“They do usually,” David said and seemed disinterested. His dark eyes scanned the gym, and I noted the light that came into them when he spotted something or someone. “Let me get this bag into a locker, and we can start back there.”
David scanned himself in, and I sighed the guest book. John and Allie Kate appeared to be nowhere in sight, but I could wait a little before approaching either of them. After David returned from the men’s locker room, he led the way to the elliptical machines near the free weight section. I could already feel the burn in my thighs. I’d forgotten to bring bottled water and suppressed a groan.
I got going on the exercise machine and then noticed why the sneaky David had chosen this particular spot. He mooned over the man sitting on one of the benches performing curls, his biceps bulging. David wiggled his eyebrows at me and caught his tongue between his teeth. He held onto the bar of his machine and leaned closer to me.
“Isn’t he delicious? My gaydar is going off big time.”
I frowned. “Are you sure, David?” I recognized Brandon, and while I didn’t think the man had given Inna any encouragement, it didn’t mean he wasn’t interested in her. “Have you talked to him?”
He pouted. “No, I haven’t got my nerve up yet.”
That surprised me. “You seem pretty confident.”
“I am until things like this. I’ve been watching him for a while. He’s a little young.
“Twenty-two,” I commented. “How old are you?”
“Twenty-six.”
“Not bad.”
“I know,” he gushed. “Now you see why I simply can’t miss my midday exercise regime. I have to feast these eyes on Brandon, or the rest of the day is shot.”
I chuckled. “So you know who he is.”
“Haven’t I said everyone knows everyone, Makayla? You have to keep up if you’re going to stay here, honey. So, what do you think I should do?”
David was keeping me from my main goal for coming to the gym, but I couldn’t be selfish either. He had provided the way in. Of course I could have just told John I was thinking about joining and come alone. Still, I liked David, and I wanted to help. I just couldn’t help feeling I would betray Inna. Two friends interested in the same man, it wasn’t uncommon. Nor was it a hard situation. Brandon was either interested in men or he wasn’t. I doubted David had a sixth sense about Brandon without even talking to the man.
My legs began to cry out for mercy, pulling me from my thoughts. I suspected they had actually caught fire, and glanced down at them in alarm. No, just unused muscles demanding to be let alone. Come to think of it, I had walked a lot the day before. Who knew? I might have already lost a pound. Or was that wishful thinking?
I stabbed the button to make the machine come to a stop before I did a face plant on top of the pedals. When I stepped off, my knees wobbled, and I held the machine handles in a death grip. David eyeballed me with something between amusement and concern. He continued moving on his machine without holding on and at a sharp clip. I glared at him, and he chuckled.
After I had made the painful journey to the water fountain, I returned in better condition to offer advice. “Do you know he works at the bookstore across from your shop?”
“Yes.” David clicked a button to make the medals go faster. “I don’t read much more than a magazine or two, or whatever I find on the internet.”
“Well start,” I suggested. “You could go in there looking for a mystery or something and ask what he recommends.”
We both glanced at the man that looked like he could win the next Mr. Olympia. Okay, he wasn’t that buff, but he could win contests. The way David devoured him with his eyes, I was guessing he would give Brandon first prize just for showing up.
“When you go in, don’t look so…”
“Desperate?” he suggested.
I laughed. “I’m no expert when it comes to men, but most important of all, be yourself. Like you are with me.”
He smiled, and I saw gratitude in his eyes. “I don’t know how real I will be pretending to read mystery.”
“You can tell him the truth about why you came in after, and asking him what he thinks of a particular book you snatch off the shelf isn’t misleading. You are interested in what he thinks, aren’t you, David?”
David winked. “Partially.”
I laughed. “You’re incorrigible.” With David’s interest aimed at Brandon, I felt a little better confessing that I had a date the next night. David’s squeal caught several eyes, including Brandon’s. The rambunctious jeweler waved, and Brandon flushed before retuning to his exercise. I thought this reaction would deter him, but David seemed encouraged.
