by Tonya Kappes
“What? Lucy Ellen’s reviews?” She leaned her hip on the edge of the desk. “I thought they were mean spirited if you want to know the truth. When I saw her coming through those doors, I would watch her. She’d sit at one of these desks and gnaw on her bottom lip as she typed away. She’d stop and look up like she was really thinkin’. Then she’d start typing again. Like in a mad rush or something. I know this probably isn’t right, but I’d pretend to be re-shelving some books behind her to see exactly what she was doing. If she was writing something that looked like a review to the Chronicle, I’d hurry to my office and turn off the internet.”
“Why would you do that?” I asked.
“Because she was mean. Her reviews were only in the Chronicle to hurt people.” Marcy looked down at her fingers. “I know it ain’t fittin’ to say, but if you asked me, she got what she had coming to her.”
“Did she ever write a review about the library?” I asked.
Marcy smiled. “About that,” her brow rose, “she complained about the internet and I told her that the form was saved and would send to the Chronicle anyways, though I knew it wouldn’t. She didn’t know better. Last time I caught her doing a review and turned off the internet, she said she was going to write a review about the internet service because she really did believe it was the bad internet here that turned off and not me.”
“Some of her reviews obviously got through. How did that happen?” I asked since she said she’d kept a close eye on Lucy Ellen.
“I’m not here twenty-four seven.” She let out an exhausted sigh. She slid her gaze over to Malina. “Some people don’t care about other’s feelings.” She returned her stare at me with a blank look on her face.
“You didn’t happen to have any ill words with Lucy Ellen, did you?” I asked.
“For heaven’s sake, no.” She shook her head. “I wasn’t about to get in a piss and vinegar fight with her over some reviews or how I felt like she was nasty to people when she didn’t get her way. It was best to stay clear of her.” She looked back at Malina. “Malina, a word with you.”
“Sure.” Malina walked over.
“In my office.” She jerked her head to the side. “Sheriff, it was good to see you. Bye, Duke.” She didn’t give me time to say goodbye. She quickly turned on the balls of her feet and stomped back to the office.
As I walked, I thought about the articles. I’d completely forgotten about the call from last year’s gun show event. When I went out to see Faith about it, she claimed it was free speech. I’d given her a ticket for disorderly conduct but what had transpired from there, I wasn’t sure. But I was about to find out.
“You want to get a treat?” I asked Duke when we got back into the Wagoneer.
He jumped around, panting and wagging his tail.
Pet Patch was the cutest pet store with grooming services. Faith took great care in making sure all animals were welcome there. She didn’t sell animals, but she did give out names to reputable breeders of all sorts of different animals. She was the go-to gal for pets in Cottonwood. Duke loved it there. He just didn’t like the seasonal baths I brought him in for.
The front door mooed when I opened it, making me giggle. The doorbell wasn’t the regular ding; Faith had special ordered one that sounded exactly like a cow.
“Duke!” Faith made it a point to always greet the animals when they walked into her store.
He ran over, knowing exactly what was waiting for him in her pinched fingers.
“I see you brought your mama with you,” Faith joked like she always did. She patted Duke as she gave him the treat. “Kenni, I hear you’re going to be in the big wedding.”
Faith had shoulder-length strawberry blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. Definitely not the look of a killer. Good cover up though, I thought as I greeted her with a friendly smile.
“I love that bird apron,” I said.
She ran her hands down the front of it and they ended up in the front pockets where she took out another treat.
“Can he?” It was nice that she asked before she just did it like the rest of the citizens.
“Absolutely.” How could I deny the cute dancing hound?
“We have a special on Duke’s food this week plus a manufacturer’s coupon.” She walked in the direction of the dog food. “It’s really a great deal.”
“I didn’t come here for some, but we can always use a good deal.” I followed behind Duke who was close on Faith’s heels. “Actually, I came to ask you about your relationship with Lucy Ellen Lowell. I’m sure you’ve heard she was murdered, and it’s my understanding you were a little upset, as you should be, about the mean-spirited review she posted in the Chronicle.”
