by Tonya Kappes
The day had turned out to be very nice. The sun was shining, and a few boats were on the lake. Pepper and I walked down the boardwalk, and when we passed Queen for a Day, I popped my head into the door. When I saw Jana in there, we walked in.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” I called to her. She was taking pieces of clothing out of a box and using a steamer to get the wrinkles out. “New clothes?”
“Yes. We get daily shipments. Isn’t this cute?” She held up a black bell-sleeved cotton shirt. “You’d look great in it with your curly hair down.”
“Only if I had places to go.” I laughed.
“I’ve got your dress ready for you right behind the counter.” She put the head of the steamer back in the holder.
“Actually, can I pick it up tomorrow? I’ve got to get these down to the Cocoon Hotel.” I lifted the thermoses. “When I saw you were in here, I wanted to pop in and ask you a few questions.”
“Shoot.” She clasped her hands and rested them in front of her. “I’m not a stylist yet, but one day, I hope to be.”
“I’m not going to ask about styling. I wanted to ask about Hillary Canter.” When a quizzical look swept across her face, I continued, “I’m a lawyer by degree. I mean, I have a law degree, and last night, Hillary Canter was murdered.”
“Pam’s bridesmaid who wanted that white coat?” She drew her hand up to her mouth. “Murdered?”
“Yes.” I’d forgotten about Pam getting her bridal gown here and how Hillary had changed the bridesmaid’s dress. It made another reason Pam might have wanted to kill her. “That’s the one. But she had the coat on when she was murdered, which makes my friend Babette look like she killed her. Only I know she didn’t.” I leaned in and whispered when a couple of customers came through the door of the boutique, “Did Hillary happen to come in here and get a new coat?” I pointed to the box. “Maybe you had a new shipment in?”
“No.” She shook her head, and her eyebrows knitted together in worry. “I can’t believe it. I mean, if she had the coat on… how did she get it?”
“That’s the million-dollar question,” I said. “Did anything happen when she was here with Pam?”
“She had the same bully attitude with Pam as she did with Babette. Pam just took it. Even when Hillary insisted on Pam changing her outfit, Pam was quiet, and her shoulders were slumped.” Jana’s gaze slid past my shoulders. “I’ll be right with you,” she called to the customer at the counter.
“Was anyone else around?” I asked.
“Just me and a few of the other sales clerks, but we didn’t get into it. Of course, we have our own ideas of what looks good and what doesn’t when it comes to bridal parties, but we found it strange that Pam only had one bridesmaid.” She shrugged and started to walk toward the counter. “I thought she was sad.”
“Who was sad?” I asked.
“Pam.” She walked around the counter. “It didn’t seem like it was her wedding at all. If I hadn’t known and she had been just a customer in the shop, I would have thought it was Hillary who was marrying Truman.”
“Thanks for your help,” I said.
Pepper and I left and continued down the boardwalk toward Cocoon Hotel. When we passed the boat dock, I could see that Big Bib had a few boats lifted up in their slips so he could work on them.
I still wanted to talk to him about the boat accident with Babette. It wasn’t because I thought she killed Hillary—it was because she’d had already been tried and convicted of one murder, which would make it an easy case for the prosecution if she were arrested. I just liked to be on my toes and have a clear indication of what I could be facing. I needed to go to the library and do a little research so I would know what sort of questions to ask. If Babette was charged, I had to know her background. There was nothing more aggravating than a lawyer being unprepared and learning things about their clients that they didn’t know until it was too late.
I got caught up in my thoughts, and it wasn’t until Pepper darted toward the entrance of the Cocoon did I realize we’d already walked there.
The Cocoon Hotel was an historic white mansion built in 1841. It had been in Camey’s family for years. Camey had hired Cane Construction to renovate the old structure into an amazing hotel that was situated right on Lake Honey Springs, and they’d been able to keep the cozy character. The two-story white brick with double porches across both stories was something to behold.
“Good afternoon.” Camey smiled. Her beautiful crimson hair was pulled back into a low ponytail. She had on a pair of black leggings and a bell-sleeved black shirt that hugged her curves perfectly. The emerald-green necklace added the perfect pop of color to bring her outfit together. “You can take those on in to the hospitality room.”
