“I happened to pass by her office the day the Glow people gave it to her. You could see in her eyes how much it meant to her, how much she coveted it. I felt that was the least she owed me. I’d overheard Savannah on the phone, calling for a repair on it, so I figured it was stashed somewhere. I almost missed it because the tote was on your end of the room, but thank goodness I remembered Ulla had a flowered tote. Just as I lifted it out of the bag, though, I heard someone coming. I panicked and in my haste, the Walnut Meadows gloss fell inside the bag. I figured I’d just come back for it later, but when I did, the gloss was gone. I never thought the cat might have taken it, but I did think that maybe it rolled out of the bag and got mixed up with your stuff.”
“That’s why you broke in the other night. To look for it. And that’s when you lost the necklace?”
“I thought I’d fixed the clasp, but it was still too loose. It fell off and rolled across the floor. I didn’t have a chance to hunt for it because that damn patrol car was too close.”
“The police have it. Your fingerprints will be on it.”
“Yeah, along with tons of others. You and your friend won’t be around to tell any tales, and by the time the police figure everything out, I’ll be long gone.”
I took another step backward. “You know, it’s still not too late for you, Laura. Your sister’s accident and eventual death took a large toll on you. You and your sister were very close, weren’t you? I’m sure with a good lawyer—”
Her eyes widened, and she broke in, saying, “Are you suggesting that I plead insanity?” Her fingers tightened on the barrel of the gun. “Hell, I’m not insane. I’ve never been saner in my life. What was insane is the way Ulla Townsend, or Beckman as she was called in those days, was allowed to get away with murder. Because, in a sense, she did murder my sister. Maddie’s life stopped the day she was injured in that accident. I wouldn’t call what she went through after that living—not by a long shot.”
“Ulla must have felt the same way. Savannah told me she was desperately trying to get in touch with a woman she called Miggs. She had no idea Maddie had died.”
“Hah! I watched her carefully when I worked at that studio in Charleston. She started going to a therapist to work out her anger issues, but it had nothing to do with wanting to make things right. Heck no. Do you know what was behind all that? Getting that damn Glow contract, that’s what!”
I took another two steps backward and felt the rim of the desk hit against my butt. “Really?”
“Yep. She’d heard that someone at Glow thought that she was too confrontational to be a spokeswoman for their product, so she went to that therapist, Dr. Gray. When I found that out, I made an appointment too, under an assumed name, of course. I managed to strike up an acquaintance with Gray’s assistant, and one night when Gray was out of town, we had ourselves a little wine party in the office.” She let out a low chuckle. “That gal has zero tolerance for booze. When she was worshipping the porcelain god in the bathroom, I found Ulla’s file and snapped photos of the contents. It was quite revealing.”
I stole a quick glance at my wristwatch. “In what way?”
“Ulla’s therapist told her that all her past indiscretions from her youth were the reason for her pent-up rage, and if she could make good with the people she’d wronged, why, it could be a real turning point for her. She was so desperate to make those Glow people like her, she’d have jumped off a bridge if she thought it would help.” Abruptly she waved the gun in the air. “I think we’ve done enough talking. Give me that lip gloss.”
It’s now or never, I thought, and focused my gaze on a point over Laura’s left shoulder. “Oh my God!” I cried.
Laura turned her head to see what had attracted my attention, and I took advantage of the momentary distraction to hurl myself over the desk. Laura’s head snapped around, and I heard her say angrily, “Nice try, but you’re forgetting I’m the one with the gun. Now come out from behind that desk and give me that lip gloss, or—”
The rest of what she was about to say was cut off as I sprang upward, Vi’s can of White Rain hairspray clutched in my hand. Before Laura could react, I raised the can and sprayed her full in the face. She dropped the gun and scrubbed her hands across her face with an agonized wail. I leapt over the desk and made a beeline for the gun. My fingers closed over the butt of the handle just as Laura whirled about and rammed herself into my back. We both went down, legs flailing. I tried to reach for the gun, but she grabbed my arm and held on tight. Her eyes were red and watery, her face a mask of rage.
