1 Depth of Field

by Audrey Claire

“Well, that was entertaining.” David arrived at my side once I had moved far away from the casket. “I’m glad I came.”

  He grinned, and I shook my head. “Those women are in pain, David. We shouldn’t make fun of them.”

  David waggled a finger at me. “Let’s be clear, honey. Susan, as demonstrated by that wonderful slap Pattie gave her, is not in pain. Wait, no, that slap might have been painful.”

  “David.” I groaned and scanned our immediate surroundings to be sure no one was near. The service had ended, but I wasn’t sure if it was meant to at that moment. Susan and Pattie’s argument had called a halt, and as a body, the entire audience took it as a finale. People drifted away from their chairs, headed toward their cars. The funeral home staff hung back, uncertainty in their expressions. The minister threw up hands and said something to the funeral director. After that, the man signaled his staff, and they shifted into action.

  “I’m only saying…” David interrupted my thoughts again. “They caused whatever’s happening between them. You know it, and I know it.”

  “That doesn’t excuse being mean about it.”

  Both David and I froze because I wasn’t the one who spoke. The deep voice was familiar, and I knew right away who it was. David going pale said he knew too. We turned slowly to face Brandon, and poor David’s mouth flopped open and closed, fishlike.

  “I didn’t mean…” he said. “I never meant to uh…”

  Brandon stood above David, but he didn’t give him a glare, like so many were tossing around at each other these days. His expression held pity, which was worse. David shriveled before his crush, and I felt sorry for him. Sweet, shy Brandon had called David to task for his attitude, and David had nothing to say in return. For my part, I didn’t believe my friend was a bad person. He responded like many to privileged women who thought they could walk all over lesser mortals and get away with it. What wasn’t entirely clear to me was if Pattie was a lesser mortal or had less of the attitude than Susan or Louisa. Maybe she was a victim caught up in their world.

  “Hey, there you are,” Inna called, and she walked over to link her arm through Brandon’s. My eyebrows shot up, and so did David’s. Brandon blushed and looked uncomfortable. Inna appeared oblivious to the air around us. “My parents are having a stupid gathering at the gym, one of those things with lots of food. You’re all invited.”

  David’s elbow bumped mine. I sighed. “Isn’t Susan having…”

  Every eye locked onto me, and I let it go. Susan hadn’t wanted to take any extra steps to say good-bye to her husband. She certainly wouldn’t bring people into her home to gawk and eat.

  David straightened and smiled. “I might be persuaded to come. What about you, Makayla?”

  “Um…” I began.

  “Ms. Rose, can I speak with you a minute?”

  I turned at Spencer’s voice, and my heart did pitter pats. I excused myself from the others and joined him. We walked a few paces away out of earshot, and I eyed the sheriff. “Ms. Rose?”

  “Trying it out,” he grumbled.

  I smirked. “No one calls anyone by their last name here, not even the older citizens.”

  “Good to know.”

  “Did you need something, Spencer?”

  He held out my key, and I gave a little noise of joy. “Finally, I can get back to work.” Then a thought occurred to me, and I cringed. Spencer guessed what I was thinking.

  “The office has been cleaned.”

  I gasped. “You arranged that?”

  “I did.”

  I beamed at him. “You’re a good man, sheriff. Thank you very much.”

  He frowned. “Makayla, I still have concerns about how the murderer gained entrance to your shop. There is no sign of forced entry, and both your landlord and Ollie Sandstone assure me no one other than the two of them have keys.”

  I pressed a hand to my chest. “You think one of them did it?”

  “No, both have alibis, and neither have a motive. I believe the lock to the back door was picked.”

  I felt sick. If the lock was picked, what was to stop them from doing it again?

  “Do me a favor,” he said softly, and I looked up at him. He seemed to have moved closer, but I hadn’t noticed. We weren’t touching, but his strength and presence helped me to calm down a little.

  “Yes?” I said, a bit affected.

  “Wait for me. I know our date isn’t until tomorrow night, but I want to come by your shop once more and check the lock for myself. I haven’t had the opportunity to go before today, and there are a few things I need to look into.”

