by K. M. Morgan
“I hope you can help,” Daisy said.
“Would you like to try any samples?”
“No. Actually, I have a couple of questions for you,” Daisy said.
“About what?”
“About your ex-husband’s murder,” Daisy declared.
“Are you with the police or something? Because I already told the detective I had nothing to do with Luke’s death,” Quinn said.
“I’m not with the police,” Daisy replied.
“Then I don’t have to talk to you,” Quinn insisted.
“Come to think of it, I would like to try a sample. Why don’t you pull out that mascara for me?” Daisy suggested.
Quinn wasn’t having it. “I’ll find someone else to help you.”
Quinn started walking away.
Daisy wasn’t about to let her get away that easy. “Why don’t you get the manager? I’ll tell them how rude you’re being in not wanting to assist a customer.”
“Nice try. But what makes you think I’m just going to let you come in here and cause trouble for me? I don’t even know who you are,” Quinn said.
“Haven’t you ever heard—the customer is always right?” Daisy asked.
Quinn glared at Daisy.
“Someone else will be with you in a moment,” Quinn insisted.
Daisy had a card up her sleeve however. “Maybe I’ll just go to the police and tell them how you got into a heated argument with Luke about a memoir you were trying to shop around the night before he was murdered.”
Quinn stopped dead in her tracks. She turned around and furrowed her brow at Daisy.
“Who are you?”
“That’s not important. What matters is where you were this morning between the hours of five and six,” Daisy said.
Quinn stared daggers into her. “You have a lot of nerve, you know that?”
It was going to be hard for Daisy to get any information out of Quinn. Daisy tried to tackle things from a different angle.
“You know, I’m actually surprised that you’re at work today. I figured you would have called in sick or something. But nope—here you are, like it’s just any other work day. Either that’s because you could care less that your ex-husband was murdered, or you’re trying to carry on like life is business as usual to deflect what’s really going on,” Daisy said.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. You act like you can just come in here and try to make trouble for me--”
Daisy scoffed. “You made plenty of trouble for yourself. First by shopping around a tell-all memoir about your ex-husband, then by going to his house with a bone to pick after finding out he was trying to kill the project.”
In a rage, Quinn let her emotions do the talking for her, and blurted out more than she wanted to. “His house? That was my house too. Then he left me with nothing.”
“That sounds an awful lot like a motive,” Daisy said.
Quinn realized she’d talked herself into a corner and jumped on the defensive. “Who do you think you are to just throw around wild speculations? You don’t know me or anything about my life—at all.”
“I know it has to be hard going from living in the lap of luxury to clocking in day after day at a cosmetics counter. To have all the money in the world one minute, then be living paycheck to paycheck the next. Then to finally come up with a plan for a big payday—only to have your ex-husband fight you tooth and nail on it. That would make me furious—murderous even,” Daisy said.
Quinn looked like she was in full panic mode. “Leave me alone.”
Daisy was far from letting up. “Where were you between five and six this morning?”
“Sleeping,” Quinn answered.
Daisy could tell she was lying. “I don’t believe you.”
Finally, Quinn cracked. “I don’t have to take this. You can get my manager, call the police, or whatever. The fact is, you don’t have anything on me and you know it. This conversation is over.”
Quinn darted out from behind the cosmetics counter and disappeared into a backroom that had a sign reading “Employee’s Only.”
Daisy sighed. She couldn’t help but think that she was so close, yet didn’t have a confession to show for it. Although by the looks of Quinn, she wasn’t far off. Something fishy was clearly going on with her. A number of customers then approached the now empty cosmetics counter.
It was clear even if Daisy got a manager to drag Quinn back out onto the floor, that Daisy wouldn’t be able to press her further.
Daisy may have been thwarted today, but she wasn’t nearly done with Quinn Longwell. That was ok. Daisy had a few more leads to follow up on anyway. Not to mention after such a stressful confrontation, Daisy had a serious yen for a nice big slice of pie.
