Alibis and Amethysts

by Sharon Pape

  “I’m surprised Theo didn’t come with you,” Sierra said, her cheeks pinking up again now that handcuffs were no longer on the evening’s agenda.

  “It doesn’t generally take two of us to deliver good news,” he said, his face relaxing into a smile. He turned back to Jaye. “Sorry to have interrupted things; have yourselves a good evening.”

  “Thanks,” Jaye said. Now if he could just make the pesky little murder case disappear, they’d be really grateful.

  Chapter 21

  “I’ve got it!” Sierra announced when she came into the shop three days later. Jaye was busy putting out the shipment of crystals and gemstones that had arrived in the morning, but she immediately set the loose crystals she was holding on top of the display case.

  “No Bryn today?” Sierra asked, looking around.

  “She had a toothache; so it’s just me. And sadly enough I’ve discovered that I enjoy her company more than my own. How did the picture turn out?”

  “I haven’t looked yet. I wanted to see it at the same time you did.”

  “Weren’t you going crazy wondering about it on the drive back from Flagstaff?”

  “I’ve built my hopes up so much that I didn’t want to be disappointed all alone. And if it came out great, I’d rather share that with you too.”

  “I don’t think I would have had the willpower to wait,” Jaye admitted.

  “Kind of like when I tried to be a vegetarian and went seriously crazy before the end of the first week?”

  “No, more like I’m going to grab that envelope out of your hand in a second and tear it open with my teeth.”

  “Okay, okay,” Sierra said with an anxious laugh. She opened the envelope slowly, careful not to tear the photo inside. When she finally withdrew it, she and Jaye banged heads as they leaned over it. “It’s a good thing we both have thick skulls.” She laughed again, rubbing the sore spot.

  “I thought he was going to enlarge it more than this,” Jaye said, as though she hadn’t even felt the blow.

  “I know, but he told me when he went bigger it became too blurry.”

  Jaye picked up the photo and stared at it from different angles. It was definitely Adam Grayson, and he was sitting at a desk that was different from the one in the gallery, so it was probably in his home. He was bent over the desk working on something, but it was impossible to see what that was. The jagged white cracks were still there in the enlargement, looking like lightning in a bad electrical storm. And they still obliterated most of the desk. The only thing Jaye could make out were some random shapes and colors. She almost felt sorry for Peggy, who had no doubt racked her brain to think of the safest hiding place for the photo only to have it permanently damaged there.

  “I can’t believe it,” Sierra said glumly, tears welling in her eyes. “What do we do now?”

  Jaye couldn’t remember ever hearing her friend sound quite so hopeless and disheartened. If her own disappointment was more modest, it was probably because her life was littered with all the times she’d been brought to her knees. Sierra was the eternal optimist, the one whose glass was not just half full but overflowing, and Jaye needed her to remain that way for both their sakes. She tried to think of comforting words, but all that came to her were hackneyed phrases and greeting card tripe. So she wrapped Sierra in a powerful hug instead. “I’ll think of something,” she said with all the certainty she could muster. And by the time they drew apart an idea had started forming in her brain.

  ***

  Jaye waited until Tuesday, when Sierra would be too busy baking to sniff out what she was up to. The last thing she needed was someone trying to talk her out of her mission when her own good sense was already trying to shut her down. She awoke that morning to a loud crash from the direction of the kitchen. Since Raffles was no longer in bed, there was a good chance she was responsible for whatever had caused that worrisome noise. Jaye jumped out of bed and ran to the kitchen, hoping to contain any further damage. She found the not-a-cat on top of the stove, looking down at the shattered glass bowl and smashed eggs that covered half the floor. She turned at Jaye’s gasp, her shiny black eyes all innocence and bewilderment as if to say, “Don’t look at me—I’ve got no idea how that happened.”

  “I take it you were hungry?” Jaye said as she pulled the roll of paper towels off its dispenser and started cleaning up the carnage. Raffles watched from her perch, and the moment the floor was once again clean, she climbed down, as lithe as any domestic cat, and planted herself beside her dish with a plaintive trill.

