by Tonya Kappes
“Which one is her assistant?” he asked.
“Keisha. Big brown eyes. A little homely. Not the black-haired girl.” Patricia and Keisha didn’t look anything alike.
“She told you about the tour?” His troubled face looked like a graveled parking lot. “Because she didn’t stick around. After I handed out the flashlights, she skedaddled.”
“Long brown hair?” I placed my hand midway down my chest to show him the length of her hair. “Big eyes?”
He nodded. “Yep. That’s her. I didn’t catch her name.” He shuffled his feet. “Some people can’t do those night tours. It is real dark down there.”
“Oh I know.” I recalled the one-and-only time I’d gone down there and it was when my elementary school class went. I had nightmares for weeks and slept with a night-light for years after. “Do you remember what time that was?”
“I keep a journal log at the cave offices, but if I had to pull something off the top of my head, it’s pretty much the same time every night. Around seven-ish.”
“Seven-ish,” I repeated.
If my calculations were right, it only took about fifteen minutes to get to the caves from town square and from the cave office it took another fifteen minutes, which meant that if Keisha had left, she had enough time to get back and kill Jade.
“Thanks, Sandford. Jack might be by to ask you some questions about that.” I turned to get back into my car.
“How exactly are you going to use that in the eulogy?” he asked, bringing me back to my little white lie.
“It helps more than you know.” I drew my lips into a tight smile, slamming the hearse door and drove off.
I pulled over to the side of the road and got out my phone.
“Hello,” Jack answered.
“You have to find Keisha.” My heart was beating a million miles a minute. “She went to the cave tour with Sandford, but left around seven-ish.”
“Which means she really doesn’t have an alibi with the group.” Jack took a second to ponder the information I told him. “I’m almost at town now. I’ll stop by the Inn and see her.”
“Eternal Slumber!” Granny’s voice came through the phone.
“What on earth is Zula Fae doing now?” Jack whimpered like a little puppy.
Sometimes Granny was just too much for all of us to handle.
I could still hear Granny screaming.
“What is going on?” I asked with trepidation.
“She’s standing in the town square with some sort of hip-hop silk jogging suit on. Big pearls and a gold money symbol dangling around her neck. She has a megaphone she’s screaming into. The camera crew is filming her.” The quick bleep of a siren sounded. “And she’s giving out some sort of pamphlet.”
“Did you just flash your lights?” I asked, throwing the hearse in drive. The tires screeched when I peeled out.
The phone went dead.
Chapter 25
“Eternal Slumber will take care of your family’s needs. Your loved one will travel through space and time in a magical send-off. If Eternal Slumber is good enough for a big star like Jade Lee Peel, it’s good enough for you!” Granny did a little two-step around the gazebo and screamed through the megaphone. She handed out the cards I had printed for Jade’s funeral to the crowd that had gathered in front of the gazebo. “Did you get that?” She looked into the camera and gave a theatrical wink.
“Granny!” I screamed from the street and ran to the gazebo as fast as I could. “What are you doing?” I grabbed the megaphone out of her hands.
“I’ve gone and got me a YouTube channel and I’ve gone viral!” Granny looked surprised and somewhat thrilled at the reaction to her behavior. She turned to the cameraman, pulled her shoulders back and grinned.
“Who told you about YouTube?” I asked.
“Keisha.” Granny’s chin lifted up and then down. “She’s a smart one. When I get this deal”—she pointed to the camera—“I’m going to hire her as my assistant since she’s unemployed.”
I did a long slow slide with my eyes and gave the cameraman the stink-eye. He dropped the camera to his side. I gave him the nod to move along. Jack Henry was busy ushering the crowd out of the town square by telling them that there was nothing to see.
“What are you doing?” Granny protested. “You asked me to spread the word about Jade’s funeral.”
“I did, but not dress up like some crazy old woman rapper and promote Eternal Slumber.” My voice dropped when I saw a ghost-like thing off in the distance near Eternal Slumber.
