by Laura Durham
Darla leaned on Buster’s arm. “We had a floral inspiration while we were sitting at the bar.”
Leave it to Darla and Debbie to get inspiration on a bar stool.
Debbie clapped her hands. “We want to recreate the wall of magnolias that they have behind the bar.”
Mack looked around at the towering marble hall of the museum flanked by two sweeping stairways. “Where do you envision putting up a magnolia wall?”
Darla waved toward the opposite end of the hall. “We thought it could go behind the band as a backdrop.”
Mack fiddled with his goatee. “That could work.” He walked forward a few steps, and we all followed him into the main hall. “I see a matching garland of magnolia draping across the front and coming down the banisters.”
“Perfect,” Debbie said. “Now where are we putting the bars?”
Richard stepped forward with the floor plan. “Since you wanted more bars than we normally would do for two hundred guests, we have two down here with the bourbon bar and two upstairs.”
“Shouldn’t we have a bourbon bar upstairs as well?” Darla asked, digging in her purse. She produced a miniature cocktail shaker covered in pink crocodile. “I’d hate for guests to have to hunt around for it.”
Richard made a few marks on the floor plan. “So that makes two bourbon bars, one up and one down.”
I tried not to gawk as Darla shook the cocktail shaker vigorously. Was she going to make herself a drink in the middle of the museum?
“Perfect,” Debbie said. “Now let’s talk about the decorative ponies.”
All of our mouths dropped open as we stared at the women. Darla took a swig from her shaker.
“I’m sorry.” Buster gave his head a jiggle as if to clear his ears. “Did you say ponies?”
“That’s right.” Debbie hopped up and down. “We thought another way to personalize the wedding would be to have miniature ponies wandering around the cocktail hour for guests to pet. I used to love horses as a girl. You did say that we should bring personal elements into the wedding, didn’t you, Annabelle?”
Richard gave me a sugary sweet smile. “Well, Annabelle?” He was loving this.
Mack turned to me. “Technically, ponies wouldn’t fall under decor.”
Oh no. He wasn’t pawning this off on me. Where would I find midget horses?
“I think they would since they’re called ‘decorative ponies,’” I said.
“They’re not decorative unless they have flowers on them,” Mack countered.
“What a wonderful idea!” Darla said. “We should have floral wreaths around the ponies’ necks.”
Kate grinned at Buster and Mack. “Ponies as floral decor. What will you think of next?”
“You don’t want to know,” Buster grumbled.
“As great an idea as this is, I doubt the museum will go for it.” I watched the women’s faces fall.
“Decorative ponies would also require special permits,” Richard said. “Now if you wanted to use dogs or cats, that’s another matter, but horses, sheep, and ducks need a permit.”
Not surprising that Richard would know this. He had a knack for knowing every obscure city rule and ordinance, which came in handy when clients made odd requests.
I jumped in before Debbie got the urge to have cats wandering around her wedding. I could imagine sounds of hissing and yowling cats wafting above the string quartet. Not to mention the number of extra Band-Aids I’d need for all the guests who’d get scratched. “I think you have plenty of personal touches already. Not every wedding has a cake in the shape of the groom’s dog.”
Debbie didn’t look convinced. “Well, if you’re sure we don’t need the ponies…”
“Oh, I’m sure.” I gave them a reassuring smile. “Trust me.”
“Of course we do, darling. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work.” Darla took a final drink from her cocktail shaker and dropped it back in her Burberry bag. Now I knew why she always carried an oversized purse. “Can you finish up the rest without us? We have tennis in half an hour.”
“We’re as good as done,” I said, and followed the women back to the front doors.
“I’ll send you the revised floor plan this afternoon,” Richard said.
Buster adjusted the goggles on his head. “And we’ll add the magnolia wall and garland into the proposal and send you a new copy.”
“Don’t forget the ponies,” Kate said under her breath, and got glares from both Buster and Mack.
“No rush, dolls.” Darla gave both men a smile that looked a bit like a leer.
“Fabulous to see you all.” Debbie blew air kisses as she followed her mother’s weaving path out of the museum.
Once the doors had closed behind the women, Kate let out a long breath. “Wow. They’re really off their knockers.”
Chapter 22
“I’m not feeling so great after all.” Kate slumped down in the passenger seat of my car and pressed her hand to her forehead. “Maybe I should skip Carolyn’s viewing.”
Richard reached from the backseat and felt her head. “You’re fine. If I have to go, you have to go.” He turned to me. “Why do we have to go again?”
“Because it’s the right thing to do and it will be the perfect chance to find out more information about Carolyn.” I pulled out of the parking garage and merged into traffic on Twelfth Street. “I’m sure all the suspects will be there since her memorial service is on Saturday and we all work.”
Kate moaned and pressed her head against the window.
“Nice try, Kate,” I said. “You’re coming.”
“What happened to the outpouring of sympathy I got this morning?” she said. “I was involved in a murder last night, remember?”
“Oh, please.” Richard hated when anyone else got overly dramatic. “Being within the general vicinity of a corpse does not make you involved. I’m the one whose party was ruined.”
