Merriment & Murder

by Jenna St James

  I nodded. “We definitely need to get Beatrice alone again soon and see what she knows.”

  “Am I taking us back to your Grams’?” Raven asked.

  “I think so,” I said. “We’ll rest up, have dinner, and go over our next move.”

  “I’d say by the suspicious way Thomas and Beatrice were acting,” Raven said, “they move to the top of the list, and we can move Chef Granger down.”

  “Although,” Peyton added, “depending on what happens with Mariah’s formal questioning and what they find on her t-shirt, maybe they’ll arrest her as the killer and we won’t have to investigate anymore.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t think so. We need to go back and see Barbie. Or at least see her dress. Find out if the rhinestone we found in the library is a match to her dress, and if there’s something that stands out about the glitter on the dress.”

  Chapter 16

  Neither Mariah nor Mr. Powell were arrested, so the next morning we dressed in all black, said goodbye to Jinx and Grams, and headed out to the Clairmont mansion to see Barbie. Or rather…to see if the rhinestone in my pocket was a match to her dress from the party.

  “Whoa,” Raven said as we turned into the long driveway. “I wonder what’s going on?”

  “Some kind of wake or something maybe?” I suggested.

  “Not that I’m aware of,” Peyton said. “Dad said the visitation is tomorrow followed immediately by the funeral.”

  Raven parked behind a pink and yellow van, and we quickly exited the Mustang.

  “Isn’t that the van that’s always parked in front of Trudy’s Salon and Day Spa?” I asked.

  Raven’s nose scrunched. “Is Barbie getting pampered a day before the funeral?”

  “That’s a little weird,” Peyton said.

  The front door opened and Johnson stepped out. “Ms. Barbie is waiting in the parlor. Once everyone is inside, I’ll escort you to her and Mitzi.”

  “What do we do?” Peyton asked. “He’ll recognize us and send us away.”

  I looked inside the van and smiled. Opening the door, I reached in and grabbed a Trudy’s hat from the seat and stuck it on my head. “Peyton, give Raven one of those hair ties you keep around your wrist. If you both wear your hair up and keep your eyes low, Johnson probably won’t even notice us. He’s not expecting to see us.”

  “Everyone looks way older than us,” Peyton said.

  Raven shook her head. “Brynn’s right. They’re in black, we’re in black. Their hair is either pulled up or in a hat, so is ours. We can blend.”

  We tucked our heads down and got in line behind five other ladies carrying in suitcases, stools, and towels. Johnson led us down the hallway, and this time instead of taking a left we went right and entered a massive great room.

  Barbie was reclining in a white chaise lounge, champagne in one hand, teacup Yorkie in the other.

  “It’s about time,” she whined. “Mitzi here was getting anxious.”

  “Yes, Ms. Barbie,” one of the ladies said. “We just need a minute to set up and we’ll get started.”

  “Make it fast,” Barbie snapped. “I’m in mourning and need to feel better.”

  We stood off to the side, not wanting to draw attention to ourselves. I wasn’t sure why the other ladies didn’t seem interested in us, but I was glad they weren’t asking questions.

  “I already know what we want,” Barbie said. “Mitzi and I want Passion Pink toenails, and Mitzi wants a matching pink bow in her hair.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” a brunette woman said as she sat down on a stool next to the chaise. “Will you be wanting a manicure in the same Passion Pink?”

  “Of course!” Barbie giggled. “Momma Temperance hated the color. I’m going to make sure I’m covered in it.” Barbie took a drink from her flute and giggled again. “Then afterward, Mitzi and I are going to need massages to relax before our big day tomorrow.”

  As the lady on the stool got started on Barbie’s toes, another lady stepped up by Barbie’s head and started applying a green face mask. Once the mask was in place, the lady placed a cucumber slice over each eye.

  I was about to tell the girls to cover me, I was going to slip upstairs to find Barbie’s room, when Barbie lifted one of her cucumber slices and pointed to Raven.

  “You. Come here.”

  Raven gave me an “oh crap” look but slowly sauntered over to Barbie.

  “Yes?” Raven asked.