Charlotte Rae’s car was in the driveway. I was too busy paying attention to Granny when I pulled up and didn’t even notice Charlotte’s car.
“I’m telling you, I can get us a reality TV show and business for both of us will skyrocket.” Granny wiggled her brows.
“No,” I said with a tight voice. “You see where it got Jade Lee. I can’t let this happen to you.”
“You got things under control here?” Jack looked at me from under his brows. There wasn’t happiness on his face.
“Understand?” I looked at Granny,
“Fine.” Granny wasn’t happy. Her beady eyes snapped at me a couple of times.
“Zula, is Keisha at the Inn?” Jack asked.
“Last time I checked she was. The crew informed me they would be leaving later today to catch a red-eye back to wherever they came from,” Granny said.
“I’ll walk you back over to the Inn. I have a few questions for her.” Jack held out his elbow for Granny to take. No matter how much Granny frustrated us, she was as colorful as the beautiful backdrop behind the Inn.
I couldn’t help but smile as I watched Jack in his brown sheriff’s uniform and Granny in her bright jogging suit walking arm in arm across the square. So much love for both of them warmed my insides.
With a deep sigh, I turned around and looked at Eternal Slumber. As much as I didn’t want to face Charlotte because I was upset with her, I couldn’t wait to tell her that Artie commissioned me to host Jade’s funeral.
Charlotte was exactly where I expected her to be when I walked in. Sitting in the chair next to the sideboard. Jade was sitting on top of it with her legs crossed, swinging the top one at Charlotte.
“I kept an eye on her just in case she tried something funny.” Jade snarled and shook her fist at Charlotte.
“I guess congratulations are in order.” Charlotte stood up. She tugged on the edges of her green jacket. Her eyes started at the bottom of my shoes and dragged to the top of my head. “You left out that little bit of information this morning.”
Without her even saying a word, I knew she was judging my outfit. She was always on my case about wearing a suit on a daily basis, but that wasn’t what I was comfortable with. And quite frankly, I think the community was more laid-back and appreciated how down-to-earth I was.
She put her hands together and clapped, slowly. She ran her hand down the sideboard.
“You know you really have messed things up for me.” Her head twisted around. Her eyes were hard and cruel.
“I don’t know what you are talking about. I never messed anything up.” I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t going to let Charlotte treat me like she deserved Artie’s business.
“Don’t you take anything from her. Besides”—Jade stood next to Charlotte—“that shade is not her color. In fact, it makes her skin tone orange.”
I didn’t agree with Jade at all. I thought Charlotte looked amazing.
“The only thing that Artie liked that you said was about the carriage.” I planted myself between her and the sideboard. “And this.” I tapped the top of the piece of furniture. “Belongs to me. Would you like to sign the papers now?” I could see the stir of anger boiling in her eyes as I talked. My shoulders bounced up and then down when I let out a big huff. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to get on the phone and find me a Cinderella carriage unless you want to give me your contact.”
“You haven’t heard the last from me.” Ch
arlotte twisted toward the door, flinging her long curly red hair behind her shoulders. “I’ll drag my feet on signing those papers too!”
“You will hear from my lawyer! And that green makes your skin look orange!” I blurted out like I knew something about fashion.
Chapter 26
“Now where are we off to?” Jade asked from the front seat of the passenger side of the hearse.
“I’ve got about an hour to kill before I have to come back and get ready for the reunion-turned-memorial-service for you.” I swear my blood pressure was still up from Charlotte Rae’s little visit. “I want to go and talk to Marla Maria about you.”
“Why me?” Jade seemed offended.
“Because when she came to the Inn to ask you to be a spokesperson for her pageant school, she didn’t seem very happy with you when you dismissed her.”
Marla Maria’s pageant school had been built on Chicken Teater’s piece of property on the outskirts of town. It was her dream come true. From what I had gathered, she had a lot of clients. I had no idea that pageants were such a big moneymaker until I had to go undercover to help Chicken cross over.