“Mean-spirited?” Faith curled up on her tiptoes and reached up for the bag. I helped get it down. “I think it was downright hateful. I’m sorry she’s dead, but it doesn’t take away the fact that she was a spoiled brat. What she wanted and didn’t get, she made a mess of.”
“I went to the library and looked up the review. It said she was mad that you didn’t carry a certain cat food. I didn’t even know she had a cat.” I hoisted the big bag of kibble up on my hip.
“She doesn’t. She buys cheap cat food for the shelter. Sometimes I put food on sale right before the expiration date. It started piling up once and I knew she did some volunteer work there. I won’t because it’s a kill shelter and I can’t donate to that. Don’t judge me.” Faith was aware of how that sounded.
“I’m not judging.” Though it was strange that she didn’t want to donate food to keep them living instead of the other fate. Still, I was there to gather information, not judge her.
“Lucy Ellen came in and we made an agreement that I’d call her when food was about to expire.” It sounded like a good collaboration. But where did it go wrong, I wondered as she continued to talk. “The food I was giving her expired so quickly, I decided not to carry that manufacturer anymore because I was losing money here at my shop. So I discontinued it. A month or so later Lucy Ellen came in. I told her about the food and how I didn’t have anything at this particular time.”
Faith stopped and gulped.
“She had the nerve to tell me that I was the one killing the cats at the shelter by not giving the food to them at a discount and that was blood on my hands. She ranted on how I didn’t really care about animal rights and it was only a ploy for me to get people to come into the shop.” Her voice cracked. “Her words are still painful to this day.”
“Did it hurt your business?” The malicious words could’ve played a big part in a motive for Faith to commit murder, but losing money and altering her lifestyle was an even bigger motive.
“That’s the funny thing. Business started booming. People were coming in here saying how they knew I was a reputable store because they knew she’d write those nasty reviews out of hate.” She coughed up a laugh. “I called her and actually thanked her for the review.”
“I bet that didn’t go well.” My jaw tensed.
“She hung up on me.” She rolled her eyes. “Like I said, I hate that she died, but whoever did it was someone who she probably wronged one too many times.”
We made our way up to the front of the store where the registers were located.
“Can you tell me where you were the night of her murder?” I asked. Her mouth dropped, her eyes widened. “Just doing this with all the people who got a bad review from her.”
“I was actually in Atlanta at the big pet expo. I’ve got plane tickets, hotel stubs, and even my husband who was with me along with hundreds of other shop owners who can corroborate.” She had an alibi and if I did need to look into it I would, but nothing told me she was lying. “Bloomie and I have to keep our grooming licenses up because they expire every year. So while I was there, I did that all over again because I’m almost expired.”
“Thanks for being up front and
honest.” I started to reach for my extra money in my pocket.
“Don’t worry about it.” She shooed my hand away. “This bag is on me. Does he know?”
“About his appointment on Saturday?” I asked. “No,” I mouthed.
She threw her head back and laughed. The alarm over the front door mooed, signaling the arrival of Duke’s most favorite dog groomer and Faith’s partner, Bloomie Fischer.
“Duke.” She bent down and put her arms out. He darted toward her and slid into her lap with his arms and paws extended forward; tail wagging and kisses ensued.
“I can’t wait to play with him Saturday,” Bloomie whispered over his shoulder.
“We’ve got to go.” I patted my leg. Duke enjoyed one last good scratch from Bloomie. “Alright, Casanova, let’s go. See y’all Saturday.”
Duke and I walked out very happy customers of Pet Patch. He had a few more treats and I had a free bag of dog food.
Though Faith had some good information on why she and Lucy Ellen had words, it still didn’t give me any more information on who killed Lucy.