  “I’ll have your breakfast ready in a minute, Your Highness. Let’s see if any eggs survived the massacre.” Jaye found a solitary egg along with a doorknob, a tennis ball and a Lego building block. She was no longer surprised by the results of the not-a-cat’s barter system, but she’d been trying to teach the animal to ask before appropriating any of her personal items. She really missed her elastic ponytail band with the mother-of-pearl flower, especially when she saw a local teenager sporting it. She could imagine all sorts of repercussions from Raffles’s trading habits. It was only a matter of time before there was an uptick in the number of reported burglaries.

  After making Raffles’s breakfast, one egg sunny-side up, Jaye set the coffee to brew and went back to the bedroom to get dressed, hoping the little kitchen disaster didn’t bode ill for the rest of the day. But she hit a brick wall trying to put an outfit together for her little clandestine operation. Her wardrobe tended to be conservative, in spite of Sierra’s repeated efforts to drag her out of her comfort zone. A month ago, out of sheer weariness, Jaye had finally surrendered to the pressure and purchased a few pieces under her friend’s tutelage. Then she’d hung them in the back of her closet with all the tags still on and a vague plan to return them one day. When she came upon them that morning she immediately knew there would never be a more perfect time to wear some of the things. The black skinny jeans felt like they’d shrunk and might take an entire village to zip up. After she’d wrestled her way into them, she added the jade green blouse that offered a hint of cleavage and the ridiculous black stilettos that made the balls of her feet burn after ten minutes. The irony wasn’t lost on her that she was finally wearing the outfit Sierra had campaigned so hard for her to buy, but for a purpose Sierra would never have sanctioned.

  Without the weekend traffic snarls, she arrived in Uptown Sedona a few minutes after ten and parked in front of Adam Grayson’s gallery. She turned off the engine and in that moment almost lost her nerve. All she had to do was start the car again, make a U-turn and head back to her shop. No one would be the wiser. She sat there for several minutes, the debate raging in her head. Play it safe or go for it? Wait for fate to call the shots or try to direct her own destiny? If Sierra and she wound up in prison cells, would she spend the rest of her life racked by a coward’s guilt? Since she had no patience for people who wasted time dithering over a decision, she ordered herself to stop overthinking the matter and just get on with it.

  When she walked into the gallery, Adam was at his desk going through a stack of papers. He glanced up at the sound of the bell announcing her arrival. “Hey, Jaye. Great to see you again.” She wondered if he greeted every customer with the same degree of enthusiasm. “Does this mean you’ve received an unexpected windfall?”

  Jaye stopped near a bronze sculpture of a girl on a galloping horse, her hair, like the animal’s mane and tail, blowing behind them in the wind. “I wish,” Jaye said, flashing him the brightest smile in her bag of tricks. “I just came to visit the artwork I covet but may never own.”

  Adam pushed back from the desk and stood up. In beige chinos and a lavender polo, he was as striking as the first time she’d visited the gallery. He joined her beside the sculpture. “I’ve heard a lot of people mention Crystal Clear and your lectures. You’re developing a name for yourself. I wouldn’t be surprised if you waltz in her
e in one day soon and buy me out.”

  “In that case, would you put a hold on this bronze for me?”

  He laughed. “Beautiful, isn’t it? It’s one of my favorite pieces too.”

  “They’re both so free and joyful,” she said wistfully.” I don’t think I could ever be sad looking at them.”

  “I find it hard to believe that you’re sad all that often,” Adam said. “I’m sure there are dozens of men who’d like nothing better than to try to make you happy.”

  “And you’d be wrong,” Jaye replied, lowering the wattage of her smile to demure and a bit rueful.

  “Between relationships, I take it.”

  “You might say.” The last one of any meaningful duration had been back in college, but Adam didn’t need to know that.

  “Then would you be open to a dinner invitation?”

