by Leena Clover
Petunia had been cleaning up outside while Rainbow talked with Jenny. She came in after Rainbow left.
“What did she want with you?”
“Nothing much,” Jenny said diplomatically.
She began slicing strawberries for the shortcake she planned to make the next morning. A couple of hours later, she walked to the police station.
Adam Hopkins was out and she decided to head on home. It had been a busy day at the café and her feet were killing her.
Jenny and Star ate dinner in front of the TV, watching Gilmore Girls reruns.
“Skipping your walk today?” Star asked her after the sun went down.
“I would love to but I don’t have that luxury. My pants are getting tighter by the day.”
Star gave her a knowing smile.
“Honey, we both know what your motivation is behind these evening walks.”
Jenny took the high road and said nothing.
Jenny laced up her sneakers and stepped out of her aunt’s house. She gazed up at the neighboring house and crossed her fingers. Bending down to sniff at a climbing rose, she inhaled deeply and closed her eyes for a moment. Could it all really be hers?
Jenny had never imagined she would be so happy in Pelican Cove.
A bark sounded in the distance and Tank came running up to her. Jenny laughed as he placed his paws on her shoulders, his tail wagging furiously.
“How are you, handsome?”
“Are you talking to me?” a deep voice she had been yearning for all day spoke.
“Of course not!”
Adam grinned and surprised her by taking her arm in his.
“How are you, Jenny? Done any sleuthing today?”
“I do have something to tell you.”
Adam looked astonished when Jenny finished talking.
“I’m not surprised Wayne Newman lied to us. I had him pegged as a fraud.”
“It’s hard to say who the villain is here. Could she have been blackmailing him?”
“That’s possible. But we won’t know that now.”
“At least not until Wayne tells us that.”
“The girl was barely 22, Jenny. She doesn’t seem like she would hold out for money.”
“Maybe she wanted something more. She could have real feelings for Wayne.”
“Is that your woman’s intuition, Jenny?”
Jenny pursed her lips, her uncertainty clear on her face.
“You never know with these Hollywood types. They will do anything to get ahead in their careers.”
“What could Wayne Newman offer her?”
“Name? Fame? A role in his latest TV series?”
“That’s the same one Crystal Mars is in?”
Jenny shrugged.
“I can understand why Wayne didn’t tell us about Bella. He’s about to get married and she’s gone anyway. Why dredge up the past?”
“What if the past had everything to do with Bella’s murder?”
“So Bella tried to blackmail Wayne and he silenced her?”
Adam was quiet.
“It’s not farfetched,” Jenny admitted. “People have lost their lives for less.”
“There’s something you don’t know yet. It could change the whole equation.”
Chapter 10
“Mandy James has commissioned someone from Virginia Beach to paint the welcome sign,” Molly told the Magnolias one morning.
“What a disgrace!” Betty Sue roared. “Why do we need an out-of-towner when we have our own resident artist?”
Star tried to calm them down.
“She must have a reason. I have never painted a welcome sign.”
“You know how to paint, don’t you?” Jenny asked her aunt. “Are you saying you can’t paint ‘Welcome to Pelican Cove’ on a piece of wood?”
“What about the murals?” Heather demanded. “Has she commissioned you for them yet, Star?”
Star shook her head.
“She is going to have the school kids do that.”
“Nonsense!” Betty Sue fumed. “We want art, not graffiti.”
“This guy she hired in Virginia Beach is an award winning artist,” Petunia informed them. “He’s done welcome signs for many towns and these towns then went on to win some kind of award.”
“Oh please!” Jenny snorted.
“Think of the devil…” Heather muttered and tipped her head toward the boardwalk.
Barb Norton was walking purposefully toward the café. Mandy James tagged along. The ladies climbed up the stairs to the deck and sat down.
Mandy James handed over an envelope to Petunia.
“What’s this?”
“Just some work you need to get done in the next few weeks.”
Petunia tore open the envelope and pulled out a sheet of paper.
“New shingles? I just replaced them five years ago.”
“Every building on Main Street needs new shingles. You don’t want to be the odd one out, do you?”
“Has everyone else agreed?” Jenny asked.
“They don’t have much choice,” Barb spoke up. “This is a town decree.”
“What if we refuse?” Petunia asked.
“You will have to pay a hefty fine. Trust me, you don’t want to go that route.”
“Who signed off on that?” Betty Sue asked, holding her hand out for the paper.
Barb gave some lengthy explanation.
“That means nothing. I may have to use my veto power.”
“Don’t you want Pelican Cove to win the competition?” Mandy James asked.
“Of course we do,” Petunia wailed. “But at what cost?”
“I know the people who judge these contests,” Mandy said. “I know what they are looking for. You’re not even close. Pelican Cove needs a complete makeover.”
“So you want us to lose our identity?” Heather scowled. “What good is a prize if we have to mutate into something else to win it?”
“We are just going to gussy up the town, Heather,” Barb Norton spoke. “Surely no one can object to that.”
