How to Frame a Fashionista

by Debra Sennefelder

  She re-positioned her fingers over her keyboard and got back to work. She was on a deadline. Her plan was to send the newsletter within a week.

  With that kick in her leggings, Kelly put her head down and wrote. When she looked up an hour later, she had a finished draft, her coffee, and the cookie was gone. She contemplated what to do about the coffee mug. Refill or no refill? Now, there was an easy decision. Finally. She swiped it up and, as she was about to stand, her cell phone dinged. A text from Ariel.

  Kelly cringed. She’d been avoiding her friend since her uncle’s confession. At the time that she agreed to keep his secret, she hadn’t considered how she’d feel when she faced Ariel.

  She sighed and picked up her phone to read the message.

  Ariel was finishing her shift at the library but was staying to work on an article for a magazine she pitched to last fall. She asked if Kelly wanted to join her for some writing time and then they could get an early dinner.

  A writing session and dinner. Could Kelly keep herself from blurting out the fact they’re not only friends but cousins?

  She replied.

  Sounds good. See you then.

  Sounds good? Sounds more like a recipe for disaster.

  Ariel replied with a thumb’s up emoji.

  Kelly set her phone down and sighed again. Somehow, she’d keep the secret to herself. She had to. All thoughts about Ariel’s biological father were pushed aside. She couldn’t allow herself to be sucked into her uncle’s twenty-eight-year-old indiscretion.

  She quickly got a refill and another cookie. Back at her laptop, she started drafting the welcome portion of the newsletter. That section took more brainpower, as she wanted to convey a fun, cool, and modern tone that would draw the reader in. There were a few false starts until she found her voice but when she did, her fingers flew over the keyboard. When she had a first draft of the opening paragraph, she took an eye break by scrolling Instagram for a few minutes. When she finally caught up, she went back to her browser to check the weather and the news of the day.

  The weather forecast was for a stretch of unseasonably warmer days, and the news hadn’t reported on Jason’s death yet. She was certain that would change once Serena’s arrest leaked.

  She propped an elbow on the table and rested her chin in the palm of her hand.

  The question of all those pills after Jason’s supposed suicide attempt lingered in her mind and finally pushed front and center. If Jason did indeed kill himself, why did the police arrest Serena?

  She grabbed her phone and texted Gabe. Hopefully she could get a little info out of him.

  Hey, have you heard anything about Jason’s death?

  While she waited for his reply, she checked her emails again and there was an email from MineNowYours.com. Her finger hovered over the mouse pad to click on the correspondence and then it hit her—the Fendi purse! With everything going on and her mind jumping from one thing to another, she’d forgotten about the precious Peekaboo. How could that have happened?

  Out of sight, out of mind. That’s how.

  The purse was in her coat closet.

  There was a ding from her phone. A text from Gabe.

  Open investigation. Can’t tell you anything.

  She rolled her eyes. They both knew he’d tell her something about the case.

  Why was Serena arrested if Jason killed himself?

  With her phone in hand, she got up and went to the closet. She pulled the purse down from the top shelf and took it back to the table. Gingerly, she removed the purse from the dust bag. It was so beautiful. Classic. Timeless. And so far out of her financial reach. Darn. She caressed the smooth leather and wondered if Tawny’s estate would accept monthly installments. First, she had to find out who comprised Tawny’s estate or Jason’s estate. Maybe no one needed to know she still had the purse?

  Her phone dinged again, and she glanced at it.

  All I can tell you is that there was evidence to indicate it wasn’t a suicide. Gotta go.

  Kelly stared at the message. They suspected Serena killed Jason. What was her motive? To get the jointly owned property? They’d been battling over it and with Jason and Tawny dead, it was hers now. But then there was the suicide note. Something was off.