  “Susan’s lawyer?” I suggested.

  No surprise registered on his face. “No, I’ve already looked into his background.”

  “Oh.”

  He smiled. “I’m doing my job, Makayla. In fact, he’s Susan’s alibi for the night.”

  My turn to be surprised. “But that doesn’t mean she didn’t hire someone to kill him.”

  I wasn’t convinced Susan was the killer. Sure she was mean, but that didn’t make a murderer. I needed to tell Spencer about the jewelry and it being the possible reason someone might have broken into my shop. Before I could speak, his cell phone rang, and he signaled for me to wait.

  Near the Brinlees’ car, Pattie stood speaking with Allie Kate. Pattie shook her head, sheets of straight blonde hair waving around her face. “No, I’m not up to it.” Her voice traveled on the breeze, strident, full of misery.

  “Allie Kate, that’s enough,” John called. “We need to get back to greet our guests.”

  Allie Kate looked toward her husband, but I couldn’t see her expression. I imagined it was an expression of annoyance. Was my previous assessment of her love for Alvin wrong? Was she, too, in love with him? I thought back to the man I had met in the grocery store. Before I had zoomed in on the wedding ring and shut down my feminine response to his smile, there was something there in him. If he weren’t married and I hadn’t spent years loving a man I shouldn’t have and who didn’t deserve my adoration, I too might have fallen for Alvin. Well, not with so much competition! I like to think I have at least a little self-respect.

  Allie Kate said good-bye to Pattie at last and climbed into the passenger seat of her husband’s car. They pulled off down the road and turned the bend to flit in and out of sight among the trees. I expected Pattie to take another of the cars lined up along the narrow road, but she wrapped her arms around herself and started walking instead.

  On impulse, I chased after her and drew up alongside. “Pattie, if you don’t have a ride, I’m sure David will gladly take you home. I rode with him.”

  She glanced at me, but her gaze passed through me. She blinked a few times. “Oh, Makayla. No, I’m okay. I need some quiet time.”

  “Are you sure?” I hesitated to leave her in such an obvious dark state. After all, her best friend had stormed away in a huff and without a care apparently to how Pattie would make it home. I can’t say I fully blamed her, Pattie having slapped her and insulted her loud enough for everyone to hear. One would have to be a saint not to be affected, and Susan was far from a saint.

  I mulled over the decision to leave Pattie to her own devices.

  “I know you think Susan’s a bad person, but she’s not,” Pattie said, and I gaped at her.

  She stopped walking. I searched for an appropriate response to this unexpected defense, but found none. So I went with the truth. “I haven’t been here long, Pattie, but I know what I have observed for myself and what others have said.”

  She glanced at me, and I gave an apologetic look for listening to gossip.

  “The consensus is that Susan has never treated you kindly, and you just took it. All the way back to when you girls were in middle school and your family moved to the area.”

  “She was my first friend. I didn’t know anybody.”

  “You could have,” I said with bluntness but not unkind. “You can now.”

  She said nothing.

  �
��Pattie, did you love Alvin?”

  I thought she might suddenly start jetting down the street away from me, her eyes went so wide. Then they filled with tears. Great, big drops fell onto her cheeks, and her shoulders shook so hard, she looked like she might break. My heart constricted, and I folded her into my arms to stroke the back of her head as if she were a child.

  “I loved him so much, Makayla,” she whispered. “I would have given anything for him to be my husband. Anything. Do you understand?”

  Oh boy do I understand. I had been just where she was, and like Pattie, it had gotten me nowhere but in trouble.

  After she settled down a little, I drew away and ferreted out a wad of tissue for her to wipe her nose and face. We looked into each other’s eyes, and I think she must have seen a reflection of my past grief, similar to hers. We understood each other. I felt safe to ask the question I needed to.

  “Pattie, did you kill Alvin because you couldn’t have him?”