There was a food station in the room along with a couple of couches and a big brick fireplace that I was sure added light for ambiance. I replaced the coffee thermos from this morning’s coffee with this afternoon’s.
“Hi, Roxy.” The little voice caught my attention. Amelia Peavler was standing there with a chocolate cookie the size of a saucer in her hand. There were streaks of melted chocolate on each side of her little face from where the cookie hadn’t fit in her mouth.
“Ms. Bloom,” Amelia’s dad, Walker Peavler, corrected her.
“Pepper!” Amelia bent down and put her arms out.
Pepper gladly ran up to her. She let him give her kisses on her face, and he really enjoyed licking off any remaining cookie crumbs.
“Actually”—I bent down and looked Amelia in the eyes—“my real name is Roxanne. I want my friends to call me Roxy. Any friend of Felix is a friend of mine, so Roxy is just fine.”
Felix was the cat from Pet Palace that I’d showcased over Christmas. Walker had been in Honey Springs on some business over Christmas, and he had the same taming effect on Felix that Babette had on Bentley’s heart.
Amelia came into the room and curled her arm in Walker’s. “You’re going to ruin supper,” Camey said to the girl.
Walker had stayed at the Cocoon Hotel while he was here during the holiday season, and Camey fell for his green eyes and crew-cut blond hair. Amelia helped him seal the deal because she ended up loving Honey Springs too. So he moved them to our community, and they had fallen into place as if they’d been here forever.
“I just love these cookies.” Amelia smiled.
“Oh, goodness.” I looked at Walker. “Amelia is starting to look like you.”
“God help her.” He laughed.
Amelia looked up at her daddy with a wide-eyed look as though she was trying to figure out what he was saying. She stuffed the rest of the cookie in her mouth when Camey tried to retrieve it out of her hand.
“It’s so funny how Amelia can tell the difference in Emily’s cookies,” Camey said.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“When Emily got here today, she was a little bummed. She said that this was the last batch that was going to be made with fresh cow’s milk and butter from Hill’s Dairy Farm.” Camey frowned.
“Did she say why?” I asked, knowing that Emily had used Hill’s Dairy Farm because they had the freshest ingredients, and it was a way to give back to the community.
“Something about having to compromise for cost.” Camey shrugged. “It seems like I’ve been hearing that a lot around her lately. Business is struggling, that’s all.”
Walker put a hand on Camey’s back, and I couldn’t help but notice the look they exchanged. It was as though they were keeping a secret.
Walker’s eyebrows rose. “But she did say that she was going to be working at the dairy farm.”
Camey corrected him. “She didn’t say that. Hillary did.” There was a hint of sarcasm in her voice. “Emily was very embarrassed and ran to the bathroom.”
“When did all this take place?” I asked, wondering if Emily had anything to do with Hillary’s death.
That was a hard concept to wrap my head around. Emily Rich had always been a sweet and kind
girl who was the first to help out if anyone needed it. Her parents were lovely people, not that anyone could truly judge her by that alone. I couldn’t discard the fact that Hillary was mean to just about everyone she came into contact with.
“Two weeks ago, Hillary brought Pam and Emily in here to look at the ballroom for the wedding reception. I was surprised that Pam was thinking about changing the venue when she’d already sent out the invitations for Central Park.” Camey wagged her finger. “Hillary had it all figured out. She knew how to get the change of location, but she didn’t say that. The only thing I really remember her saying was to Pam when Emily had gone to the bathroom.”
“Amelia, we better go. This is what we call ‘girl talk,’ and I don’t want you to learn it.” Walker slipped his hands over Amelia’s ears and guided her toward the lobby of the hotel.
Pepper started to follow Amelia out of the hospitality room. “Stay, Pepper,” I instructed.
“Go on,” I said to Camey. “What did she say?”
“That doesn’t matter now that she’s dead.” She tried to blow it off.
There was no way I was going to let that happen. “It does matter. There’s a killer out there, and we need all the information we can gather.” I gnawed on the edge of my lip.
