Frankly, it didn’t matter. I could sit and look into them all day.
“I think my cookies have a magical effect,” Maxine said with a laugh.
I realized I was still holding his hand and snatched it away. My hair fell annoyingly, brushing against my cheek, so I pushed it behind an ear. Such a schoolgirl move.
“I um...Naomi Cooper. I’m...uh...” I pushed a flyer in front of Kane. Sawyer. Dr. Sawyer.
“Right. The dog show for the craft fair. People are talking about it.”
We only just started distributing the flyers today. Gotta love small towns.
“Yes. I am back in town after being years away and got roped into helping to organize the charity dog show. I do volunteer work at the animal shelter. Grooming.” My hand fluttered nervously at the flyer. I picked Winston up to give me something to do. Anything to keep from looking like a complete idiot.
Only mostly like one. Can I die right here? Roll me out under the holly bushes outside.
Was it getting hot in here?
“Are you opening a grooming service here in town?” Maxine asked.
“Yeah. I’m looking at property now.”
“When you get business cards, drop back by.” Dr. Sawyer tapped at the business card holders. “You can leave them here or put them on the community board.”
“Oh! Oh, that would be so great. I can reciprocate when I get my shop opened.”
“I think most people already know about us but it never hurts,” Maxine said cheerfully.
I liked Maxine. Maxine was one of those individuals who perpetually saw the bright side of things.
“Doc,” a guy said, rushing in the door behind them. “Rutger’s out in the truck.”
“Ran into another porcupine,” Dr. Sawyer said with a knowing nod. “The dog still hasn’t figured out they don’t want to play.”
He held out his hand to me. “It was nice talking to you, Naomi. Maybe I’ll see you at the shelter.”
“Yeah. Likewise.” I stared after Kane Sawyer for a long time before I realized it and smiled sheepishly at Maxine. “I should probably go.”
Maxine nodded. “He has that effect. Leave those last two. My dad owns the hardware stores here in Harmony Grove and in Yazoo City. I’ll have him put these up in both of his stores.”
“That would be great. Thanks, Maxine. I’ll...uh see you later.”
Outside, I took some deep breaths. That was thoroughly embarrassing but it was Dr. Sawyer’s fault for being so nice. All in all, I did what I set out to do. The current batch of flyers was passed out. Word was obviously getting out as well. That was a good sign.
I snapped Winston’s leash on his collar and we struck off across the parking lot. “Come on, Winston. Let’s go talk to someone about some landscaping.”
Chapter Nine
It looked like I came out at the right time. The men were securing their equipment in the trailer. “Hey,” I said brightly, heading for the shade. It wasn’t super-hot but the sun would heat up poor Winston in a hurry. “Do y’all do residential areas or just commercial?”
The guy I was looking at pointed to another man, much younger, with long hair pulled into a ponytail. He was talking on the phone, pacing back and forth.
His arms sported a variety of tattoos. I tried not to stare but I wanted to get a good look at them. I kind of like tattoos. On someone else, of course. There was something dangerous and sexy about them.
“She’s driving me crazy, babe. She follows me around, tries to talk to me. Every time I turn around, she’s, like, there, you know?”
I felt bad that I could hear the conversation. Sounded like he was dealing with a clingy stalker. I tried to ignore him until he was done, so I glanced through the trees to see if anyone was over at the farmer’s market. I’d contact Mom when I was done to see if she wanted me to get anything before I headed home.
His gaze flicked up. With a lift of his chin, he acknowledged I was there and held up a finger. “Yeah. I don’t think they can do anything...No, don’t engage the crazy, okay? I’ll figure out a way to handle it. I gotta go; someone needs to talk to me.”
“Are you Kevin?”
He turned at my approach, his eyes flashing from me to Winston, back up to me. “Yeah,” he said. He sounded cautious. Did he recognize Winston? “You’re the lady who got struck by lightning.”