  Barbie lifted her head off the chaise and stared pointedly at Raven. “Don’t I know you?”

  “No. This is my first day working at Trudy’s Salon and Day Spa.”

  “Oh,” Barbie said. “Well, let’s see what kind of a first day you’re gonna have. I feel like good things are about to come my way. I want you to call a fortune teller and get her here immediately.”

  “A fortune teller?” Raven asked. “Seriously? First off, where am I supposed to find one around here?”

  “That’s not my problem, girl,” Barbie snapped. “That’s yours. Get it for me now, or I’ll have to tell your boss to fire you.”

  I could tell Raven was about to open a can of whoop-butt on her, so I jogged over. “I believe I know someone.”

  “Whatever,” Barbie said. “Just get them here immediately.”

  “Mitzi is ready for her massage,” a blonde woman said to Peyton. “You may start now.”

  Peyton stared at me wide-eyed, but I jerked my head in the direction of the dog. Obviously the salon workers thought we were the massage therapists.

  “You’ll be fine,” I whispered.

  Raven and I hurried out of the room and down the hallway, being careful not to run into Johnson. When we reached the foyer, we sprinted up the stairs to the second floor.

  “You take the left side,” I said, “and I’ll take the right.”

  A few seconds later, Raven hollered she’d found Barbie’s room. There was no doubt it was Barbie’s room. The walk-in closet doors were open and inside was filled with brightly-colored clothes, at least twenty pairs of high-heeled shoes, and more designer purses than anyone would ever need.

  “This is the dress she wore,” I said, pointing to a dress hanging in the back of the closet.

  “Don’t touch it,” Raven advised. “Let’s see if it’s missing a rhinestone.”

  It was difficult to search without touching, and just when I was about to give up, Raven pointed to a spot near the hem that was obviously missing a jewel. I took the rhinestone out of my pocket and carefully placed it in the space. It was a perfect fit.

  “It’s a match,” Raven said. “We’ve done it. We’ve proven that at some point in the night Barbie was in the library.”

  “At some point before the body was discovered,” I added. “Which is important. She can’t say it fell off when she entered the library when the cops got there because I already had it, and if it had fallen off afterward, the cops would have found it when they processed the scene.”

  “It looks pretty damning for Barbie,” Raven said.

  “Do you see anything weird about the glitter, though? Something that stands out?”

  “No. It just looks like normal glitter on a dress.”

  “Let’s get out of here and go see Chief Baedie,” I said.

  Raven grinned. “First, Barbie needs a little scare from a certain fortune teller.”

  I laughed. “You’re just awful.”

  “I know.”

  I glanced around the closet. “She has some wigs over there.”

  “Let me see.” Raven walked over and picked up a blonde wig. “This is perfect. Hand me that colorful scarf over there and those big hooped earrings. I’m going to see if this dress over here fits.”

  When Raven turned around a few seconds later, my mouth hit the floor. She looked nothing like the Raven I was used to.

  “Let’s see what kind of makeup she has,” Raven said. “Do this up right.”

  When we headed back downstairs, I had no idea who the person next to me
was. If we’d passed on the street, I’d never have recognized her. At the bottom of the stairs we parted ways…me walking back to the party, while Raven went outside to ring the doorbell.

  When I walked inside the room, Peyton gave me a withering glare as she continued to give Mitzi a massage. When the doorbell rang, I gave Peyton a grin. It was showtime.

  “Ms. Barbie,” Johnson said as he stepped into the room, “there’s a Miss Youra at the door. She says she’s expected.”

  “Is she a fortune teller?” Barbie asked.

  Johnson looked over his shoulder at Raven. “I believe so, Ms. Barbie.”

  “Well, don’t just stand there,” Barbie snapped, “show her in.”

  “As you wish,” Johnson said. He motioned for Raven to enter the room. “Is there anything else, Ms. Barbie?”

  “No. Shoo. Go on. This is a girls celebration day.”

  I was pretty sure Johnson rolled his eyes.

