I kicked his foot. "Funny. Now be quiet, I'm trying to lip read." I squinted but realized almost immediately no lip reading was required. Franki's face turned a shade of white followed by an uncharacteristic red. She was upset, very upset.
"I'm running a business," Franki said loudly enough that most of the diner could hear. "Can't this wait? I don't understand what I have to do with any of this."
Kimi delivered our burgers but kept a close watch on what was happening at the register.
"Kimi, what's going on?" I asked.
She looked as shaken as her mom. "I'm not sure. It's the new detective. She wants to talk to my mom about the guy who died in the taco truck."
"That's strange. I wonder what she could want from your mom." I was just thinking aloud when I said it but immediately regretted it when I saw that it made her upset. "I'm sure it's nothing important," I added briskly.
"I'm sure," she said weakly and walked away.
Since all the action was happening behind him, I had to narrate the scene to Ryder.
"Franki looks more and more agitated. Now the detective is taking out her notepad. Maybe I should go over there." I looked at Ryder for confirmation, but he had his face scrunched up skeptically.
"Not sure if that's such a good idea. The detective might not take too kindly to your intervention." Ryder grabbed the bottle of ketchup. "Franki's tough. She can handle this."
"You're right. Fairchild would just tell me to mind my own business. She basically told me the same thing last night at the taco truck." I sat back and stared at the fries and burger that smelled so delicious, but my appetite had waned again. "I'm not getting a good feeling about Briggs having a new detective to help with cases."
Just as I said it, my least favorite Port Danby citizen, Mayor Price, strode into the diner. His blue polyester suit was stretched tight over his paunch. His red cheeks balled up and he smiled.
"Chrissy," he said loudly and with uncharacteristic cheer, "Or should I say Detective Fairchild? Nice to have you working in town."
Fairchild pulled her attention away from Franki and spun around to face the mayor. "Uncle Harlan," she said brightly. "Good to see you."
I froze in front of my plate of food, wondering if I'd actually heard what I thought I heard. My gaze shot to Ryder. This time I got confirmation.
"Yep, I heard it too," he said. "Looks like the new detective is Mayor Price's niece."
I slumped back against the seat. "This just keeps getting better."
Chapter 19
I'd brought most of my dinner home to stick in the refrigerator. As hungry as I'd been, I was too distressed to enjoy it. With Mayor Price sitting at the counter and the news that he was Fairchild's uncle, my appetite had vanished completely. Ryder wasn't much in the mood for staying long either. Franki had disappeared in the back after Detective Fairchild left. We never had a chance to talk to her before we rushed out.
I fed Kingston and Nevermore, plopped on the couch and picked up my phone to call Briggs.
"Hang on," he said, by way of answering.
I drummed my fingers on the arm of the couch as I impatiently waited for him to get back on the phone.
"Sorry, I had to send off some emails. What's up? How was dinner with Ryder? Is he feeling better, or is Lola still pulling the drama act?"
"Hey, I called you. That gives me the first shot at firing off a bunch of random questions, but to answer yours—there's plenty up and none of it good, dinner was fine but I was too upset to eat, Ryder is still glum about Lola and Lola is still in full drama mode." I took an exaggerated breath. "There, I think that covers everything. Now let's switch to me."
"All right, go ahead. I assume this will explain why you were too upset to eat."
"Yes, it will. We were sitting in the diner, having a perfectly good conversation, waiting for our burgers, when who should walk in but your new coworker, Detective Fairchild."
"You shouldn't let her presence upset you. I'm sure she was just there to try the food."
"Hold on there before you poo poo my feelings of despair."
His deep laugh vibrated through the phone. "I'll refrain from poo pooing them, and let me just say I don't think I've heard that phrase since I was a little kid and my grandmother told my grandfather not to poo poo her idea about driving across country. I laughed just as heartily then too, possibly even longer and harder. Or, at least hard enough to earn a scowl from my very sweet grandma."
