A Murderous Glaze (13 page)

He took it in, then nodded. “Go ahead, unload it.” He picked up a can of wax and a soft rag, then worked as I listed my suspects and the motives I’d been able to come up with.

Finally, he said, “What does your gut tell you?”

“Honestly, I’m more confused than ever. Sheriff Hodges has been acting so strangely I’m inclined to think he had something to do with it.”

“I kind of doubt it,” Bill said, immediately contradicting me.

“Why is that?” I asked, trying to sound huffy. “Don’t you think he’s capable of murder?”

“That’s not the reason why. It’s just that the sheriff’s too smart to leave the body in your shop like that if he did kill Betty. I’ve got a feeling he’d know where to dump a body so it would never be found.”

“That’s a pretty dark perspective,” I said.

He shrugged as he applied the wax. “That’s just my take on it. How about Evelyn? Would she kill Betty to protect her marriage?”

I thought about sweet and solid Evelyn, and then I remembered the vitriol she’d had in her eyes when we’d talked about Betty. “There’s no doubt in my mind she could have done it. But how do I ask her for an alibi?”

“That’s a tough one,” he said. Bill was so calm when he worked, his normal gruffness barely there. “You could probably strike old Herman off your list. He thinks he’s a lady-killer, but not the kind you mean.”

“I’d tend to agree with you, but he didn’t have an alibi when I asked him for one.”

Bill snorted. “Carolyn, I doubt I’d have an alibi most nights, if it weren’t for you. The man lives alone, remember?”

“In his office,” I said.

Bill dropped his rag on the dresser top. “I knew Herman was cheap, but what happened to his house?”

“He sold it, so he’s camping out in that odd little building where he has his office.”

“I never said he wasn’t strange. Speaking of unusual people, do you honestly believe Tamra Gentry could have killed Betty?”

“She was in New York at the time of the murder,” I replied, “but that doesn’t mean she couldn’t have hired someone else to do it.”

“And risk being blackmailed again? That was your motive for her, wasn’t it?”

I admitted that it was. “Then how about Larry or his girlfriend Connie? Either one of them could have done it.”

Bill shook his head. “But you said they were in Boston.”

“So they say, but I never saw a receipt.” My stomach grumbled loud enough for Bill to hear it.

“Haven’t you eaten yet?”

“I was hoping you’d buy me something,” I said.

“I’ll give you a few bucks, but I ate an hour ago. I’ve got to finish these up.”

“I don’t want your money,” I said. “I was hoping for your company. I’m starving. You promised me a night out on the town, remember?”

“Sorry, but this is the best I can do,” he said. “How about a rain check?”

“Fine,” I said. “Can you stop long enough to kiss your wife good-bye, or will that ruin your precious finish?”

“I think we can risk it,” he said as he leaned down to kiss me good-bye. He smelled like peppermint and furniture wax, not a bad combination, surprisingly.

“See you tonight. And stay out of dark alleys.”

“I will if you will,” I said.

It was getting dark out when I left the shop, and I thought about driving home and making a sandwich, but I didn’t want to eat by myself. I walked down to Shelly’s Café and had a bowl of chili and half a club sandwich, and virtuously resisted dessert. Eleanor Klein was working behind the counter, giving Shelly one of her rare nights away from the place. I had a batch of iced cookies in the freezer at home, so if I got peckish later, I wouldn’t have to go without a treat.

As I walked back toward where I’d parked the Intrigue, I had a feeling someone was watching me from the shadows again. “Bill, is that you?”

No reply. Maybe it was just my imagination running away with itself. I increased my speed, barely holding myself back from running. By the time I reached the Intrigue, my pulse was racing and I was a little out of breath.

A call was waiting for me on my machine when I got home, and I hit the play button as I headed to the kitchen for a cookie and a glass of milk. After all, running to my car had been some exercise, I justified to myself.

It was Butch. “Call me. I found the locker that matches that key you gave me.”

He wasn’t home when I called him back. How was I ever going to sleep not knowing what Butch had found? I kept calling Butch’s number—without success—until Bill came home. That’s when I realized that I’d just have to track Butch down the following day.