Chapter Twenty-One
Apparently Daisy wasn’t the one anxious to see Quinn Longwell that afternoon. While Daisy walked towards the front of the department store towards the exit, she saw Eric Longwell’s girlfriend Sasha Sanderson enter from the parking lot. How odd. What was Sasha doing here? Daisy was curious to find out.
Not wanting to be spotted, Daisy ducked into an aisle and hid behind a rack of clothing. Sasha kept on walking and didn’t see Daisy.
Phew. That was a close one.
Daisy kept a safe distance, but tailed Sasha all the way back to the cosmetics counter. Daisy hid behind another rack of clothing, keeping watch as she saw Sasha start talking with Quinn Longwell.
Interesting.
What business did Sasha Sanderson have with Quinn? Sure Sasha was dating Quinn’s son, but why hadn’t Sasha brought Eric Longwell with her? Why had she chosen to come alone?
Daisy wished she could hear what the two women were saying, but she couldn’t move any closer without being spotted. While she was out of earshot of Quinn and Sasha, she could see them both clearly.
Unfortunately, neither tipped their hat to what the conversation was about with their body language. Daisy hated being patient. She was itching to find out what was being said.
Then, almost as quickly as Sasha came in, she started making her way to the exit. Daisy had two choices. She could try her hand at questioning Quinn again, or she could confront Sasha instead.
When Daisy saw Quinn’s department manager join her behind the cosmetics counter, she realized approaching Quinn again would be a lost cause.
Instead Daisy headed to the exit, hot on Sasha Sanderson’s trail. Sasha seemed to be in a hurry to get out of there. Daisy sped up, catching up to Sasha in the parking lot outside her car.
There were a lot of loose ends to Sasha Sanderson. To start, Daisy didn’t know Sasha’s alibi. Sasha hadn’t slept over at the Longwell estate overnight. She didn’t show up to meet her boyfriend until after the police had left.
Then there was the conversation Daisy overheard between Sasha and Eric earlier in the day. It was clear Sasha already had designs on Eric’s inheritance. And, despite her denying it, Daisy could tell Sasha was lying when she told her boyfriend she loved him for more than just his money.
Now there was this new wrinkle with Luke’s mother Quinn Longwell. Why did Sasha visit her boyfriend’s mother at work, and without her boyfriend present? Daisy was determined to find out what was said during their conversation.
If that wasn’t enough, Daisy flashed back to something she’d heard Luke Longwell say about Sasha at dinner yesterday. Luke was outraged his son was dating the daughter of a former maid he’d fired for stealing from him.
Sasha’s mother had been the maid back when Luke was still married to Quinn. Maybe there was some other secret going on from that time which Daisy didn’t know about. Now was the time to find all that out.
“That was a short shopping trip,” Daisy said.
Sasha seemed startled as she turned around. She clutched her chest as she looked at Daisy.
“Then again, it was an odd time to go shopping anyway—what, with your boyfriend’s father murdered earlier in the day,” Daisy continued.
Sasha
got defensive. “I could say the same about you.”
“I’m an interior decorator. It’s my job to go shopping,” Daisy insisted.
Sasha looked like she wanted to be anywhere but that parking lot all of a sudden. “I really have somewhere I need to be.”
“You’re in an awfully big hurry. Does your boyfriend know where you just were?” Daisy asked.
“That’s none of your business.”
“I could make it my business. Don’t you think he’d find it odd that you went and visited his mother at work alone?”
Sasha tensed up. She tried to keep her cool, but Daisy could tell she was scrambling for an answer.
“If you must know, Eric’s birthday is coming up soon, so I decided to run some gift ideas by his mom,” Sasha said.
Daisy could tell Sasha was lying through her teeth.
“Right. What do you get the man who has everything—including a huge inheritance?” Daisy deadpanned.
