Connie waved at Mandy, her favorite server and Elyse’s former client, who was waiting tables in another section. Connie had to smile when she realized that she had only been there a few months, and between Gallagher’s and Surfside, she already knew the waitstaff in two restaurants. She must be eating out a lot.
“It’s such a hot night,” Connie said, as she joined her friends. “I could go for a cold beer.”
The others agreed, and they ordered three Coronas with lime.
Connie updated Stephanie on what had happened at her first jewelry-making class, then filled them both in on the conversations she had with Gallagher, Paige and Abby.
When their server came, Connie ordered coconut shrimp with rice pilaf and the other women ordered fried grouper sandwiches.
“Everything was going so smoothly with Just Jewelry up until now,” Connie said, after the server left. “The grand opening was a huge success; business has been better than I expected during these hot summer months; and I was so excited that eight people signed up for my first jewelry-making class. But something like this could give me a bad reputation.”
“Which means that you’re going to take it upon yourself to investigate Allister’s murder,” Elyse said. It was more of a statement than a question. Her friends were beginning to know her well.
The guilty expression on Connie’s face gave her intentions away.
“Since there’s no way we can stop you,” Stephanie said with a smirk, “what are your thoughts on the case?”
“It’s too soon to have any thoughts,” Connie said. “All I know is that it had to be someone in my class who stole my pliers. Grace is working on Monday morning, so I’m going to stop by the university and see who I can talk to.”
“Josh is the lead investigator on this one,” Elyse said. “I know he and Zach are working hard on it. They’re both worried about you, though. I think they’ve given up on trying to keep you out of their investigations, but Josh made me promise to tell you to be careful. Promise me you’ll call one of them right away if you come across anything.”
Touched by their concern, Connie promised that she would.
“Speaking of Zach,” Stephanie said, “did you two ever go out on that second date?”
“No, not yet. In fact, I’m beginning to wonder if it’s ever going to happen. Zach’s been acting kind of strange lately.”
“What do you mean?” Elyse asked.
“When he came into Just Jewelry yesterday, he was all business. It was as if we had no personal relationship at all.”
“Wasn’t he in there investigating a murder?” Stephanie asked. “He was probably just preoccupied with the details of the case.”
“It’s hard to explain what I mean. Even when he comes by for police business, he’s not usually like that. Don’t get me wrong, he’s always been professional, but he’s never been this… I don’t know… distant, I guess. Something’s up with him.”
Elyse narrowed her eyes, as if in thought. “I wouldn’t worry about it. He’s probably just exhausted. Josh and Zach are the only detectives in the Sapphire Beach Police Department, and they have a big case load right now. They normally only work 9:00 to 5:00, Monday through Friday, but Josh has been called in on evenings and weekends several times this month, which means Zach probably has, too.”
Connie popped the last coconut shrimp into her mouth and leaned back in her chair. “I really enjoyed our date, so I hope that’s all there is to it. But I can’t help but feel that something else is going on.”
“I’ve seen the way he looks at you,” Stephanie said. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”
“I agree,” Elyse said. “I’ve known him for a couple of years, and I can tell he really likes you. If something is going on with him, it has nothing to do with his feelings for you. I’m sure he’ll talk to you about it when he’s ready.”
Connie knew that they had had a great first date, but it was only one date. Who knows, maybe an old flame came back into the picture, or Zach could have decided he didn’t want to date anyone right now for whatever reason. But Elyse was right about one thing: When Zach was ready, he would let her know what was going on. There was no point in dwelling on it.
“By the way,” Elyse said, “we had a great time at the jewelry-making class. It’s all Emma’s been talking about. She even talks about it more than beach volleyball now, which is saying a lot. I think it might be her new obsession.”
Connie laughed. “She certainly has a knack for it. Take her by anytime. I’m always game for helping an enthusiastic student. Who knows, maybe she’ll have her own line of jewelry one day.”
Elyse’s expression grew pensive. “Thank you. I think I’ll take you up on your offer. Emma could use a diversion these days. She’s having a tough time adjusting to Victoria being in the family.”
“I’m surprised to hear that,” Stephanie said. “She seemed so excited to be a big sister at Connie’s grand opening.”
“She was. But I think the novelty wore off when she discovered how much time and attention a three-year-old requires. Emma’s been an only child for eleven years.”
“She’ll get there,” Connie said. “Just be patient with her.”
When they finished dinner, the women prolonged the evening by taking a stroll on the beach. Before heading their separate ways, Connie invited them to Just Jewelry next Thursday evening, the Fourth of July.
“The annual fireworks display will take place from the pier at 9:30. I plan to have refreshments for customers, and I was hoping you would all stop by. When the store closes at 9:00, we can walk down to the beach and watch the fireworks together. I’ll text you a reminder, and I’ll include Zach and Grace in the message, but I wanted to tell you now so you could save the date.”
They both agreed to come, and Elyse promised to extend the invitation to Gertrude, as well.