I laughed myself. "You are unusually chatty and long winded tonight. What's going on?"
He paused. "Am I? Must be the jelly beans. Hilda filled a candy dish with jelly beans and placed it on the counter. I've been scooping handfuls of them every time I step into the front office."
"I didn't know you were a big jelly bean fan, James."
"Yep, the dirty secret is out, and I'm not even particular about the color. I eat them all, even the white ones."
"Yuck. Now I might have to rethink this whole relationship. Everyone knows the white ones are for throwing away. Anyhow, you've got me so off topic now it's going to be hard to find my way back." I rubbed my temple. "No, that's right. How could I forget? First of all, Fairchild was not there to eat. She was there to harass Franki, apparently, because she asked to talk to her and then Franki looked quite upset about the whole exchange."
"Really?" His stapler snapped shut in the background. "I wonder why she wanted to talk to Franki?"
"That's exactly what I said aloud, right in front of Kimi. She could see her mom was upset, and my wonderings aloud only made Kimi worry more. I was hoping you could find out what was going on."
"I'm trying to stay out of the case so she can get her bearings in the new position, but I'll ask her when I get a chance. She's working on the Rico Sanders murder, so I can only assume it has something to do with that."
I nearly dropped the phone. "What would Franki have to do with his murder?"
"Don't get so upset, Lacey. I'm sure it's just routine. Remember, Franki did make a bit of a scene about the chalkboard sign. We were both there."
"Yes, I know that, but Franki had every right to be upset about it."
"She did and since I have no real information on why Detective Fairchild paid her a visit, it's meaningless for us to fret about it. Let me find out what happened. I promise I'll fill you in."
"I suppose I'll just have to be patient. However, it's not easy. Usually, by now, I'd be elbow deep in this investigation. I'm glad you're getting more time off, but I must say, I don't think I'm going to like this whole second detective situation. Which—" I paused dramatically. "Brings me to another nugget of information that added to my distress at dinner."
"Oh? What's that?"
I cleared my throat for my large announcement. "It seems that Detective Fairchild may have gotten here through a touch of nepotism. She just happens to be Mayor Price's niece." I made sure to say the last part with a flourish to give it the emphasis it deserved. There was silence on the other side.
"James? Did you hear me?"
"Yep, I heard." More silence.
I sat straight up on the couch causing Nevermore to lift his head and glower at me.
"You knew," I said brusquely. "You knew they were related."
"Possibly."
"Coward. Why didn't you tell me?" I asked.
"Because I thought it would upset you. It seems I was right. There might have been some nepotism, but she is highly qualified for the position and came with many recommendations. Which is why I'm going to let her handle this case on her own."
"Yes, fine, fine. I knew there was something about her I didn't like. Other than how rudely she brushed me off last night. By the way, she might have come with a lot of recommendations, but it took this amateur investigator to point out that it was murder and not just an accident."
"That's true. I'm hoping that was just a case of rookie nerves but we'll see. It's one of the main reasons I want to keep myself far away from this one. It'll give me a better look int
o her process, investigative skills and intuition."
Kingston finished his egg dinner and flew over to perch on the back of the couch. I reached up and rubbed his head.
"While I'm not at all involved in the investigation, I managed to get a little information on the relationship between the brothers and Cody Long, the marketing genius who wrote the lies about Franki on the chalkboard."
"Is that right?" he asked wryly. "Just how did you manage that?"
"Well, you know the Great Table War? Where my shop was positioned right between the two warring factions, namely Elsie and Les? In the end, it's all been worth the upheaval. In their costly bid to out-lavish each other, those two have created such posh outdoor seating areas, many people stop to sit there. Before Rico's death, I overheard Rico and Cody in a gentle argument about Cody's performance. Rico was telling him he had to do better and that Vince was ready to let him go if he didn't show improvement. Cody was not too pleased and insisted he was doing a great job." Kingston tired of the couch and flew back to his perch with a loud clatter of wings. "Then, this morning, I spoke to Cody while he was eating a piece of carrot cake. It seems Vince was dating a girl named Angel. She broke it off and took up with Rico. They're married or, at least, they were married until last night. Angel works for Taco Brothers too. She takes care of the finances. But Cody intimated that Vince wasn't pleased about it or about the work she was doing."