Going back to the salon to talk to Cheree was my next stop. I checked my phone to see if by chance I’d missed a call from Tom Geary. Nothing. I put my phone on vibrate and put it in my back pocket.
“It’s awful about Lucy Ellen Lowell,” Cheree whined when she saw me walk in. In one swoop, she pulled her long red hair back and up into a perfect top-knot. “And to think we just saw her.”
“We sure did.” I looked around. For the late afternoon, I found it odd that there weren’t any customers in the joint.
“Who on earth would ever want to hurt her?” she asked in a sweet Southern drawl. She reached into her purse and took out her glasses, nestling those on top of her head too.
“I was hoping you could answer that.” I couldn’t stop myself from looking at the nail polish bottles in hope the Perfectly Posh would show up.
“What on earth do you mean?” Cheree stopped what she was doing and stared doe-eyed at me.
“I don’t come here a lot, but I couldn’t help but overhear all the gossip that took place after Lucy Ellen left here.”
Cheree looked at me as if she didn’t know what I was talking about.
“Oh, come on.” Sarcasm dripped from my lips at her ignorance. Was she hiding something? “When Lucy Ellen left here, there was a lot of talk about her and everyone’s dislike of her,” I said, as if she needed reminding.
“That?” She pish-poshed. “That’s all it was. Talk.”
I hummed. “Talk? Innocent talk and then she shows up dead?” I shook the bottle of fingernail polish to help mix up the top oily layer with the rest of the polish.
“Lucy Ellen was wearing a color on her nails that looked pretty similar, if not the same as Perfectly Posh,” I said, stopping Cheree dead in her tracks. “Cheree?” It wasn’t the exact reaction I’d expected, but at least it was something. “Cheree, are you okay?”
My phone vibrated in my pocket. I slipped it out to look and see if it was Tom. When Toots’s name popped up, I hit the off button, sending her to voicemail.
“Kenni,” Cheree gasped, causing the freckles on her face to widen a smidgen. “That night around eight, I got a call from Art Baskin about our security alarm going off.” She tapped the rose gold watch on her wrist. “I’d left here around seven thirty and drove straight to Cowboy’s Catfish to get my to-go order. After Bartleby gave me my food, I came back here and that was around eight fifteen-ish.”
Art Baskin was the owner of the only security-system provider in town.
“You know it only takes a couple of minutes to get here from there. When I showed up at the shop, Art was waiting in his car. We came in to check it out and there was nothing wrong in here. I turned the alarm off. Art asked if I wanted to call the sheriff, but I said no. I called Tina and told her that I came by and no one was here. I asked her if she wanted me to call you and she said there was no reason to. You know them heathen kids nowadays like to come in and color their hair all sorts of crazy colors. I figured they were trying to steal some color. Nothing looked out of place, but Tina did say the next day that her Perfectly Posh was missing. The last person we saw with it was Lucy Ellen Lowell.” Cheree recalled how Lucy Ellen wanted to buy it.
“You didn’t see or talk to Lucy Ellen after she left here that afternoon?” I asked.
“Why no, I did not.” She said as if I shouldn’t ask such a thing, “What are you insinuating?”
“I’m only trying to figure out what Lucy’s actions were after she left here. You and I both heard and saw how everyone reacted when she was here.” There was no sense in not being up front and honest with her. “You didn’t make a police report about the break-in?” I asked.
“Nope.” She walked around and plugged in all the styling tools they used on their hair customers. “I didn’t see the need to call anyone because there was nothing missing. We have two of everything that is worth anything.” She walked around and pointed. “Two hair dryers, two flat-irons, two curling irons, all the nail things, our work stations. If something like a small bottle of nail polish or even hair dye was missing, we’d never really know. I use nail polish and all the hair products when Tina isn’t here, like she does when I’m not here. We don’t keep records when we finish with a product.”
My phone vibrated. I pulled it out.
“Excuse me. I need to take this.” It was Tom Geary. “Hello, Tom.”