Chapter 6
On Saturday morning, Connie set her phone alarm to go off a half hour early so she could swim some laps in the ocean before taking Ginger for her morning walk and getting ready for the day. Her new lifestyle in Sapphire Beach was proving to be much healthier than her previous one. She spent just as much time, if not more, working, but between walks with Ginger, all the outdoor activities at her fingertips, and having a gym right in her building, she was spending more time than ever before working out and filling her lungs with fresh air. Not to mention those regular doses of vitamin D from the Florida sun.
By the time Connie arrived in the shop, Grace had already swept the floor and was waiting on the first customer of the day. To Connie’s delight, there was a consistent stream of customers, and the morning flew by. Just before lunchtime, Ruby, the owner of the souvenir shop next door, popped in for a visit.
“I wanted to talk to you about getting my store stocked with some Fair Trade handbags in the fall,” she said, joining Connie and Grace in the seating area. “Is this a good time?”
The Fair Trade section in Connie’s store had inspired Ruby to want to follow suit in her own shop. Connie was thrilled that she was setting a trend, and, depending on how things went for Ruby, she was considering pitching the idea to a few other shops in the area. If more stores carried items from Connie’s Fair Trade vendors, it could have a ripple effect. Her contacts would be able to hire additional talented artisans in developing countries in need of employment, and she might even be able to expand to other countries and commission more vendors.
They talked about Ruby’s needs and agreed on an order and pricing. Connie would place the order with her artisans via email and was confident that they would easily be able to fulfill it by October, when the snowbirds would begin returning to Florida after their summer up north.
Grace and Ruby had become fast friends, so when Connie and Ruby finished discussing business, the two women began chatting away. Ruby apologized for not being able to attend Connie’s first jewelry-making class. “Even though this is the slow season, a lot of my employees are on vacation
, and some are seasonal. So I haven’t been able to break away from the store. Ironically, when it gets busy in the fall, I’ll have more time. I promise to take a class then.”
Connie shot Grace a questioning glance.
“You can tell her,” Grace said. “Ruby is not a gossip.”
Ruby looked curiously at Connie, waiting to be filled in, so Connie updated her on what took place after her first class.
As Ruby listened closely to everything Connie said, her mouth fell open. “Did you say this all happened on Thursday night?”
“Yes,” Connie said. “Why do you ask? Did you notice anything unusual that night?”
“It might be nothing,” Ruby said. “But I had a few tasks to finish up, so I didn’t leave my store until close to 10:00 that night. When I was leaving, I heard a loud bang. I remember, because it made me jump. It turned out a man had angrily pounded his fist on the hood of his car. He was alone, but he was obviously angry about something. When he saw my scared expression, he apologized, but something didn’t seem right about this man.”
From Ruby’s description of the man, Connie concluded that it was likely Jerry Morrison. She encouraged Ruby to tell the police what she saw.
“I’m so sorry your class ended this way, Connie, but I hope you realize it’s not your fault,” Ruby said. “Someone obviously stole your pliers, so whatever problem the killer had with Allister, he or she brought it with them to your class.”
“I know,” Connie said. “It’s just not how I wanted my teaching debut to go.”
“Don’t worry. The police will get to the bottom of everything, and, before long, it will be yesterday’s news. Perseverance is the name of the game, and I can tell you’re a tough cookie. You’ll make it through this. I’ll help spread the word as soon as you set a date for the next class.”
“Thank you,” Connie said, squeezing Ruby’s forearm. “It helps to know you’re in my corner.”
By the time Ruby left, Connie was feeling better about the situation. Something about Ruby always lifted Connie’s spirits. She had a way of talking that made you believe she’d lived through the exact same thing and came through it victoriously. Connie couldn’t help but wonder about her life and hoped that one day soon she would learn more.
Saturday afternoon dragged on as Connie struggled to keep her mind off Allister’s murder and on more productive things, such as updating her social media pages and website with new photos. She was looking forward to talking with Paige later that evening and hoped that she would still come by the store as she said she would.
Connie had to force Grace to leave about mid-afternoon, because she was spending too much time at the store. It wasn’t that Connie didn’t want to pay her for additional hours; she just didn’t want Grace to burn out in the first few months of business. Connie wanted Grace to be with Just Jewelry for a long time. There was no doubt about it - she would definitely have to hire additional help before too long.
At 7:00, Paige came by to work on her necklace, as promised. The two women settled into their workstations at the oak table, and Connie helped Paige to pick up where she left off Thursday night.
After a few minutes, it became obvious that Paige’s heart wasn’t in it. She kept glancing over at the chair that Allister had occupied the night before, and she finally voiced what she was obviously thinking. “I can’t believe Allister was sitting there just the other night. Who could have imagined what would have happened?” Then her face became distorted with pain. “I was so abrupt with him. I wouldn’t even give him a straight answer when he asked about my weekend plans.”
Paige was either a good actress or truly distraught about his death. Or maybe the pain on her face was guilt.
Connie gave her the benefit of the doubt and tried to comfort her. “Well, your plans are your own, and he had no right to ask.”
“I know,” she said, appearing to recover herself. “I go back and forth between being enraged that he put me in that position and guilt for not being kinder.”
Connie thought about her conversation with Gallagher. “Paige, is it okay if I ask you a question about Allister?”
Paige shrugged. “I guess.”