  She opened the photo of the note and studied it. The handwriting wasn’t Serena’s. She could have had a partner. Kelly dismissed the idea. Serena wasn’t a team player. She zoomed in on the photo. She remembered the paper. It wasn’t a plain sheet of white paper. No, it was creamier in color, and it looked thicker. She’d seen it somewhere before but couldn’t remember where.

  Kelly sat down and set her phone aside. The police would be able to sort everything out. At some point, they would discover the handwriting on the note wasn’t Serena’s. They had experts for that, didn’t they? Her new top priority was to figure out what to do with the purse.

  She opened the bag and examined the interior label. The more she checked, the more confident she was that it was authentic. It probably should be turned over to the police for safekeeping considering its value.

  While inspecting the interior, she unzipped the pocket, reached her fingers in, and discovered a key. She missed it on her first check when Tawny presented it to her. Then again, she’d been so surprised it wasn’t a wonder she’d missed the key. Anyway, it was common to find something hidden. She often left things in her purses because she changed them so often.

  She set the key aside and looked for any other items left in the purse. There was nothing. Her attention shifted back to the key. It looked like the key she had for her granny’s storage unit. The tag attached to the key read #116.

  Was it a key for a storage unit? She got up and went for her purse. After visiting her granny’s unit for the first time last fall, she’d added the key into her six-ring holder to keep it handy and not lose it. When she opened the accessory and compared the two keys, they looked identical.

  It looked like Tawny had a unit. The key and the purse had to go to the police. She returned to the table and placed the key next to her laptop. It took only a couple minutes to transfer her wallet and key holder to the laptop bag. Next, she slipped her computer into the bag. She was ready to head out, but she stopped mid-way and turned back to swipe up the mysterious key. On her way out of the apartment, she grabbed her jacket. How bad would a detour on the way to the library be?

  Chapter 21

  Kelly pulled into the driveway of the storage unit facility and followed the maze of exterior units to the bank where unit 116 was located. She parked a few feet away and grabbed her bag as she exited the Jeep. At the unit’s sliding door, she looked around to make sure there was no one around to see her break into and enter the unit. Well, there was that security camera angled right at her. She turned her head back toward the unit. So much for being stealth.

  She pulled out the key she found in Tawny’s purse and slipped it into the lock. Holding her breath, she gave the key a twist.

  It worked. She unlocked the unit.

  She exhaled. Now she had to figure out if she was doing the right thing? No, of course she wasn’t. She was about to enter someone else’s unit without permission. Totally not the right thing to do, and it was illegal. Yet, she tightened her grip on the handle and slid the door up. With the tips of her fingers, she gave a final push and the door locked into place above her.

  If she was caught, she’d apologize. If she found a lead, a clue, or evidence, she’d bring it to Detective Wolman and then apologize. Either way, she’d be apologizing.

  The contents of the small unit came into view, and any hope of finding something to help solve Tawny’s murder vanished. Kelly was underwhelmed by the almost empty space. It looked very different from her granny’s unit when she’d first visited.

  Instead of boxes stacked on top of boxes and bins stuffed to the brink of not being closed, Tawny had a couple
of chairs, an exercise bike, an aerobic step, some other workout accessories, and a card table set up.

  On the table was an envelope. Kelly entered and went for the envelope. It was sealed. She shook it and something small jiggled inside.

  She considered what to do next. Since she’d already entered without permission, how much more trouble could she get into by opening the envelope? It wasn’t addressed and it didn’t have a stamp. If she opened it, she wouldn’t be breaking any federal laws.

  She opened the envelope and found a flash drive.

  Now her curiosity was piqued to a whole new level. She had to find out what was on the drive. She set her bag on the table, pulled out her laptop, and turned it up.

  Kelly inserted the flash drive and prayed she wouldn’t need a password. A file came up. No password required. She was both thrilled and appalled. She had passcodes and passwords on all of her devices.

  Inside the file were three documents, and they were all photographs. She enlarged the first photo, and it appeared to be a financial spreadsheet from the Congregational Church. She studied the numbers. She had limited bookkeeping experience, but everything looked okay with the church’s money.

