by Krista Davis
“Sure.” I sat down next to Hannah and watched Tyler. From the adoring way he gazed at Shawna, I would have bet he didn’t realize the rest of us were even present.
Laci hung up the phone. “Your mom says my mom picked up Dad. The bad news is that neither she nor your father know where they went.”
I breathed easier. If Phil was with Marnie, she surely wasn’t with Forrest. On the other hand, he had bought three coffees. Were they planning some sort of joint venture into baking?
“I didn’t mean to accuse your mom of being a killer, Laci,” I apologized. “I really thought she was having an affair.”
“I hate this!” Laci poured more coffee for herself and joined us at the table. “No one trusts anyone else. Shawna can’t leave town. We’re suspicious of our own relatives and neighbors. It’s just awful.”
George yawned. “Ginger blew her top at Natasha. That’s a fact. She probably tried to poison her. When that didn’t work, she took the crutch from Tiny Tim in her front yard and drove here to bash Natasha over the head with it. Sophie saw her driving down the block, so we know she was in the neighborhood. Case closed.”
Maybe George was right. Ginger’s husband baked cupcakes yesterday. If they had cream cheese frosting ... I rose and shouted into the sunroom, “Hey, Tyler! Did those cupcakes you ate for breakfast have cream cheese frosting?”
We all heard him yell, “Yes.”
“That would account for the cream cheese on Daisy’s whiskers when she tore away the Mrs. Claus sleeve during the attack on Natasha. Ginger must have gotten some on her sleeve,” I speculated. “She just didn’t anticipate Daisy ripping the fabric and bringing us a clue.”
“It all fits together,” said George. “Except for the cream cheese, Kenner knows all this, so they must be on the verge of arresting Ginger.”
Shawna dashed into the kitchen, Tyler on her heels. “Someone broke into Bonnie’s shop last night. The police just called Tyler!”
“Again?” I asked. What did Bonnie hide there that someone wanted so badly?
Tyler appeared dazed. He flicked a ring of keys in his hand. Wait a minute. Hadn’t someone stolen his keys?
I smiled at him. “Car keys?”
“Yeah. Shawna, maybe we should walk over there.”
“Office keys on there, too?” I asked.
He stopped flipping them. “Yeah. All my keys.”
“Hold it!” said George. “Sorry, Shawna, you’re not going anywhere without Laci or me.”
“So come with.” Shawna didn’t seem perturbed by George’s requirement.
I, on the other hand, sat back and wracked my brain. Tyler had come to my house only once before. He picked up Shawna and took her to find Beau the day after Bonnie’s murder. Yet hadn’t he claimed his keys had been stolen the day before at Bonnie’s party?
THIRTY
From “THE GOOD LIFE” :
Dear Sophie,
My girlfriend just paid a small fortune to have a fancy closet system installed. I’m as green as my Christmas tree with envy. How can I improve my closets on a shoe-string budget?
—No Golden Rings in Golden Ring, Maryland
Dear No Golden Rings,
There’s one trick that will improve the appearance of any closet. Ditch the wire hangers and buy identical hangers for the whole closet. The uniform appearance makes all the difference. It won’t cost a lot if you avoid designer hangers. Check box stores and discount chains for sturdy plastic hangers sold by the dozen.
—Sophie
I jumped up. “I believe I could use a walk.” Mostly I wanted to find out more since I suspected Tyler had lied about his keys.
We bundled up, shut the kittens safely in my den, left Mochie to snooze in the rays of sun beaming into the sunroom, and ventured out into the frigid weather. Tyler and Shawna led the way, with Hannah, George, Laci, and me trailing behind them. I brought Daisy along for the exercise.
George crammed his hands into his pockets and hissed, “No way am I letting him take Shawna anywhere. Did you see his SUV? It’s loaded with stuff, like he’s ready to take off.”
Hannah giggled. “He’s so smitten with her! I think it’s adorable.”
“How well do you know him?” I asked George.