  “Hello!” Raven threw her arms wide, causing the gauzy, multi-colored maxi dress to flow effortlessly. “My name is Youra…Youra Charlatan, and I’m from a teeny tiny village in Bulgaria.”

  Barbie sat up and clapped her hands. “Bulgaria. I think I know where that is. Isn’t it in Georgia or Alabama?”

  “Oh, Ms. Barbie, you are so smart,” Raven cooed.

  Barbie gasped. “You know my name?”

  Uh…the butler just said it like ten times.

  “I know many things,” Raven said.

  “Hey,” Barbie cocked her head to one side, “I think I have a dress just like that.”

  Raven gasped and touched her heart. “I feel death. Death is here. Has someone recently died?”

  “Yes,” Barbie said excitedly, completely forgetting about the dress. “My horrible almost mother-in-law, thank goodness.”

  “You poor thing,” Raven said. “I can see you’re all torn up about it.”

  “I am?” Barbie questioned. “I mean, yes, I am. I’m all torn up about it. That’s why Mitzi and I are getting our nails done today. We need to be cheered up, don’t we baby?”

  I couldn’t help it. I sneaked a peek at Peyton. She was biting her lips to keep from laughing. The other four ladies in the room were busy packing away their supplies and paying no attention to what was going on in the room. It was almost like they were robots.

  Raven paced in front of the fireplace before coming to an abrupt stop. “This was no ordinary death, was it?”

  “What do you mean?” Barbie asked.

  Raven clasped her neck and started to cough, then she clawed at her throat like she was trying to pull something off. “I can’t breathe. Someone is trying to strangle me!”

  Barbie screamed. “Momma Temperance? Is that you?”

  “Why is this scarf around my neck?” Raven gasped.

  “Momma Temperance?” This time Barbie sounded like she was going to cry.

  “You were in the library!” Raven yelled, pointing at Barbie. “Why would you lie and say you weren’t. I know what you did!”

  Barbie stood up and snatched up Mitzi. “How do you know what I told the police?”

  “I know what you did!” Raven screeched again. “Why? Why would you do that?”

  Barbie’s eyes rolled in the back of her head, and she dropped to the floor with a loud thud. Mitzi jumped out of her arms and sprinted from the room, yapping down the hallway. The four women quietly left the room, their arms loaded down with their supplies, never saying a word.

  “Well,” Raven said, “that was entertaining.”

  Peyton and I roared with laughter as Raven took a bow.

  Chapter 17

  “Everything we have is circumstantial,” Raven said as we crossed the city limits sign back into Copper Cove. It only took her about three minutes to change out of her outfit and for us to hightail it out of there before things went crazy. “I definitely think we need to go to the chief. With our story about how we found the rhinestone, and with enough hints that we were sure it was the same stone on Barbie’s dress, it should be enough to get a search warrant.”

  “He’s going to be so mad we kept the rhinestone,” I said.

  “We didn’t know at the time when we picked it up it was pertinent,” Raven said. “And that’s honest. The fact you forgot to hand it over is unfortunate, but again, he can’t be too upset. We just tell him the minute we remembered, we brought it to him.”

  “If I ever need legal help in the future,” I said, “I’m only coming to you to bail me out.”

  Peyton laughed. “And when you get older and keep stumbling over dead bodies, I’ll be there to tell you exactly what happened to them.”

  “I like it,” I said. “We’ll be like our own crime-fighting team.”

  Raven snorted. “I don’t exactly see you as a detective. No offense.”

  I crinkled my nose. “Yeah, you’re right. Unless I was a beauty technician during the day and a crime fighter at night.”

  “Now you’re Batwoman?” Raven asked.

  I grinned. “Maybe. You never know.”

  Raven took a right off Main Street onto Seaside Road when something caught my eye. “Look over there. Thomas is helping Beatrice inside the clinic. I guess she’s still not feeling well.”

  “It has to be pretty serious for both of them to be gone from the diner,” Peyton said. “At least one of them is there at all times.”

  Raven turned into the police station, and we hurried inside. The same woman I met last month when I came to speak to Chief Baedie about my Grams’ arrest was again sitting behind the front desk.