“That’s me.” I held my arm out to show the lightning fractals.
That broke the ice. He approached curiously and looked closely at them. “That is way cool. I mean, I’m sorry you got struck by lightning and all. Must have sucked.”
“Well, it wasn’t fun.”
Winston was dancing around my feet so I scooped him up. “He was there, Mary!”
I steadied my hand on Winston’s head to keep him quiet. Things shifted suddenly. Was I staring right at Violet’s murderer?
Thankfully, the clinic was very close and he had actual employees with him so there wasn’t anything he could do but maybe this wasn’t a good idea now.
Except...well, I was already here and Winston wasn’t wigging out. Surely he would be wigging out if this guy were the actual killer. Unfortunately, I couldn’t exactly question him about that.
Why yes, my dog says you might be a killer. Is that true? Not a really smart move if I didn’t want to be seen as a loon.
“Naomi Cooper,” I said, holding my hand out. “I was a friend of Mrs. Pickering’s.”
He snorted and shook my hand gruffly. “I doubt that old harridan had any friends.”
“Oh?” I asked innocently.
“Least of all anyone who worked for her.” Kevin finished up the invoice and handed it off to one of his guys to run into the clinic.
“Well...I’d think it was her friends who would be paying her house a visit at night now that she’s dead, right? They wouldn’t be skulking around looking to cause trouble, you know, taking advantage of the fact she wasn’t around anymore.”
Hypocrite, thy name was Naomi.
His eyes widened. “I don’t know anything about that stuff. I try to stay far away from breaking the law.”
“Not even for paperwork that might indicate to the police that you might have had trouble with her?”
Kevin’s jaw tightened and he inclined his head for us to walk further away so no one could overhear. “Look. She was trying to stiff me for $1,000, alright? I went to her house and cleaned up that property, even did some landscaping. After I presented the bill, she said she wasn’t going to pay so...I wrote a letter telling her she better pay up or else.”
“Or else? Those are pretty strong words, Kevin.”
“She changed the terms of our agreement and raised the amount for use of her property for hunting. Said that the money she owed me could be used to pay that down. To pay it down. I decided I’d take her to small claims court. She gave me no other choice. But if you’re thinking I actually had it in for her to kill her? I don’t look for that kind of trouble.”
“So where were you the afternoon she was killed? I mean, just asking.”
“Well I wasn’t there or you would have seen me, wouldn’t you?”
I shrugged.
“I had a job down on Riverdale. I have three customers and you know what? I already told the police this so I got nothing more to say.” He jerked open the cab door and slammed it shut before I could say anything more.
I was forced to back up as he put the truck in gear to pull away so that Winston and I weren’t run down.
“Well, that was interesting.”
“He used to come with Mary to see Mary.”
Come with...we really have to work on getting names straight.
So Kevin knew someone who knew Violet and went with this whoever to see Violet while she was alive.
“So, is his friend the person who hurt Violet?”
“No, Mary didn’t hurt Mary. But he knows Mary who did hurt Mary.”
So it was a matter of figuring out which Mary Kevin knew well enough to visit
Violet.
Just that easy.
Just that hard.
It was still early in the day and we had plenty of time to kill before Mom would have supper ready so Winston and I decided to ride out to see Inge at the animal shelter. Sarah probably spoiled the surprise that we were going to give her the proceeds from the dog show event. That was okay, though. It wasn’t my idea; I didn’t want to take the credit.
Stopping by also gave me the chance to see if they needed me for any of the animals.
When I pulled up, Chief Reed’s SUV was parked out front. As I climbed out of the car, I could see him talking with Inge in the reception area. What business did he have with her?
Setting Winston on the ground, we entered the shelter.
“...and that’s all you remember, Mrs. Handel?” Chief Reed was standing there all officious looking, scribbling in that stupid notebook of his.
When I tried to get close enough to read what he was writing, he shot me a glare over his shoulder. With an innocent smile, I moved to Inge’s side and hugged her gently. “What’s up, Inge?”
