by Amanda Lee
Roberto and Carla were delighted, and my conscience was a little less burdened for deceiving them about my own costuming skills…or lack thereof.
Chapter Ten
As soon as Roberto and Carla left, I called Sadie to tell her about their visit. “They—or, rather, Roberto—didn’t have much to say about what happened Friday night, but Carla had plenty to say about Tawny Milligan,” I told her. “She and Tawny were friends before Tawny tried to move in on Roberto.”
“I can see where that would definitely put the brakes on a friendship,” Sadie said.
“Get this: Carla said that Tawny’s reputation was so bad by the time she graduated from college that she changed her name. Or, at least, that’s what Carla heard.”
“Which would explain why you couldn’t find her in the white pages.” Sadie’s statement mirrored my earlier thought. “I’ll ask Blake if he remembers her or knows anything about her. I don’t see why she’d be all that important to finding out who shot Graham, though. I mean, she wasn’t even at the Brew Crew Friday night, was she?”
“I don’t think so. But I still believe she could tell us something important…maybe something about who might’ve had it in for Graham. I’d just really like to talk with her,” I told Sadie.
“Well, like I said, I’ll talk with Blake and see what he says about her.”
“Thanks,” I said, hoping desperately that Blake hadn’t been one of the guys who’d dated Tawny. “After work, I’m meeting with Mark, the personal trainer. And after that, I’m driving to McMinnville to talk with Charles.”
“Wow. You’ve got a busy night ahead of you. Blake and I appreciate everything you’re doing for us,” said Sadie. “And, of course, Todd does too.”
“Uh, yeah.…By the way, I saw Todd strolling down the street hand in hand with Keira.”
“They were holding hands?” she asked.
“Mm-hmm. And that’s fine,” I added quickly. “That’s great. I’m glad they worked out their differences or whatever.”
“I heard Keira ask Todd to do her a favor. Maybe she was taking him…” I could tell Sadie was struggling to come up with a suitable favor. “… to look at her car or something. Todd is pretty handy with vehicles.”
“Sadie, it’s okay. I guess Todd and I weren’t meant to be.” I gave a short laugh. “I’m beginning to think Angus O’Ruff is the only guy destined to be in my life…at least, for the time being.”
At the sound of his name, Angus lifted his head, cocked it comically to the side, and then flopped it back down with an exaggerated sigh.
Terrific. Even my dog was depressed about my state of affairs—or lack of affairs.
“Since you’ve got to do so much this evening, and you’re doing it for Blake, Todd, and me, why don’t you let me bring you a chicken salad croissant about half an hour before you close up shop?” she asked.
“That would be great,” I said. “Thanks.”
“And while I’m there, I can take Angus on home for you and feed him. That way, you’ll have one less thing to worry about,” she said, reminding me that she had a key to my house.
I’d given her the key when I first moved to Tallulah Falls for safekeeping in case I ever locked myself out…or died inside my house. Sadie or Blake could come to check on me if no one saw me out and about for a couple of days. Have I mentioned that my imagination sometimes borders on the macabre?
“You’ve got plenty of your own stuff to occupy you,” I said. “It won’t take me that much extra time to get Angus settled.”
“Let me do this for you, Marce. It’s the least I can do.”
“All right.” Maybe she felt the need to do me a favor, since I was helping out with the investigation. She didn’t need to do anything, but maybe she thought she did. “Thanks.”
“I’ll see you in a bit,” she said.
Ending the call, I couldn’t help but wonder—knowing Sadie like I did—just what she had up her sleeve.
The afternoon was zipping along. Several customers had been in—some to browse, some to buy. The latest had bought a set of tapestry needles she planned to use in an attempt to mend the upholstery of an antique chair. I wished her luck, but I was thinking she’d be better off taking the chair to a professional. She was more adventurous than I am. But then, I’ve never been big on upholstery mending.