“We?” Camey took a step back with her eyes popped wide open. “Don’t tell me that you’re looking at sticking your nose into yet another murder?”
“Not another murder. Just trying to help out someone who might be a suspect. I need all the information I can get about Hillary and how she wasn’t so good to people, even the ones she cared about.” I felt a softness to my smile, and I hoped Camey would see how sincere I was and give me the information.
She held the plate of cookies out to me. It was my signal to pour us a cup of coffee, since I knew it was the brew that was going to make her talk.
“She said to Pam that Pam needed to dump the Bee’s Knees Bakery because Emily was just a child. She didn’t do lavish cakes, and since the venue was going to be inside with white tablecloths and fancy napkins, Pam needed a cake to go with it. She said that her point was proven since Emily was having a hard time making ends meet and that she had to work at Hill’s Dairy Farm. That’s when Emily came back, and Pam asked her about it.” Camey dragged the cup up to her mouth and took a sip, eyeing me over the tipped-up edge.
“She asked her?” I gasped in the amazement of the gall Hillary had.
“Mm-hm.” Camey nodded. “Emily was so embarrassed. She told Hillary that she hated her and she wished she’d drop dead.”
I gulped.
***
“Drop dead? Are you sure?” Aunt Maxi was enthralled in the tale I was telling her as we stood in front of the microfiche catalog at the Honey Spring Library.
Even though Emily seemed to be high on my suspect list, I still needed to get the research for Babette’s prior history.
“Yes. Camey said that Emily told Hillary that,” I said, dragging my finger along the tabs of the years that went with the newspaper articles. “I wish they’d get these files on the computer.”
“Honey, it took the beautification committee ten years to remodel the boardwalk. Can you imagine how long it’s going to take to get these up on the computer?”
I laughed.
“Now, take Joanne Stone.” Aunt Maxi’s eyes slid towards the children’s section of the library where the young librarian was sitting amongst a circle of children and reading them a story time book. “She’s young and a go-getter. She’s ready to get us up in the modern technological age. But not them old biddies on the committee.”
“Maybe after you do your investigation and I find what I’m looking for, we can start our own library committee,” I said. I finally found the year I was looking for.
“What are you looking up?” Aunt Maxi asked.
“What are you doing here, anyway?” I asked back.
“You go first, ’cause I’ve gotten something I think is going to be big.” She nodded and narrowed her eyes.
“Very interesting.” Normally, Aunt Maxi’s actions didn’t pique my interest quite as much, but the way she was acting caught my attention. “I’ll bite. I’ll go first. Did you hear about the fight between Hillary Canter and Babette at Queen for a Day?” I asked.
She nodded. “Of course, I have. I started to investigate the murder, but then something else got my attention.” Her lips pinched as if she feared she’d say anymore. “It was over a coat, I heard.”
“Right. The coat was a size small and the only one left in the shop. To make a long story short, Babette bought it, and Hillary had it on when she died,” I said.
“Really?” Aunt Maxi drew back. Her eyes stared blankly at me. “Have Babette give you her coat.” Aunt Maxi made it sound so easy and simple.
“She can’t find it. She said that she took it to All About the Details after she bought it because she wanted it there to wear for Pam’s wedding day. Her video camera didn’t show anyone breaking in, and that’s what makes her a number one suspect.”
“That doesn’t look good for Babette or Emily.” Aunt Maxi’s eyelashes drew a shadow down her cheeks. She was quick to dismiss my idea. “I’ve got something better.” She nudged me with pride.
“What’s better than solving a murder?” I asked, looking around to see where Pepper had gone. It was way past his afternoon nap time, and he was curled up next to the card catalog.
“Figuring out what’s going on with your mama’s client’s mortgage.” She held a file in her hand. “I’m here doing some research on Bank Lending Mortgages out of Lexington. Ever heard of them?”
I nodded. “They are a huge lending company.”
“I think there’s some shady stuff going on there.” Her eyebrows rose. She leaned in and looked both ways before she whispered, “I think that they’ve either embezzled your mama’s client’s mortgage or they lost it.”