  She didn’t even flinch. A fleeting smile appeared on her lips and was gone before I could be sure it had been there. “Who says I couldn’t have him? If anyone deserves to die, it would be Susan. I shouldn’t say that. Life, no matter how awful it’s lived, is precious and gone in an instant.”

  There went that bubble of understanding between us loveless girls. One minute Pattie defended Susan. The next she spoke of killing her. After that it was life is precious. Then there was the small smile I was sure she had exhibited. Was Pattie having a mental breakdown? If so, she needed help. I considered talking to David to find out who Pattie’s family was. I thought I had heard a story that she was an only child and both her parents had passed. Mine were living, but we weren’t close. Not after they lost their favorite daughter and I might have had an affair with that daughter’s husband. Yeah, that’s another topic altogether that I did not want to provide mental energy to.

  I touched Pattie’s arm. “I wouldn’t feel right about you out here alone, Pattie. Please, let us drive you.”

  She gave in at last, and since Spencer was too busy for me to wait for him, we were soon on the road. Pattie sat in the back seat with her knees practically up to her neck, and I sat in the front with David. I glanced at him, subdued, and focused on Pattie.

  “I’m sorry, Pattie. I didn’t realize the back seat was so narrow.”

  David peered into the rearview mirror. “I would have brought the other car if I had known, honey. Don’t worry. I will speed. Maybe a cute cop will pull me over.”

  I rolled my eyes, but Pattie murmured something I didn’t hear. Soon, we pulled to a stop at her house, a midsize rancher on a half-acre of land. She wasn’t in Hillrise but not from my side of town either. David and I bid her good-bye, and he shot off down the road. I clutched the armrest on the door.

  “Okay, can we slow down, David? She’s gone.”

  He raised a heavy foot off the gas, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Are we going to the gathering?” I asked.

  “No.”

  “That’s all? Just no? Did something happen?”

  “Why didn’t you tell me about Inna, Makayla?”

  “I didn’t know anything,” I lied. “Are they together?”

  “No, not really. I think she’s chasing him. He’s sweet and shy but strong too. Just my type.” He moaned. “I can’t compete with a woman.”

  I patted his hand. “Not if he isn’t gay, but don’t worry. What’s meant to be will be. Are you giving up?”

  “No way, sister! I’m going to that bookstore on Monday, and we’ll just see what happens.”

  I laughed. “Okay, well, good luck to both of you. And to Brandon. I think he’ll need it between you two.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Spencer’s call had taken him away on police business, so I never did get to share my thoughts on the pictures and the jewelry. Now I phoned his cell but got no answer. I paced my tiny apartment, biting a nail. To wait for him was eating me up. I needed to get my hands on my laptop. Just a run through might reveal something. The sun hadn’t gone down, and there were plenty of people still on Main Street, I was sure. Okay, hopeful. Small towns tended to roll up the sidewalks when it neared sundown, and today being Saturday, I didn’t expect a lot of activity out there. Someone would be around though. The weekend was a busy time for Louisa.

  When impatience got the best of me, I gave Spencer another call, and the phone went to voicemail. His deep tones came on the line, and I waited for him to finish asking me to leave a message. Then the beep sounded in my ear. “Hi, Spencer, listen, I’m going to pop down to the shop really quickly. I promise I won’t stay long, but I wanted to get my laptop and check out the pictures I have on there. David Kokichi, the jeweler, told me something I think you’ll find interesting. I’ll explain everything when I see you, okay? Don’t worry. Talk to you later.”

  I parked in one of my available parking slots and turned off the car. Checking my cell, I found it was five thirty. The sun was a ball of orange at the end of the street. Fall approached, and I could almost feel the chill even though it was still pretty warm out. A quick scan of the street when I stepped out of the car showed I’d been right. Main Street was abandoned for the most part, but a few cars sat in the salon’s lot. I started to walk over there and make them aware that I would be working for a little while but changed my mind. One, I didn’t want to face another scathing remark from Louisa, and two, I felt it would be giving in to paranoia.

