by Lyndsey Cole
Hannah’s eyes scanned the room, expecting to find Juliette since Maisy was there. Harold was photographing a tall blonde model and Monique’s friend, Vanessa, sat in a corner filing her nails and looking like she couldn’t possibly be any more bored.
“What’s going on here?” Harold’s livid voice and coal black eyes fixed on Hannah. “I know you. You served us at that snack bar on the beach. What are you doing here interrupting my photoshoot?”
The model who, by her looks anyway, could have been a close relative of Monique, lowered her arms and tugged at the tiny piece of fabric that was the bottom of her bikini. “Break time, Harold?” she asked in a nasal twang.
“Not on your life, Gwen. Didn’t you just take a break not that long ago? I’m not done, and with Monique still pulling one of her disappearing acts, you’ll have to fill in.” His attention was back on Gwen with his camera ready to begin shooting.
Gwen rolled her eyes and sighed as if she was just told she had to eat a cockroach.
“About that,” Samantha interrupted.
Harold’s eyes narrowed to slits. “About what?” He lowered his camera.
“Monique.”
He relaxed slightly. “Someone found her?”
“Yes.” Hannah stepped forward. “I found her. Where did you say you were about an hour ago?”
“Searching for Monique and wasting precious time getting my work done. I’m on a deadline and we’re behind before we’ve barely even begun.”
“Did you look around the pool area?”
“Of course. And I looked in her room, too, but when Monique wants to disappear she’s a master at finding the best spot.” His eyes moved between Hannah and Samantha. “What?”
“She found a good hiding spot, all right,” Samantha said. “In the bottom of the pool.”
Harold’s jaw dropped. He blinked several times.
Gwen rolled her eyes again. The expression was not lost on Hannah.
Vanessa’s head popped up, the nail file slipped through her fingers, and she let out an “Eek!” She jumped to her feet. “Where is she? I need to make sure she’s all right.”
Deputy Pam Larson entered the room. She had her notebook open. “I’m looking for a Vanessa Parkes.”
“Oh, thank goodness.” Vanessa rushed to Pam’s side. “I just heard the news. Where is my friend? Is she going to be all right?”
Pam scowled at Hannah before she guided Vanessa to a chair. “You’d better have a seat, Ms. Parkes.”
Vanessa crumpled onto the chair, her hand covering her mouth.
“Your friend’s name is Monique?” Pam asked.
Vanessa nodded, her eyes big saucers.
“There was an accident and she was pulled out of the pool about a half hour ago.”
Vanessa’s face held a spark of hope.
Pam softened her voice. “I’m very sorry but she didn’t make it.”
Vanessa’s head fell into her lap. Muffled sobs filled the room.
Harold approached Pam. “What do you mean…she’s dead? That can’t be true. She’s supposed to be here modeling for me.”
Hannah glanced at Gwen who had a self-satisfied smirk on her face. Apparently, there was no love lost between Monique and Gwen.
“And you are?” Pam asked Harold.
He puffed his chest out. “Harold Chandler the Third. I have this whole wing reserved for the weekend.”
“Is that so? Including the pool?”
“Um…the private pool on this wing, yes.”
“And when was the last time you were in that pool area?”
Harold looked at Hannah and knew he couldn’t lie. “About an hour ago. I went looking for Monique.” He quickly added, “But I didn’t find her.”
“Are you sure, Mr. Chandler the Third?” Pam leveled a stare at Harold that made him squirm.
“Yes.” He opened his mouth to say something else but quickly shut it.
Pam put her hand on Vanessa’s shoulder. “You need to come with me now, Ms. Parkes.”
Vanessa nodded.
Ruby walked in as Pam and Vanessa left Harold’s temporary photo studio. She handed a neatly folded pile of clothes to Hannah. “I had extra stuff in my car if you want to get out of those wet clothes.” She knelt down to pat Maisy. “Why is Maisy here and Juliette isn’t?”
“In her typical irresponsible way, she dumped Maisy on me and said she wasn’t feeling well. She knows the deal is that she supervises when I’m photographing. She’s the one who trained the dog. It’s much more difficult if she isn’t here.” Harold plopped onto a soft chair. He swiped both hands through his thinning hair.