A customer was waiting for me the next morning at Fire at Will before I even had a chance to unlock the front door. He had a shopping bag with him, but it wasn’t from my shop. I hated doing returns, especially with the weak sales we’d been having lately.

“I’ll be open in twenty minutes,” I said.

“This won’t take long,” he replied as he tried to come in when I unlocked the door.

“I’m sorry, but we’re not open yet.”

He frowned. “I don’t appreciate your attitude. I’m going to speak with the owner about it.”

“You just did,” I said. I bolted the door behind me, and I could see him peering inside as I got ready for the day. I can’t stand rudeness, and I won’t tolerate it, even if it means losing a sale. I could have let him in a few minutes early, and if he’d been nicer to me I would have, but as it stood, I waited until the clock hit ten on the nose before I made a move to the door. He started pounding before I got there, so I dropped my keys, then made a production of finding them after I “accidentally” kicked them under one of the displays. It was three after, but I wasn’t going to open up until he stopped pounding, which he finally did.

I flipped on the lights, turned the “Closed” sign to “Open,” and finally unlatched the door. “Good morning,” I said.

“It’s about time,” he said.

“How may I help you?”

He reached into his bag and pulled out a bisque fired piece that was white. My clays all fired pink, so I knew he hadn’t bought it from me. As he waved it under my nose, he demanded, “What causes this?”

I looked at the bowl a second. “The walls shouldn’t be so thick. I like to aim for a quarter of an inch myself.”

“And that made it turn white?”

“No, that’s what made it lopsided,” I said.

“I didn’t come here for a critique of my work. I want an explanation.”

I knew the reason his bowl was white. He’d used a clay with almost no iron oxide in it. “Perhaps you should ask your supplier.”

I should have told him just to get rid of him, but I wasn’t about to reward the man’s rude behavior.

He glared at me. “You know, don’t you? What’s it going to cost me to find out?”

“I don’t care for what you’re implying,” I said.

“Fine, I’ll play your game.” He reached out and grabbed a flexible rubber kidney, a forming shape used to throw. It was an item that cost less than five dollars. “Now tell me.”

It wasn’t the lure of the puny sale that made me explain. I was tired of his attitude and wanted to get rid of him. “You used white stoneware clay for your pot. I don’t carry it here, since I use red earthenware.”

“So you’re telling me I didn’t do anything wrong?”

“Other than be rude to me? No.”

“Fine,” he said as he threw the rib back on the shelf. “I’m not buying that after all.”

“The rib, or my explanation?” I asked.

He stared at me a few seconds. “Did you just lie to me?”

“Which time?”

He shook his head and stormed out. I was still laughing when David walked in. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. Well, it was something, but I couldn’t begin to explain it if I had to. Are you ready to get to work?”

“Such as it is,” he said.

“We’re going to have a good old-fashioned spring cleaning,” I said. “The place needs a thorough sweeping and dusting, and this is the perfect time to do it.”

“If you say so,” David said. “I’m not a big fan of cleaning, myself.”

“I know that, but think of it this way. You’ll be getting paid to clean the store. That’s better than tidying up your room at home for free, isn’t it?”

He grinned. “You’ve got a point. Where should I start? Do you want me to grab a broom?”

“First we dust, then we sweep,” I said. I handed him a rag and grabbed one for myself, too. “I need to make one telephone call, and then I’ll join you. Why don’t you start at the top shelves and work your way down?”

I dialed Butch’s number, fully expecting to get his answering machine again, when he surprised me by picking up. “Yeah?”

“It’s Carolyn. I tried to call you back last night, but I couldn’t get you.”

“I just got back in,” he said, adding a yawn to prove it.

“What were you doing out all night long?” I asked without thinking.

“Gee, Mom, I’m sorry. I forgot all about my curfew. That’s cute, Carolyn. I like that.”

“Okay, it’s none of my business. I just wanted to know what you found in the locker.”

“It was empty,” Butch said. “Somebody cleaned it out before I got there.”

I’d been counting on there being something in the locker that pointed to Betty’s murderer. It was asking too much, I guess. “There wasn’t anything at all?”

“Nope,” he said. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I’ve got to get some sleep. I’m dead on my feet.”

“I’ll let you go then. Thanks.”

“No problem.”

