A Mold For Murder (5 page)

Though I was feeling useless, there was one thing I could do while we waited for the smelling salts. It was time to call in some help, only I didn’t want to have to dial the number I knew I had to call.

 

 

KεLL
γ Sheer picked up on the third ring. She was a former girlfriend of mine, but more importantly, Kelly was the best criminal lawyer in our part of North Carolina. No matter what might have happened between us in the past, she was the only person I’d even consider calling when someone I cared about was in trouble.

“Hi, Kelly. It’s Ben,” I said.

“Ben, how nice to hear your voice,” Kelly said cordially. The last time we’d spoken, she’d been in tears, so it was nice to hear some pleasure in her voice.

I wasn’t sure how long it would last, though. “I need your help.”

Molly’s eyebrows went up as she heard me say that, but I didn’t care what she thought about me at that moment.

“Anything. Just name it.” Kelly was being much too agreeable, but I had a suspicion that was about to end.

“A woman was murdered at the soap boutique today. It turns out that a long time ago, she killed Diana Long’s parents when she was driving drunk. Nobody knew who she was when she came here for a presentation today, but Molly is convinced that Diana killed her.”

“I didn’t say that,” Molly snapped, but I ignored her.

“Where is she right now?” Kelly asked, the light and easy tone gone from her voice. She was all business now, in her full shark-attack mode that had scared just about every prosecutor she’d ever faced.

“As soon as Diana wakes up from her fainting spell, Molly is going to question her about the murder, and I’d like you here as soon as you can get here.”

Molly wanted to say something else—it was apparent in her stance and the grim lines of her lips—but she kept quiet.

“I don’t know,” Kelly said at last. “I’m not sure I could do a proper job helping her.”

“Listen, don’t you think I know how awkward this is for both of us? I wouldn’t have asked you if it wasn’t important. Kelly, you said you’d do anything, and this is the only thing I want.”

There was another long pause, then she sighed. “When she wakes up, tell her not to say anything until I get there. I’m coming right over. And Ben, don’t leave her side until you’ve delivered my message. I don’t care if the building’s on fire, do you understand?”

“I promise. And Kelly?”

“What?”

“Thanks,” I said.

After I hung up, Molly said, “You just had to butt in, didn’t you?”

“Diana has a right to legal representation,” I said. “She’s in no position to do anything about it herself, so I’m doing it for her.”

“I can’t believe you had the guts to call your old girlfriend to represent your new one. I’ve been out with you myself, Ben. Trust me when I say I’m not trying to offend you, but I don’t get it. Why would she agree to help either one of you?”

“I don’t know, and I’m not going to ask,” I said. “I just want the best for Diana, and Kelly is the best we’ve got.”

“I can’t wait to see Diana’s face when Kelly walks through the door.”

At the sound of her name, Diana groaned a few times, then opened her eyes. We hadn’t even needed the smelling salts to revive her. She’d only been out about a minute, but it had seemed like an eternity to me as she lay there, helpless. Diana sat up on the couch, then looked at Molly and me with confusion. “What’s going on? What happened?” A frown suddenly creased her mouth. “Oh, no, I remember now. It really happened, didn’t it?”

Before Molly could say anything, I said, “Kelly Sheer’s on her way here to represent you. She said not to say anything to Molly until she arrives.”

Diana looked at me as if I’d lost my mind. “Who called her? Ben, did you honestly think I’d let her represent me in anything? The woman hates me, and I’m not so sure I don’t return the feeling in full. She’d probably let me hang for this purely out of spite.”

I knelt down beside the couch, trying to ignore the smirk on Molly’s face. She was enjoying this way too much. “Listen,” I said as calmly as I could, “you need to have her here looking out for your interests. She’s the very best attorney I know, and no matter what you two think of each other, we need her. Do you understand me?”

Diana didn’t like it anymore than Kelly had; I didn’t need to be a mind reader to know that. But after a few seconds, she finally nodded her agreement. “I’ll behave myself if she does.”

“That’s all I can ask,” I said. That wasn’t anywhere near the truth, but I’d take it, at least for the moment.