  He was really making this easy for her. “I guess so,” she said, trying not to sound too eager. “As long as it’s not a pity date.”

  Adam laughed again. “You can’t possibly be serious.”

  ***

  On the way back to her shop, Jaye’s emotions kept swinging back and forth like a pendulum. One moment she felt triumphant, the next anxious over the events she’d just set in motion. Making it worse was the fact that she couldn’t talk to Sierra about it until after the fact. Or Daniel for that matter. He would never approve. He’d probably be even more alarmed than Sierra. She’d have to make do with Raffles as her confidante. The worst the not-a-cat could do was fall asleep from boredom. She’d never demand that Jaye abandon her project.

  The day and time she and Adam had agreed upon was Thursday evening at eight. When he’d asked if Dahl & Di Luca would be okay, she assured him it would. Their food was wonderful, but more importantly, it wasn’t a place where she was likely to bump into Sierra or Daniel. She had two days to buy another sexy outfit with which to distract Adam; two days to plan how she’d elicit some useful information about the photo while he was distracted. If he was the killer, chances were he knew about the photo, and it had probably been the final straw that drove him to murder. It was going to be one tricky dinner conversation. She wouldn’t have minded hearing Sierra cheer her on with a rousing “How hard could it be?”

  It occurred to Jaye that she should let someone know where she was going and with whom. In case she vanished during the night. Don’t be ridiculous, she chided herself. Even if he killed Peggy, he wasn’t foolish enough to try to get away with a second murder, right? Maybe she should have worked through the details of her scheme before actually embarking on it. But since time only marches forward, despite what time travel literature claims, she had to get her butt in gear and figure out her strategy.

  Given fate’s casual disregard for mortals’ plans, Wednesday and Thursday turned out to be crazy in the shop. Busloads of tourists descended on them without so much as a call ahead to alert them. Some of the groups were so large they had to enter the store in shifts. Jaye and Bryn didn’t have time for lunch either day, and by closing time on Thursday they were hoarse from fielding too many questions. With no time to hit the clothing boutiques, Jaye traded the green blouse she had on for the low-cut red sweater Bryn wore to work Thursday morning. While they were exchanging clothes, Jaye casually mentioned that she and Adam would be eating dinner at Dahl & Di Luca.

  “Seriously?” Bryn said, her eyebrows flying upward. “Sorry, I mean . . . well, isn’t he much older than you?”

  Jaye shrugged off the remark, saying it was a business dinner. Judging by Bryn’s reaction, she was confident the younger woman wasn’t likely to forget the conversation anytime soon.

  By the time Jaye turned the “Open” sign to “Closed,” she was a dozen degrees past tired. It didn’t help that when she walked into the bedroom to get ready for her date, Raffles was curled up in the quilt, snoring away. Given the chance, Jaye would have gladly traded lives with the not-a-cat right then and there. Since that wasn’t an option, she exchanged her comfortable chinos and loafers for the skinny jeans and bruising heels she’d worn earlier in the week. Adam wasn’t likely to focus on anything but the red sweater anyway. Unfortunately, the only plan she’d come up with for garnering information was to ad-lib, if that could be called a plan. With just a few minutes before she had to leave, she poured the last of the morning’s coffee and gulped it down before the bitterness could make her gag. Caffeine was essential if she was going to make it through the date awake and alert.

  Adam had reserved a table in the corner of the dimly lit restaurant, and once they were seated, Jaye was pleased to see that the tables weren’t on top of one another. Given that fact and the hum of other conversations, it was unlikely anyone would be able to eavesdrop on what they were saying.

  Adam inquired if she’d like wine. She was about to decline it in the interest of staying sharp, then changed her mind and said wine would be delightful. She’d take two sips, suddenly remember she was on strong antihistamines for some nonexistent allergies and coax him into drinking hers as well. A less than sharp Adam would be a definite plus. Since he wasn’t privy to her just-hatched plan, he ordered a bottle of Chianti. Jaye felt bad about the lie, but not bad enough to change her mind.