After he hung up, I wondered if Butch was telling me the entire truth. If the locker was empty, why had Betty kept the key and hidden it so well among her vast collection of shoes? Was it possible Butch had taken advantage of his situation and helped himself to the contents of the locker? I hated to think such a thing of one of my friends, but old habits died hard, and I couldn’t be sure he’d completely reformed. Still, if there had been anything in the locker, he would have told me.

Wouldn’t he?

I heard the front door chime a few minutes later and saw Annie Gregg walk in. David was up on a ladder cleaning a top shelf, and when he saw her, he nearly fell off his high perch.

“Hi,” he said louder than he needed to. “May I help you?”

“I’ve got it,” I told him, though I doubted he’d heard me. We had a ton of pretty girls come in and out of Fire at Will, but I’d honestly never seen David act like this before. I stared at Annie, who was clearly embarrassed by all the attention, and tried to see what David saw. Then it hit me. Annie had reminded me of someone the moment I’d met her, and now I realized who: she bore a striking resemblance to a young Julia Roberts, David’s hopeless crush.

“What brings you here?” I asked.

She glanced up at David, who was doing everything but drooling. I doubted any man had ever stared at me like that, not even Bill back in our courting days.

“Could we talk in your office?”

“Sure thing.” I turned to David. “We’ll be right back.”

When we walked in back, Annie asked, “Is he like that with every girl who walks in here?”

“It’s never happened before. To be honest with you, I think he’s smitten. You could do a lot worse, you know.”

She shrugged. “I’m not looking for a boyfriend. I need to talk to you about Betty Wickline.”

“What is it? Did you remember something?” It was all I could do not to shout.

“It’s probably nothing, but you said I should call or come by if I remembered anything.”

“That’s right, and I appreciate you coming.”

She hesitated, and I wanted to grab her shoulders and shake it out of her. “Annie, you can trust me. I know you don’t know me, but ask around. I’m one of the good guys.”

“I know. I spoke with a few people around town. I hope you don’t mind.” She looked positively embarrassed by the admission.

“As long as nobody trashed me, why should I mind?”

“Oh, no, I heard a lot of good things about you, Carolyn. That’s why I’m here.”

I tried to bite back a huff of frustration. “I’m listening.”

“On second thought, I should probably go,” she said as she started to leave.

“That’s your decision,” I said. “I won’t pressure you if you don’t want to tell me.”

Was she going to dangle something in front of me, then jerk it back? I knew pushing was exactly the wrong way to handle Annie. If she wouldn’t tell me now, I could only hope that she’d change her mind and say something later.

“You’re really not going to press me about it?” she asked.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” I said, which was the biggest lie I’d told so far that day. If I thought it would do any good, I’d iron and fold her after I finished the press.

To my surprise, she sat down in my chair. “That’s all I needed to know. I want to ask you one favor before I tell you this.”

At that point, I would have offered her just about anything, including my firstborn, though he was a little long in the tooth for her. “Ask away.”

“Don’t tell anyone where you heard this. I’d be too mortified if word got out, and I might lose work if folks thought I was sharing secrets.”

“I won’t say a word,” I said.

“Okay. Well, this might all be a fuss about nothing, but I heard Betty say something the last time I was cleaning her house. She was on the telephone, and to be honest with you, she was so mad at whoever she was talking to, I think she forgot I was even there.”

“Did you happen to hear what she said?”

Annie nodded, and I wondered if I was going to have to bribe her to get it out of her.

Finally, she said, “Betty was arguing with Kendra Williams.”

That was a disappointment. “I already know about that. Betty bought a fake off Kendra, and they’d been squabbling about it ever since.”

“Are you sure?” Annie asked. “I thought it was more than that. And here I’ve impugned that poor woman’s name. That’s why I hate rumors and gossip.”

I couldn’t imagine anyone ever calling Kendra a “poor woman,” unless it related to her taste in clothes. Or makeup. Or attitude. But that didn’t make her a murderer.

“Sorry I couldn’t be more help,” she said.

“I appreciate you coming by, Annie.”

I led her out of my office and was surprised to see that David had given up all pretense of dusting. “Excuse me, but is there any chance you’d like to go out with me?”

“I’m sorry, thanks for the offer, but I can’t. I’m really busy working so I can pay my way through college, and I’m afraid that doesn’t leave any time for dating.”