The three of us stayed in the break room until there was a knock at the door three minutes after I’d hung up with Kelly. She must have run a stop sign or two herself to get here that fast.

“Have you said anything to anyone?” she asked Diana.

“No,” she answered briefly.

“Good. Let’s keep it that way.” She looked hard at Diana as she asked, “Do you have any problem with me representing you in this matter?”

“I suppose not,” Diana said curtly.

“Good.” Ignoring me completely, Kelly turned to Molly and said, “I want my client examined by a physician before you question her further. I’m concerned she may be suffering from some type of physical trauma.”

Molly said, “I don’t know about her, but I have a woman in the other room with her head bashed in. All I’m trying to do is figure out who did it.”

Molly was embellishing the truth a little, but she did have a point. If it had been someone I didn’t know under her intense scrutiny, I would have been the first person to cheer her on. I didn’t want a murderer running loose in Harper’s Landing any more than the rest of the community did. But I wouldn’t believe Diana capable of it, no matter what the impetus. Still, Molly had once told me that anybody, and she meant absolutely anybody, could be a killer, given the right circumstances. I wasn’t sure I believed her, but she’d made her point then, and her words drifted back to haunt me now.

Kelly must have sympathized with Molly’s directive, too, if only a little bit. “Let me get her examined, and then we’ll come by your office for an interview. Is that fair enough?”

“No, but I don’t have much choice, do I? Just don’t take too long, counselor. Don’t make me come looking for you.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Kelly said.

Molly stared at me a second longer than she had to, then she walked out of the break room. It appeared that it took every ounce of her restraint not to slam the door behind her.

“Thanks for coming on such short notice,” I said to Kelly.

She gave me much the same look Molly had, and I was getting tired of being treated like I was the one who was guilty. “We need some time to talk, Ben.”

“I don’t see how we could manage that right now,” I said. “There’s a lot going on here.”

“I don’t mean you, I’m talking about Diana.”

This dismissal was clear enough. I was being invited to leave my family’s break room entirely more than I liked, but I knew I had to go.

Before I left, though, I asked Diana, “Is that all right with you?”

She nodded, so I took off. One of a man’s worst night-mares is to have his ex-girlfriend in the same room with his current one, and I was not only living it, I’d been the one to set it up. I just hoped they were too busy talking about Connie Brown to compare notes on me.

After ten minutes—time I spent hovering nearby—Kelly and Diana came out of the break room together.

“That was quick,” I said.

“We’re not finished. We’re just moving our conversation to the hospital.”

Diana protested, “I keep telling you, I’m fine. All I got was a knot on my head when I fell. It’s nothing.”

Kelly whispered, “We don’t know that until you’re examined by an accredited physician, now do we? So, are we going to the hospital, or do you want to head straight to police headquarters?”

Diana didn’t even need to think about it. “Let’s go get a checkup.” As she started to leave, she called out to me, “I’ll call you later, Ben.”

Kelly didn’t miss a beat as she added, “And you’d better believe I will, too.”

After they were gone, my mother came over to me. “Is it finally over?”

Our customers were all gone, and as I’d feared, none of them had come back in after the police had questioned them. I shrugged. “Our part of it is for now,” I said. “Mom, I’m sorry about all this.”

“None of it was your fault,” she said gently. “Who knew our guest of honor would be murdered in the back hallway?” Mom shivered, then added, “Jim told me the ambulance left ten minutes ago.”

“How about the production line? Can the guys get started on their next run?” Getting our family back in the business of soapmaking was the best thing that could happen for all of us right now. Sometimes I complained that things were too quiet in our business, but right now, I would have given anything to have this day be boring.

Mom shook her head. “No, the police said we won’t be able to use it until tomorrow. That includes our offices, too, Ben. We might as well shut the store down and go home. We’re finished, at least for today.”

I glanced at my watch and saw that we had two hours left in our working day. It was a first for Mom if she was willing to lock up early.