  I stuck the key into the lock and froze. My throat dried. I jerked around to look behind me, heart aching as it hammered. The street was well lit. The only spot that might be hidden from view was the alley, but I didn’t intend to go back there. A row of tall trees and thick hedges, as well as some fences bordered the properties on the backside of my shop. Unfortunately, the alley was not as well-lit as the street itself, but it didn’t matter. After all, who needed to be there after dark?

  The memory of what I had stumbled upon arrested me so that I couldn’t move. I panicked. My hand shook as I held the key, and I willed it to turn. I shut my eyes, bowed my head, and took in a deep breath. No bodies here. A low, slightly manic chuckle escaped me.

  The lock clicked, and I pushed the door open. Not until it swung wide did I realize I held tension in my shoulders because I had expected the door to bump against another dead body. No need to add to the numbers. One was enough. Imagine feeling safer out on the street than in your own shop. The thought that I might like to break my lease and move somewhere else occurred to me, but I refused to be cowed. I had let life, people, and circumstances drive me in the past. This would not happen again.

  I flipped on the lights, and with the door wide open in case I had to run for my life, I searched the place. Front room, darkroom, washroom, and back, all clear. As a precaution I checked the lock to the rear door. At first I was going to open it and scan the alley, then changed my mind. If anyone waited out there, opening the door was a sure way to give them what they wanted. So I settled for touching the lock and being sure it had been turned into position to keep me secure.

  I returned to the front of the shop and peered out into the street. The sun was descending fast. I had to get going. Across the street, The Donut Hole’s lights were all off. So were the lights at the bookstore. The gym was open. Good to know. I shut and locked the door.

  First, I booted up my laptop and while that was loading, I went through the file cabinets. A moan of agony escaped me. Either the police or the killer had gone through my entire photo collection, even the ones from years ago that had nothing whatsoever to do with Briney Creek. Landscapes, portraits, family photos, even a few crime scenes photos I thought I had gotten rid of were all jumbled into a few folders. The labels on the hanging files had been ignored. My painstaking procedure of making sure none of the photos were in direct contact with each other, but instead were separated by acid-free paper meant nothing.

  My heart ached over my precious collection. I couldn’t possibly leave before fixing th
e mess. Before that, I forced myself to sit down at my desk and log into my online storage account. The digital photo storage was there. I pulled everything up on the screen and began going through each picture one by one. I paid particular attention to every woman I’d taken shots of in town, and I did have a lot. Everyone that is except Susan, Louisa, and of all people, Talia. The thought that Talia might have had an affair with Alvin made me laugh. Yet, I had seen an article recently of a thirty-year-old man dating an eighty-year-old woman. In fact, women old enough to be his grandmothers were his norm. I shivered in revulsion of the preference. A fleeting thought passed through my mind of Talia pawning a necklace Alvin had given her, which would then allow her to buy all the items she had had shipped to her recently. I laughed again and dismissed the notion.

  Twice, I went through the photos and then pulled up the ones I stored on my hard drive to compare. The number in both locations differed, which meant I needed to check the hard drive too. I grunted and stretched my hands over my head. My eyes were already dry from concentrating. Maybe I’d give the computer a rest and focus on the file cabinet.

  The task proved to be more relaxing than I thought, and soon I sat at a small table across from my desk where I liked to sit down with clients to show them what I could do. Piles of photos spread out over the table, I took my time separating them and laying them with care between sheets of paper. I cherished each photo and wanted to be sure each was handled just right. When I tell you I have thousands, I’m not exaggerating, so I doubted the person who had rifled through them all had found what they were looking for. Unless they had gotten lucky. The problem was I might have catalogued all the old photos but not all the new ones. The killer might have taken one or more and I didn’t know it.

  A click. The sound debilitated me. Photos slipped from my fingers, and I’m pretty sure moisture broke out on the skin above my lips in an instant. That couldn’t have been the back door, could it? Not the front? I turned my head to the door not more than a few feet away, but I saw and heard nothing. Maybe it was my imagination. The thin protective sheets stirred as with a breeze. My chest hurt. This was not all in my head.