“His dad, Tom, has lived in the house across the street from us for years. Tyler had an apartment somewhere, but when Tom sent Dasher away to military school, Tyler moved home. I think he lives in the basement or something.”
“He’s not as talkative as his brother.” Laci zipped the jacket of her collar higher. “Or as rambunctious. You know how it is—older kids try to take care of the younger ones. Dasher was just a baby when their mom died. Tom says Dasher doesn’t remember her. I think that’s so sad.”
“But Tom is a doting dad,” George added. “He’s tried hard to be Mom and Dad to those kids. Went to their games, was involved in the PTA. Always made a big deal out of Christmas. You saw their lawn with the ginormous Grinch and the train.”
“He said Bonnie was a big help when his wife died,” I offered.
George’s mouth skewed to the side. “Tom was always very diplomatic. I got the impression he didn’t like her, but he never said so.”
Hannah nudged me. “Hey, your new boyfriend is here.”
Perish the thought.
Kenner waited for us outside the front door to Bonnie’s shop. While Tyler unlocked the door, Kenner nodded at us in a perfunctory greeting. “I’m sorry, I’ll have to ask you to remain outside.”
At least he was polite about it. We shivered and watched through the storefront window. When I saw Tyler shrug, I opened the door and stuck my head inside. “Tyler! Were you here after the auction?”
He thought for a moment. “No.”
Addressing Kenner, I said, “We were probably the last ones in the shop, then. In fact, Hannah and Zack McGregor locked up.”
The old Kenner would have snarled at me and ignored the facts. This time he shot an annoyed look at Tyler and motioned us inside. “Don’t touch anything.”
I should have waited by the door and allowed Hannah to check out the store, but restraint has never been my strong suit. Curious, I followed her to the rear of the shop. Shattered glass from the back window littered the floor. I pulled Daisy away so she wouldn’t cut her paws.
Beside me, Hannah gasped. I swung around to face the storeroom where the auction items had been stored. Someone had ripped open the remaining boxes that contained closet and organizing materials. They’d been tossed aside in a haphazard mess.
“We left all this stuff boxed and neatly lined up against the back wall,” said Hannah.
While Kenner conferred with her, I snuck over to glance inside Bonnie’s office. The pile of papers on her desk didn’t appear disturbed. If the intruder had gone through them, a few sheets of paper would surely have slid off onto the floor. Which clearly meant the person who broke in was looking for something sizable, something that would be in a box, not just a document.
I edged back toward Hannah, Tyler, and Kenner, and asked, “How did you find out about the break-in?”
“The guy in the next building reported it when he saw the broken window.” Kenner eyed Tyler warily. “Got any idea who would want something from here?”
Tyler jammed his hands into his pants pockets and jingled his keys. “No.”
I tried to suppress the grin that threatened to emerge on my face. Tyler had a tell. Just like gamblers who gave away the nature of the cards in their hands through subconscious habits, Tyler jingled something in his hand when he was lying. He knew who might have broken into the store, but he clearly didn’t intend to spill the information to Kenner.
“There’s not an alarm?” Kenner asked.
Tyler’s hands remained still. “We didn’t need one. Who’s going to steal a closet rod? We’re not like a regular store with a cash register or stuff thieves can pawn. Most of our clients don’t even come here. We go to their homes because we have to see what kind of closet sp
ace they have to work with.”
“So why the store?” asked Hannah. “Wouldn’t it have been cheaper to rent a warehouse outside the Beltway?”
“Bonnie said the storefront gave us instant recognition and credibility,” explained Tyler.
She’d been right about that. It seemed like everyone in Old Town knew her. Bonnie Scarborough’s Clutter Busters was the first name that came to mind for organizing. I was itching to ask what would happen to the business now that Bonnie was dead, but it seemed unkind and a bit presumptuous. However, I knew someone who could get information out of Tyler, and she happened to be staying at my house. She might even be able to weasel out the truth about the keys. If I was right, and he was lying about losing his keys, that meant he might have been the person I saw removing items from Bonnie’s shop.