He gave me a thumbs up and then stopped the machine to lean toward me, lowering his voice. “Well I guess when you need a little something-something, the law doesn’t matter.”
I gasped and folded my arms over my chest. “We are not breaking the law! And…I’m not looking for something-something.”
My protest ended on a note of fantasy even in my own ears. David peered at me wide-eyed and then chose another machine. I followed with great reluctance. As it turned out, the evil-looking torture device he chose was positioned right next to a treadmill. That I could handle, so I climbed on and started a nice, slow, non-painful walk.
While David and I sweated, me quietly humming the tune that blasted over the loudspeakers, the front door opened, and I couldn’t help glancing over my shoulder to see who had arrived. Of all people, Susan Aston marched into the gym. Behind her, Pattie Lane tripped along, but why would either of them come to the gym today of all days? Surely, Susan was busy arranging Alvin’s funeral. Then again, she could have finished with the arrangements and just come to work off a little frustration, if not grief.
Both John and Allie Kate Brinlee appeared through a door that must be his office. Susan’s voice echoed over the high ceiling of the gym, and I picked up the words “unfair” and “sick of it”, but I couldn’t make out what the conversation was about. I missed my chance to speak with John because with Susan screeching, John and Allie Kate seemed to want to calm her down. They guided her back into his office. The door shut, and I groaned in annoyance.
My attention switched to Pattie when she set a treadmill to a slow pace and began trudging along on it. The forlorn expression set me to wondering about her, but I couldn’t think of thing I hadn’t already said. To offer my condolences after I had offered them to Susan in her presence didn’t feel like the right course.
As I racked my brain to come up with an excuse that didn’t make me appear to be nosy and insensitive, David threw me for a loop. “She might be the one.”
I turned to him. “What do you mean?”
He hesitated. “I’m not sure I should say.”
“Oh no you don’t.” I pinned him with a stern expression and put my hands on my hips, even if my stance was a bit wobbly. I doubted I looked threatening in any way. “You don’t start a conversation like that, mister, and tell me it’s a secret. I’ve had it up to here with these secrets everybody knows but no one wants to tell.”
“It’s not one of those,” he emphasized. David stopped his machine, hopped off, and pursed his lips while he studied Pattie the same way he had done me while we were in his shop. I grabbed his arm and pulled him around to face the opposite wall.
“You’re being too obvious, David. We can’t just stare at her.”
He gave a dramatic gesture and pointed to the machine as if he was showing me a feature I hadn’t considered. I had the feeling no one would believe it, especially since I had happily hit my stop button when he did his. I was using every opportunity to take a break, and I already knew I probably wouldn’t be back to start a membership. Call me lazy, and give me another donut, if you please.
“I was wondering,” David whispered, “if she’s the girlfriend.”
I frowned. “Is there a special one other than Susan, his wife?”
He rolled his eyes and then looked at me as if I was
a great disappointment to gossips everywhere.
I had to save face so he wouldn’t clam up. “About Alvin’s girls, right? I think there are several, Pattie being one.”
David tapped a finger to his lip considering what I said. “Yes, I guess that’s common knowledge.”
“Thanks a lot.” I was feeling less informed by the second.
“I’m thinking at least one of Alvin’s lovelies is extra special. Over the last few weeks, he’s bought loads of special-made pieces from my shop.”
I gasped. “Not for Susan?”
David made a rude noise. “Why would he buy anything for that cow?”
“Ouch.”
He appeared unrepentant of his assessment of Susan. “He came into my shop very intense the first time, insisting I create something special.”
“Did you?”
“Everything David Kokichi makes is special, honey. Never forget it.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I grinned at the snap of his fingers and whip of his head.
“That wasn’t all though. He kept coming back, like the one I made before didn’t do the trick, or she was a greedy heifer. My money is on Louisa.”
