Sealed with a Kill (13 page)

“That’s not surprising,” Brenna said. “Now that she lives here, you’ve probably seen her in town.”

“No, that’s not it,” Lillian said.

“Uh-oh,” Frank said.

“What?” Lillian asked.

“You’ve got that tone of voice,” he said.

“What tone of voice?” she asked.

“The one that you use when you’re about to tell me something that is going to make me unhappy, like when the boys used my drop cloths for parachutes and were jumping off the roof.”

“Oh, yeah, that was a rough day,” Lillian said.

“Okay, so what about my new neighbor?” Brenna asked. She had a sick feeling that Lillian was going to tell her that she’d seen her with Nate. They were grown-ups. It was really none of Brenna’s business. Yeah, right.

“Well, I was at the Willow House last week with my sister, and I could swear I saw that woman, Siobhan, having coffee with Harvey Lester.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely,” Lillian said. “Who in Morse Point carries a handbag like that?”

Brenna’s eyes strayed to Siobhan’s voluminous bright green shoulder bag. It was one of a kind. Well, this changed everything.

“Maybe she’s a friend of the family,” Brenna said. She wondered if she looked as surprised as she felt.

She forced a smile and glanced back at Lillian and Frank. “Well, good to see you both. Enjoy your kid-free dinner.”

Brenna headed back to the bar. Her brain was reeling. If Siobhan knew Harvey Lester, then why hadn’t she said anything to anyone? Siobhan should have expressed shock or outrage at his murder. Brenna thought back to when they discovered the body in the woods. Siobhan hadn’t gotten that close to him, so she may not have been able to recognize him under the leaves. But after she’d heard who it was, surely she would have said something to someone. Brenna wondered if she had discussed it with Nate.

She slipped back onto her stool and glanced at Siobhan. She was young and perky, with her brown curly bob framing her round face, but there was an aloofness in her eyes, and her smile never quite managed to warm her gaze. She seemed to be always assessing and analyzing. Brenna got the feeling that she missed nothing.

“What?” Siobhan asked, giving her an impatient look.

Brenna realized she had been staring. Well, what the hell? She had nothing to lose here.

“A friend of mine said she saw you having coffee with Harvey Lester last week,” Brenna said.

Siobhan’s eyes got wide and then narrowed. “So?”

“I wasn’t aware that you knew anyone from Morse Point,” Brenna said.

Paula and Tenley went still, silently watching the back and forth.

“Well, you really don’t know me at all, do you?” Siobhan asked.

“Apparently not,” Brenna agreed. Her own voice was taking on a glacial tone.

“Look, it’s no big deal,” Siobhan said. “I was at the Willow House, and he came in. I let him buy my coffee, and we got to talking. I didn’t even know his name until his picture ran in the
Courier
the day after he died.”

“So, you just happened to meet him,” Brenna said.

“Yeah, pretty freaky, huh?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Brenna agreed. Siobhan was lying. Brenna could feel it, but why? She slugged back her iced tea. She wanted to get out of here and talk to Tenley. There had to be a way to find out the real connection between Siobhan and Harvey Lester.

“I don’t believe a word that girl says,” Tenley said as soon as they left Paula at the inn and Siobhan had driven off back to her cabin.

Brenna noticed that Siobhan was driving Nate’s pickup truck. She was trying not to let that fact gnaw at her, but it wasn’t easy. The thought that Nate and Siobhan were getting cozy really bugged her. Just like the fact that Julie and Dom were obviously getting cozy as well. Here she’d thought she had two men in her life, but now she had a feeling she was going to wake up tomorrow to none.

They walked from the inn back to Vintage Papers. Tenley wanted to make sure she’d shut off the coffeepot, and it was easier to cut through the shop to get to the alley in back where they’d parked.

Brenna unlocked the front door. The bells tied to the inside handle jangled loudly in the hushed evening. She locked the door behind them as Tenley made her way to the back.

“I’m going to use the restroom,” she called.

“I’ll wait for you,” Brenna said.

A few months before, Brenna had literally had her knees knocked out from under her in the alley behind the shop. She still didn’t like going back there alone, day or night.

She rinsed out her coffee cup from earlier, checked to see that the grounds had been dumped from the pot, which was off, and straightened the counter while she waited. The door to the bathroom opened and Tenley came out, frowning at a small decoupage box she held in her hand.

“Has it done something to offend you?” Brenna asked.

“Huh . . . What . . . Oh.” Tenley sighed. “No, but I’m sure I put my emerald ring in here earlier, and now it’s gone.”

Brenna looked inside the box. Empty. Tenley always put her rings in that box when there was a decoupage class. It kept them from getting gunky with glue.

“Maybe it’s on the shelf in there,” Brenna said.

“I checked,” Tenley said.

“The floor?”

“Nope.”

“I’ll just double-check,” Brenna said.

She stepped into the small restroom. There was not much surface area to examine, as it consisted of a pedestal sink, a toilet, a towel rack, and a toilet-paper holder. Painted in soft pewter with cream accents, it was a delicate-looking room. A small mirror with a shelf was the only other thing in the room, and the box Tenley was holding always sat on the shelf.

Brenna searched the tile floor, but there was nothing. Had someone from class stolen the ring? She tried to remember who might have used the bathroom, but she was drawing a blank.

She rejoined Tenley in the back room. “Sorry, no luck.”

Tenley’s jaw was clamped tight. “My father gave me that ring. It was my grandmother’s.”

Brenna remembered the round emerald set in gold with a petite diamond on each side. It was a lovely ring, and Tenley had worn it for as long as she’d known her.

“I’m trying to remember who used the bathroom,” Brenna said.

“Siobhan,” Tenley snapped.