The David I knew would have slunk into the corner to lick his wounds, but an amazing transformation occurred before my eyes. “It doesn’t have to be dinner and a movie. How about a cup of coffee? If you’re not busy, we could go right now.”

Annie looked over at me, and I said, “It’s up to you, but he’s a nice guy. As far as I know he’s had all of his shots, and his mother raised him to treat women with respect, but it’s your decision. I don’t want to get involved.”

“So, would you?” David asked again.

“Why not?” Annie finally agreed. I don’t know who was more surprised by the acceptance, David or Annie.

He looked at me. “Is it okay with you?”

“I already gave my blessing, not that it should matter.”

“I meant is all right if I leave now.”

I laughed. “I can handle the dusting. Have fun.”

“We will.” David was indeed smitten. That was clear by the way he looked at Annie as he opened the door for her. It was about time he focused his attention on someone a little more attainable than a famous married actress he could never be with. The initial attraction was obviously there, and if I knew David, it wouldn’t take him long to realize how special Annie appeared to be on the inside.

I wasn’t in the mood to do any spring cleaning after David and Annie left. At the rate my sales were going, I would be collecting a lot more dust anyway, so why bother? I went back to the chalkboard and studied my list again. With a piece of chalk, I marked a single line through the names Robert Owens, Tamra Gentry, Larry Wickline, and Connie Minsker. It didn’t mean they were all absolved of the murder, but it did mean that if any of them had done it, I had no way to prove it. Even Connie and Larry’s flimsy alibi was enough to stifle me. The fact that they couldn’t agree about the name of the motel they’d stayed in encouraged me to believe they were innocent. If they’d arranged their alibis beforehand, surely they would have come up with a name or better yet, not mentioned where they’d stayed at all. That left the sheriff and his wife as my prime suspects, with Kendra and Herman thrown into the mix because of their keys, not because of anything they’d done to arouse my suspicions. But how was I going to interrogate my two prime suspects without getting thrown in jail myself? Should I talk to Butch’s friend with the state police and let him take over? What evidence did I have to give him, though? It was all based on hearsay and suppositions that I wasn’t entirely sure were accurate. No, I couldn’t go to anyone in authority unless I had more than I did at the moment.

Sheriff Hodges was a lost cause for me, but I still might be able to get something out of Evelyn. Maybe if I ambushed her again, I’d catch her off guard. It wasn’t the best idea I’d ever had, but it was just about the only one I had left.

I hated to lock up Fire at Will during my regular business hours, but with David gone, I really didn’t have much choice. Honestly, I suspected I probably wouldn’t miss out on a single customer, but it still went against the grain to shut down.

After locking the front doors, I called Evelyn’s house on my cell phone, since I had the number stored there from the night before, but there was no answer. Either she was screening her calls, or she really was out. Knowing Evelyn, I tried to guess where she might be. She could be volunteering somewhere, she could be at the beauty shop, or she could be shopping at the grocery store or somewhere along the brook walk. I decided to stroll down to the grocery from Fire at Will. All I needed was a light jacket, though I knew the weather in April could change on a dime and I might be back in my heavy coat tomorrow. Kendra didn’t come out as I passed by her shop. Either she was waiting on a customer, or she was avoiding me. Wouldn’t that be lovely if the woman started ducking me? It was almost worth having her think of me as a murder suspect.

There was no sign of Evelyn on the walk, and since I was at the grocery store anyway, I decided to pick up a few things for the house. I grabbed a basket, threw a few items in as I scouted out the aisles, then reluctantly headed for the cash register to pay. Now I’d have to lug my bag of groceries back to the Intrigue, which was parked on the far end of the walk.

I was halfway back to the shop when I spotted Evelyn looking in the window at Rose Colored Glasses. Trying not to alarm her, I walked softly up beside her and joined her as she gazed at a lovely stained-glass cardinal. “Hello, Evelyn.”

She nearly dropped her purse. “Carolyn, what are you doing here? Are you stalking me?”

“Of course I am,” I said, using one of my favorite techniques: telling the absolute truth in such a way that no one believed me. “I hunted for you at the grocery store, but you weren’t there, so I bought a few things along the way. I was so excited when I finally found you that I nearly dropped my bag.”

