6 Beach Blanket Barbie (9 page)

The next morning I did what I did every Tuesday morning, headed to Rosie’s to meet with the Events Committee. I learned a long time ago that if you missed a meeting, you were going to be nominated to do something no one else wanted to do. There are currently eight committee members. Willa Walton works for the county and serves as the committee chair and county liaison. The money that’s earned as a result of the events the committee sponsors technically belongs to the county, and it’s Willa’s job to be sure that those deserving of the funds end up with them. In addition to Willa, my dad, Hank Donovan, is a volunteer for the fire department, Hazel Hampton represents the library, Tawny Upton attends on behalf of the subsidized preschool she runs, and Levi is the representative for the afterschool sports program, while Ellie uses the funds she helps to earn for an afterschool dance program. Gilda Reynolds is in charge of the community arts project, and I represent animal control and welfare. We’d lost Frank Valdez when he was arrested for attempting to rob the bank the previous month.

On this particular Tuesday morning
, Levi was the only member not in attendance. Willa shared that he was sick and had taken the rest of the week off from his job as a high-school gym teacher and coach. She questioned whether he’d be able to fulfill his commitment to the water-sports team and I volunteered to check with him and let them know. After a brief discussion, it was confirmed that everyone in attendance had followed through with the tasks assigned to them and we were in good shape for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.

After the meeting
, Ellie walked me out to my truck, which I had parallel parked on the street in front of the restaurant prior to the meeting. “Do you think Levi is really sick?” she asked.

“He seemed fine last night. My gut tells me that he’s upset about everything that’s happened and decided he needed some time off.”

“He did seem to be working with a short fuse last night,” Ellie admitted.

“He feels responsible for Barbie’s death. Whether he could have done anything to help her or not
, I’m sure it’s difficult to live with the knowledge that he didn’t even try.”

“I’m really worried about him,” Ellie
repeated what she’d said the night before.

“Yeah, me too.”

“Maybe I’ll take him some food later and check in on him.”

“
That could be a good idea. I think I’m going to try to track down Phillip,” I said. “I know it’s a long shot, but the faster we solve this thing, the faster Levi can get on with his life.”

“You think he knows anything?” Ellie asked.

I shrugged. “Probably not. His wife did provide a good alibi, but I still keep thinking about the timeline between his having dinner and Barbie’s death. If we can find out what he did after dinner, we can cross him off of our suspect list.”

“I’ve been thinking about my conversation with Courtney,” Ellie shared. “She claimed she hadn’t spoken to Barbie in ages and had no idea what she might have been up to prior to her death
, but I had the overall impression that she wasn’t telling me everything. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was that was bothering me, but I woke up in the middle of the night and it dawned on me that there was a photo of Barbie and Courtney on the wall behind the counter in her boutique.”

“So
? They were friends and roommates. Why wouldn’t Courtney have a photo of the two of them?”

“Yeah, but Courtney said she hadn’t s
een Barbie for ages. When we saw Barbie at the beach last Friday, do you remember anything different about her?”

I thought about it. “Her hair. She’d cut her hair since she left in February.”

“Exactly, and the photo I saw in the boutique featured Barbie with her new hairdo.”

“So Courtney must have spent time with Barbie sometime in the past three months,” I realized.

“I’d say within the past month. They were on the beach and the snow was totally melted. I’m not saying that Courtney killed Barbie, or even that she knows who did; I just find it interesting that she intentionally misled me about how long it had been since the two of them had spent time together.”

“
She might not want to get involved in the whole thing, but I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to have a word with her anyway. I’ll stop by to see if she tells me anything she didn’t mention to you.”

“I should get back to work. One of my new hires called in sick and I’m betting it’s going to be a busy day. Call me if you have news.”

“Okay, I will.”

I headed back to my truck and considered what to do
next. I could try to track down Phillip, but I had no idea where to find the delivery driver, and I knew that Courtney probably would be in the boutique she owned at this time of day. I called Jeremy to make sure there was nothing going on at the Zoo that he couldn’t handle, then headed down the main thoroughfare on foot. I was halfway to my destination when I saw Veronica of Veronica’s Bakery come running out of her shop with a blur of tan a second in front of her.

“Did you see that little thief?”
she asked me. “I left the front door open to let in some fresh air and that mangy little dog came in and stole one of the baguettes right out of the display.”

“He’s been hanging around for the past couple of days,” I acknowledged. “I’m sure he just smel
led the wonderful aromas coming from your bakery and decided to grab some lunch.”

“Are you going to go after him?”

I looked down the street. The dog and the bread were long gone. “I think he’s gone for now, but I promise I’ll look for him. It might be a good idea to keep your baked goods in a more secure location in the meantime. I ran his photo, and it doesn’t seem anyone is looking for him, so my guess is that he’s been on the street for a while.”

Veronica looked down the street as if searching for the little tan dog. “I guess I don’t mind that he took the bread. If he comes back around
, I’ll offer him a treat to see if I can catch him. If I do, I’ll give you a call.”

“Thanks. That would be very helpful.”

After saying good-bye to Veronica, I continued on down the street. The boutique Courtney owned catered to women looking for designer clothing at discount prices. Most women went to the mall off the mountain to shop for that kind of thing, but Courtney’s eye for style and her bubbly nature made her boutique a successful enterprise. The shop was designed to create a casual elegance that appealed to most women, even those, like myself, who were more interested in comfort than trendiness.