“You little interfering witch,” she rasped. “It’s going to give me great pleasure to rid the world of you.” Her fingers tightened on my arm, twisted it. “Give me that lip gloss!”
In answer, I brought up my knee and hit her square in the stomach. She fell back with a grunt. I tried to get to my feet, but she reached out and grabbed the edge of my jacket and pulled me down. She shoved me back against the desk and pushed to her feet, grabbing the gun as she did so. She backed up against the door and leaned there, then raised the gun and pointed it at me. “Okay, I’m through being nice,” she growled. “The lip gloss.”
I shook my head. “You’re going to have to shoot me before I’ll give that up.”
Her lips curved into a sneer. “If you insist—oh!”
A shadow loomed up in the doorway behind Laura, a shadow who moved quickly. Will grabbed the wrist that held the gun with one hand and clamped the other around the barrel, snapping it out of her grasp before she could react. “Well, well,” Will said. “What have we here?” He pushed Laura over to the side, and another policeman appeared from the hallway. He took Laura away from Will and handcuffed her wrists behind her back.
“Take her out and read her her rights,” Will said. He still held Laura’s gun in one hand. As the policeman led Laura out, Will walked over to the desk, set the gun down, and then turned to me. “So this is what you call not doing any investigating?”
“Sorry,” I mumbled. “I figured out what happened to the poisoned lip gloss. Leila said that I should call you, but I wanted to get proof first.” I sucked in my breath. “Oh my gosh, Leila! Laura said she knocked her out!”
“She’s fine now. Leila saw someone in the shadows when you went in, and she dialed nine-one-one just before Laura knocked her out. Dispatch alerted me.” He folded his arms across his chest. “What were you saying about the lip gloss?”
I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out the shiny brown cylinder. “Leila and I watched a video of a klepto cat on YouTube, and it struck me that Annie Reilly had the same tendencies. Annie especially liked the bullet-shaped charm on Ulla’s necklace, and since the lip gloss cover is shiny and the same shape—”
“You thought maybe it appealed to her. Not bad,” Will said. He reached out and took the tube of gloss from me. “Of course now it’s got both your prints and the cat’s, but maybe we can still get DNA off the tube.”
“And if that fails, we have Laura’s confession.” I walked over to where my cell phone still lay on the floor and scooped it up. “I set it to record when she told me to put it down, and hopefully it did.” I hit the button, and Laura’s voice echoed clearly through the room. “Of course I killed Ulla.”
Will’s brows lifted and he let out a deep chuckle. “Can’t beat that,” he said.
Chapter Twenty-Four
It was Friday afternoon, a little after four, and Kat, Maggie, Leila, Will, and I were all gathered at Dayna’s café for a little impromptu celebration of the successful closing of the case and exonerating Maggie of murder. Dayna had baked her specialty, a rich carrot cake, for the occasion. I’d just finished my slice and was reaching for a second when Leila asked, “So, what’s going to happen to Laura?”
“Well, she’ll be arraigned,” Will said. “I’m sure she’ll take Syd’s advice and hire a good lawyer, but even with an insanity plea, I rather think she’ll end up serving time. Thanks to Syd, I had a nice little recording to p
lay for the DA. She sure sounded like she knew full well what she was doing. The DA thinks we’ve got a good case, and she can’t wait to throw the book at her.”
Dayna emerged from the kitchen, a steaming coffeepot in hand. “Oh, she knew what she was doing all right,” she said. “Hell-bent on revenge maybe, but crazy? Like a fox.”
Maggie sighed. “I’m not sure whether to hate Laura or to feel sorry for her. In a way, she was a victim of Ulla’s machinations too.”
“Yep.” Will held out his mug for a refill. “She did come slightly unhinged after her sister’s death. Oh, and I found out Laura had another reason besides revenge for leaving her job at the cable station. They were giving all the employees psych evaluations, and guess who the examining doctor was?”
Leila and I both said it together. “Not Dr. Gray?”
“The very same. Even though she’d worn a wig and used a phony name, she was still afraid that Dr. Gray would recognize her, and if that happened, well, her career there would be over anyway.”
“Not to mention she probably would have failed a psych evaluation,” Maggie observed.