“Hm, you haven’t seen her wearing them?” I tried to remember if I had seen any distinctive jewelry gracing Louisa’s neck, but I had been understandably distracted with trying to glean new information about the case from the ladies in the shop. New evidence might have been staring me in the face.
“No, I haven’t. It definitely wouldn’t be on Susan’s evil throat.”
I shook my head, wondering how Susan’s throat could be evil, but David was nothing if he wasn’t emphasizing his point with vivid words or gestures. “Did you tell the police this?”
He winked. “You can tell him at dinner. How’s that? Am I forgiven?”
“I never held anything against you. Spencer wouldn’t have asked me out if he thought I might be a suspect.”
“Spencer? Oh, be still my heart.” David laid a hand over his chest, and I smacked it playfully.
“Would you stop it? Be serious.”
We stood together going over what we learned, and I began to think again about my pictures. Was that what the killer had been looking for in my studio? Pictures of the woman who wore the jewelry? Was it a clue? After all, we still didn’t know if Alvin had given the pieces to one or each of the women he had been seeing.
“David, what did you make for Alvin?”
“Necklaces and rings.”
“How many?”
He ticked them off on his fingers, his forehead creased in concentration. “Seven in all. Three necklaces, two rings, a chocker, oh and a pin, all exquisite, encrusted in diamonds and rubies. It makes me sigh just thinking about the love and dedication I put into each.”
“That must have cost a small fortune!” I considered the implications, and my mind boggled. “Did he ever say who he wanted them for?”
“Trust me, honey, I asked. Who wouldn’t be curious? But he wouldn’t say. All I know is, he looked—desperate that at least one of them would do the trick.”
Chapter Ten
After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, I never did get to speak with Susan, or the Brinlees for that matter. I left the gym with one thought in mind—to get back into my studio and look through all of my pictures at my leisure. As I had told Spencer, my laptop held files of pictures I had never consorted to print. Who knew if I held the key to breaking this case myself and we could all get back to our regular lives. Okay, my confidence that I had the answer wasn’t that high, but it was a possibility, one I intended to explore.
On Saturday afternoon, I donned one of the few black dresses I owned to attend Alvin’s funeral. David had offered to drop by to pick me up and we would go together. Since I didn’t want to go alone, and because I liked David, I agreed.
“Wouldn’t you know it?” David pouted when we left my apartment to find a sheet of rain separating us from the parking lot and his car. “The site is going to be muddy, Makayala, and I’m going to tell you a little secret fear I have.”
I was busy struggling with the tiny umbrella I carried in my purse. At his words, I glanced up and noted the way he clenched his gloved hands together. I took a moment to study David’s appearance. He looked pretty dashing in a dark suit with a grey, white, and black pin stripped tie, but the gloves put me in mind more of a chauffeur. All he needed was his cap. Besides, the weather was still too warm for gloves.
I recalled what he’d said. “What secret?”
He gave a dramatic shiver as he stared out at the rain.
“You’re not scared of rain, are you, David?”
I straightened and raised the umbrella as if I would hurl it. David retrieved it from my fingers just in time, pressed a button, and wiggled something else, and voila, the umbrella popped open. I gave him my grudging thanks.
“No,” he said after he handed me the umbrella. I stepped forward ready to descend the stairs. He hung back. I took his arm and gave a little pull, but he resisted.
“David!”
“I’m scared I’ll fall into a grave and die of fear.”
“That’s unreasonable.” I gave him another tug, and he finally moved. We hurried to his car. With stiff movements, he unlocked the door, and I realized he really was terrified, not just being dramatic.
I hugged him. “We’ll stay in back as far as possible while still hearing the minister’s words. How’s that?”
He agreed, and at last we were off.
Like the morning of The Donut Hole debacle, half the town showed up for Alvin’s funeral. Susan had arranged not to have the home going ceremony in the dryness a local church would have provided, but at the gravesite.