“Hey
, Zoe. What brings you in today?” Courtney was a tall redhead with silky hair and long legs that seemed to go on forever. Her naturally thin frame provided the perfect canvas to show off the designer clothes she carried. Many women bought what she modeled hoping to end up looking like her, but the truth of the matter was, few women could pull off the sharp lines she tended to favor.

“Just browsing,” I answered.
I casually flipped through a rack of sleeveless sundresses in bright colors that would be fun to pair with the colorful sandals displayed in the shoe section of the upscale store.

“How did those outfits I helped you pick
for your trip work out?” Courtney asked.

Courtney had selected several outfits for me to
take on my trip to New York with Zak, which had been much appreciated because there’s one thing I’m not, and that’s a fashionista. “They were perfect. Thank you so much for taking the time to find the exact things I needed for the trip.”

“
I was happy to help. I guess now that you have a rich boyfriend, you’ll need to update your wardrobe. Our new summer line has several items that would be perfect for you, if you want to try on a few things while you’re here.”

“I do need some new summer clothes,” I began, “but I’m in a bit of a hurry today. I’m really here to ask about Barbie.”

“I figured
.” The colorful bracelets on Courtney’s arm clanked together as she lifted her hand to nervously tuck a strand of her long hair behind one of her diamond-studded ears. “Ellie was in yesterday. I’m really not sure what I can tell you. I have no idea who might have killed her or why.”

“When was the last time you spoke to Barbie?” I asked.

Courtney hesitated. Ellie probably hadn’t asked the question in quite as direct a fashion. Or if she had, perhaps Courtney was less comfortable lying to me. I was, after all, going to be one of her best customers if Zak continued to include me on his business trips.

“A while back,” she answered vaguely.
“Why?”

“Serenity mentioned that Barbie b
egan acting odd back in March. They initially stayed in contact after Barbie left, but Serenity felt she was lying to her about the activities she’d gotten involved in, so she cut off all ties to her. I noticed this photo of you and Barbie—” I walked over to stand before the photo behind the counter—“which has to have been taken in the past month and figured you’d seen her more recently than she had. Serenity told me Barbie seemed to be into something seedy,” I liberally paraphrased. “I was hoping you could tell me what that might have been.”

Courtney began to fidget. I could tell she was uncomfortable with the question
, so I decided to wait silently while she worked out what she wanted to say. I began to sift through a rack of brightly colored tops as I waited. I definitely could use some new clothes for summer. Courtney looked like she’d just stepped out of the pages of
Vogue
,
while I looked more like someone who’d recently posed for a spread for
Field &
Stream
. I glanced at myself in the full-length mirror near the dressing room and realized I really did need to update my look.

“Barbie met a new guy,” Courtney began.
“I’m not sure how she became involved with him, but I got the impression he was into something illegal. She never would fill me in on the specifics, but I think she’d begun to regret her choice.”

“Serenity made a similar statement. She said Barbie met some people who had
a plan to make a lot of money, but she had the impression the method they had in mind wasn’t entirely legal. She also said Barbie had met a man, but there was a weird vibe about the whole thing.”

“Yeah
, that tracks,” Courtney agreed. “Barbie came to see me a few weeks ago. She wouldn’t tell me what was going on specifically, but she said she was in trouble and needed a place to hang out for a few days. I told her she could stay at my place as long as she wanted. I didn’t mention that to Ellie because I’m fairly certain whatever Barbie was into was illegal, immoral, or both. I didn’t want to sully her name.”

“You
’re a good friend to want to protect her, but whatever she was into probably got her killed,” I pointed out.

“Yeah, I thought about that after Ellie left. Still
, I’m not sure Barbie would want me talking to either of you. I guess you know you weren’t her favorite people.”

“I know
, but I want to find her killer. If you can think of anything that might help me . . .”

“I really don’t know much,” Courtney insisted. “Barbie showed up at my condo on a Monday
three weeks ago. As I said, she needed a place to hang out for a while. I let her stay with me, but she insisted she didn’t want to talk about whatever was going on. She was gone when I got home from work on Thursday and I never saw her again.”

“She didn’t come to see you when she was in town this past week?”

“No. I didn’t even know she was here until someone mentioned it on Friday. I called her cell, but she didn’t answer. I had a date Friday night, so I figured I’d try to catch up with her on Saturday, but she was already dead by then.”

“When she came to see you a few weeks ago
, how did she seem?”

“Scared. Other than the brief walk on the beach where that photo was taken
, she never left the condo.”

“And did she say anything at all about what was going on?”

“She said she met a guy who seemed really awesome at first but was turning out to be bad news. She wanted to break it off, but the dude was the possessive sort, so she needed to figure out how to make the break. I figured she was staying with me while she worked things out, so I was surprised when she left so abruptly.”

“Did she mention the guy’s name?” I asked.

“No, she seemed careful not to.”

“And did she
tell you why she left?”

“No. When
I got home on that Thursday, I found a note that said she’d decided to go home and work things out, and that it would be better for both of us if I forgot she was ever here. I sort of think she was warning me that admitting she’d been here could put me in some sort of danger. I tried to call her several times, but she never answered or called me back.”

“Do you know where she’s been living since she left here in February?”

“She didn’t say. I know it seems odd that she was here for three days, yet I know nothing, but she didn’t want to talk about her life. The conversations we did have revolved around movies we’d seen or things we’d done in the past.”