  “Well, if it isn’t the young Nancy Drew girls,” she said. “What can the Copper Cove Police Department do for you today?”

  Ignoring her obvious sarcasm, I stepped forward. “We’d like to see Chief Baedie.” I held up my hand. “And before you tell me he’s not in, or he’s in a meeting, or he can’t just come out here and see us on a whim…you need to tell him we have some evidence and knowledge about the Temperance Clairmont murder he needs to see and hear.”

  The woman frowned but finally picked up her phone. Turning her back to us, she leaned over and whispered into the mouthpiece. When she turned back around and set the phone in the cradle, she was scowling.

  “He’ll be with you in a moment,” she snapped. “Have a seat.”

  A moment turned into ten minutes, but finally Chief Baedie came shuffling out from the back of the station. He paused in the doorway, hitched up his pants, and stared us down.

  “So you got news I need to hear, huh?” he asked.

  “Sure do,” I said.

  He sighed. “Well then come on back, I guess.”

  We followed him to his office and waited for him to settle into his chair behind his desk. There weren’t enough chairs for all of us, so we stood in solidarity in front of him.

  “So whaddya got?” he asked. “You have to know I’m busy trying to solve this murder.”

  I reached into my pocket, pulled out the rhinestone, and set it on his desk.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “When you questioned us the night of the murder,” I said, “we told you we saw Barbie and Temperance fighting in the side yard.”

  Chief Baedie waved his hand in the air. “And when I questioned her the next day, she said otherwise. She claims she never entered the library.”

  “What I forgot to tell you that night when you questioned me was that when the three of us entered the library to find Temperance, Jinx rushed in ahead of us and found this on the floor.”

  Chief Baedie’s face was dangerously purple. “And you’re just now bringing this to my attention? I can’t believe you picked up a clue and kept it. I could have you arrested for tampering and withholding key evidence in this case.”

  Raven held up her hand. “First off, Chief, at the time it wasn’t evidence. The body had not been discovered. It was just something we found on the floor. Then in the excitement of discovering the body, Brynn forgot she had it. You can’t fault her for tha
t. When we realized she still had the rhinestone, we came here to give it to you.” She crossed her arms and glared at the chief. “If you want to keep yelling, I could go on with my own argument.”

  Chief Baedie rolled his eyes. “You’re just like your parents.”

  “Thank you,” Raven said. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  Chief Baedie snorted but didn’t say anything else. Glancing down at the rhinestone, he frowned. “Would you say the dress Barbie wore that night had these rhinestones on it?”

  “Yes,” Peyton said. “It was a red beaded dress with tiny veins of glitter running through it.”

  The chief’s eyes lit up. “Glitter?”

  I nodded enthusiastically, knowing Peyton had hit on the key word.

  Chief Baedie sighed. “I’ll get a warrant to pick up the dress and have Barbie brought in for questioning.”

  “Yes!” I cried.

  “But this is the last time you girls stick your nose in my investigations,” Chief Baedie said. “Do you understand me?”

  “Of course,” I said. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

  His scowl let me know he didn’t believe a word I said. “Go on, get out. I have some phone calls I have to make.”

  I stood up and walked toward the door. Then turned around. “Chief? I feel I should tell you we have one other suspect in mind too. I don’t know if she’s on your radar or not, but we believe she should be.”

  Chief Baedie sighed. “Who?”

  “Beatrice Baskins,” I said. “She had a fight with her husband at the party over Temperance.”

  “Beatrice?” Chief Baedie asked. “And was Beatrice wearing a glittery sweater?”

  Peyton nodded. “She sure was.”

  “But you may have to go see her instead of bringing her in for questioning,” I added quickly. “We just saw her and Thomas go into the clinic. When we talked with her yesterday, she was really sick.”

  “Looks like a bad case of the flu,” Raven said.

  “Beatrice, huh? I’ll keep it in mind,” Chief Baedie begrudgingly. “But I think you girls are on the right track with Barbie.” He gave me a pointed look. “Of course, the only reason Barbie wasn’t on my radar was because you snatched up a pretty important clue, and I was working blind.”