Sasha got defensive again. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You may be able to fool Eric, but you’re not able to fool me—or Luke Longwell for that matter. It’s obvious you’re with Eric because of his money.”
Sasha was outraged. “Now hold on a minute. Where do you get off telling me I don’t love my boyfriend?”
Daisy figured she’d try to push Sasha’s buttons one by one. If she got lucky, Sasha would let some vital information slip by accident.
“To be fair though, Luke didn’t like you from the start. What, with your mother stealing from him and all--”
Sasha narrowed her eyes. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Really? Because that came right from Luke Longwell’s mouth yesterday.”
“My mother never stole anything in her entire life. She was fired because she was the one who caught Luke cheating with Kara. When my mother told Quinn about it, Luke took that as a betrayal. He felt my mom was taking Quinn’s side. My mother being fired was just Luke’s way of punishing her,” Sasha blurted out.
“You know, that sounds an awful lot like a motive,” Daisy said.
“Don’t be ridiculous. My mother wouldn’t hurt a fly,” Sasha replied.
“What about you?”
“Don’t you push me.”
Daisy kept pressing however. “Where were this morning at the time of the murder?”
“I didn’t do it,” Sasha insisted.
Daisy couldn’t get a good read on whether Sasha was lying or not. All Daisy saw when she looked into Sasha’s eyes was rage.
“That wasn’t my question. I asked where you were at the time of the murder,” Daisy repeated.
“Just leave me alone,” Sasha warned.
Sasha had some serious crazy in her eyes.
Daisy felt with a little more pushing, maybe she’d get the answers she needed. “Luke fired your mother, tried to keep you and Eric apart, then was on the verge of taking away your boyfriend’s inheritance. You have to admit, that’s one killer motive.”
Sasha then reached into her purse and grabbed pepper spray. “I didn’t kill anyone. I’m not a violent person.”
What an ironic statement to make. At the same time, Daisy was in no mood to be pepper sprayed. Daisy backed away from Sasha’s car.
“Oh really? You could have fooled me. Now look, you don’t want to pepper spray me. How’s that going to help your case?”
Sasha looked like a wild animal. “Stay out of my way.”
Daisy backed off even more. Sasha then got in her car and drove off.
Daisy sighed. “Yikes.”
Two things were clear now. One was that Sasha sure knew how to make herself look guilty. The second was that Daisy could use that slice of pie now more than ever.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Daisy missed Sweet Tooth more than ever. Not only did the pie offerings in Whistling Wind leave her taste buds with much to be desired, but Daisy could also use the soothing presence of her friends Samantha Johnson and Granny Annie to sort out the crazy twists of this murder investigation. Talking to them on the phone about the case just wasn’t the same.
The next best option was to do some shopping. After all, she still had some decorating to do for Kara. Shopping had a way of putting Daisy’s mind at ease. As she wandered up and down Main Street looking for a few extra accent pieces to put the finishing touches on the Longwell estate’s parlor, she was able to think things through more rationally.
The problem was, there were all kinds of irrational things going on. Throughout her investigation, Daisy hadn’t been able to rule out any of the suspects. Even more, most of the suspects seemed to be unknowingly competing to look the guiltiest.
Still, she seemed to be only one clue away from blowing things wide open. The problem was, uncovering that clue.
Seeing how much trouble Daisy was having cracking the case, she couldn’t help but wonder if Detective Smiley was having an easier go of things. So after Daisy picked up a few more accent pieces for her decorating job, she decided to pay the cranky detective a visit.
***
Steven Smiley’s desk was a mess. Not that he was expecting any visitors, the least of which being Daisy. Still, Daisy couldn’t help but stare at the clutter. There were piles of papers everywhere. He seemed to have no filing system whatsoever.
Daisy couldn’t imagine operating in such a chaotic environment. It was a wonder the man could keep anything straight. Daisy’s inner decorator wanted to straighten everything up. On top of that, the whole department was a décor disaster. Daisy had to restrain herself from saying anything.