“Can I take a break now?” Gwen whined again.
Harold waved dismissively at her. “Yeah. Go. I’ll snap some photos of the dog and the pig. Maybe I’ll blow off this whole swimsuit thing.”
Samantha slipped out of the thin jacket she had over her sundress. “Maybe I can help.” She crouched next to Petunia, slipped on the pig’s sunglasses and sunhat, and smiled at Harold.
It would have been a seductive smile, thought Hannah, if Samantha was about sixty years younger. But, she had to give her credit for being comfortable with her age and image.
Harold put his index fingers and thumbs together to form a frame and looked at Samantha from several different angles. “Huh. Why not?” He handed her a big floppy hat. “Put this on and stand over there where the lights are shining.”
Samantha pranced in front of the ocean backdrop with the big lights shining on her. Petunia looked up as if to ask, what the heck are we doing? Maisy joined them and she stood on her back legs with her front paws on Petunia’s back. Harold’s camera clicked and clicked as he moved around and Samantha posed in different positions. Petunia and Maisy were as cute as anything.
Hannah looked at Ruby and mouthed the words, what now? She cleared her throat. “Harold?”
He continued to click away.
“Aren’t you concerned about your model?”
He turned toward Hannah. “Of course, but what can I do now? She must have slipped into the pool. Everyone knows she couldn’t swim.” He turned his attention back to Samantha.
“A swimsuit model and she couldn’t swim?”
“That’s right. I’m surprised she was even near the pool. She had a phobia about deep water. It was becoming a problem and I told her to get over it so maybe she was working on her fear.” Harold turned his back to Hannah. “Did that policewoman say if there was foul play involved?”
“No. This policewoman,” Pam said on her way through the door, “never did say. What an interesting question though, Mr. Chandler. Why would it even cross your mind?”
When Harold turned back to face Pam, his face showed a deep blush under his tan. “Well…I...um, thought she either slipped or…um…something else was possible.”
Pam leveled her death stare on Harold causing him to shuffle nervously. “Something else, as you so delicately put it, is right, Mr. Chandler. I’ll need to ask you some more questions. How about you put your camera equipment away so we can get comfortable?” Pam pointed to Hannah, Ruby, and Samantha. “You can leave. I’ll find you tomorrow if I have more questions. And take the pig and the dog.”
Ruby scooped Maisy into her arms. She obviously wasn’t going to wait to be told twice.
Hannah clipped Petunia’s leash onto her halter while Samantha put her jacket back on. “Harold? Don’t forget to tell Deputy Larson about Gwen and Monique’s relationship. It was obvious to me that she wasn’t the least bit upset about what happened to Monique.”
Harold frowned.
Pam turned her attention to Hannah. “Who’s Gwen?”
“One of Harold’s models. I don’t know any particulars except the expression I saw on her face when you said Monique was dead.”
Pam pointed to a not very comfortable looking wooden chair at a small dining table. “Sit.”
Harold sat.
Pam sat across from him.
Hannah heard one last
question from Pam before she closed the door on her way out. “So, Harold, where were you when your girlfriend was murdered?”
Once they were in the hall, Hannah grabbed onto Ruby’s arm. “Did you hear that, too? Pam asked Harold where he was when Monique was murdered. It wasn’t an accident. He knew she couldn’t swim. Do you think he had anything to do with it?”
Chapter 6
Ruby hurried with a determined pace through the lobby and out the door.
“What’s the rush?” Hannah asked as she tried to keep up while Petunia dawdled at every plant and again when they were abreast of the outside fountain. “Oh no you don’t.” Hannah kept the leash short and managed to keep Petunia moving toward Samantha’s car.
“Meet me at my house. I’ll explain what I know when we’re all there.” Ruby continued to her car with a wiggling and whining Maisy in her arms.
“Something must have happened when she went looking for Juliette,” Hannah said to Samantha as they followed Ruby’s taillights. “And it just makes no sense that Juliette abandoned Maisy with Harold unless she was in some kind of trouble.”