“That’s right,” I said as I cut over onto Massachusetts Avenue. “You’re taking this pretty well considering someone died at your event.”
Richard shrugged. “She was strangled. No one can blame the caterer for that.”
“Poor Stephanie,” I said. “I still can’t believe she’s dead. Why would anyone want to kill her?”
“Well, she never sent me any business,” Richard said. “I’m not asking for every party, but she could have thrown me a bone.”
“How much business could she have had?” I said. “She was really new to weddings.”
“Didn’t she have a business partner when she started?” Kate asked.
Richard snickered. “You mean last month?”
I looked at him in the rearview mirror. “That’s not nice. We haven’t been around long, either. I think the other girl must have been her assistant because she looked even younger than Stephanie.”
“Talk about the blind needing the blind,” Kate said.
“I think that’s ‘leading the blind.’” Richard stuck his head between the two front seats. “Add one more person and they could call it the Three Blind Mice Agency.”
I scowled at both of them as they collapsed into laughter. “You’re awful.”
Kate regained her composure. “Maybe the other planners were jealous because Stephanie was so young and bouncy.”
“Do you really think someone strangled her because she was perky?” I gave Kate a sideways glance. We went around Dupont Circle and continued down Massachusetts. “That doesn’t seem like much of a motive.”
Kate turned the heat up in the car. “Have you considered that maybe these are all random, unconnected deaths?”
“They can’t be unconnected.” Richard leaned forward and stuck his head between our seats again. “All the victims are wedding planners. Maybe some deranged bride whose wedding was ruined by her wedding planner is on a rampage.”
I glared at him in the rearview mirror as he sat back in his seat. “Thanks, Richard. That’s comforting.”
He gave me a smu
g grin. “Just trying to do my part to solve the crimes.”
“Let’s think this thing through,” I said. “We know that Carolyn and Eleanor had some things in common and some mutual enemies.”
“They both started the Wedding Shoppe and Byron worked for them before he got fired.” Kate started counting on her fingers.
“Don’t forget that Gail worked at the Wedding Shoppe, too,” Richard said.
Kate whistled. “Did anyone in the wedding business not work for the Wedding Shoppe?”
“I forgot about Gail,” I said as we drove down Embassy Row. “Did she work there with Eleanor or did she come afterward?”
Richard tapped his chin. “Afterward, I think.”
“Remember that Margery said that she and Lucille had just started working at the store when Carolyn got rid of Eleanor,” Kate said. “She didn’t mention Gail being there at the same time.”
“So we have Byron, Gail, and Eleanor all getting fired by Carolyn.” I said. We turned onto Wisconsin Avenue and passed the National Cathedral. “Any one of them could have killed her.”
“Except Eleanor was murdered, so she can’t be the killer,” Kate reminded me.
“You’re forgetting Lucille and Margery,” Richard said.
Kate turned around in her seat. “Are you kidding? Why would they kill Carolyn? They seemed to worship her, and now that she’s gone, they’re going to lose their jobs.”
“If you ask me, anyone who worked for Carolyn would have a reason to kill her,” Richard said.
“I don’t see their motivation,” I said. “They had the most to lose with Carolyn dead.”
“What about those two sales clerks that Carolyn fired the week before she died?” Kate asked. “We should put them on the list of suspects.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I think it’s a stretch, but I guess we should include them. And there’s Carolyn’s husband, who inherited everything she owned. Money is a pretty strong motive.”
“And the mystery person who bought the Wedding Shoppe.” Kate wagged a finger at me. “You know what they say. Leave no stone unburned.”
Richard rolled his eyes. “Oy.” I could tell when he’d been catering bar mitzvahs.
I stopped at a red light and leaned against the steering wheel. “I’d love to find out who snapped up Carolyn’s business. Maybe the murderer plotted against Carolyn because they wanted the business, not because they hated her.”
“And they killed Eleanor and Stephanie because they’d gotten the hang of it?” Kate asked.
“My theory has a few holes,” I admitted. “So we have a slew of people who could have killed Carolyn, but only Byron had it out for both Carolyn and Eleanor. And none of them had a reason to kill all three wedding planners. Either we’re overlooking something that connects them to each other or the killer is someone we haven’t even thought of yet.”
Richard sighed. “You’re completely forgetting that Maxwell had a link to all the women.”
“If Maxwell killed everyone he’d seduced, half the population of the city would disappear,” Kate said.
“Maybe he didn’t kill them, but the killer had some reason to kill women that Maxwell has been involved with.” Richard rolled down his window. “It’s stifling in here.”
“Do you mean like a psychotic former lover who decides to kill every other woman who has been in his life?” Kate wrapped her coat around her. “Now it’s freezing.”
“Not all of us are wearing micro minis,” Richard complained as he rolled his window back up.
“That would almost be a relief because then we would be in the clear,” I said. Kate remained silent. “Wouldn’t we?”
“Of course,” Kate gasped. “I do have my standards, you know.”
Richard opened his mouth to say something, and Kate whirled around and pointed a finger at him. “Not a word.”
He held up his hands and assumed his most angelic face. “I wouldn’t dream of it, darling.”