"Seems as if it wasn't all sibling bliss between them. I'll make a note of it."
I instantly regretted telling him. I didn't want to be handing Fairchild any evidence or motive. She was supposed to find the stuff on her own.
As if he read my thoughts, Briggs' smooth tone came through the phone. "I'll hold on to the information and give it to her only if she's struggling or asks for help. Since Cody spoke so freely to you, although, they usually do, then it should be easy enough for her to uncover the issues between the brothers. Anything else?"
I'd been so busy all day, I'd nearly forgotten my trip to the Hawksworth manor. "Not on the Rico Sanders case, but I think I'm onto something big in the Hawksworth case. Too big and important to be discussed over the phone. I'll save it for later."
"Hmm, now you have me curious. I've still got a few hours of work here, so it'll have to wait. In the meantime, don't worry about Franki and have a good rest of the night."
"You too. Love you."
"Love you too."
Chapter 20
I knew it was just a matter of time before Kate Yardley walked into my shop to let me know she was back with Dash. I was almost stunned she'd waited until mid-week for the announcement. I was just finishing up a bouquet of pink and white carnations for a young man who was going on a first date. He was so sweet and nervous and shy about the whole thing, I added in six extra carnations hoping it would help with first impressions. He lumbered out on his long teenage legs and Kate swept inside. She had her hair dyed black and, similar to Detective Fairchild's hairstyle, it was cut in a short, stylish bob with bangs. The tight, jersey mini dress she wore had a crazy black and white geometric pattern that made my eyes water, but I put on my best smile.
"Morning, Kate, I haven't seen you in awhile. How are things?"
She lifted her white rimmed sunglasses onto her head and hopped up on a stool. It seemed, for this morning at least, we were chums again getting ready for a girly chat. I'd decided to act surprised when she told me. She never liked to hear that I'd been talking or visiting with Dash. She was also not pleased we were neighbors, but I wasn't going to move just to keep her happy.
"Things are great with me." She glanced around with a sort of haughty expression. "How is the flower shop?" She crinkled her nose when her gaze landed on Kingston. She never liked him much. She turned back to me. "I heard Ryder was back, but I haven't seen him over at Lola's. In fact, I've hardly seen Lola at all." It appeared that Kate, who pretended to be quite uninterested in this section of the block, had been keeping an eye on things after all.
"Yes Ryder is back. I'm thrilled, of course. He just went out on some deliveries. Everything good at the Mod Frock?" I didn't bother answering her question about the flower shop because I knew she didn't really care. I supposed that was equally true on my side, but it was always awkward with Kate so I found myself mired in small talk just to get through it.
"Business is great. So is my social life," she added with a pinky check on her lipstick.
"Is that so?" I said with fake enthusiasm. "Why is that? New man in your life?" We were suddenly two gal pals chatting about men, only the whole thing was so forced between us it was comical, like two snooty women at a society club luncheon who really don't like each other but blow air kisses and call each other darling and dearest to pretend they're good buddies. Of course, I was the worst offender in this case because I acted curious and anxious to hear about the new boyfriend when I already knew it was Dash.
Kate tapped her long pink nails on the island. "I guess you could say he's new but he's not exactly new."
I put on a good show of looking utterly perplexed. "What on earth do you mean? Are you dating an older man?"
Kate laughed in a flowery tone. (It was a laugh that would have fit perfectly at the aforementioned society luncheon.) "No, he's my age." She sighed loudly. "It's Dash. There. I thought I'd just get it out there because I know there was always something between you two, but we've been dating off and on for many years. We finally decided to make it more permanent. I hope this doesn't upset you."