  “Here’s to the success of Crystal Clear,” Adam said, raising his glass. “I can always use another well-heeled patron of the arts.”

  Jaye clinked her glass against his. “And to the continued success of the Grayson Gallery, so I can patronize it someday.” A few sips later she played the allergy card, apologizing for not having remembered sooner.

  Adam assured her it wasn’t a problem. “More for me,” he said with a smile.

  Jaye smiled back. Exactly.

  By the time their salads arrived, Adam had finished his first glass of wine and the conversation had fallen into the rhythm of a typical first date. They traded stories of their families, childhoods and college years. Jaye skirted the truth about most of her childhood, since this was hardly the time to be laying her soul bare. Luckily, Adam didn’t seem to notice how little real content filled her remarks. The Chianti and the red sweater were working their magic.

  In spite of the reason she’d orchestrated and accepted the date with Adam, Jaye found she was having a good time. His quick wit and dry delivery kept her laughing as he described some of the locals she had yet to meet. She even started to feel a bit guilty about leading him on. Oh, you can’t be serious, she chastized herself. Sure he’s charming and handsome, she told herself, but he’s old enough to be your father and, more important, there’s a really good chance he’s the one who did Peggy in. Now focus—or you could wind up being his next victim.

  “Every place has its characters and busybodies,” she said after Adam finished his monologue and emptied his second glass of wine, “but the gossips are the worst, and there’s nothing funny about them.” She lowered her voice to a confidential whisper. “Back in college, I was the target of some malicious gossip, so I know what it’s like. I understand what you’ve been going through.” She reached across the table and placed her hand on top of his. “I give you a lot of credit for holding your head high and ignoring all the talk.”

  Adam frowned. “What talk?”

  “You know—about Peggy threatening to blackmail you.” She’d thrown the opening pitch. Now to see if he would swing at it.

  He was clearly caught off guard, and for a split second his jaw tightened and his brow lowered over his eyes. If Jaye hadn’t been watching for his reaction, she would have missed it completely. “I think you’ve been misinformed,” he said, drawing his hand out from under hers and picking up his wineglass.

  “I know it’s hard to talk about, but—”

  “Look, Jaye, I don’t know what you’ve heard, but it seems to have been wildly exaggerated.” He took a mouthful of wine and swallowed it as if it were water. “Sure, Peggy said some crazy things. But that
was her way of trying to save face and punish me for breaking up with her.”

  “The truth doesn’t necessarily stop the gossip,” Jaye said, doing her best to sound as sincere and wise as any of TV’s pop psychologists.

  “It’s not like that around here. Everyone with half a brain knows how vindictive Peggy was. I’m sure they’ve asked themselves the same question that occurred to me. If she actually had something to hold over me, why didn’t she use it instead of just talking about it?”

  Maybe to leave the door open for you to come back, Jaye was thinking as she speared a little cube of tomato with her fork. But at some point, Peggy must have realized she wanted you to suffer more than she wanted you back.

  “So,” she said aloud, “then the gossip I’ve heard about a photo that could ruin you was—”

  “Photo?” Adam interrupted, doing a fine job of looking baffled. “I don’t know about any photo. Where did you hear that?”

  “Actually, I overheard it. First from some customers who were browsing in my shop and then again from Peggy herself. She and another woman were having dinner at a table next to mine in Finnegan’s a few days before she was killed.”

  “Well, I assure you it was only more of her babble and fabrication. In order to blackmail someone, that person has to believe you’ve got the goods on them. Otherwise it simply doesn’t work. So why didn’t I hear anything about this supposedly compromising photograph?”

  Adam might have been trying to remain cool, but Jaye could hear anger simmering beneath his words. When she’d mentioned the photo, she’d hit a real sore spot. He clearly knew about it and had probably seen it. Peggy would have dangled a copy in front of him to prove it existed. But she’d left the original hidden where he would never think to look for it.