by Sarah Fox
Cheers rang out from the crowd on either side of the street. Whoever the racer was, she was going to win by a fair margin. She was halfway down the street, and no other racers had appeared behind her. She broke through the ribbon at the finish line to another round of cheers and applause. Seconds later, the next competitors rounded the corner. This time there were four of them packed close together. At almost the last moment, the racer at the rear of the group kicked up her pace and managed to scoot past the others to finish the race in second place.
By that point, more racers were on the home stretch. I spotted Marjorie among them and cheered her on. She kept up a good pace right until she crossed the finish line. She’d secured seventh place, meeting her personal goal and garnering loud cheers from the locals in the crowd.
Still sipping on my cold drink, I wandered down the street and managed to meet up with Marjorie as she drank down a bottle of water.
“Great job, Marjorie!”
“Thanks, Marley,” she said with a smile once she’d swallowed a gulp of water. “I’m happy with how I did, and I had a lot of fun.”
“That’s good to hear.”
I noticed Claudia Wu off to the side, her black hair in a ponytail. She wore her racing gear and was going through a series of stretches.
“Is Claudia competing today too?”
“Yep.” Marjorie finished off her bottle of water. “Her group is up next. She’s the favorite to win. I think I’ll stick around and watch.”
“I think I might too,” I said.
Marjorie took advantage of the protein bars and fresh orange slices that were set out for the athletes, but when the next race was about to begin, she joined me by the curb. When the racers set off, Claudia was near the front of the pack, but as with the last race, all the competitors were close together when they disappeared around the first corner.
While we waited for the last part of the race, Marjorie and I chatted with a couple of other locals who’d come out to watch the event. It wasn’t too long before the first racer appeared at the far end of Main Street. No one was too surprised to see that it was Claudia Wu. As with the winner of the previous race, Claudia had a comfortable lead over her competitors. There was more of a race for second and third place and then another gap before the next women reached the finish line.
Spectators and racers alike were congratulating Claudia, and I recognized Rob Mazzoli—the new reporter for the Wildwood Cove Weekly—as he moved in for a quick interview. When he was done talking with Claudia, Rob noticed Marjorie and came over our way.
“Congrats on a good race,” he said to her. “How do you feel about your performance?”
Marjorie answered that question and a few others while Rob recorded her responses on his phone. After the brief interview, he tucked the device into his pocket.
“I’ve got to get back to the office,” he said. “I need to update the paper’s website and social media now that there’s a murder investigation underway.”
“Murder?” Marjorie stared at him, aghast.
“How do you know that?” I asked at almost the same time.
“The sheriff released a statement an hour ago saying that Yvonne Pritchard’s death was suspicious and considered a homicide.”
“Oh my word,” Marjorie said. “How awful! I can’t believe someone killed her. She just interviewed me the other day.”
I didn’t let on that I’d already known about the murder investigation. Marjorie was still expressing her dismay at the news when Rob left us a minute or so later.
“Why would anyone kill Yvonne?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” I replied. “But I don’t think she was well liked.”
“Really? I didn’t realize that, but I didn’t have much contact with her. She asked me a few questions on Friday night, but we only talked for about two or three minutes. Why didn’t people like her?”
“I don’t know, exactly. Ed was quite smitten with her, but I saw her arguing with Claudia Wu, and there was another man hanging around the park on Friday night who wasn’t happy to see her.”
“Poor Ed.”
“Yvonne’s death hit him hard, even though they only knew each other for a few days.”
“I’ll have to check in on him and see how he’s doing,” Marjorie said. “But you say Yvonne argued with Claudia? What about?”
“I’m not sure. I didn’t hear much of what they were saying, other than Claudia calling Yvonne a pathetic troll. I don’t think Yvonne was as nice as she pretended to be at times. She seemed nice enough when she was with Ed, but I heard her saying some not-so-nice things behind his back.”
Marjorie frowned. “That’s terrible. Ed’s got to be one of the nicest guys around.”
“I know. She was using him to get free meals, from the sounds of it.”
Marjorie was still frowning as her gaze passed over the people milling about until it landed on Claudia. “You don’t think Claudia could have killed her, do you?”
“I have no idea, but anything’s possible. They obviously didn’t like each other, but since I don’t know what the problem was between them, I have no way of knowing if Claudia had any real motive to kill Yvonne.”
“Maybe we can find out what they argued about. I’ve talked to Claudia a couple of times over the past few days, so I’m not a total stranger. Leave it to me.”
Before I had a chance to say anything, Marjorie dodged around the people standing between us and her target. She hung back for a second or two while a man and woman finished speaking to Claudia. As soon as they walked away, Marjorie moved in.
I casually headed their way, hoping to overhear their conversation.
“… a great race,” Marjorie was saying when I drew closer. “Congratulations on securing a spot to nationals.”
“Thank you,” Claudia said. “I love competing, so I’m looking forward to the next challenge.”