“There’s no need to be sarcastic,” she said. “I’ve been a little on edge lately.”

“There’s been a lot of that going around,” I admitted.

“Actually, I’m glad we ran into each other,” Evelyn said. “I wanted to talk to you last night, but my husband was standing right there.”

I wanted to ask her if she was going to confess and save us all a lot of trouble, but for once I listened to my inner voice, which was shouting at me to shut up and hear what the woman had to say.

“Shall we sit?” I suggested as I pointed to one of the benches that faced the brook walk.

“Yes, that would be nice.”

I put my groceries down between my feet as I sat. “Now, what did you want to talk about?”

“I realized too late that you got the wrong impression when we were in front of your shop the other day. I was out of line when I spoke about Betty.”

“You obviously meant it,” I said simply, preferring to let her explain further.

“I was being silly. I realize that now. I love my husband, and more importantly, he loves me. We’d just had a fight right before I spoke to you, and I was still fuming, just mad at the world. Under ordinary circumstances, I never would have said that about poor Betty.”

So it was poor Betty now, was it? Talk about your revisionist history. “What did you have against her?”

“To be honest with you, the woman drove me mad. Surely she irritated you, too. You know as well as I do how she could be, always sniping, nothing ever good enough for her.”

She had me there, and I could only agree. “Betty could be a pain, but I didn’t want to see her dead.”

“I didn’t, either,” Evelyn replied.

“But you had more cause to wish her ill than her attitude and behavior.”

Evelyn kept her gaze on the brook. “She wasn’t having an affair with my husband. Give him some credit. The man has more taste than that. We don’t have a perfect marriage; who does, including you? But if nothing else, I know his taste in women by the ones he notices, and he likes skinny little blondes, something we both know I’m not, and neither was Betty.”

“It’s not really proof though, is it?” I asked softly.

“It’s enough for me,” she said. “We’re getting off course here. I wanted to apologize for my behavior, and now I have.”

She left, but I stayed in place on the bench. Blast it all, Evelyn made a good point. I knew the type of women Bill preferred, too. It wasn’t an insult to me—he didn’t exactly chase them down the street—but I would have to be blind not to notice. The problem was, if I believed her, the only suspects on my list were Kendra and Herman, and if I thought about it long enough, I was sure I’d be able to find reasons to strike them off as well. Somebody had killed Betty. I couldn’t see her jamming that awl into her heart in my store just to make me squirm. If she had, it would be one of the oddest ways to commit suicide I’d ever heard of.

So where did that leave me? Since only two people were left on my list, I decided to talk to them both, just in case I’d dismissed them too easily.

Oddly, when I walked to Kendra’s shop, I saw that Hattie’s Attic was closed as well, though by all rights she should have been open. That was extremely unusual for her. Where could she be? Maybe Herman would know. I walked to his office, but he was gone, too. Was nobody where they should be? I felt thwarted. What now? There was really nothing left I could do but go back to Fire at Will. Maybe I could figure something out back at my shop, and maybe, if I was lucky, a customer might come in and actually buy something. Hey, stranger things had happened.

I wasn’t looking forward to the scolding David was going to give me, but I braced myself for it as I carried my groceries back to the shop. To my surprise, David wasn’t back yet from his coffee date. Surely that was a good sign. I liked Annie, and I thought of David as one of my own, so it would tickle me to death to see them get together. I wasn’t sure how Hannah would feel about it, though. She wanted great things for her son, and I was afraid her standards were nearly impossible to meet. I’d have to have a talk with her about that if things got serious.

I stowed my groceries in the back, then put on a Fire at Will apron, just to look the part of a store owner while I still could. Okay, things weren’t
that
dire, but I needed this murder solved so I could get back to business as usual.

David showed up twenty minutes later. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to stay so long. We started talking, and the next thing I knew, two hours had gone by.”

“So I’m guessing you two hit it off,” I said.

“We’re going out again tonight,” he said. “Don’t worry, it’s after class. She’s amazing.”

“And not just because she looks like Julia Roberts?”

David laughed. “You caught that, too, did you? I guess there’s a slight resemblance, but if you want to know the truth, Annie’s a lot prettier.”