A Secondhand Murder (16 page)

“
Sorry. It sure does look like it came from the set in our shop.”

Grandy reached in her purse and pulled out her reading glasses.

“
Let me see that.” She stuck her nose a few inches from the weapon. “Fine quality knife.”

I showed Grandy around our shop and encouraged her to try on whatever she liked.

“
Quality merchandise.” The same word she'd used to describe the knife. “I'm not sure I can afford any of this, despite the fact that you have priced it all very fairly. Besides, I never have occasion to wear anything other than tees and cut-offs.”

“
You never know what you'll be doing now that you've moved the boat to another marina. There could be parties or, with your new schedule, time to dine out.”

Grandy chuckled. “I'm imagining me in a cocktail dress and Max in flip-flops and swim trunks.”

“
Take care of yourself now and see to Max later,” said Madeleine.

It was hard to tell what Grandy thought of the suggestion. She gave Madeline a “We'll see,” and wandered off through the store. She stopped at a rack of matching skirts and tops.

“
Wow, Dana Buchanan.” She pulled a set from the rack and held the shirt up to examine it.

“
Try it on. Oh, here's a really cute black velvet warm-up suit in your size. For those northern Keys nights,” I said.

“
I'd never have anywhere to wear that,” she said. But after donning the outfits, with a little encouragement from Madeleine and me, she bought both—at a substantial discount, of course. She was my Grandy, after all.

Madeleine left the shop early to get ready for a date. She was on Yourperfectpartner.com and, of course, she had a line-up of men vying for her attention. She was trying them all out. It seemed safer that way, she confessed, because no one on the site knew she was a disaster magnet … yet.

Business was slow that afternoon. At least that gave me the opportunity to pump Grandy for information about her relationship with Valerie's grandfather. There was more to our family ties than Valerie's accusation of theft, and I wondered what the story was. Maybe I would find a link to her murder. I hadn't given up on the theory that someone had killed Valerie, thinking she was me. And although I was pretty certain that Mr. Napolitani wasn't interested in doing me in now, that didn't mean he hadn't tried in the past.

I was trying to think of the best way to approach Grandy about the Sanders family when a customer came into the shop. I busied myself by taking her selections back to the dressing room. While I was hanging up her clothing, the shop phone rang.

“
Let it go to voice mail,” I said. I stepped out of the dressing room and saw Grandy grab the phone. My customer handed me some additional choices, and I was momentarily distracted by her demand that I help her unstick the back zipper of a dress. When she left several minutes later—having bought none of the size 8 to size 12 dresses she had tried on (she was a 14, at least)—Grandy was still on the phone. She laughed several times and when she hung up, she was still smiling.

“
Now I have an occasion to wear my new warm-up suit.”

“
Really?”

“
Yup. I'm going out tonight.”

Ah
, I thought to myself,
that's perfect
. I didn't have to leave her alone all evening while I tended to my business. Wait a minute. Whom did Grandy know in Sabal City aside from me and Madeleine? Grandy and I were family. Not only that, but she raised me. She was the queen of plotting, and I was merely her lowly apprentice.

However, my need to find out more about how theft and love connected Valerie's family to mine caused me to shove any suspicions about tonight from my mind.

“
About this relationship between you and Valerie's grandfather …”

She plopped down in a chair. “Now that's a sad story. He was my first love.”

“
I didn't even know you were acquainted with the Sanders family.”

“
To be accurate, the name was Warton. Sanders is the family that Valerie married into. Anyway, I worked for the Wartons for several years as their downstairs maid. Franklin was their eldest son, and his father wanted him to take over the family business. They were in transportation—trains, mostly, then planes. They designed, built and owned several railroads and later, airline transport companies. Now they've diversified, I guess.” She shifted her round frame in the chair.

“
If this is too painful for you …”

“
No, it's this chair. Despite all the padding on my rear, it's like sitting on a concrete block. No give.”

I ran into the office and rolled my desk chair out for her. “Try this.”

“
Better. Now, where was I?”

“
Telling me about you and the Warton boy.”

“
Nothing much more to tell. We fell in love, a love that was impossible, of course. What prominent Connecticut family would allow their son to marry a lowly servant?”

“
They found out about you two?”

“
Oh, yes. Franklin insisted on telling them. He thought he could convince them that we should be together. I knew he wouldn't win. He didn't. They threatened to write him out of the will. He wasn't cut out to be poor. I saved the poor dear from himself by leaving and marrying an old friend—your grandfather.”

She raised her hand as if to put a halt to what I was about to say. “He was the best man in the world, and I loved him fiercely. Have no doubt about that. Soon, Franklin married the woman his family selected for him. I believe he was very happy, too. Only his family always harbored bad feelings toward me.”

“
Why?”

“
That's where the theft comes in. Franklin gave me this.” She pulled a gold chain from beneath her shirt. Hanging from the chain was an antique gold locket, heart-shaped, a large diamond in the center, nine rubies outlining the shape. I counted them.

“
It opens.” She inserted her nail between the front and back of the locket. I expected to see two pictures inside, and I wasn't disappointed. Looking at the figures in the photos I saw two women. Not what I was expecting at all.

Grandy watched my expression with something akin to amusement. “You thought the locket might contain a picture of Franklin and me.”

I nodded.

“
Eve, dear, I can remember a time when you loved Jerry to distraction. Am I right?”