Detective Smiley already didn’t seem too jazzed to see her. Instead of expressing interest about the mysterious behavior the different suspects were exhibiting, he had an annoyed look on his face. The detective then took a huge guzzle from his coffee mug before trying to get Daisy to buzz off.
“Ms. McDare, I have work to do here--serious police matters,” Detective Smiley said.
Daisy hated being patronized. She didn’t have a badge, but she had a brain—and it had keen observations about this case. “I know that, and I’m trying to help you out. There’s some funny business going on between Quinn Longwell and Sasha Sanderson. I’m telling you, if looks could kill, I’d be dead right now with the glares they shot my way.”
Detective Smiley’s face was somehow completely without sympathy. “That could have something to do with the accusations you were throwing around. Generally people don’t react well to having their name and murder mentioned in the same sentence.”
“I don’t see any reason to sugarcoat things. After all, someone did commit murder here.”
“Yes, and it’s my job to find out who. So why don’t you go back to decorating and leave the investigating to me?” Detective Smiley suggested.
Daisy had her own ideas. “How’s it going by the way?”
Detective Smiley furrowed his brow. “How’s what going?”
“Your investigation.”
Detective Smiley groaned. “Didn’t I just tell you to stay out of this? Shouldn’t you be picking out really expensive lampshades or coffee tables or something?”
Daisy hated having her work belittled, but it was clear the detective couldn’t tell good décor from a hole in the ground. Daisy had other battles to fight however, so she kept focused on the case.
“My friend’s husband was murdered. For all I know, she could be living in the same house as the killer. I’m worried about her safety, as well as my own. I want the killer brought to justice,” Daisy said.
Detective Smiley then fired back a whopper of his own. “Has it occurred to you that your friend Kara may actually be the killer? She has no one to corroborate her alibi—not to mention, she had a rather rocky marriage.”
“Look who is making accusations now. Do you have any evidence to back that up?”
“If I had hard evidence, I would have arrested someone by now,” Detective Smiley admitted.
“What about the murder we
apon? Surely that bloody shovel has given you some kind of clue who the killer is, hasn’t it?” Daisy asked.
“Did you not hear me before? Stop sticking your head where it doesn’t belong.”
Daisy’s mind was already working on overdrive however. The police had the murder weapon already, yet the detective said he had no hard evidence. That didn’t make sense. Unless…
“You didn’t find any fingerprints on the shovel, did you? The killer wiped the shovel clean before putting it in the gardener’s shed, didn’t they?” Daisy speculated.
Detective Smiley shook his head in disbelief, at wits end. “You just don’t ever back off, do you?”
“You act like that’s a bad thing. We’re on the same team here. We both want the same thing.”
Detective Smiley could see the determination in Daisy’s eyes. Her pluck finally wore him down.
Detective Smiley sighed. “The boys couldn’t pull any prints from the shovel—or the doorknob of the art studio either. They’d both been wiped clean. The fact is, short of finding more evidence, we’ll need to get a confession.”
Yikes. That was not welcome news. She thought the police would give her more to work with. Instead, it looked like Daisy would have to do the heavy lifting on this case.
“By the sound of it, you could use my help more than ever,” Daisy said.
Detective Smiley couldn’t disagree more. “Look, just go back to decorating. Leave this case to those of us with badges.”
Daisy wasn’t quite done yet however. “Do you have any leads at least?”
“Ms. McDare, for the last time—go back to decorating already. The professionals are on the case,” Detective Smiley insisted. He then went to take another sip of his coffee, only the mug was empty. The detective sighed. “But first, I’m going to need another cup of coffee-- pronto.”
The fact that the detective seemed more concerned with his caffeine level than searching for new clues hardly inspired confidence in Daisy. She knew she’d have to take matters into her own hands. Then again, there was nothing wrong with stopping at McLatte’s for a caramel macchiato first.