“Carolyn’s viewing is going to be the perfect place for us to find out who had the strongest motives,” I said. “All the suspects will be there, I’m sure.”
“You want us to question people who are there to mourn?” Kate asked.
“This is Carolyn,” Richard reminded us. “I doubt too many people will actually be mourning.”
“This may be the only time we’ll have everyone in one place, including Carolyn’s husband,” I said. “It will be the perfect time to see who’s acting suspicious or guilty. Then we narrow down the suspects and the motives and we’ll have found our killer.”
Richard didn’t look so sure. “Let’s hope the killer doesn’t find out what we’re up to first.”
Chapter 23
“Funeral homes give me the creeps.” Kate walked up the sidewalk to the stately white building with columns and large double doors. A hearse sat in the side driveway with a row of black limousines.
“I prefer the old-fashioned term ‘funeral parlor,’” Richard said. “Makes it sound more festive.”
“Cut it out, you two.” I stopped outside the front doors and gave them each a warning look. “We’re here to find out as much as we can about the victims and what they might have in common. It could be our only chance to have all the suspects in one place.”
“Can I go on record for saying that stirring up information about a murderer is not a great idea?” Richard said. “You might make yourselves the next targets.”
“We’re going to be subtle, not broadcast to the world that we’re searching for clues,” I said. “Anyway, if we don’t find out who’s killing wedding planners, we could be next whether we investigate or not.”
Richard put his hands on his hips. “You don’t think our detective friends can find the murderer without your help, or would it be too much to ask you not to nose around in a mystery?”
“There is a difference between being nosy and gathering information,” I protested. “The police can’t move in the same industry circles that we can, otherwise I’d let them have at it. Anyway, no harm ever came from asking a few questions.”
“Where have I heard that before?” Richard muttered.
“There you are.” Fern rushed out the front doors waving his monogrammed handkerchief. That thing had really been getting a workout lately. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
I looked at my watch. “Are we late? We had to do a walk-through.”
Fern gave us all weepy hugs. “It’s awful in there.”
Kate gulped. “Lots of crying?”
“No.” Fern lowered his voice. “They put Carolyn in a shiny white casket with gold trim. It looks like she’s in a Camry.”
Richard’s mouth gaped open and he pushed past us to go inside. “This I have to see.”
We followed Richard into the foyer of the funeral home and were greeted solemnly by an employee in a dark suit with a white carnation boutonnière. The building was carpeted in wall-to-wall light blue plush that muffled our footsteps and gave me the urge to whisper. Several groupings of conservative navy blue and beige living room furniture were placed throughout the spacious lobby, and marble busts sat on small platforms jutting out from the walls.
“Carnations,” Kate whispered to me.
Fern let out a low whistle. “Don’t be alarmed, girls. They’re everywhere.”
Carolyn would have died at the thought of a supermarket flower being at her funeral. All we had to do was add some baby’s breath and the horror would be complete.
“Crabbe is this way.” Richard pointed to the sign directing guests to various rooms and he led the way down the hall and past several closed sets of double doors. A pair of columns with marble busts stood at waist level outside each viewing room. This place was really big on the Classical era. I wondered if there were bodies in all of these rooms. As we got to the end of the hall, I could hear the buzz of voices getting louder.
Fern grabbed us by the arms before we reached the wide doorway to the viewing room with two marble heads on either side.
“I have to warn you about Carolyn.”
“You don’t have to worry about me going anywhere near the body,” Kate said.
Fern turned to me. “I don’t want you to be surprised. It’s pretty crowded in the casket. They’re burying her with her day planner, cell phone, and wedding day walkie-talkie.”
“Excuse me?”
Fern elbowed me. “I guess she planned to coordinate weddings from the beyond.”
“Talk about being a workaholic,” Kate said.
“When they say you can’t take it with you, I guess they don’t mean work,” Richard said. I could see that they were both trying hard not to laugh.
I elbowed them. “Get it together, you two. We can’t go in there giggling.”
“You won’t be laughing once you see the Camry.” Fern went into the room and motioned for us to follow.
He had vanished into the sea of people by the time Kate and Richard had stopped giggling and we’d stepped into the viewing room. I could see the bright white and gold casket gleaming against the far wall surrounded by sprays of flowers and wreaths on stands. I recognized some of the wedding industry regulars like Maxwell holding court with his usual gaggle of young women, but also a lot of unfamiliar faces. They must have been friends and family, but I had a hard time imagining Carolyn having a life outside of wedding planning.
“Why don’t we split up?” I said to Kate and Richard. “That way we can talk to more people.”
“I’m going to get a better look at that casket.” Richard set off across the room before I could stop him.
“I’ll go talk to Byron.” Kate tugged the neckline of her sweater dress down. “He may be known for flirting, but two can play at that game.”
Byron Wolfe might have been the biggest kiss-up in the business, but no one could flirt more shamelessly than Kate. If anyone could charm information out of him, she could.
I took a moment to scan the crowd. Gail and Botox Barbie seemed deep in conversation and kept glancing over at Byron. Gail seemed more than a little jittery, and Barbie seemed more than a little drunk. Did the funeral home have a bar?