“They’re so big, I’m sure it’s not embezzlement,” I said, watching as Aunt Maxi’s ego deflated. “It has to be an oversight.”
“Why won’t they let me in to talk to them?” she asked.
“You called them?” I stifled a chuckle.
“You think this is a joke, but I’m telling you I’m onto something. I don’t know what yet, but I am. I even used my Honey Springs councilwoman title. Nothing.” She stood straight up. “If you don’t want to help me, then I’ll do it myself.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to help you. I’ve really got my hands full with planning the coffee bar for Pam’s wedding, everything needed for the Bean Hive, and helping Babette.” A pang of guilt hit my heart as I looked at my sweet aunt. “Fine.” I sighed. “You do all the leg work and bring me what you find. I’ll look it all over and see if there are any holes.”
“Great!” She screamed, and a big smile swept across her face.
“Shhh!” Dee-Dee the librarian warned, placing her pointer finger over her lips.
Aunt Maxi and I both laughed like teenagers.
NINE
The afternoon help was in the coffeehouse and taking orders from the typical crowd, along with a bunch of after-work folks who normally didn’t come into the Bean Hive afterward but wanted to hear the story. The tale of me finding Hillary Canter’s body wasn’t going away anytime soon.
Mae Belle Donovan sat like a little perched bird at one of the tables in the shop. Today, she wore a bonnet tied with a big bow underneath her chin. “Don’t you think it’s a little strange that she had on the coat that she and Babette were fighting over just a few hours before she died?”
Mae Belle and Bunny Bowowski had been friends forever. The two of them had been regulars when I opened the Bean Hive. They were both on the Beautification Committee and came down every morning to see the progress Cane Construction was making on their approved changes. Rarely did I see one without the other, and both loved to wear some sort of hat.
Mae Belle had the same hairstyle and even the same pocketbook as Bunny. If I wasn’t fro
m Honey Springs and saw them together, I would think they were related. They acted so much alike.
“And with that Babette’s past history…” someone said.
“Now, now.” Bunny Bowowski tsked from the other side of the table.
Bunny had decided to hang around after her shift. Her excuse to me was that didn’t feel like going home to an empty house. I knew better. She and the rest of her little buddies lived for the gossip.
“It’s time to put the chairs in the wagon.” Bunny meant that it was time to go home.
“Who have you turned into?” Mae Belle asked Bunny. “Roxy, what have you done to my friend?”
“Why, what do you mean, Mae Belle?” I called from the counter, where I was going through the articles I’d had Dee-Dee print off for me from the microfiche.
There was really nothing in the articles that I hadn’t already heard. They mentioned a few names of friends who’d gone down to the river to watch them race, but there was no clear motive. It simply stated that Babette and Paige were rivals. They’d agreed to settle the score by testing who had the most horsepower in their boats—and racing.
“You’ve somehow turned off the nosy parts of my friend since she’s been working for you.” Mae Belle’s chair made a screeching sound as she stood up and scooched it back. “And I don’t like it.” She huffed and adjusted her pocketbook in the crook of her arm before she threw her nose up in the air and waddled out the front door of the coffeehouse.
“Why don’t the two of you go on and get out of here?” I said to the afternoon girls. “It doesn’t look like I’m getting out of here anytime soon. I have it covered.”
I looked up at the clock on the wall. It was pretty close to closing time—six p.m. The last message I’d gotten from Patrick was that he’d be by the shop to see me, and he didn’t want me to leave.
The girls were so happy to get off work early. After all, it wasn’t every day I offered them the chance to go home before their shifts ended.
I’d sent several messages to Mama to see how she was doing, but she hadn’t gotten back to me. I guessed that she and Aunt Maxi had their hands full, Mama with her upset client and Aunt Maxi trying to get the scoop. I was sure it would all work out just fine. From what I remembered from doing a couple of loan closings with Bank Lending Mortgage when I was a lawyer, they were always well prepared. Not that I did a lot of loan closings, but if I was available and needed some outside work, it was an easy gig. And some of that money helped pay off my law school debt.