“And now you’re thinking that she’s in hiding?” Samantha turned her head for a second to look at Hannah. “That she killed Monique?”
“That’s exactly what I’m thinking.” Hannah drummed her fingers on her still-wet jeans. Amid all the confusion, she hadn’t found the few minutes needed to change into Ruby’s dry clothes. “I hope we get some answers shortly.”
Samantha parked behind Ruby’s white Subaru. The house was dark with just the tiniest sliver of light peeking around the edge of her drapes. Someone was inside with some lights on. Hannah walked Petunia to her backyard pen and removed her leash and harness. “I’ll bring some food out in a minute.”
Petunia ambled over to her muddy corner, knelt on her front legs, and rolled. Hannah was sure she heard a long happy sigh escaping from Petunia. “At least you had a fun-filled adventure.”
Hannah took the last of Ruby’s apples, carrots, and a big zucchini from her kitchen while the murmur of voices coming from the front of the house piqued her curiosity. She hurried back out to feed Petunia, who trotted to the gate and waited patiently for her dinner. Hannah gave her a quick rub behind her ears where she was still nice and clean.
By the time Hannah joined the others, Ruby was arguing. “Juliette, if you disappear, you will look guilty.”
As far as Hannah was concerned, the looking guilty part had already happened. She turned to Juliette. “What’s going on? We saw you leaving the pool area when we arrived at the Paradise Inn.”
Ruby interrupted. “Go change your clothes first, Hannah. You’re still wet and I don’t want you to make a big stain on my couch. I’ll get some drinks and snacks while you’re changing.”
That was the best thing Hannah had heard for the past couple of hours. She had forgotten the dry clothes Ruby gave her in the car so she went through Ruby’s closet and found comfy sweatpants and a t-shirt. Peeling off her wet clothes and slipping into soft dry ones lifted her mood immensely.
“Okay,” Hannah said when she returned to the living room. “Juliette, you have some explaining to do.” She sat in Ruby’s wooden rocker next to the coffee table with all the food. Her stomach growled, reminding her that nothing had been sent down for way too long.
Maisy was curled on Juliette’s lap, sound asleep and snoring lightly after her busy afternoon. Ruby handed Hannah a glass of wine.
Juliette’s fingers rubbed Maisy’s paw. Her head hung and her long hair covered part of her face. “I heard Monique and Harold having a huge argument about how she was being too much of a prima donna. He threatened to give the top spot to Gwen if she didn’t shape up.”
“Did Harold know you heard the conversation?” Hannah asked after a satisfying sip of wine.
“I don’t know. That’s the problem. I was in the exercise room next to the back entrance to the pool. Harold grabbed Monique’s arm and she gasped. She told Harold, ‘That’s the last thing you’ll do to me,’ and then she laughed.”
“You think Harold followed her into the pool and pushed her in?”
Juliette shrugged. “Here’s the thing. I didn’t give any of it too much thought at the time. I know how Harold can be. He always gets his way so I was a little surprised at Monique’s words, but in light of what happened…” Her voice drifted off.
“What else, Juliette?” Hannah asked, keeping her voice soft.
Juliette finally looked at Hannah, her eyes sunken and haunted. “It wasn’t until after I took the shortcut through the pool area and saw her body at the bottom of the pool when I realized that Harold was certainly capable of killing Monique.” She looked at each person staring at her. “If he thought he’d get away with it and made it look like an accident.”
“Why did you dump Maisy and disappear, though?” Hannah couldn’t wrap her head around what Juliette said. Was she actually covering her tracks for something she had done to Monique?
Juliette shifted which caused Maisy to lift her head. “It’s okay,” Juliette crooned as she patted Maisy until she settled back down on her lap. “I know this all looks bad, but I guess I panicked. I wasn’t sure if Harold knew I was in the exercise room and heard the argument. If I left with Maisy, he’d definitely be suspicious so, as difficult as it was, I dropped Maisy off for the photoshoot and told Harold I wasn’t feeling well. He was mad but I ignored his scowl and left.”