“Hello, dear. Sweet Winston.” She petted his head.
“We’re almost done here,” Chief Reed said in his official voice. I’ve already waxed poetic about how sexy it was, even if he peeved me off that he used the voice on me. Inge was my friend! I had a right to comfort her!
“I’ll be right with you.” Inge gave me an apologetic smile. “Thank you.”
Her smile dropped when she addressed Chief Reed. “I promise you, Alistair, that’s all I said. They were heated words, said in a moment of frustration, but it never got any more than that. I went to school with Violet and her sister. We played lacrosse together. She was difficult even back then but we just learned to live with her. I would never want to harm her.”
I picked Winston up under the pretense of adjusting his harness. “Did Inge ever come to visit Violet, Winston?” I asked quietly.
“I don’t remember Mary being there.”
Everyone turned to look at us before resuming. Oops.
Pieter paced back and forth behind the counter, casting worried glances at the two of them talking so we joined him there to stay out of the way. “Everything going okay, Pieter?”
“Apparently someone stepped forward as an eyewitness to Violet and Inge shouting at each other. Nosy busybodies.”
As much as I wanted to agree with him, they probably felt like they were doing their civic duty in an ongoing investigation by reporting what they saw and heard. “We know it was just words and Chief Reed will see that, too.”
Trusting the process. It was hard even under the best of circumstances. I was not about to let Chief Reed run roughshod over Inge though. She was not a killer. I knew it. Winston knew it. We all knew it.
“Where was she after I left?” I hated to ask that but if Inge didn’t have an alibi for the time frame that Violet was killed, she might actually be in trouble.
“She was here all afternoon.”
“And she didn’t leave once, even for a short errand?”
Pieter motioned around them. “Who would mind the shelter? Any errands that are run, I do and I didn’t leave at all either. We were both here all day.”
So husband and wife were each other’s alibi. I could see why Chief Reed might have a point. “Anyone else here?”
“Thank you, Mrs. Handel. If I have any more questions, I’ll let you know.” Chief Reed closed his notebook. He nodded once to Pieter, who just glared in return, and left.
Inge stood there for a moment, shaking, before she burst into tears and ran straight into Pieter’s arms. He comforted her as best he could. Even Winston crept close to nuzzle at her in an attempt to comfort Inge.
He was such a sweet little thing.
“I honestly don’t remember, Naomi. If you don’t mind...”
“It’s fine. Do you need me to stay for a bit?”
“No, I think we’ll just close the office for a while.”
I picked Winston up. “Okay. Call me if you need anything, Inge.”
She nodded with a watery sniffle. Pieter followed me to the door and locked it behind me.
Chief Reed sat in his SUV, making notes.
I stalked over to the vehicle and snatched the back door open to crawl in, slamming it behind me. I pounded on the grate that separated the front seat from the back. “You are such a jerk!”
“Mary says you’re a jerk. A big, human, smelly jerk.”
Thank you, Winston.
He glanced over his shoulder and his mouth curled into a smile. “What did I do?”
“You made Inge cry.”
“It’s my job, Miss Cooper.”
“To make elderly women cry? Is that a special class you take in cop school?”
“Got top marks.” He shifted so he wasn’t craning his neck to talk to me. He was still smiling.
Oh no you don’t. Don’t you dare try to seduce me with your devastatingly handsome smile. I won’t put up with that.
“I don’t enjoy doing it. But I do have an investigation and I did get a tip that Inge had hard words with Violet when she was here the day she died. I’m doing my duty to find her killer. That means eliminating all possible suspects.”
“She didn’t kill Violet.” My temper was getting the better of me.
“I know.”
“Inge wouldn’t harm anyone!”
“I know.”
“She is one of the sweetest, kindest...you know?” All the steam left me when he chuckled.
“Like I said,” he flapped his notebook. “I just have to cover my bases.”