The bells over the shop door jingled. Lost in my reverie, I half expected it to be the customer coming back to return the tapestry needles because she’d decided to hire out the job. Instead, it was Ted.
“Earth to Marcy,” he said, grinning at the bemused expression on my face. “Are you in there?”
I smiled. “Yes. I’m here. Hello.”
Angus loped over to greet Ted and to show him his new toy.
“What’ve you got there, Angus?” Ted asked. “A bear?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Vera brought it to him from Washington.” I jerked my head toward the sit-and-stitch square. “Let’s have a seat.”
He accompanied me to the sofa facing the window. “You appeared to be lost in thought when I walked in. What was on your mind?”
“Upholstery, believe it or not.”
Angus lay down near us and busied himself with making the bear squeak.
“Strange thing to be mulling over, I guess. But I prefer it to what I expected you to say.” He smiled at me, and I was struck by how strong and handsome he was. The pale blue dress shirt he wore today complemented his eyes, and a sexy half smile was playing about his lips.
“And what did you expect me to say?” I asked.
“That you were thinking about Graham Stott’s murder.”
“At least one of us was right,” I said with a grin. “Because that’s exactly what I expected you to say.”
“Has Todd, Blake, or Sadie confided anything to you about Friday night?”
I shook my head. “I’m as much in the dark as anyone else. I do have a theory, though.”
“Naturally,” he said. “Let’s hear it, Inch-High.”
Inch-High. Short for Inch-High Private Eye. It wasn’t beautiful or sweetheart, but it was something. I was glad he was relaxed enough today to joke with me.
“One, I believe both Blake and Todd are innocent but that neither knows for sure what happened and isn’t a hundred percent convinced the other one didn’t pull the trigger,” I said. “But I think the shooter killed Graham and then ran into the bathroom beside the room where Graham was shot.”
Ted pursed his lips. “Let me get this straight. The killer—unseen by either MacKenzie or Calloway—uses Calloway’s gun to shoot Graham Stott. He then tosses the gun onto the floor—still unseen—and goes and hides in the bathroom.”
“When you put it like that, it sounds ridiculous.”
“Isn’t that what you told me?” he asked, struggling to avoid laughing.
“I said nothing about anyone tossing a gun around,” I said. “That would be stupid.”
“Yeah, it could go off and kill somebody.” This time, he did laugh.
“Are you positive the gun found in the room was the one used to shoot Graham Stott?” I asked.
“The victim was shot with a .38 caliber revolver,” Ted said. “The gun in the room was a .38 revolver—Calloway’s .38 revolver.”
“But has a ballistics test been done?”
He smiled. “You watch too many detective shows, you know that? We need to get you interested in something else.”
“Has it been done?” I asked.
“The major crime team is working on it, but I don’t have a report on it yet,” he said.
“So the gun found in the room has not been positively identified as the murder weapon.” I steepled my fingers.
“There’s a chance it isn’t the murder weapon, Counselor, but it’s a very slim chance,” Ted said. “What are the odds that Calloway and the killer had the same type of gun?”
“Blake has the same type of gun as Todd.” I regretted those words as soon as I uttered them. “What
I mean is that .38 revolvers are common…especially around here. I learned that not long after I came to Tallulah Falls.”
He draped an arm around my shoulders. “Believe me, I understand how you must be feeling. But please leave this case to the professionals. Don’t go playing Nancy Drew.”
“I’m not…not really,” I said. “It’s just hard. Sadie has been my best friend since we were in college, and Blake treats me like a little sister.”
“I know, Marce, and I truly feel for you. But I don’t want you to get hurt…physically or emotionally,” he said. “Some of our best people are on this case. We’ll get to the truth.”
“I know you will,” I said with a smile.
“Are you free for dinner tonight?”
“I’m afraid not. I’ve got an appointment with a personal trainer to learn some exercises to build strength in my arms.” I flexed the muscles in my right arm to show him how puny they were.
“What on earth for?” he asked. “Your arms look great.”
