Life is Better Brunette

by Diane Bator

  "That was Miss Claudia? Oh, man." As Marion's eyes rolled back, she dropped her phone and collapsed to the hardwood floor.

  Gilda groaned as a voice came over Marion's phone. She bent to pick it up then gave the 9-1-1 operator the required information, her breath coming in short, scared gasps as she tried to revive her friend. Within five minutes, the first police car squealed to a stop in front of the store.

  "It's about time they showed up." Marion groaned as she rolled onto her left side. "Did I mention I don't do well with blood?"

  "Yeah, I guessed that." Gilda helped her sit up. "Don't worry, you're not alone. I feel woozy too. I hate nasty surprises."

  "Gilda Wright. What a surprise to find you here." Deputy John Fabio, the first officer to limp across the threshold, didn't sound surprised. The limp was a souvenir of his days on patrol in Detroit, where he'd taken a knife in the back.

  Marion winced as she slowly got to her feet. "Yeah. Big surprise."

  Deputy Jason Thayer, Fabio's partner and Gilda's ex-boyfriend, groaned from the doorway. "Yeah. It's almost like she's made finding bodies a hobby lately, isn't it?"

  "So it would seem." Bald with large ears and bulging eyes, Fabio reminded Gilda of the stone gargoyles on brick buildings from the late eighteen hundreds. "I hope you weren't here to do any sort of investigating."

  "No. Honestly." Well, not at first.

  Fabio didn't look convinced. "Good. Then give me one good reason why you entered the fabric shop, even though the open sign is turned to Closed."

  "Because she's Gilda Wright, and she can't follow a simple direction." Thayer, his hair the color of desert sand, had managed to keep himself in good shape since he and Gilda stopped dating. After several years of turning the other cheek, she'd caught him cheating one too many times. They broke up mere seconds before she shoved him head-first into a fifty-pound bag of coffee beans. "We tell Sherlock to stay out of trouble and, bam, she goes out and finds more two weeks later."

  Gilda huffed. "We came in to get thread for Marion."

  "And?" Fabio met her gaze.

  Marion threw up her hands. "And because a psychic said Miss Claudia might be dead by the time we left karate class to talk to her."

  "A psychic?" Fabio's bulging eyes grew wide. "Now that's a new one, even for you. Where and when did this so-called psychic tell you about Miss Claudia?"

  "At the karate school." Gilda kept a wary gaze on Thayer, who chuckled and turned away. "She came to watch Kane teach karate class."

  "You can't miss her. She drives a cotton-candy pink car covered in pixie dust sparkles and has glitter in her hair," Marion said. "The little witch also stole my parking spot. If I were you, I'd lock her up for a long time."

  "Your parking spot at the police station?" Thayer asked.

  She huffed. "No. At karate."

  "You have your own parking spot at the Phoenix school?" Thayer raised his eyebrows.

  Marion blushed. "Not really. It's just where I always park when I go to class."

  Fabio closed his notebook. "And this psychic you met said Miss Claudia was dead?"

  Both Gilda and Marion nodded.

  "Okay." Thayer smirked, dimples burrowing into his cheeks. "So where's the body?"

  "Behind that white door." Gilda waved toward the closet. "Do you mind if we step outside? Neither of us really wants to see her again. I'm already going to have nightmares for the next month."

  Fabio flared his cavernous nostrils. "Oh, no. You two stay right where you are."

  Marion turned to face the front door. "There's no way I'm looking at her again. That woman scared me enough when she was alive."

  "Me, too." Gilda shuddered, recalling her encounter with Miss Claudia in Kane's store. Fabio, with Thayer close behind, examined the brown shoe and poked it with his pen, then followed the trail of blood. Before Fabio opened the closet door, he paused to pull on latex gloves.

  Gilda's heart skipped a beat as she caught a glimpse of Miss Claudia still scrunched inside the closet on top of a couple of boxes before Thayer blocked her view.

  "Wow." Thayer winced. "It looks like someone was really angry. Not only did they crack her skull, they also stuffed her into the closet like she was no more than an old blanket."

  "I agree." Gilda frowned, without venturing any closer. "But why bother to shove her in the closet? Why not just leave her lying on the floor by her shoe?"