Marjorie swiftly steered the conversation in a new direction. “It’s terrible what happened to the reporter, Yvonne Pritchard, isn’t it? You must have known her, at least to some degree. I’m sure you’ve been interviewed by all the reporters here.”
Although I hung back and pretended I wasn’t listening in, I glanced Claudia’s way and caught a flash of anger in her eyes.
“It might be terrible that someone killed her, but she was no angel. I hope people don’t make her out to be one now that she’s dead.”
“What do you mean?” Marjorie asked, managing to sound surprised. “I only met her briefly, but she seemed nice enough.”
Claudia snorted. “If she ever seemed nice, it was an act, believe me. The woman was despicable.”
I edged closer to them, deciding to join the conversation. “I heard her saying rude things about a friend of mine. And I know not everyone was happy to see her here at the games.”
If Claudia thought it was impolite of me to insert myself into the conversation, she didn’t show it. I suspected she was too focused on her dislike of Yvonne.
“I don’t think anyone who really knew her would ever be happy to see her,” Claudia said. “Trying to destroy people was her hobby. And you know what? At the opening ceremonies she came up to me and wanted to interview me. The nerve!”
I exchanged a confused glance with Marjorie. “Wasn’t that her job?”
“Oh, sure, but we had a history. And not a good one. But if you can believe it, she’d forgotten who I was.”
“History?” Marjorie asked.
Fortunately, Claudia seemed to be on a roll with her complaints about Yvonne.
“I wasn’t always slim and fit,” she said. “Five years ago, I was overweight and living a sedentary lifestyle. I decided I wanted to make a change, so I took up racewalking. I started dropping weight right away, but I had a lot to lose. When I took part in my first competition, I was still quite chubby.”
/> “Don’t tell me she ridiculed you for that,” Marjorie said.
“Oh, she did. Not to my face, but online. All over social media. She even tweeted photos of me and made fun of my body.”
Outrage curled in my stomach. “That’s terrible.”
“I was devastated at the time. I almost quit the sport because I was so embarrassed. If not for the support of some close friends and family, I would have.”
“I’m glad you didn’t,” Marjorie said. “That was a despicable thing she did.”
“And she didn’t even remember doing that to you?” I asked.
“She didn’t realize I was the same person. She was all sugary sweet, wanting to talk about how I was the favorite to win my event.” Claudia’s eyes flashed with anger again.
“That must have made you mad,” I said.
“Of course it made me mad,” she snapped. She narrowed her eyes at me. “Hold on. Are you insinuating that I had something to do with her death?”
“No, no,” I said quickly.
She huffed, not believing me, perhaps rightfully so.
“Plenty of people hated that woman,” she said. “If you want to point fingers at someone for the murder, you’d better not point them my way.”
“Who else hated Yvonne?” Marjorie asked, still completely calm despite the anger sparking off of Claudia.
“That’s a long list. But Felicia Venner should be right at the top.”
“Who’s she?” I asked.
“A track and field athlete. She’s here at the games. Felicia and Yvonne had a bitter rivalry that went back decades. In fact,” Claudia continued, “I’m surprised they didn’t kill each other years ago.”
Chapter Nine
“It sounds like the sheriff will have a couple of suspects to look into,” Marjorie said once we’d parted ways with Claudia.
We’d moved away from the crowd of people gathered near the starting line so we wouldn’t be overheard.
“At least,” I said. “Do you know Felicia Venner?”
“No, that’s the first time I’ve heard her name. I wonder what the story is there.”
“So do I.” And I was already thinking of possible ways to find out.
Marjorie was going to head home for a shower and a change of clothes before taking in some of the other events, so I said good-bye to her and walked along Wildwood Road. On my way home, I couldn’t stop thinking about Yvonne’s murder and how there could be a long list of people who disliked or even hated her. I recalled the blond man from the park who’d obviously had something against Yvonne. Maybe he belonged on the suspect list too. Without knowing his identity, it would be difficult to find out anything more about him.
Although the murder dominated my thoughts on my trip home, my focus shifted as soon as I turned into the driveway. Bentley was lying in a patch of shade by the house and he jumped up as soon as he saw me and came charging over to greet me. I crouched down and laughed as he wiggled with happiness, his tail wagging like crazy.
The door to the detached workshop stood open, so I headed that way once I’d given Bentley enough attention to satisfy him. I glanced around for Flapjack, but he wasn’t in sight.
“Hey,” Brett said, coming out of the workshop just before I reached the door. “How did Marjorie do?”
“Great,” I replied. “She was aiming for the top ten and came seventh.”
“That’s impressive.”
“So is that,” I said with a nod at the nearly finished arbor lying on the grass. “It’s going to look amazing.”
“Speaking of looking amazing,” Brett said with a grin, “I’m sure that’s how you’ll look when you try on your wedding dress.”
My eyes widened. “It’s here?”
“It was delivered a few minutes ago. I left the package on the kitchen table.”
“Sorry,” I said, giving him a quick kiss and then backing away. “I can’t wait to see it.”