“Maybe so, but I’m tired of having so much trouble lifting and carrying boxes of supplies. And the damsel-in-distress role is becoming tiresome.”
“You can always call on me, damsel,” Ted said. “I don’t care what you’re wearing—dis dress, dat dress, jeans…”
I threw my head back against the sofa cushion and groaned. “Worst pun ever!” I laughed. “I’m happy to see you in better spirits today, though.”
“I’m happy Manu will be back at the end of the week,” he said. “So can I get a rain check on dinner?”
“You bet.”
I looked at the clock and decided that if no one else came in this afternoon, I had a good forty-five minutes to devote to my Mountmellick project. That should be enough time to finish a shamrock or two. Or, at least, one and a half.
I’d just started making progress when Mom called. She wanted to know, “Who are Roberto and Carla Gutierrez, and why did you ask them to call me?”
“I meant to phone and explain all that to you, but this afternoon has been crazy,” I said. “Roberto was one of the guys at Todd’s party Friday night.”
“The party where the man was shot, I’m guessing,” she said.
“Right,” I said. “Anyway, I was trying to think of a way to talk with him without being obvious that I wanted to talk about the murder. Since he and his wife make indie films, I told them I was your daughter and was interested in making costumes for them.”
“You little liar!”
“But I am your daughter,” I protested.
“Whatever happened to I hate throwing your name around and I refuse to ride on my mother’s coattails?” Mom asked.
“Desperate times, Mom. Desperate times.”
“Did you find out anything?”
“Not much about what happened Friday night,” I said. “But I did learn that this couple adores you and thinks you’re an artistic genius.”
She gave a throaty chuckle. “I do love people of quality.”
“I’m not kidding, Mom. They were familiar with all of your better-known—and many of your lesser-known—films.”
“So, did you sign on to make the costumes for them?”
“Are you kidding? You know better than that,” I said. “They said they’re working on a Depression-era piece, and I told them I was afraid I couldn’t do the film justice. I said that you, however, might know someone in the Seattle area who could do a terrific job on the project.”
“You know what? You’re right. I do.” She laughed again. “I’ll give the Gutierrezes a call and see if they’re as knowledgeable about me as you say they are. And I’ll tell them about my friend in Seattle.”
“Thanks, Mom. I owe you one.”
“You owe me thousands,” she said. “I’ve simply never cashed in. So, what’s up with Todd and Ted?”
“Todd and Keira, the girl he took to the ball last month, are apparently at the hand-holding stage,” I said. “Ted did ask me to dinner this evening, but I can’t go because I have an appointment with a personal trainer.”
“A personal trainer?” she asked.
“Yep. It’ll probably just be the one visit, though.”
“For the record, I’m Team Edward,” she said, referring to the debate among Twilight fans over whether the heroine should choose the vampire or the werewolf.
“And I’m Team Jacob,” I said with a giggle.
“This trainer…was he at the party Friday night?” she asked.
“Uh-huh.” She knew me so well.
“Be careful, love. I don’t like you getting involved with all this mayhem and intrigue.”
“That’s your world, Mom, not mine. And I’m planning on shelving my deerstalker and magnifying glass and leaving the crime solving to the professionals after tonight.”
Todd came in, and I held up an index finger to let him know I’d be with him in a second. Angus got up and greeted him. That dog was the best helper ever. He even outshone Jill.
“I’ve got to go, Mom. Someone just walked in. I’ll talk with you soon.” I told her I loved her and ended the call.
“Hi,” Todd said.
“Hi, yourself,” I said.
“Sadie sent me to get Angus for her. She said she’d have the croissant ready when I get back with him.”
“I suppose she was too busy to come get him herself?” I asked.
“Something like that.” He shoved his hands into the pockets of his well-worn jeans. “She told me you saw Keira and me walking down the street this morning.”
“Uh, yeah. I’d have had to have been blind to miss it,” I said. “You didn’t see Keira wave to me?”