“Amen to that.” Leila touched the sore spot on the side of her head where Laura had clocked her with the gun butt. “I agree with Dayna’s assessment. She’s crazy like a fox, and I hope they throw away the key in her case.”
“I guess all the CNC people are finally headed back to Charleston now?” Kat asked.
“Oh, yes, and according to Wendy Sweeting, ‘not a moment too soon,’ ” Will said with a chuckle. “I can’t say I’m sorry to see them go either.”
“I bet Tara’s glad,” I remarked. “She mentioned Wendy was starting to get on her nerves. I wonder what will happen to Ken and Savannah’s book and movie deal now?”
“I was curious about that myself,” Leila admitted, “so I put out some feelers. From what my source was able to piece together, Ken promised to get Ulla the Glow deal in exchange for Ulla’s signing the book rights back to Savannah. At the same time, though, he was undercutting Ulla with the Glow people, making a pitch for Candy to become the spokeswoman. He was doing some pretty fancy juggling.”
“And he wasn’t afraid of Ulla’s wrath?” Dayna asked.
“Guess not,” Leila said with a shrug. “I guess he figured he’d be making enough from the combo book and movie deal with Savannah, to tell Ulla to take a hike. My source said he was getting pretty sick of her high-handed ways.”
“What a rat!” Kat cried. “Ken wasn’t above double-crossing anyone, was he?”
“Nope. Of course once Ulla died, he threw his hat full force in the ring for Candy Carmichael for Glow. I do have to say, though, one person he never tried to cheat was Savannah.”
“Because he needed her,” Maggie put in. “I hear she’s a very talented writer.”
“I’ll reserve judgment on that till after I read the book,” I said with a chuckle. “I imagine it’s full steam ahead for both projects.”
“Yes, but I bet Ken won’t see very much of the profits if Cathy has anything to say about it,” Leila said. “I heard she’s taking him back to court and demanding a slice of that pie—a very large slice.”
“Well, I hope she gets it, and more,” declared Dayna. “And what about Miss Candy Carmichael? Did she end up with the Glow deal?”
“Actually, no,” Leila said. She reached up to twist an auburn curl around her finger. “After all this drama, Miss Candy decided she’d had enough of Ken Colgate, Glow, and CNC. She turned down the Glow deal, and I understand she quit CNC. Not to worry, though. My source told me she got a sweet deal with a major network retailer. Candy will be back, selling products, but to a much wider audience.”
“And I bet she got a sweet raise too,” I said with a sigh. “Some people just step in it. So, who ended up as the Glow spokesperson? Please don’t tell me Savannah.”
“Oh, no. Savannah’s too busy plotting out her next novel. I heard they were thinking of approaching Sofia Vergara.”
A plaintive “merow” sounded from underneath the table, and Toby stuck his head out. I reached down to give him a pat. “Gossip aside, we should all be thanking Toby. If he hadn’t directed my attention to the video of the klepto cat, I might not have figured it all out.”
“Oh, you would have,” Maggie said. She covered my hand with hers. “You’ve got a real flair for detection, Syd.”
“I agree,” Leila added. “You’re a junior Nancy Drew.”
“Fine.” I wrinkled my nose at her. “Then you have to be either my Bess Marvin or my George Fayne. I’ll let you pick.”
“Hmm.” Leila scratched her head as she pondered my question. Finally she said, “I’ll take George. She’s more daring.”
Will’s phone rang, and he excused himself to take the call. Leila leaned over and hissed in my ear, “If I’m George, then does that mean Will’s your Ned Nickerson?” she said with an impish grin. “Or do you have someone else in mind for that role?”
“Merow” sounded loudly from underneath the table.
I started to laugh. “I think you just got your answer.”
Kat rapped on the table. “Before Maggie and I leave to check on that new litter of kittens, I wanted to impart some really good news. Vi called a little while ago. It seems that video of Annie Reilly piqued a lot of people’s interest. We’ve got ten applications for adoption for her so far, and there are more coming.”