“I figured you’d be eager,” he said, still grinning.
I turned and jogged toward the back of the house and up the steps to the porch. Flapjack was lying on the railing, his front paws tucked beneath him. He opened his amber eyes when I arrived, but I only paused for a moment to give him a scratch on the head.
“Sorry, Jack, I’ve got a package to open.”
Once inside, I left the cup with the remains of my iced tea on the kitchen counter and made a beeline for the package on the table. I struggled with the tape for a moment before grabbing a pair of scissors and slitting the package open.
I lifted the lid off the box and parted several layers of tissue paper before uncovering the dress. I held my breath as I carefully lifted the garment out of the box, hoping I wouldn’t find any defects or discover that it wasn’t as nice as it had looked in the photos online. I lifted the delicate fabric into my arms and let out a sigh of relief. So far it looked even better than it had in the picture.
As soon as I was sure there weren’t any tears or other obvious problems with the dress, I set it back in the box and replaced the lid, just in case Brett came inside. I didn’t want him getting even a glimpse of the dress before our wedding day.
I grabbed my phone and sent a text message to Lisa.
It’s here!
I didn’t think she’d need any explanation.
I finished off my tea and rinsed out the cup before tossing it into the recycling bin. My phone chimed, and I snatched it up.
Oh my gosh! Lisa had written back. Does it fit? Is it gorgeous? I have to see it!
I haven’t tried it on yet, I typed out.
A moment later, I received another message.
Can you bring it over to my place at noon? I’m running errands, but I’ll be done by then. And I’ll bring food.
I’ll be there! I wrote back.
As I set down my phone, I realized I had a huge smile on my face. A flurry of nervousness skittered through my stomach. I hoped my excitement wouldn’t get snuffed out when I put the dress on. A tailor could help me adjust it, if needed, but if it was completely the wrong size or didn’t suit me, I’d have to return it and start my search all over again.
I considered going upstairs and trying it on before heading over to Lisa’s, just to settle my nerves, but in the end, I decided to wait. It would be fun to share the moment of seeing myself in the dress for the first time with my best friend.
My gaze rested on the closed box. Even though I’d decided to wait to try on the dress, it would be hard to think about anything else. I kept myself at least partly distracted by doing some cleaning, but as soon as it got close to noon, I scooped up the box and my tote bag and set off for Lisa’s house.
* * * *
Lisa was digging her keys out of her purse when I walked up to her house a short time later. She had a paper bag of take-out food in one hand and pulled out her keys with the other.
“I’m so excited!” she called out when she saw me coming up the walkway. “Did you try it on since we texted?”
“No.” I jogged up the steps. “I was tempted to, but I didn’t.”
Lisa let out a squeal of happiness and hugged me. “Then let’s get inside so we can get you into the dress.”
Trying on the wedding gown wasn’t the first order of business when we stepped into the foyer of Lisa’s house. First, we had to greet her kitten, Orion. Lisa had adopted the stray after I’d found him back in the spring. At the time he was tiny and only about ten weeks old. He’d grown a lot since then, but he still made us laugh all the time with his kittenish antics.
As soon as he heard us coming in the door, the black cat came careening down the hallway and pounced on the ends of my shoelaces. Lisa scooped him up into her arms, and I gave him a pat on the head while he purred with happiness.
“Sorry, Orion,” Lisa said as she set him down again. “We’ve got some seri
ous business to take care of.” To me she said, “Let’s go upstairs. I’ve got a full-length mirror in my bedroom.”
I kicked off my sneakers and followed Lisa up to the second floor. I set the box on her bed and removed the lid.
Lisa gasped as she touched the fabric. “It’s so pretty!” She helped me hold up the dress. “It looks even better than it did online!”
“That’s what I thought,” I said, relieved that she had the same opinion.
“You’re going to look incredible.”
“I hope so.”
Lisa nudged me with her elbow. “You will. You’ll see. Come on, put it on.”
I traded my shorts and tank top for the dress, taking care not to snag the delicate fabric on anything. The dress had a white satin underskirt and bandeau bodice, overlaid with a sheer, floral embroidered gown with long sleeves.
I had to pinch the back of the bandeau top to keep it from sliding down. I didn’t have the curves to fill it out.
“Hold on,” Lisa said as I stood in the middle of her bedroom, holding the bodice in place. “I’ve got some safety pins somewhere.” She rummaged around in an enamel box on the top of her dresser. “Here we go.”
She stood behind me and pinned a tuck in the satin fabric.
“That should do it,” she said a moment later.
I slowly let go of the top, hoping it wouldn’t slip. Fortunately, it stayed securely in place.
“I’ll do the zipper up for you.” Lisa carefully slid the zipper up to the neckline and then moved around to stand in front of me.
I hadn’t yet dared to take a look in the mirror.
“Well?” I asked with a rush of nerves.
To my surprise, tears welled up in Lisa’s eyes. “Marley!”
“Is it that bad?” I asked, only half-joking.