“Are you done yet?” Betty Sue railed. “I think you should leave now.”
Barb Norton stood up with a huff and dragged Mandy to her feet. She stomped down the stairs to the beach but turned back for a parting shot.
“I am the chair of this committee, Betty Sue Morse. I am going to do whatever it takes to win this contest.”
“What’s going on here?” Star moaned, rubbing her temples. “Barb’s like a dog with a bone. Just give her what she wants.”
Petunia handed over the paper she had been reading from.
“This is ridiculous!” Star agreed after she read a few items on the list. “It’s going to cost a fortune.”
“And I don’t have that kind of money,” Petunia said, looking worried.
“We’ll take a look at it later today,” Jenny consoled her. “We can prioritize some things. We’ll all pitch in, Petunia.”
The group broke up after that and Jenny went out to the cash register. A man sitting at a window table got up when he saw her.
“Are you Jenny King?” he asked timidly. “I have been looking for you.”
The man seemed vaguely familiar to Jenny. He was just a few inches taller than her own five feet four inches and very ordinary in appearance.
“Have we met before?”
“I don’t think so.” He raised his eyebrows questioningly. “Can we talk somewhere?”
Jenny ushered him out to the deck and sat down at a small table.
“How do you know me?” she began.
“My lawyer told me about you.”
Jenny immediately connected the dots.
“You were with Jason that day…”
“That’s right. I’m Ray Fox. Bella’s husband.”
“Husband?” Jenny asked incredulously. “Bella Darling was married?”
“She sure was. We were coming up on our one year anniversary.”
“Why didn’t anyone mention it?�
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“Nobody knew,” Ray Fox said. “Bella wanted it that way.”
Jenny could think of a few reasons why.
Ray hastened to explain.
“Hollywood has certain expectations. They want their girls young and single. A struggling actress loses value as soon as she ties the knot.”
Jenny wasn’t sure she believed that. She tried to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.
“Lots of Hollywood stars are married. Some even have kids.”
“I guess you can call the shots when you become a star.”
His face fell suddenly and he looked away. Bella Darling was never going to be a star now.
“What am I thinking?” Jenny exclaimed. “I’m sorry for your loss, Mr. Fox. I didn’t know your wife but I am sure she was a good person.”
“Please call me Ray,” he said softly. “Bella was the best. She was so young.”
“Was she really just twenty two?”
“She was, unlike some of the gals who just pretend to be so.”
“How can I help you, Ray?”
“Jason told me you are working for Crystal Mars?”
“Crystal has asked me to look into what happened,” Jenny agreed. “I am going to do just that. I will report whatever I find to the police. The truth will come out, Ray, whatever it is.”
“Even if Crystal Mars is to blame?”
Jenny nodded.
“Jason told me you couldn’t be bought.”
“I’m not a professional detective, Ray. I’m just a middle aged divorced woman who is talking to people and asking a few questions. I can’t guarantee what I will find.”
“I am thankful for your efforts, Jenny,” Ray Fox said.
His eyes filled up as he spoke.
“Why would anyone want to kill my sweet Bella?”
Jenny patted Ray on the shoulder and tried to console him.
“Can you tell me something about her?”
“She was the best of friends,” he began. “We were friends first, lovers later.”
“How did you two meet?”
“Sky diving,” Ray said with a smile. “We were both mad about it.”
“So Bella had been sky diving before?”
“She had hundreds of solo jumps under her belt. She went up almost every weekend.”
“And you met her at one of these places?”
“We both got our certifications around the same time. I’m a producer for a sitcom. We connected instantly, being from the industry.”
“Does she have any family?”
“She dropped out of school and ran away from home when she was a teen. Her family wrote her off, I guess. She planned to go back home when she made it big.”
“Surely they tried to contact her?”
“They might have. But Bella never talked about it. I saw her looking at some photos once on Facebook. She shut it down when I asked her about it.”
“I don’t care that they had a falling out. I would want to know if anything happened to my kid.”
“I agree,” Ray Fox said. “But Darling was a stage name. I am not sure what her real name was. She was Bella Darling when I met her. She got her driver’s license changed too.”
“Why did you decide to get married?”
“I fell for her hook, line and sinker. Bella didn’t want to get tied down though. She signed a contract that forbid her from marrying while the show ran. Something went wrong and they dropped her at the last minute.”
“Did it have anything to do with Crystal?”
“I can’t confirm that. But Crystal did replace her.”
“Did they know each other personally?”
“I doubt it.”
“What happened then?”
“Bella went into a funk after that. She was barely making ends meet. I proposed again, told her it could be temporary until she got back on her feet.”
“So she agreed to marry you.”
“I would like to think she was in love with me at least a little. But maybe she just got tired of starving.”
“Don’t be too hard on yourself, Ray,” Jenny soothed.
“We weren’t destined to be together after all.”
“Did Bella have any enemies?”