We'd blown past the air kisses and the overzealous terms of endearment and entered phase two, the catty part of the society luncheon. I glanced toward the door, but there were no customers in sight. Naturally, when I was right on the edge of solving the Hawksworth murders customers flowed through the door, and I had to end my pursuit and rush back to the shop. Where were those flower customers this morning?
"I couldn't be more thrilled about the two of you getting back together. I'm not sure I understand how Dash's and my friendship would get in the way of your relationship or why I would be the slightest bit taken aback." My plan to pretend I didn't know about the rekindling of their relationship had backfired. I should have started the whole thing with a big congratulations for getting back with Dash.
Kate plastered on a sort of simpering smile as if to tell me 'there, there you'll be all right once the sting of heartbreak lessens'. "Well, I just thought—" She waved her long nails through the air. "Oh, never mind." Her phone beeped and she sighed. "That's probably Dash. We're going to meet at the wharf for lunch. I was hoping to try tacos from that truck. Everyone was raving about them, but the truck shut down. I heard one of the brothers was murdered right in his own truck. Rumors have been swirling around town that Franki is a suspect. She made quite a scene down at the town square."
This chat was getting worse by the moment. If I'd really been at a society luncheon, I would have already made excuses to leave or, at the very least, 'accidentally' spilled my iced tea in her lap.
"There was no scene. They'd put out a chalkboard sign claiming that the diner sold processed food and Franki insisted they erase the false claim. James and I were there when it happened."
The simpering smile morphed into pursed lips. "I see. Well, I've heard a few varying accounts of the incident, but I suppose it's ridiculous to even consider Franki as a murder suspect."
"You think?" I said sharply. "And put yourself in Franki's place. How would you feel if someone parked a big trailer near your shop and started selling vintage clothes out the back?"
"They could try but I doubt they'd have my finesse for picking vintage clothing." Kate opened her purse and pulled out her phone. She was always oozing with confidence, but today it was on full display.
She texted something and dropped her phone into her purse. It seemed we weren't quite done with our lovely conversation.
A woman stopped to peer in the shop window. I clapped my hands together once. "Oh well, looks like I have a custo—" My enthusiasm trailed off
as the woman walked past the shop.
Kate reached up and patted the bottom of her short haircut. "What do you think of my new style? Dash loves it."
"It's very nice." The haircut was adorable but nice was the best word I could come up with. Adorable just didn't work with some people.
This time the door opened and two women walked in. I practically chirped with excitement. "It's been great talking to you, Kate. I wish you and Dash the best. Truly."
"No need for wishes. I plan to be married to him by next summer." She winked at me. "Maybe you can do the flowers at the wedding."
I just had nothing left to give toward our awkward conversation. I smiled and turned my full attention to my customers. Kate and her wildly patterned dress sashayed out the door. I sure hoped Dash knew what he was getting into. And I had another worry. What on earth was going on with the Rico Sanders investigation? Was Detective Fairchild actually considering Franki as a suspect?
Chapter 21
It had been an interminably long morning. Kate's preposterous visit had been followed by a steady stream of customers, which included a second winter wedding order. Ryder had to go back out to deliver a bouquet that he'd left in the back of his car. But first he had to recreate the bouquet as the first one succumbed to summer car heat. Ryder was definitely not himself, and it was all Lola's fault.
After the arduous morning, I was tired enough to head back to my office and flop into my chair. I rummaged around in my desk drawer for a snack but, other than a half eaten package of stale crackers, came up empty handed. I replaced the feelings of hunger with thoughts from the endless morning. Kate's visit aside, I'd really started to lose my patience with Lola. Who did she think she was stretching this whole thing out like some endless soap opera? After all, she wasn't a teenager anymore.
I picked up the phone and rang her up. There was no answer. I stared at the phone as her 'please leave a message' recording came through the speaker. "She's ignoring my call," I said in a huff. "Oh, I'm going to leave a message all right." I waited for the beep and then let loose.
Jasmine and Jealousy Page 9