On the walk home, I pondered the best way to convince Shawna to ask him questions. My ideas fizzled, though, when we walked into my kitchen.
Shawna removed her coat and folded it over her arm. “Do you think it’s too soon for me to call Beau? I was hoping he’d make the first move once I was released from jail, you know, to apologize. Since I haven’t heard from him, I thought ...”
Laci shrieked. “No! Honey, it’s over with him. He accused you of murder and ditched you to rot in jail. He didn’t make so much as a phone call to help you.” She waggled her index finger at her sister. “That is not how someone acts when he loves you.”
“I wasn’t asking you.” Shawna tossed her coat at Laci. “C’mon, Tyler.”
He followed her to the sunroom. Laci dropped the coat on a chair, added her own, and disappeared in their direction. I caught up with her in my family room, where she’d slipped off her shoes. She hovered just inside the doorway and held a finger over her mouth when she saw me.
I should have been surprised that she would eavesdrop, but my entire family had already proven their inclination to spy—from my parents right down to Jen.
“Your sister is right, Shawna.” Tyler’s voice came through loud and clear. Laci flicked me on the arm, looking very satisfied.
“I wanted to spare you this,” he went on. “You had every right to be angry with Bonnie. She stole your engagement ring from Beau’s dresser drawer so he wouldn’t propose to you over Christmas.”
“How do you know that?”
“She told me. I know a lot about Bonnie. Maybe too much. Bonnie helped Dasher and me so much when our mom died. She was really good to us, especially to Dasher. She was the closest thing to a mom that he had. But she wasn’t the wonderful person everyone thought. Dad used to say she had two faces. She was kind and caring to your face, but manipulative and wicked behind your back. Dad always warned us to tread with caution around Bonnie. In public, he pretended to like her, but he loathed her duplicitous ways.” It sounded like Tyler uttered a bitter laugh. “She used to come to jobs where I was working and snoop through people’s private things to get dirt on them.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”
He mumbled something I didn’t understand. I gathered Laci didn’t, either, because she made a fist and frowned.
“What?!” Shawna sounded astonished.
He spoke louder, “Because I didn’t want you to marry Beau.”
Shawna drew a ragged breath. “You don’t think I’m good enough for him, either? I thought we were friends.”
“I think you’re too good for him. When Bonnie stole the engagement ring, I didn’t rat on her because I wanted you and Beau to break up. That makes me as terrible as Bonnie, doesn’t it?”
Shawna’s voice was barely audible when she said, “Oh, Tyler!”
“Beau was a lot like his mom, and she wasn’t always such a nice person. I was actually pretty relieved to find out that the killer was after Natasha. For a while there, I was afraid my dad might have killed Bonnie. The day of her party, she told him he would have to buy the business from her because she was going to get her own domestic diva business going with videos and books. I’ve never seen him so angry. He’s the one who gave her the money to start Clutter Busters, and I did all the work.”
“What’s going to happen with it now?”
Good girl, Shawna! I didn’t have to feed her my questions.
From the uncertain lilt in his voice, I could imagine him shrugging again. “It’s what I do. I don’t want to fight Beau for it. He’s going to need a job, too, and he might just push me out.”
“Why would Beau need a job? He works for that fancy law firm.”
“Oh. We clutter-busted his boss’s house. Beau only got that job because Bonnie found out his boss had a girlfriend on the side. Now that Bonnie’s gone, I’d guess they’ll dump him fast.”
“But Beau must know the dirt on his boss. Won’t that prevent them from firing him?”
“Beau never knew Bonnie did that. She swore me to secrecy because she wanted Beau to think he’d gotten the job on his own. It’s not much of a confidence builder to know that your mom basically blackmailed someone into hiring you.”
“I can’t believe you never told me this stuff.”
“You wouldn’t have believed me. Bonnie fooled everyone. They thought she was so nice and sweet—you did, too. But all the while, she was calculating and tricky.”