“Bella was friends with everyone. She could be too nice sometimes. That’s not how you get ahead in the entertainment industry.”
“You can’t think of anyone who might have wanted to harm her?”
Ray shook his head.
“You know this new reality show Crystal is doing? Bella got the short end of the stick. She’s the one who should have had a grudge against Crystal.”
“Is that why she wanted to ruin Crystal’s wedding?”
“I have no idea. I was shooting on location with my unit. I didn’t even know Bella had come to Virginia.”
“Did they tell you about the wedding dress she was wearing?”
“Vera Wang was her favorite designer.”
“Where did she get hold of that dress?”
“She knew a lot of people who worked in the fashion industry. She must have traded in a favor.”
“Crystal Mars was wearing the exact same dress.”
“She was? Bella must have been wearing a copy then.”
“What about the sapphire around her neck?”
“I have never seen it before. It must have cost a fortune.”
“Do you think she stole it?”
Ray looked indignant.
“Bella wouldn’t do that. She must have borrowed it from someone.”
“Did she know people who owned that kind of jewelry?”
“She was friendly with a lot of famous people. She had a few irons in the fire. She would have landed a big role pretty soon. I don’t think she really cared about Crystal Mars one way or the other.”
“What would have happened if Bella had landed successfully at the wedding? Was it some kind of publicity stunt?”
“Bella wasn’t like that. I really don’t understand why she was there.”
Jenny thought over her next words before she spoke.
“Bella was having an affair with Wayne Newman.”
Ray Fox exploded.
“That’s a load of crap! Bella would never cheat on me.”
Jenny said nothing.
Ray Fox got up and paced on the deck, muttering to himself. Jenny let him fume. He came and sat down after a while.
“Are you sure about this?” he begged.
“Only two people can confirm this. Bella’s gone. Wayne Newman said he didn’t know her.”
“That’s a lie,” Ray burst out. “Wayne knew Bella.”
“Did they date each other?”
“Bella went out with him a couple of times. This was before we got married.”
“So you knew about it and you still married her?”
“It wasn’t like that. Wayne was trying to woo her. This was back when she was supposed to star in that TV series. When the network dropped her, Wayne followed suit. She was glad. She said he was a jerk.”
“So why did she cheat on you, Ray?”
“There’s only one reason Bella would have done it,” Ray said. “He must have offered her something I can’t.”
“Didn’t you say she hated him?”
Ray shrugged. He leaned forward and stared into Jenny’s eyes.
“You don’t have to look any further. Wayne Newman killed my wife.”
“That’s quite an allegation, Ray.”
“It’s the truth though.”
“Where were you on the day of Crystal’s wedding?”
“Back home in L.A.”
“Can someone vouch for that?”
“I was home alone, wondering where my wife was,” Ray said grimly. “I had no idea my wife was thousands of miles away, jumping to her death.”
Chapter 11
Jenny and Heather were driving to the Pelican Cove Country Club again. Jenny wanted to talk to Crystal. A lot of new facts had come to light since she last spoke to her.
Spooked by the alleged threat against her life, Crystal had gone to ground at the club.
A maid led them to a verandah overlooking the golf course. Crystal sat at a table, drinking iced tea. A tall, hefty man stood at attention a few feet away. Jenny rightly guessed he was the bodyguard Crystal had hired.
“How are you holding up, Crystal?”
Crystal gave an exaggerated sigh.
“Why do these things happen to me? This was supposed to be my honeymoon. Here I am, watching over my shoulder, running for my life.”
“Be thankful you have a life,” Heather told her.
Crystal motioned toward the man standing nearby.
“I’m taking this very seriously. Wayne told me what happened to Bella’s parachute. I am convinced someone wanted to kill me.”
“Why would they do that?” Jenny asked. “Do you have a lot of enemies?”
“People are jealous,” Crystal pouted. “A star’s life is not easy. You’re under the radar all the time and people are waiting for you to slip up.”
“I can understand that,” Jenny agreed. “There’s a lot of competition. That doesn’t mean people go around killing each other.”
“The parachute is proof, isn’t it?”
“How many people knew you were going to jump from the plane, Crystal?”
“I would never have done that. I’m afraid of heights.”
“What if someone paid you a big amount of money to do it?”
“They wanted me to do it for the show. I refused. I got my lawyer to add a clause. Sky diving, bungee jumping, zip lining – none of that crazy stuff.”
Jenny wondered why the network had hired Crystal.
“So someone who knows you well would know you would never go up in that plane.”
Crystal nodded emphatically.
“The whole unit knew it, right from the producers to the camera guys.”
Jenny lapsed into thought. If anyone had wanted to hurt Crystal, they would have chosen a different method.
“Have you remembered anything about Bella?”
“I told you, Jenny. I didn’t know the girl.”
“She was having an affair with Wayne Newman.”
“I’m not naïve. I know Wayne’s been around the block. We both have. So what?”
“You were okay with him cheating on you?”
“Who said anything about cheating?”