  She clicked to enlarge the second photograph and it was for another church. The Divine Charitable Spirit. She scanned the list of numbers. All deposits. All the same amounts. She clicked back to the Congregational’s spreadsheet and searched the withdrawals.

  Money was being moved from the Congregational Church’s account to the Divine Charitable Spirit account. She shrugged. There could have been a dozen reasons for the transfers. The two churches could have been involved in relief programs together.

  There was the third document, and it was another financial spreadsheet. She sighed. This was not her area of expertise, unless it had to do with calculating open-to-buy ratios for merchandise.

  She reviewed the last spreadsheet for a company named The Omega Agency. It didn’t take a math genius to figure out the company was hemorrhaging money.

  She flipped back and forth between the photos, studying the numbers and trying to figure out what they all had in common. And why they were hidden away here in Tawny’s storage unit?

  Maybe there was something online that could connect the churches and the Omega Agency.

  She opened her browser, searched first for the Divine Charitable Spirit, and came up with nothing. Next, she typed in The Omega Agency.

  A result quickly came up. She gasped. It was an advertising agency and belonged to Jason.

  It’s always the husband.

  What had Tawny stumbled on? What connection had she made between the Lucky Cove church, the ghost church and her husband’s business?

  Kelly drummed her fingers on the table. Her mind turned over theories and then it hit her. A financial fraud. Jason and Tawny had been helpers at the Congregational Church. How trusted, as a volunteer, had he been? Trusted enough to gain access to the church’s finances? Had Tawny discovered the deception and planned to turn him in to the police?

  Was that why he killed her? But then who killed him? A partner!

  Kelly saved the file to her computer and then removed the flash drive from her computer and dropped it back into the envelope. She now had to figure out how to explain all this to Detective Wolman. Or, Detective Barber.

  She turned off her computer. After closing the lid, an unsettling thought wormed its way into her head. Jason could have conspired with Serena to kill Tawny.

  “No. It doesn’t make sense,” she whispered to no one. Serena had no motive to help Jason kill his wife. If anything, Jason probably had planned to set Serena up. Had he lured his ex-wife to Lucky Cove so he could get away with murder and all that money sitting in the Divine Charitable Spirit account?

  Then who killed him?

  Her phone rang, startling her. She reached into her bag. She groaned at the caller ID. She should have been at the library already.

  “Hey, Ariel. I’m on my way. I just made a stop.”

  Kelly juggled the phone between her shoulder and ear while shoving her laptop into the tote.

  “Okay. I’m in the community room.”

  “I’m heading out now. I’ll be there soon.” Kelly ended the call and slipped the phone in her tote. “Ella! That’s where I saw the stationery.” She fumbled for her phone to call the reporter and confirm.

  When she entered Ella’s cottage, she’d noticed, among the papers on the desk, were bulletins from the Congregation Church and letterhead. She couldn’t recall what was included in the typed letter from the church, but it was the same paper as the one on which Jason supposedly had written his suicide note.

  Her eyes widened. She knew who Jason’s partner was. And she had handwriting proof back at the boutique.

  “I underestimated you, Kelly.”

  Chapter 22

  The cell phone slipped from Kelly’s fingers as she swung around at the sound of Liza’s voice. Panic stirred instantly at the sight of the gun in Liza’s hand. It looked like she wouldn’t need to confirm the handwriting of Jason’s alleged suicide note now.

  “What are you doing here?” Kelly tore her gaze from the gun to outside the unit, looking for any passersby. Surely, there had to be someone dropping off stuff to their storage unit.

  “I knew from the beginning you were going to be trouble. It’s a real shame, because I like you.”

  Kelly tried to find some reassurance in Liza’s statement, but it was hard when she had a gun pointed at her. Her heart thumped so hard against her chest that it hurt. She forced herself to remain calm and maintain eye contact. She’d read those were two important things to do if you were ever in this situation.