“Sheriff, I’m sorry I couldn’t get back with you sooner. I just wanted to make sure and do a little research before I gave you the findings.” He was so thorough and I liked that about his lab. “Do you have a second?”
I walked out of Tiny Tina’s and got into the Wagoneer so I could grab my notepad and write down what he was telling me.
“I do. Let me grab my pen and paper.” I shut the door once I got in.
“I’ll be faxing over the report to your office,” he informed me. “In the meantime, I felt like I should call you and tell you the results myself.”
“That’s great.” I dragged my bag across the seat of the Jeep and opened it, taking out my pen and paper. “Okay, tell me what you found out.”
“The polish base is a clear topcoat that can be broken down into ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, and alcohol.” He said words that I had no idea how to spell correctly so I phonetically did the best I could until I could get the report. “It was the color that made me do the longer test that took all night. The color was actually derived from eyeshadow. There was also a lethal dose of cyanide in the small bit of nail that I tested.”
“What is your conclusion?” I asked.
“I actually narrowed down the compounds of the eyeshadow to MAC Pink Venus eyeshadow. With the level of cyanide in there if someone had painted even one nail with the lethal polish, they would’ve died, much less all of her fingernails and toes.” It was all I needed to hear in order to march back into Tiny Tina’s to see exactly how Tina Bowers made her polish.
“If you wouldn’t mind getting that report over to the office ASAP, I’d be eternally grateful.” My eyes slid across the seat.
Poppa appeared and stared at me with a dropped jaw and opened eyes.
“Did you say MAC as in the boy’s name?” he asked in a whisper.
I nodded.
“I’m faxing it as we speak.” Tom said, and I hung up.
“There’s a bunch of makeup in the back room of Tiny Tina’s that’s got the name MAC on them in big bold letters.” Poppa looked past my shoulder and out the Jeep window toward Tiny Tina’s.
“Looks like we have the ingredients, a motive, and the killer.” I gnawed on my lip. I punched the button on the side of the walkie talkie. “Betty?”
“Hey, Kenni,” Betty answered as if I were calling to see how she was doing, not as though this was business.
“I need you to
get Judge to get me a warrant to search and collect some evidence at Tiny Tina’s. I need you to fax it over to the salon. You’ll find their fax number over in the Rolodex on my desk. And it needs to be ASAP. Tell Judge that I’m here now and I’ve got a big lead.” I left out the part that the big lead was Poppa’s ghost telling me that in the back room was the same makeup brand that Tom Geary had said was one of the main ingredients in the weapon used to kill Lucy.
“Gotcha.” Betty clicked off.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tina’s old Corolla pull up and her getting out of the car. She tossed her cigarette butt on the pavement and twisted the toe of her shoe in it. With a heavy sigh, I got out of the car.
“Tina,” I called before she entered the building.
“Hey, Kenni. Are you ready for your big nail day?” She smiled and used the tips of her fingers to add some volume to her brown hair.
My heart broke in tiny pieces because I knew that smile would falter pretty quickly after we started talking.
“I guess, but that’s not why I’m here.” I gestured for us to go inside when someone pulled into the parking lot. “Can we go into the back where you make your nail polish? I think you called it the color room the other day.”
I thought I’d ask instead of waiting on the warrant.
“Sure.” She looked at me with her brown eyes. The smile was gone. She stuck her purse behind the counter. She said to Cheree, “I’m going to talk to Kenni for a minute. I’ll be right back.”
That was easier than I imagined, I thought when she readily agreed to me going back there.
“That’s fine. We had a bunch of cancellations today.” Cheree nodded at the door. “I’ve got one manicure and that’s it.”
“Great,” Tina moaned.
As I looked at Cheree, many questions popped into my head. Before I went to the back room, I just had to know.
“Cheree, you didn’t make a police report?” I asked again to make sure I’d heard her correctly before I took Tom’s phone call.
“No, I didn’t. You can ask Art.” She shrugged.