could take a long time. The Corps
schedules project as much as three years in advance.” Ellis
examined his silk tie. He was not the least bit concerned; only
making a point.
    “They could move it up, based on the damage
potential to the wetlands. If need be, we’ll enlist the aid of
environmentalists to make it happen.” Darcy shrugged. “You know how
those people go into spasms at the thought of wetlands being
destroyed.”
    “Clever, clever man…”
    Darcy got up and poured some more coffee into
his cup.