  “I like you too.” Kelly was lying. They weren’t friends. Maybe they could have been, but once a gun is pointed at you, it’s hard to build a friendship. “Why don’t you put that thing down and we can both walk away?”

  “It’s too late. Two people are dead. There’s no walking away for you because if you do, I’ll go to prison. I can’t go to prison.” Liza stepped forward. A grim expression was etched onto her face and her cold, hard stare was locked on Kelly.

  “It’s never too late to make things right. I promise I’ll be by your side. We’re friends.” Kelly took a deep breath to keep her thoughts from racing. Their distraction could cause her to miss an opportunity to escape.

  Liza’s lips pressed into a thin line, and she shook her head. She had no intention of letting Kelly walk out of there. Her grip on the gun tightened.

  “Why? Please tell me why, Liza. Why you killed Tawny and then Jason.” Kelly wasn’t sure she wanted to understand what was going through the woman’s head, but keeping her talking bought time. Time to figure out how to get out of there alive.

  “Jason and I were in love.”

  If her body hadn’t been rigid because of the fear coursing through her, Kelly would have fallen over. Liza and Jason had an affair?

  “How…how long have you two been seeing each other?”

  “It doesn’t matter now.”

  “I guess not. Did you kill Tawny so you could marry Jason? Why didn’t he just get a divorce?”

  “You do ask a lot of questions.” Liza took a step forward. “I don’t see the harm in telling you, since you won’t be able to share any of it. If he divorced her, he wouldn’t have gotten her life insurance policy.”

  “You killed her for money? Why?” Then Kelly realized the answer to her question. Jason needed money for his advertising agency. The one that was in the red according to the financial spreadsheet.

  “I’d tapped out all the money I could get my hands on to help his business. He was a proud man, and you have no idea how hard it was for him to take money from me.”

  Kelly doubted Jason had to be forced to take the money Liza stole. He’d orchestrated everything. From the embezzlement to Serena’s arrest
.

  “You embezzled the funds, didn’t you? You’re the Divine Charitable Spirit!”

  Liza snickered. “Seems like you know everything.”

  “Your plan was to frame Serena for Tawny’s murder? But why? You couldn’t be sure she’d come to Lucky Cove.”

  Liza rolled her eyes, as if she was irritated by Kelly’s naiveté. “Oh, we knew she’d come to town. She couldn’t resist an opportunity to bend Jason to her will. He said she was predictable. And with her in prison, Jason would be able to sell the property.”

  “Sounds like he had it all planned out. Lure Serena out here, get you to kill Tawny, and he gets all the money.” From her own experience, Kelly knew no man was worth stealing for and definitely not worth killing for. “He promised to marry you once his wife was dead and his ex-wife was convicted of the murder, didn’t he?”

  Liza chewed on her bottom lip as she broke eye contact for a second.

  “He asked you for money. Money he knew you didn’t have but could get. What was the promise? You’d be his partner? No longer the officer manager at a small church? No, you’d be his wife.” Kelly’s voice had dropped to a whisper.

  A shadow crossed over Liza’s face. She didn’t look confident any longer. Chinks in her armor were showing. Kelly gathered her courage to keep chipping away at Liza’s resolve.

  “It was all a lie, wasn’t it? He let you steal for him. Kill for him. Then he had no use for you. That’s why you killed him. He betrayed you. You said so in the note. The trusts I betrayed. That was about you.”

  “He told me we’d leave once Serena was arrested and Tawny was buried. The money I got for him was in an overseas account. We were going to go to an island and elope. Maybe stay there forever.” Liza shrugged. “Then he told me…he told me he needed more time. It wouldn’t look right for him to leave so soon after his wife’s death. I understood. I could wait a little longer.”

  Kelly had watched and read enough crime drama to know where the story was heading. “He emptied the account, didn’t he?”