“You all can go ahead,” I said, “but I’m staying. At least I can clean up.” We’d rearranged the entire sales floor to fit in the contessa’s talk and book signing, and seeing the disarray when we came back the next day would only bring back all of the events we’d be trying desperately to forget.

A bright spark came into her eyes. “That’s a wonderful idea. The sooner we can get the store back to normal, the better off we’ll all be.” She clapped her hands, a sure sign that she wanted a family meeting. My brothers and sisters gathered around, and Mom said, “Ben’s had a wonderful idea. Instead of going home early and taking the rest of the day off, we’re all going to stay here and clean up.”

“Wee,” Jim said.

“Just what I wanted to do with my spare time,” Kate added.

Jeff shrugged. “Why not? We need to do it sooner or later.”

Louisa groaned. “I choose later.”

“Enough,” Mom said. “We run this business as a family, and we’ll take this blow as a family. Now let’s get busy.”

Everybody found something to do, and I appointed myself the job of packing all the soapmaking books we’d brought in for the signing back in their boxes. Bob came over and said, “You need any help?”

“That would be great,” I said. “These won’t fit in my Miata. After we get them loaded up, we can take them back to Diana’s bookstore. You sure you don’t mind giving me a hand?”

“Compared to some of the other jobs around here, that’s the best offer I’ve had.”

After the boxes were tucked safely in their cartons, Jim and Jeff helped us load them into the back of Bob’s truck without even being asked. Once we had them all in place, Bob said, “Let’s go, Ben. Hop in.”

As we drove to the bookstore, he added, “I can’t believe somebody was murdered in our shop today. It’s kind of tough to accept, isn’t it?”

“I’m having a hard time with it, too,” I admitted.

“I guess you would,” Bob said.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Easy, big brother. I just mean that having your girlfriend accused of murder can’t be an easy thing to take.”

“It’s not,” I admitted. After a few seconds, I added, “Sorry if I jumped on you, Bob. I guess I am a little stressed.”

“You’ve got every right to be. Was it bad, finding the body like that?”

I bit my lip, then said, “To be honest with you, it’s something I’d rather forget about right now.”

My brother nodded as he drove on in silence. A few minutes later I heard him laughing softly to himself.

“What’s so funny?”

“Sorry, Ben. It’s nothing.”

“No, share it with me, please. If there’s something funny about this situation, I’d love to hear it.”

Bob hesitated, then finally he said, “Man, I couldn’t believe it when Kelly walked through the door. Then when I heard you were the one who called her, I thought you must have lost your mind. You’ve got guts, I’ll give you that.”

“I just wish it made up for brains,” I said. “They both want to talk to me later, and I’ve got a feeling I’m not going to enjoy either conversation.”

Bob smiled smugly. “I love being married. That way I just have to worry about one woman being mad at me. You’re going to have a ton of them upset with you, at the rate you’re going.”

“I did what I had to do,” I said as we pulled up in front of the bookstore.

I told Bob, “Wait here a second, would you? I need to talk to Rufus before we start carrying books in.”

The clerk was sitting behind the register reading something dark, and when I spoke his name, the college kid nearly fell off his stool. “Don’t sneak up on me like that, Ben.”

“Sorry, I didn’t realize that I had. What are you reading?”

He pushed the book aside. “I’ve seen your taste in books. Trust me, you wouldn’t like it.”

“You’re a powerful salesman, aren’t you?”

He shrugged. “I know my books, and I know my customers. It’s a real bummer about Diana, isn’t it? Have they arrested her yet?” He seemed a little too eager to have his speculation confirmed.

“She’s getting a checkup at the hospital right now,” I said. “When she heard about the murder, she fainted and hit her head.”

“Man. Is she going to be okay?”

“I think so, but we all thought that it would be a good idea to make sure.” I asked him, “Hey, how did you hear about it so quickly? I know Harper’s Landing is small, but this just happened.”

“One of your customers at Where There’s Soap happens to shop here, too. She came straight to the bookstore as soon as she heard about what happened. What I don’t get is why they think Diana had anything to do with it.”

So he hadn’t heard everything. “The murder victim’s real name was Connie Brown.”