“I didn’t dismiss her.” Jade didn’t like my choice of words. “No different than what you did to Charlotte back there. And I’m so glad you told her about looking orange.”
“It didn’t make me feel any better,” I grumbled, and kept both hands on the wheel. “I don’t like lowering myself to her level, but she makes me so mad when she thinks she’s better than me. I wonder what she meant by I really messed up things for her.”
When I thought about Charlotte’s words, chills covered my entire body. There was some sort of warning in her voice. There was something bigger going on with Charlotte and I couldn’t help but think it had to do with the Hardgrove’s Legacy Center. My mind wandered to the big building and if the Hardgroves wanted her to secure Jade’s funeral for promotional reasons like Granny had done in the square.
Regardless of what I thought, I had to put Charlotte in the back of my mind. My number one goal was to get Jade crossed over and then I’d deal with Charlotte.
“She deserves you to be nasty to her.” Jade crossed her arms.
“Like Marla Maria, Mary Anna and Hettie deserved for you to be nasty to them?” It was okay for Jade to see the negative ways of other, but not herself. “You see where that got you.”
“I’m not saying I’m proud of my behavior.” Jade continued to stare out the front window. “I never asked anyone to kill me.”
“Do you really think Keisha might’ve killed you?” I asked, wondering what her thoughts were.
“I don’t think so.” She brought her hands to her neck. She turned in the seat. She looked at me with shock and awe. “I do remember I was on the phone with Tina. I was telling her what I was going to wear to The Watering Hole and while I was talking to her, someone came up from behind me and wrapped the scarf around my neck.” She gulped.
“Did you see them?” I asked. “Remember anything like hand size?”
She flung her hand in the air, flinging her fingers, trying to snap. “I’m going to learn to snap.” She tried to no avail again. “The shoes!” Instead of snapping, she clapped. “They were the ugliest pair of shoes I’d ever seen. They were black and clumpy.” Her face was a mask of unhappiness.
“Men’s or women’s?” It could be a good clue. I was still holding out hope for Jack to find the owner of the Cutlass. From how she treated him and from what Dottie said about their confrontation, he could be a very good suspect.
“I think.” Her face contorted. “Crap, it’s blank after that.”
“At least it’s something.” I pulled into the Marla Maria’s pageant school parking lot. I took out my phone and quickly texted Jack Henry what Jade had told me.
Jack Henry: I’m going to have to meet you at the memorial. I’m still trying to find the Cutlass. The evidence is still building up against Fluggie. You and I both know she didn’t do it. But . . .
Me: What happened with Keisha?
Jack Henry: Turned out she went to Pose and Relax and Girl’s Best Friend. She collected the invoices for their services. Her alibi checks out. Hettie Bell even gave her a yoga class.
Me: Well, dang. Maybe the black shoes are a good clue. I’m going to see Marla Maria now just to make sure we mark her off the list.
Jack Henry: If you get any info, remember to tell me and not go off on your own.
Me: love you.
Jack Henry: love you too.
“Aren’t you two cute.” Jade’s voice dripped with sarcasm.
Marla Maria was sashaying the long, light, runway that spanned the length of the building. The heart-pounding music made the glass windows shake with each bass beat. There were a group of teenage girls at the back of the runway watching Marla strut her stuff.
When she saw me, she raised her hands, clapped them to the side. Like little robots, the teenage girls strutted the runway while Marla came over to me.
“If you want to be a pageant queen, you can forget it.” She turned her nose up at me. “Those clothes.” She ran her finger up and down my body. “I taught you better than that.”
“Oh, hush,” I laughed. “I wanted to ask you about Jade.”
“Hmm.” Her eyes narrowed. Her fake lashes drew down her cheeks. Her lips pinched.
“What exactly was your conversation with her at the Inn?” I asked.