“I had lunch over at Gallagher’s Tropical Shack yesterday afternoon. I heard you and Allister ate there together after class and that the two of you got into a heated argument.”
She looked down and nodded. “Yeah, that’s true. He just wouldn’t let up. He kept trying to get into my good graces, but I knew he was a player, and I didn’t trust him. I feel terrible that he’s dead, but there was no way I wanted him anywhere near my mother.”
Come again? “Your mother?” Now Connie was confused. She thought Allister had been hitting on Paige.
“Yes. About a month ago my mom stopped by the English Department to pick me up, because we were going to lunch. She recently retired to this area, which was part of the reason I chose Florida Sands for grad school. I was tied up with something, and Allister didn’t hesitate for a minute to move right in. Before I knew it, he had a date with her, and they’ve gone out every weekend this month. He’d been trying to get in my good graces ever since.”
Connie leaned back in her chair. That explained why, when Allister said he was making his necklace for a woman he was dating, everyone grew silent and watched Paige’s response. Connie had falsely assumed that Allister had been hitting on Paige and that he was hoping to give her the necklace. She was glad she hadn’t voiced what she was thinking. That could have been awkward. “And since Allister was your professor and boss,” Connie clarified, “you just wanted him to stay out of your personal life.”
“Exactly. As his TA, he was my superior and he was even my advisor for my doctoral dissertation. How was I supposed to know if he really liked my work, or if he was just kissing up to me because he was dating my mother? But more importantly, I didn’t trust the guy with my mom.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself, Paige. You had a right to your feelings. It did put you in an uncomfortable situation.”
“You don’t think I’m a monster for the way I treated him?” Paige asked.
“Not at all.” Connie thought about how she would have reacted in a similar situation. What if her parents were no longer married and a guy who Connie knew to be a player was after her mother? Not to mention the power differential that was at play. Talk about a no-win situation. “I think I would have done the same thing if I were in your shoes,” Connie said.
Although it could still be a motive for murder, Paige was looking less like the killer. If she felt that badly about being unkind to Allister, she probably wouldn’t have been capable of murdering him. And with pliers.
But then again, according to Gallagher, she was pretty angry at Allister when they left the restaurant on Thursday night, and, as far as Connie knew, she was the last person to see him alive. It’s possible she’s hiding something about herself, but it wouldn’t hurt to see what she knew about the others.
“Paige, do you have any idea who might have killed Allister?” Connie asked. “I don’t mean to scare you, but the killer was most likely in my class on Thursday night. Did anyone in the English Department have a grudge against him?”
Paige looked down, as if contemplating whether she should share something.
“What is it? Please tell me if you know anything that could lead to Allister’s killer. I want my students and my customers to feel safe in my store.”
“It’s probably nothing, but Abby was in one of Allister’s English classes – one where I was his teacher’s assistant.”
“Go on,” Connie said.
“Well, nobody knows this, because Allister didn’t have a chance to report it yet, but he caught her plagiarizing on one of her papers. He was going to turn her in to the Dean of Students. Abby insisted it was an honest mistake, but according to the university rules, it doesn’t matter. The penalty is quite stiff, and she would likely have been expelled. At a minimum, she would fail the course and be put on academic proba
tion.”
“Isn’t Abby a promising student?” Connie asked.
“Yes, she’s in the top of her class. In September, she will begin her senior year, and with her talent and grades, she could get into any graduate program she wants. And that’s her plan. To become a professor and a writer. That kind of blemish on her record could ruin everything.”
Both Connie and Grace had noticed that Abby was preoccupied the night of class. This must have been what was on her mind.
“Do you think she’s capable of murder?” Connie asked.
“I wouldn’t have thought so, but it’s hard to tell. She is very driven, and she’s wanted to be a professor and a writer since she was a kid. Who knows what someone is capable of doing to protect their lifelong dream?”
Connie couldn’t argue with that.
“Since you’re investigating, there’s one more thing you should know,” Paige said. “Allister and I weren’t the only ones from your class in Gallagher’s on Thursday night. Jerry had been sitting at the bar the whole time while we ate. He just nursed his beer and stared straight ahead. He had this pained expression on his face, as if something was eating away at him. As we left, he was walking behind us and when I drove away, neither Jerry nor Allister had gotten in their car yet.”
That was interesting. It most likely was Jerry who scared Ruby by angrily banging on his car Thursday night.
Chapter 7
After Paige made a few more unsuccessful attempts to concentrate on her necklace, Connie could see that she was ready to call it a night.
But before Paige left, there was one more thing that Connie wanted know. She had been struck by how angry Mary Ann suddenly became with Allister on Thursday night when he talked about only the best and brightest being admitted into Florida Sands. Connie remembered the anger that filled her eyes and Isabel’s comment that Allister didn’t mean anything by it, so she asked Paige what that was all about.
“I noticed that, too,” Paige said. “I think it’s because Mary Ann’s son, Ian, was denied admission to Florida Sands. She must have taken Allister’s comment as a jab. That probably wasn’t the way he meant it, but she’s really sensitive about it.”
Sapphire Beach Cozy Mystery Collection Page 39