When we heard shuffling in the sunroom, Laci and I made a mad dash for the kitchen. Of course, she left her shoes behind. I pointed to her stockinged feet and chuckled.
By the time Shawna stomped into the kitchen, I’d grabbed the kettle to fill it with water, and Laci had picked up a section of newspaper. George and Hannah shook their heads at us like we were out of our minds.
“That was classy. Mom’s going to hear about this,” threatened Shawna.
Laci lowered the newspaper. “Oh, I’m so scared. If Mom had been here, she’d have listened, too.” She jumped up, scampered over to Shawna, and threw her arms around her. “You and Dad had a very close call. Can you imagine what it would have been like being part of that family? The Bauers might eavesdrop and be generally nosy, and Inga might think she’s Cupid’s emissary, but Beau and Bonnie would have been a nightmare!”
“What?” cried Hannah. “What did we miss?”
I set the kettle on the stove. “Apparently Bonnie used people. Seems she was rather two-faced and very accomplished at it.”
“Don’t let Zack hear you say that!” Hannah threw her hands up. “Nothing makes him madder. We heard some people bad-mouthing Bonnie at the auction, and he told them off.”
“I’m beginning to think it might be true.” I searched a high cabinet for my fondue pots. “This isn’t the first time I’ve heard she might have had an ugly side.”
George snorted. “Rumors.”
“Can you reach that?” I asked him. “If they’re only rumors, how come I saw an engagement ring in her purse? I think Tyler’s right. She stole it and was hiding it from Beau. And we did find Jen’s Christmas present to Mom in her shop. Even Zack can’t deny that.”
Shawna sank into a fireside chair like she’d lost all the strength in her legs.
George handed me the fondue pots. “Where’s Tyler?”
“He’s in Sophie’s den, calling his dad.” Using both hands, Shawna shoved her hair out of her face, looking young and vulnerable. “If he had wanted to, Beau could have proposed without the ring. Or he could have used a substitute of some sort, couldn’t he?”
It was the first realistic thing I’d heard from Shawna. I washed and dried the fondue pots and carried them into the dining room.
When I returned, Shawna was saying, “Someone who loves me would have come to visit me in jail. Would have tried to get me out. Would have believed me when I said I didn’t kill Bonnie.”
I looked at Laci. She knew where this was going, didn’t she?
“Honey, a man who loves you wouldn’t have let you go through that by yourself.”
Apparently Laci didn’t see what was happening. “George, could you give me a hand?” I asked.
He fo
llowed me into the foyer. “Why don’t you store things where you can reach them?”
I opened the door and pushed him outside since I didn’t know where Tyler was at the moment and I didn’t want him to overhear me. “Shawna is in there convincing herself that Tyler loves her.”
“You sound like Mom. Please don’t start matchmaking.”
“I’m not matchmaking! Didn’t you say Tyler’s SUV is loaded like he’s planning to take off out of town? If Shawna thinks he’s ‘the one,’ she’ll be a lot more likely to go with him.”
“Get your coat, Soph.”
THIRTY-ONE
From “Ask Natasha” :
Dear Natasha,
Our garage has become a catchall. It’s so full that we can’t even park in it anymore. My husband saves leftover parts from projects—plywood, old doors, extra tiles. On top of that, we have to stash our Christmas items there and, unfortunately, our washer and dryer are located in the garage. Help! I can’t stand the mess.
—Living with Chaos in Candlestick, Georgia
Dear Living with Chaos,
Clean it immediately! You have a serious feng shui problem! A cluttered garage can block chi, bringing bad luck. Most people don’t make enough use of the empty walls and ceilings of their garages. Have your handy husband use some of that plywood to build storage boxes that slide into ceiling mounts. He can construct pulleys to raise and lower them. This is a wonderful method of getting bicycles out of the way, too!
—Natasha
Making an excuse about Daisy being restless, George and I grabbed our coats and hurried outside with her.
“Which one is Tyler’s car?” We strode to the intersection.