  Fabio glanced back at her and scowled. "Are you a cop?"

  "No." She bowed her head.

  "Thayer, take a look around for a possible murder weapon," he said.

  "No problem." Thayer tilted his head then turned and met Gilda's gaze. "Does anybody have any idea what I'm looking for?"

  She shook her head.

  "Nope," Fabio said. "Just something heavy and blood-covered."

  "Okay then." He shrugged and stepped aside as the crime scene staff walked in. "Why don't I take Marion and Gilda outside to get some fresh air? Marion looks like she's ready to pass out."

  "Good idea." Fabio gave a slow nod then followed them all toward the door. "I'll talk to Gilda outside. You take Marion to the car."

  "Wait. You're splitting us up?" Marion froze and grabbed Gilda's arm. "Why would you do that? We didn't do anything wrong, you know."

  "We know that." Fabio patted her shoulder. "We just need to hear your stories separately. It's police procedure. You should know that by now."

  Marion scowled, then followed Thayer. "By the book as usual. Doesn't it ever get old?"

  "No, it doesn't." Fabio took Gilda by the elbow and led her to the bench in front of On Pins and Needles, away from the medical examiner's van as it pulled to a stop. "Now, who is this psychic?"

  Gilda rubbed her face with both hands. "I didn't even know who Miss Claudia was until this morning. I mean, I've heard some of the guys talk about her, but…"

  "Gilda. Focus," Fabio warned. "When did she tell you Miss Claudia was dead?"

  "Okay." She took a deep breath then released it slowly as she relayed the events of the morning, including meeting Aislin and Miss Claudia. Fabio stopped her. "Is this relevant?"

  "Yes."

  She sat on the bench as few of the local shopkeepers congregated across the street near the smoke shop. Her mind whirled with possible suspects. Who else had Miss Claudia approached lately about cleaning up Armadillo Street?

  CHAPTER FOUR

  While Fabio and Thayer compared notes, Gilda pulled out her phone and called Razi. "Hey, can you meet Marion and me at the police station in a little while?"

  "Oh no. What is going on this time?" he asked.

  "Marion and I found…" Gilda hesitated. "We found a body, and we're going in to give a statement."

  Razi was silent for several rapid heartbeats. "You found a body? Who is it?"

  "Miss Claudia."

  He hesitated. "The crazy lady from the fabric shop?"

  "Yes."

  Another long silence. "Did you see who killed her?"

  "No. I have to go. Just meet us there." Gilda glanced at Fabio then hung up before he could ask more questions or suggest she call Mick.

  "You're not getting away with this," Marion growled as she wedged herself between Gilda and the ornate armrest on the end of the bench. "I know my rights."

  "We're not trying to get away with anything," Fabio insisted. "All we want is to understand exactly what led up to you two finding Miss Claudia stuffed in a storage closet."

  Marion folded her arms across her body. "Like I told Thayer, I'm done talking. If you want me to suffer through telling my story one more time, you need to either buy me lunch or get me a lawyer."

  Gilda patted her friend's arm. "We don't need lawyers. We didn't do anything wrong." She glanced at Fabio. "Lunch would be nice, though. I'm feeling kind of dizzy and might not be able to remember details."

  Fabio nodded. "I haven't eaten yet either. Hop in my car. We'll pick something up on the way to the station."

  "What about searching Miss Claudia's st
ore?" she asked.

  Fabio narrowed his eyes. "The crime lab team will take care of that."

  "I'll get one of the other officers to lock up and stand guard."

  Marion stood. "Please can it be Thayer?"

  Fabio snorted. "Sorry. Believe it or not, we need him with us."

  "Dang." She sat back and folded her arms across her chest.

  "You need to find out what Miss Claudia was planning for Armadillo Street." Gilda turned to Fabio. "I'm sure you'll find a folder or sheets of lists and ideas she wanted to use."

  Thayer shook his head and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure we'll find everything we need." Half an hour later, a video camera would record every word Gilda said, every motion she made, and every breath she took. The fact she'd done nothing wrong did little to settle her nerves, or the hamburger and fries in her stomach, as Thayer closed the interrogation room door, especially when Fabio sat across from her with a coffee-stained yellow notepad and clicked his pen several times.