“No. I wasn’t paying attention. I was trying to hurry up and…”
When he trailed off, I resumed my stitching. “It’s not a big deal.”
He took his hands from his pockets and came to sit on the ottoman in front of me. “It’s a big deal if you have the wrong impression about Keira and me.” He took my shoulders so I’d be compelled to look into those soulful chocolate eyes of his. “She asked me to do her a favor. She said this guy she used to date has been hassling her. He saw us together at the masquerade ball, so she wanted him to think we were a couple so he’d leave her alone.”
Oh, sure. And the guy just happened to be in such close proximity to my shop that Keira needed to parade Todd by my window so she could give her gloating little wave? Riiight. Do you honestly believe that, Todd? That’s what I thought. What I actually said was, “Again, it’s not a big deal.”
“Then why do I feel like it is?” he asked.
I shrugged.
“That!” He spread his hands. “That little—” He imitated my shrug…rather clumsily, if you asked me. “That speaks volumes.”
“Good,” I said. “Then I shouldn’t have to say anything else.”
“Will you please cut me some slack? I’ve had a pretty rough seventy-two hours,” he said.
I put aside my embroidery project, stood, and put some distance between Todd and me. “I realize that. I, on the other hand, have had a glorious time trying to figure out what happened Friday night and to prove your innocence. Adding to all my fun is the fact that you won’t even share your version of events with me so I can compare it to what I’ve learned from the others I’ve spoken with. You’re too busy walking up and down the street in front of my window with your girlfriend!”
“See?” Todd jumped up from the ottoman. “I knew that bothered you!”
“Do you want to know what bothers me? I’ll tell you what genuinely irks me to the core: the fact that on Friday, before the shooting, you told me we needed to talk about things. I thought one of these things you wanted to talk about was whether we could have a relationship. This morning, you couldn’t trust me enough to tell me what happened after I left the pub.” My eyes filled, and I turned away, hoping Todd hadn’t seen my tears. “I think that answers the relationship question fairly succinctly. Don’t you?”
“Marcy.” He bridged the distanc
e between us and put his hand on my back.
I moved away from his touch. “Please tell Sadie I’ve changed my mind. I’m locking up the shop now and taking Angus home after all.”
Chapter Eleven
Since I cried all the way home, I had to wash my face and redo my makeup as soon as I got there. I felt betrayed…not only by Todd, but by Sadie and Blake as well. And I didn’t feel that Todd had betrayed me with Keira. He and I weren’t a couple. I might’ve felt a sting of jealousy when I first saw them together, but I didn’t feel betrayed. What I was so hurt by was the fact that no one trusted me enough to tell me what happened—or even what they thought happened—on Friday night.
I put Angus, his food, water, and new squeaky bear outside on the back porch. It wasn’t supposed to rain tonight, but if it did, he could doze on the porch swing. I didn’t have time for dinner, so I grabbed a protein bar on the way out the door.
My phone rang as I was en route to the Jeep. It saw that it was Sadie, and I let the call go to voice mail.
Mark’s gym was only about a fifteen-minute drive from Tallulah Falls. It was named, simply enough, Mark’s Gym. Even from the outside, I could tell this was a man’s gym and that it wasn’t used to catering to women at all. There was no landscaping to speak of. Although there was mulch on either side of the sidewalk and in front of the building, there were no plants. A concrete planter near the door contained only sand, cigarette butts, and gum wrappers.
I wiped my damp palms down the sides of my jeans before opening the door and stepping inside. To my left was a boxing ring where two men whose hands were taped and who were wearing headgear were sparring. Beyond the boxing ring, punching bags of various sizes, shapes, and colors hung from the ceiling. To my right, there were all kinds of free weights and aerobic machines, such as ellipticals, treadmills, rowing machines, and cycles. Huge, muscular men stopped what they were doing to turn and stare at me. I had never felt so tiny in all my life…and that was saying something.
I raised my right hand in greeting. “Hi. I have an appointment with Mark.”