“We were waiting for her for quite a while,” Brenna agreed. “Although, Paula did use the restroom, too, and during class Suede did as well.”

“My gut instinct is telling me that it’s Siobhan. I like Paula; she’s nice. I don’t see her as the type to steal, and Suede, well, what would he do with a woman’s ring?”

“Hock it?” Brenna suggested, but Tenley didn’t seem to hear her.

“I’m going to confront her,” Tenley said. “Tomorrow morning, I’ll drive out to your place, and the two of us will ‘pop’ in on her.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Brenna said. “Unless you want to go tonight.”

“It’s tempting,” Tenley said. “But I think if we wait until tomorrow, I’ll have time to calm down and we can catch her off guard.”

Tenley put the little box away, and Brenna locked the back door behind them as they stepped out into the alley.

“Who does that? I mean, really, who steals a family heirloom?” Tenley asked. Brenna wasn’t sure if it was a rhetorical question or not, but she answered anyway.

“Someone who has no conscience,” she said.

“Exactly,” Tenley said. “I don’t believe that she just met Uncle Harvey, either. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that she knew him—intimately.”

“You think Siobhan is the one he was going to leave Lydia for?” Brenna asked.

“It makes sense, doesn’t it?” Tenley asked. “She’s young, pretty, and new in town. I’ll bet she even came here for him.”

“But Nate said an art school buddy of his asked him to put her up,” Brenna said.

“We need to find out more about her,” Tenley said. “A lot more.”

“Is that why you agreed to go out for drinks with her tonight?” Brenna asked. “To find out more about her?”

“Well, first I thought she was eyeing Matt, and I wanted to be sure to put a stop to that,” Tenley said. She only looked a little embarrassed when she said it. “But after what Lillian said, it occurred to me that Siobhan could be the one we’re looking for. But now, with my ring gone and her being the most likely person to have stolen it, I have even more reasons to go after her.”

She looked hurt and angry. Brenna could understand. It wasn’t just a ring that had been taken. It was a link to her grandmother, a memory, something that had so much more to it than monetary value.

“Don’t worry,” Brenna said as she gave her a hug.

“We’ll get your ring back.”

 

Tenley arrived at Brenna’s cabin bright and early the next morning. She came barreling in with a box of doughnuts and two of Stan’s lattes.

Brenna finished tying back her hair and popped open the top of the box. They were coconut, her favorite. This is why everyone needed a best girlfriend. They knew exactly what you needed when you needed it.

She took out two plates, and they both sat at the breakfast bar and tucked into the box.

“So, what’s the plan?” she asked.

“I need to get into her place and snoop,” Tenley said.

“Okay,” Brenna said. She had no idea how they were going to pull this off, but she was game to try. “What’s going on with your dad?”

“He’s at home,” Tenley said. “The medical examiner placed Uncle Harvey’s death sometime the evening before you found him. My father was at a business meeting in Boston.”

“So he’s clear?” Brenna asked. She bit into her doughnut and felt more at peace with the world than she had in days. Sadly, it didn’t last.

“Not quite,” Tenley said. “They are trying to pinpoint his traveling time. They seem to think he had time to murder Uncle Harvey after his meeting and still get home in time for a nightcap with my mother.”

“What about Lydia? If Harvey was cheating on her, surely she had the most to lose if he left her.”

“She was at the club all night with plenty of witnesses.” Tenley was silent while she chewed, and Brenna wondered what she was thinking.

“We need to find out where Siobhan was on the evening that Harvey was murdered.”

“She’s been spending a lot of time with Nate,” Brenna said.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure what’s going on there, but there’s no time like the present to find out.”

Brenna rose from her stool and closed the lid on the doughnut box. She picked up her latte and said, “Are you ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.” Tenley picked up her latte and followed.

As they stepped onto Brenna’s front porch, she heard the front door to Siobhan’s cabin open. Instinct made her stop short, and Tenley plowed into her back.

“What the . . . ?”

“Shh.” Brenna pushed her back inside and then quickly shut her door. “Come on.”

She hurried across her small cabin into her bedroom, which overlooked Siobhan’s cabin. The morning sky was just beginning to lighten, but there was no mistaking two things. One was Siobhan in a bathrobe that looked like a hot pink kimono; the other was a tall, dark-haired man with a severe case of bed head, who had her locked against him in a passionate embrace.

Nate! Brenna felt her insides clench tight. She didn’t want to believe it. She didn’t want to watch, but she couldn’t look away.

“Is that . . . ?” Tenley’s voice trailed off.

“I think so,” Brenna said. Her voice sounded weak.

“What is he doing with her?” Tenley sounded bewildered.

“I can only imagine,” Brenna answered, unable to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

“No, I don’t mean that,” Tenley said. “I get that. What I want to know is how those two know each other.”

“He’s her landlord,” Brenna said.

“I thought Nate was her landlord,” Tenley said.

The couple broke apart, and Brenna caught a swift glance of the man’s profile. His nose was small and looked as if it struggled to keep his glasses up.

“That’s not Nate,” she said.

“You thought it was?” Tenley asked.

Brenna had the grace to blush. “Just for a second.”

“Oh, puleeze, that man is crazy about you,” Tenley said. “He’d never go for that bit of fluff.”

“Then who is that guy?” Brenna asked, changing the subject.

“That is Brian Steele, the young executive my father wanted to toss me at,” Tenley said.

“You never went to that dinner, did you?”

“No, Uncle Harvey’s murder threw a wrench into that plan.”

Siobhan suddenly glanced their way. “Get down!” Brenna hissed, yanking Tenley down out of the window. They crouched on the floor cradling their lattes.

“Now what?” Tenley asked.

“No idea,” Brenna said. “I have a lot of questions and no answers.”

“Let’s go over to Siobhan’s,” Tenley said.