  Thayer closed the door and paced the room for a couple minutes before he spun a metal chair around, straddled it, and leaned his forearms on the back to face her. "So, why did you really go to the fabric store? The truth this time, Gilda. We all know you're more of a mystery buff than a seamstress."

  Despite yearning to tell him off in many different ways, Gilda kept her mouth shut.

  "We do?" Fabio shot him a stern look. "Did you know she talked to psychics?"

  He hesitated. "Not until today."

  Gilda huffed. "Like I already told Fabio, we went to the fabric shop to ask Miss Claudia about her plans for Armadillo Street. Mostly because the psychic overheard us talking about Miss Claudia, and she told us Miss Claudia might be dead by the time we left karate class."

  "Really? Are you still going to stick with the psychic story?" Thayer stared. "I would have thought you and your sidekick would have worked out something more clever on the car ride over. Okay, I'll bite. Who is this so-called psychic?"

  "The psychic came in first. Her name is Aislin Chadwick." Gilda leaned back as far from Thayer's bad cop attitude as she could get and finished the last of her soda. "She came into Kane's store earlier this morning looking for something called patchouli oil and mentioned she needed a job. She's tiny and cute, and Kane was smitten. In fact, he called to give her a job before she even got home."

  Thayer waved a hand to move her and the story along. "We still have more suspects to question. Can we get to the good part?"

  "I'm getting there." Gilda scowled.

  "For the record," Fabio said. "I want to hear it all, except for your impatience, so we don't have to bring her back through all this later. Please continue, Gilda."

  Her jaw dropped open. "You what?"

  "Carry on, please." Fabio tensed.

  "Thank you." Gilda glanced at Fabio's notepad already covered in chicken scratch. "Right after Aislin left, Miss Claudia came in. She said she was on a mission to shut down a few of the shops along Armadillo Street. You know, the tattoo place and a few of the other places that didn't meet up to her standards. Kane's shop was one of them. She said she thought he ran a witchcraft shop and wanted it gone."

  She paused. Miss Claudia had to have a list somewhere. A step-by-step agenda that described what she was up to. Too bad she hadn't had the time or foresight to look around before the police arrived. Seeing Miss Claudia's body had rattled her.

  "Ah." Fabio nodded. "That explains some of the rumors I've heard lately. Did she give Kane anything in writing, or was it strictly verbal?"

  "Verbal. She told us she was working hard to clean up Armadillo Street to bring families back into the area. We saw her across the street as she was leaving the smoke shop a few minutes later. She didn't look very happy. Neither did the owner."

  "Fergus never looks happy." Fabio rubbed one hand over his tired face.

  Gilda sat back on the bench and sighed. Once she could get away from Fabio and Thayer, she'd take a quick walk around the neighborhood to talk to the people who owned the other shops. "I know this looks bad."

  "With you, it usually does," Thayer said. "So what does all this have to do with the psychic?" Thayer asked.

  Gilda shrugged. "I honestly don't know. I have no idea if they even knew each other. Until this morning, I hadn't met either of them."

  Fabio cleared his throat. "Where were you when you saw Aislin Chadwick the second time? When she told you about Miss Claudia's death?"

  "At the Phoenix Martial Arts school before lunch class." Gilda said the full name simply for the sake of the video camera. "She came to watch Kane do karate. Like I said, she overheard us talking about Miss Claudia."

  "Do you know what kind of car this Chadwick woman drives?" Thayer asked.

  Gilda cringed. "A cotton-candy pink car covered in pixie dust sparkles."

  Thayer snorted. "Stop messing with us."

  "I'm serious."

  "Did you actually see her car?" Fabio raised his eyebrows.

  "Yes. When she and Kane left for lunch earlier." Gilda stared at Fabio's notepad. "I was already at the school before Aislin arrived. Marion showed up a few minutes later ranting about someone taking her parking spot." She blew out a breath. "Is there anything else I can help with, or are we done here?"

  Fabio scratched his chin. "Thayer, why don't you run and get Gilda a glass of water? I'm sure her mouth is getting dry. She's probably still in shock from finding Miss Claudia's body."