“Probably to save time,” David whispered to me as we found seats on the very last row of those arranged. The man had been dead serious, but I didn’t use the word “dead” with him when I acknowledged his need in case it set off his fear and froze him again. As it was, David clung to my arm, silent and wide-eyed. Our seats were dry since someone had constructed a tent over the area before they had set up the chairs. The rain lessened, and I watched as other guests took up every seat.
Susan arrived, trailed by Pattie. Both women were dressed all in black, faces somber. Susan clutched a tissue in her hand, which she used to dab at her eyes. A man who appeared to be a few years older than she, tall, confident, and handsome, stood at her side. Once the procession reached the front, the man lowered the umbrella he had held above Susan’s head and shook it out. Pattie had held her own.
I leaned toward David. “Who is that man?”
David blinked a couple times and tugged his gaze from the casket to look where I indicated. The transformation of his face told me he agreed with my assessment of the man’s handsome face. Still, my new friend didn’t rise much to the occasion. “That’s Susan’s lawyer. They’ve been seen together a lot lately.”
“Of course, she’s got to settle her affairs regarding Alvin.”
David sniffed. “Yes, honey, at all hours.”
The implication was clear, but I dismissed it from my thoughts for the time being as the Brinlees arrived along with Inna, Louisa alone, and even Spencer. My attention fell away from the mourners and the pretenders as I took at the sheriff. He wore a long, black trench coat, the collar turned up. The sight brought a smile to my lips, and I waited to catch his eye. His sharp gaze flitted from person to person as he stood rather than sat to the side of everyone. Susan saw him and frowned, her red-painted lips flattening into a straight line. She moved to stand, I noted, but the lawyer laid a hand on her arm, and she sat down. Her gaze softened when it shifted to the man, and when I looked back at Spencer, he made a note in his notebook, probably regarding both the reaction in Susan and the calming effect of the man.
During the service, I managed to extricate my arm from David’s hold and promised him I wouldn’t go too near the casket to place a flower. “Coming?” I asked him.
“No way, honey.” He shook h
is head with such force I wondered that he didn’t give himself a headache. “I pay my respects in a church like a sane person. Let someone else handle the rest.”
I smiled and patted his shoulder. At the front of the group near Alvin’s casket, I paused to give my own respects to Susan. Like David had to me, she clung to her attorney, and for the first time I saw genuine unhappiness. He wrapped a big arm around Susan’s shoulders and nodded to me. I gave him a half smile and moved on. Pattie and Allie Kate sobbed, Pattie softly, Allie Kate with hiccups and muffled grunts into her husband’s suit jacket. John Brinlee mouthed “she’ll be okay” to me and offered a sad smile.
As I crossed to the opposite side of the row of seats, I came upon Frank with two flowers in his hand. I glanced over my shoulder. “I think we’re going from this way, Frank?”
He looked at me in blank confusion. “Oh, I—”
A crack resounded over the general hubbub of voices, and someone shouted, “What do you care?”
I spun around, and gasps rose all around me. Pattie stood in front of Susan, and her hands at her sides in fists, face screwed up in fury. For her part, Susan’s mouth hung open, and a distinctive handprint was outlined in red on her cheek. The lawyer held Susan’s arm while extending a hand to Pattie. His murmur of “calm down” went ignored by both women.
“You think nobody notices the show you’ve put on for everyone?” Pattie demanded. “Why bother when you’re here with your lover?”
Susan glanced around at us. “Don’t be ridiculous, Pattie. We’re here to say good-bye to Alvin, my husband. Maybe you should remember that and show me some consideration.”
“You? I—”
“Enough!” Allie Kate appeared before the two women, and both Pattie and Susan fell silent. I looked around for Louisa but couldn’t spot her. Half expecting Spencer to interfere too, I spotted him against the same tree where he had been earlier, but he had a clear view of the proceedings. With her husband behind her, Allie Kate kissed Susan’s cheek, gave her a stern look, and took hold of Pattie’s arm to lead her away.
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