“I told her who I was and how much I enjoyed watching her grow up since I too was a beauty queen in high school. I told her about my pageant school and wanted to know if she’d come by and meet with some of the girls.” She pointed over to the runway. Jade was right up there with them. Only she was pretending there was a crowd and she waved to them, blowing air kisses to the pretend audience.
“These young ladies look up to people like Jade. They would’ve been thrilled to meet her.” Marla continued, “She said she didn’t have time and that she’d never heard of a pageant school. Then she walked off from me, dismissing me like trash.”
“What were you doing that night around say . . .” I paused for good measure. “Seven-ish?”
“I have a full day of classes I teach. Every night at seven I have my ten-year-olds.” She put her hand on her hip and cocked her leg out. “Why are you asking me this, Emma Lee?”
“I’m doing her eulogy for her funeral tomorrow and I’m having a hard time finding anything positive to write about her,” I lied, yet again.
Marla didn’t need to know that I was trying to help Jack Henry so I could help myself get Jade to the other side. I would tell Jack what I’d found out and that she had an alibi. If he needed to check it out, it should be easy to do so.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. It was Fluggie. I’d yet to hear from her all day.
“I’ve got to take this.” I waved ‘bye to Marla Maria. She waved ‘bye to me and joined the girls on the runaway. “Hey, Fluggie.”
“Have you gotten any news?” she asked.
“No. Just that the car from Jade’s confrontation was a guy driving a green old model Cutlass. Everyone seems to have alibis.” I got in the hearse and hooked my phone up to my earbuds. “Keisha was at a yoga session at Pose and Relax with Hettie.” There was no need to go into detail since she and Hettie were cleared. “Patricia and the camera crew were with Sandford on a night cave tour. Mary Anna was at bingo. Marla Maria was teaching ten-year-olds how to be pageant winners. Tina Tittle was on the phone with Jade when she died.”
That about summed up everyone that Jade had hung around or Jaded.
“Did Jack find my phone or another phone?” Fluggie asked.
“Not that I know of, why?” I asked.
“Because there was no phone call from Tina Tittle on the phone I picked up. Only business calls.” Fluggie caught me again. “Did Tina say that?”
Crap, crap, crap.
“Jack Henry said something about it.” It wasn’t like I could say that Jade recalled the exact moment she was killed. I lied
again, “There was some evidence collected about a pair of men’s black shoes. So I really wonder if the guy in the Cutlass is the one.”
“Well, I need to find him because my attorney called and he said that my DNA was all over Jade’s room along with hers. No one else’s and they do have sufficient evidence to charge me.” Fluggie sounded desperate. “I’m the only person that doesn’t have a witness to me being at the old mill around seven when I grabbed all my equipment so I could take photos at The Watering Hole. I swear I won’t sleep until I find that killer.”
“I’m sure we will figure it out,” I assured her, though I felt like we were running out of time. I could tell by Jack’s text and my gut.
Chapter 27
“What on earth am I going to wear?” I went through my closet. What I had planned to wear was definitely not appropriate anymore. The strapless red dress and red heels were more for a party, not a memorial.
“Are you asking for my expertise?” Jade stood in my bedroom.
“I guess you liked the pageant school?” I asked because she hadn’t left with me.
“That Marla Maria is a genius. If I was living, I’d so open me up a chain of pageant schools.” She walked over to my closet. “You can still wear the red dress.”
“I don’t know.” It was a stretch for me to wear to the reunion.
“I do. And I want everyone to look fabulous. Not sad, grumpy or frumpy.” She winked. “Wear the dress.”
I pulled it out of the closet and held it up to my chin. I walked into the bathroom and looked in the mirror.
“You do look good in red.” She stood behind me. Both of us stared at my reflection. “But you’ve got to do something about those panties.”
“You don’t need to worry about my panties,” I warned. “And if Jack comes back here tonight, you scatter.”
Jade disappeared while I finished getting ready. I wasn’t surprised she didn’t ride with me in the hearse to the memorial. There was no way in life Jade would arrive to an event, even her own memorial, in a hearse, much less in death.