Winston stood on my thigh, his little feet uncomfortably pressing on my muscle.
“And so you just let me make a jerk of myself.”
“We’re quite the pair, aren’t we?”
I sagged back in the seat. “A couple of jerks.”
“It’s not a bad title, once you get used to it.”
“Okay, as long as you know. About Inge, I mean. And you being a jerk.” I tugged on the handle to the door to let myself out and it didn’t budge.
Trying again, putting my shoulder into it, and the darn thing still didn’t open.
Oh, right. Suspects sat in the back and police cars had the latch disabled so the criminals couldn’t get out.
When I looked at Chief Reed again, he was chuckling.
Fine. Laugh at me. “Could you...?”
Without saying anything, he climbed out of the car and opened the back door for me. He held his hand out to help steady me as I stepped out. His hand was warm, strong. Big. He was a big man and I could smell his cologne again.
He closed that door and circled around to open the driver’s side to my mom’s car. “Drive safely, Miss Cooper,” he said after I climbed behind the wheel.
“Um...you too, Chief.” I started the car and waited for him to close the door before I pulled out of the parking lot.
“He’s still a jerk,” I said to Winston.
“Mary’s a jerk,” he agreed.
At least, I assumed Winston was agreeing with me.
When I stopped at one of the two stoplights on the square, I glanced at my phone. Four messages. I pulled down a side street off Main and into a parking spot so I could check them.
Two from Mom, asking me to stop by the Pig on the way home to pick up a few groceries. One was from Jolene, letting me know she was getting off shift and if we wanted to do anything this afternoon. The final one was from Rebecca Cole about a couple of properties I might be interested in if I had time.
I called to confirm with Rebecca that I was very interested in seeing what she had lined up and we set up the appointment for two pm. That gave me plenty of time to drop by the pharmacy to catch Jolene before she left. I texted her to see if she was interested in coming with me.
Her response was four words: You have to ask?
She was standing in front of the pharmacy when I pulled up.
“Hey,” she said. She scooted Winston over s
o she could sit in the seat with him. He got the message and climbed into her lap. “How many places?”
“I don’t know. Two? Three? What are you doing for dinner?”
“Coming home with you. Your mom called earlier and invited me.”
“You don’t have a standing invitation?” I know my folks loved Jolene. My best friend...well, she was good folk. A little flighty, but aren’t we all?
“Yeah, but you know it’s polite not to assume.”
Speaking of not assuming, I filled her in on what my day had been like.
“You’ve been busy. And Chief Reed is a jerk for making Inge cry. Is she okay?”
“Pieter closed the shelter early.”
“What a guy. If we all could get that lucky.”
“No thanks. Men are a complication I don’t need.” I really wanted to build up my business before thinking about dating and relationships. Not that I had any prospects in mind.
Jolene rolled her eyes. “Just you wait. One day you’ll run smack-dab into Mr. Perfect and he’ll sweep you off your feet.”
“I’ll give him your name.”
“You’re a good friend, Naomi Cooper.”
We pulled into the realtor’s parking lot a little early but we could sit around and wait until Rebecca could take us building shopping.
When we walked in, the only people in the office were Rebecca and a very prim middle-aged woman, both sitting at Rebecca’s desk. She lifted her head and smiled at us, gesturing with a glance to have a seat.
We sat in the small waiting area that consisted of four uncomfortable chairs lined up along the front window of their office, Winston paced back and forth to the end of his leash, sniffing and investigating everything.
“I wonder if he’d make a good tracking dog,” Jolene mused.
“I think all he’s good for is eating treats.”
“Well...Violet may have had the right of it,” the prim lady said with a sniff. “Belinda may be a nice woman and all but with the company she’s been keeping lately, it does make her own reputation a little...suspect, if you get my meaning.”
“And he’s almost half her age.” Rebecca said as she wrote something down. “Not that there’s anything wrong with it, I mean, if he’s good for her.”
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