“You panicked. Why didn’t you try to pull Monique out of the pool? Or at least go get help?” Hannah’s mind raced through all the possibilities that might have saved Monique’s life unless Juliette didn’t do any of them because she already knew that Juliette was dead.
Juliette pushed stray hairs out of her face. “Like I said before, I know it looks bad. I knew Monique didn’t know how to swim, so the fact that she was at the bottom of the pool just looked like more than an accident to me.” Her shoulders rose. “That’s the best answer I have.”
Ruby moved next to Juliette. She gave her a hug. “We’ll help you get through this. And now you have Maisy back.” She also threw Hannah a glare as if to say back off with all the questions.
“Until Harold gives me trouble,” Juliette said. She wiped a tear that leaked down her cheek.
“You’ll have to tell Deputy Larson what you heard,” Hannah said.
Juliette’s eyes opened wide. “I can’t. If I admit to being near the pool when Monique died, Harold will twist it so I’m the person who looks guilty.”
“But you overheard that argument. What would your motive be?” Ruby asked.
“Are you kidding? They all saw the terrible fight that I had with Monique after I found out it was her that tried to steal my wittle Maisy.”
“Oh, I forgot about that,” Ruby answered.
“And,” Juliette continued. “Monique,” she spit out the name, “is the reason that Harold and I are in the middle of this messy divorce to begin with. All she had to do was shake her tiny bottom and, well, Harold couldn’t help himself.” Her voice raised to a fevered pitch and her tears flowed freely by the time she finished that rant.
“I see your problem,” Hannah said. Actually, she saw more than a problem for Juliette, she saw the very real possibility that she’d committed a crime. And with the way Ruby was consoling Juliette, it wouldn’t be easy to convince Ruby that her friend might be a murderer.
Before anyone figured out what to do next, Ruby’s front door opened. Nellie and Patches burst through first, followed by Jack carrying a very limp and sound asleep Olivia. “I saw your car in the drive so I decided to bring her home.” He looked at the women sitting in the living room. “What’s going on here? Did someone die?”
Maisy jumped off Juliette’s lap to greet the two dogs as if she was the hostess. She danced around on her hind legs. She was probably figuring out how to offer a treat and a drink, Hannah thought as she watched the interaction.
Ruby relieved Jack of his duties and carried Olivia upstairs
.
Jack helped himself to the mostly untouched crackers and cheese. “So? Is someone going to tell me the news?”
“One of the models died at the Paradise Inn earlier,” Hannah said in a flat voice. “I pulled her out of the pool.”
Jack’s hand stopped midway to his mouth, his eyebrows arched up. “An accident?”
Hannah shook her head. “No, murder.”
Juliette stood. “It’s late and it’s time for me to leave. Tell Ruby I’ll call her tomorrow.” She didn’t stick around for any goodbyes.
“What’s her story? I hope I didn’t say something to send her packing so quickly,” Jack asked after the door closed behind Juliette.
“That’s Ruby’s friend, Juliette. It’s a long story, but the short version is that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Hannah explained.
“Oh. She’s a suspect. Or worse?”
“Something like that.” Hannah felt the exhaustion in her body and didn’t want to go into an explanation at the moment.
Ruby returned and picked up her unfinished wine. “Thanks for helping with Olivia, Jack. She mumbled something about ice cream?”
“That stinker! I told her that was our secret.”
Ruby laughed. “Where’s Juliette?”
“She said it was late and time for her to leave. She said she’d call you tomorrow,” Hannah explained.
“Where was she going? Back to the hotel?” Ruby’s voice trembled. “Why did you let her leave?”
“She’s a grown woman, Ruby. Why would I stop her?” Hannah shot an annoyed look at her sister. “You’re always telling me not to boss you around but you want me to boss your friend?”
“Jeez, Hannah.” Ruby ran her hands through her hair. “I’m afraid she’s going to disappear. I want to help her, not chase her away.”
Hannah sat next to Ruby. Their knees touched. “You do think she’s in trouble.”
“Of course I do but I was trying to calm her down. You kept asking all those questions and I could tell she was about to have a panic attack.”
Maisy jumped onto the couch next to Ruby. “Juliette left you here? I don’t like this at all.”