I thought back to when Jerry and I met, to when I thought he was the most exciting man in Connecticut, maybe in all the world. Somehow, at that time he had seemed smarter, sexier and even taller than I saw him now.

“
I did love Jerry. Then.”

“
I loved Franklin, but some loves don't last for a lifetime and they probably shouldn't. I found your grandfather, and you'll find someone else, too.”

I nodded. “Why did the family accuse you of being a thief?”

“
The locket had been in the family for a long time. It's worth some money, and the family viewed it as theirs, not as Franklin's to give to whomever. Certainly not to a maid.”

“
Did Franklin have the right to give the heart to you?”

“
Debatable, both ethically and legally, but they never took action. Instead they just spread rumors that I had stolen some property of theirs. Most of them viewed the locket only as property, never saw the beauty of it or its emotional significance. Except, perhaps, for Valerie. She came to me once and asked to see it.”

“
That's an odd request.”

“
I thought so.”

“
Weren't you worried that she might try to steal the locket from you on the spot?”

Grandy shook her head. “Your grandfather was in the next room.”

“
Ah.”

“
Valerie stared for the longest time, then said, ‘It's beautiful. Guard it with your life.'”

“
A threat?”

“
Maybe. I couldn't tell.”

Grandy and I sat in silence for several minutes. “Valerie was a bundle of contradictions,” I said.

Grandy nodded.

“
The pictures?” I leaned closer to the locket.

“
Your mother and you, of course.”

“
Oh, Grandy.” I threw my arms around her and hugged her as if I'd never let her go.

“
Hey, you're squeezing me too tight. You might leave permanent indentations, girl.” She was hugging me back, though.

“
I love you.”

“
That's good. Then you won't mind if I come along with you and Mr. Napolitani on your adventure tonight.”

“
T
his is a very bad idea.” I steered my rental down the Beeline Highway heading for West Palm. Grandy sat beside me in her new black warm-up suit. I could feel her wriggle with excitement in her seat. “Stop that jiggling. This isn't a party we're going to, you know.”

She ignored my comments, just as she had ignored all the pleading, begging, and threatening I had directed her way since learning that Mr. Napolitani had invited her along on our evening exploration. If I had his cell number, perhaps I would have called off this jaunt. He had cleverly avoided giving me any way to contact him, and he blocked his number when he made calls to my phone. That was why he was rich and feared and I owned a secondhand shop.

I had to go ahead with my plan. I knew I couldn't get Frida interested in searching the Sanders' house. She wanted to do things the legal way. I didn't. Although, my actions could get me caught, and I
could
spend time in jail. As much as I liked having Grandy as a roomie, I didn't think she'd welcome sharing a cell with me. I'd start to whimper the minute the jail door closed. She was tough. I only thought of myself as tough. I'd never been tested. Well, tonight was the night.

“
Mr. Napolitani has some experience in these things. I can't believe he'd do anything to jeopardize your life or mine,” said Grandy.

That was comforting, but not necessarily true. His risk-taking threshold had to be a lot higher than either of ours. What we saw as dangerous was only an evening's entertainment for him.

I pulled into a strip mall a mile from the Sanders' house and parked at the side of the building under an oak tree. It cast shadows onto the car and made me feel as if we were somewhat hidden from other vehicles in the lot. The mall held a dry cleaners, a tile shop, several empty storefronts, and at the far end, a convenience store. At this time of night, all the shops were closed, with the exception of the convenience store.

Napolitani's black SUV backed in next to me.

He rolled down his window. “I brought backup.” The interior of the car was too dark for me to see who was in his passenger seat. “We'll take my car and leave yours here. Get in.”

Grandy and I hopped out of my car. The overhead light in the SUV didn't come on when I opened the back door.

“
Hey, your light's not working,” I said.

Napolitani turned in his seat. “That's the way I like it.” A smile lifted the corners of his mouth.

I didn't. I still couldn't identify the passenger, who remained shrouded in the deep shadow of the tree.

Napolitani ratcheted up his grin. “Perhaps after we finish our business, we can have a drink.”

Grandy nodded. Fine, I thought. A drink, if we're not in West Palm's city lock-up.

“
So, everyone knows everyone now,” Napolitani said.

The passenger in front shifted his body slightly, and I caught his face in the streetlight.

“
Jerry! No way.” I grabbed Grandy and reached for the door handle.

The door wouldn't open.

“
I suppose this is the way you like your door handles too, right?” I tried to keep my tone light. My heart was in my throat. I could barely get the words out of my mouth. Why had I decided to entrust our lives to a Mafia don, especially one who employed my ex as his assistant? I lost it.

“
Let us out.” I hammered on the door.

“
Evie, honey baby, calm down.” Jerry turned and reached into the backseat for my arm.

Napolitani hit a switch and the door suddenly swung open, catching me off balance. My body pitched forward and, if Grandy hadn't grabbed my shirt, I would have fallen out onto the ground.

“
Eve, you need to get a hold of yourself.” Grandy pulled me back onto the seat. “I'm sure Mr. Napolitani means no harm.”

“
No harm? Why does he have to lock us in then?”

“
This is the family car,” he said. “I have two grandchildren, both under the age of five. I always have the doors on automatic lock to make certain the kids are safe.”

“
Oh.” I could feel a flush of embarrassment spreading up my neck and into my face. Suddenly I was grateful for the darkness, as it hid my reddening cheeks. “Sorry I overreacted, but why is Jerry here? What help can he possibly be?”