  "Sure." Thayer flared his nostrils. "You don't need me here anyway. She doesn't know anything, which is why she was at the store in the first place. She's nosy and can't stay out of a good police investigation."

  Once Thayer left the room, Gilda leaned toward Fabio and lowered her voice. "What is he talking about? There was no police investigation until I found Miss Claudia's body and that was only by a fluke."

  "And on the word of a psychic."

  She deflated and sat back once more. "You're right. I sound like I'm crazy."

  "No." He met her gaze. "You sound just like my beloved Sherlock Wright."

  Gilda glanced toward the video camera. "Should you be saying things like that in front of witnesses?"

  Fabio chuckled. "It's nothing people haven't heard before. Just tell me what you think happened to Miss Claudia."

  "I think someone was really angry about her trying to shut down a few shops on Armadillo Street. My guess is they must have snuck up behind her, bashed in her head, then stuffed her in the closet." She frowned. "But, like Thayer said, why bother to shove her in the closet? Why not just leave her body on the floor? And why leave her shoe in plain sight? If the killer had picked up the shoe and wiped away the blood spots, Marion and I might not have even found her. No one would have found her right away."

  "You know you worry me, right?" He blinked, then scribbled notes for about a minute after he stopped talking. "I agree with you. Do you think this so-called psychic knows more than she was letting on?"

  Gilda shrugged. "I don't know. I just know I don't like her. She's too perfect."

  "And she has Kane's full attention."

  She folded her arms across her stomach and scowled. "Why would you say that?"

  "I notice things too." He smiled. "You and Kane have been buddies since you met."

  "I wouldn't exactly call us buddies. More like we coexist."

  Fabio made a few more notes as he spoke. "Call it whatever you want. Is there anything else you remember about the crime scene when you first came in? Did you see anything? Hear anyone? Any impressions you had, no matter how small, might help."

  Gilda closed her eyes and mentally retraced her steps through the fabric shop. "Marion and I argued about whether or not we should go inside since the sign on the door of Pins and Needles was turned to Closed. After what Aislin said earlier, I was worried, so we went inside. I'd never been inside Miss Claudia's store before, but it was meticulous. Almost military precision, like the way she walks…walked. Nothing seemed to be out of pla
ce. Everything was neat and carefully arranged."

  "Everything?" Fabio asked.

  She thought hard. "Well, everything except for the woman's size twelve shoe."

  "How do you know what size the shoe was?"

  Her face warmed. "I peeked. I have small feet, but I'd never seen a woman's shoe that size before. I didn't touch it though, especially when I noticed there were bloodspots both on the floor and the shoe."

  Fabio made more notes. "Then what?"

  "Then I followed the dots of blood to the closet door and found the puddle of blood seeping out. I didn't want to get fingerprints on anything so I grabbed a scrap of fabric and used it to open the door. " Gilda's eyes welled with tears. "That's when I found Miss Claudia."

  She struggled to swallow, her throat scratchy like it was lined with sand. Where was Thayer with her water?

  Fabio met her gaze, which helped to steady her nerves. "Did you happen to notice anything else about the body?"

  "It looked like someone had bashed in the left side of her face." Gilda wiped away a tear. "I asked Marion to call the police, but the second she saw the body, she fainted. I had to pick up her phone and talk to the 9-1-1 operator."

  He sat back and studied the yellow notepad. "What did you do with the piece of cloth?"

  Gilda's mouth dropped open. "What piece of cloth?"

  "The cloth you said you used to open the closet door." Fabio tapped the paper with his pen. "What happened to it?"

  "Oh, that." She paused to think for a moment. "I guess I must have dropped it after I saw her body. The crime scene guys have probably picked it up as evidence."

  "Probably, which means when you closed the door you used your bare hand."

  "No. I still had it in my hand," she said. "I didn't let the cloth go until I closed the door."

  He nodded. "I'll double check. On the upside, we already have your fingerprints on file."

  Gilda shifted in her seat. "Is there anything else you need to know?"

  Fabio continued to tap the paper with his pen, reminding Gilda of Poe's story of the tell-tale heart. If she'd been guilty of anything, she probably would have confessed there and then.