We all applauded. “Thank goodness Annie’s story has a happy ending,” I said. “I felt bad that out of all the cats at the event that day, she was the only one not adopted. Now she’s got more applicants for a ‘furever’ home than we can count.”
“And I’ll be going over each one very carefully to ensure that Annie gets in the best home possible,” Kat said. “Thank God for YouTube videos. Sometimes they do come in handy.”
As Kat and Maggie rose, I pushed back my own chair. “I’ll come with—” I began, but Maggie held up her hand.
“You most certainly will not. You will stay here and enjoy your moment. And,” she added, “no one deserves it more.”
I grinned at the two of them. “Okay, fine. But if you need help with the kitties or going over those applications for Annie, call.”
Kat glanced over toward the corner where Will stood and wiggled both eyebrows. “You do the same,” she said with a chuckle.
Leila glanced at her watch, then jumped up. “I’ve got to get going too.”
“What’s this? Everyone’s leaving me?” I made a face and tugged at my pal’s jacket. “Where are you going?”
“Home to change. Jim’s picking me up in an hour. We’re going to try out that new Thai restaurant in Berwick.”
I stared at her. “You can eat Thai food after two large slices of carrot cake?”
Leila patted her slim stomach. “Honey, I can eat Thai food anytime! It’s my favorite. You’re welcome to join us—and Will too, of course.” She looked over at him significantly and then shifted her gaze back to me. “You never answered my question, you know.”
“What question was that?”
Her Gucci-shod foot tapped impatiently on the parquet floor. “Oh, you know, but in case you’ve forgotten, I’ll repeat it. Has Will’s kissing technique improved since high school?” Thank God, her phone buzzed just then, because I hadn’t the faintest idea how to answer. She dug through her purse for her phone, looked at the screen, and let out a gasp. “Heck! He’s going to be early! I’ve got to leave now.” She tossed the phone back in her bag and started for the door. “Tonight, Nancy Drew. I want my answer. If you’re not up, I’m waking you.”
The door banged shut, and I looked up to see Will standing over me. “I’ve got good news and bad news,” he said. “Which do you want first?”
I sighed. “Let’s have the good news.”
“Okay. Callahan gave his notice.”
I almost fell out of my chair. “What? He did? When? Where’s he going?”
“One at a time,” Will said, and chuckled. “H
e gave it to Connolly about an hour ago. Turns out that he met with some of the Macon PD brass the other night. His uncle set it up.”
I recalled the incident at Antonio’s and shook my head. “His uncle didn’t trust Connolly to give him the job, huh?”
“Guess not. Anyway, they made him an offer he simply couldn’t refuse, quote unquote, and he’s headed back to Georgia even as we speak.”
“Tsk-tsk,” I said. “What is it with the Deer Park PD? They can’t seem to hold onto their senior homicide detectives.”
Will’s grin broadened. “Oh, I think they’ll be able to hold onto their newest one.”
I stared at him. “So that means you got Bennington’s slot?”
“Yep. Whether it was by default or not, I don’t know, and I don’t care.”
“That’s terrific!” My smile morphed into a puzzled frown. “That’s two pieces of good news though, right? You said you had good news and bad news?”
“The bad news is part of the good news. Connolly wants me to consult with another homicide detective on a case in Flemington. Tonight. So—”
“Friday night dinner’s on hold—again.” I sighed. “It’s okay, Will. I understand.” My eyes sparkled with mischief as I added, “I’ll find something else to occupy my time.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Just as long as the ‘something else’ doesn’t involve a dead body, I’m okay with that.” He reached out and took both my hands in his. He looked deeply into my eyes as he said, “You like to take chances, Syd, but one of these days I might not get there in time to protect you.”
“Merow,” came from underneath the table.
“See, even your cat agrees,” Will said with a laugh.
“Hey, it didn’t turn out so bad,” I protested. “I got you a taped confession, didn’t I?”
He released my hands and moved his up to rest on my shoulders. “You do know that you could have gotten yourself killed with that little stunt. If Leila hadn’t had the presence of mind to make that call before she got knocked out, and if I hadn’t gotten there in time, and if that can of hairspray hadn’t been in the desk drawer, and if—”
Death by a Whisker Page 23