by Emmie Lyn
It was the least I could do, but Frank didn’t even thank me.
Chapter Twelve
When Frank left the conference room, I assumed to get cleaning supplies, Lily and I looked at each other. What started as a few suppressed giggles and snorts quickly turned into full blown uncontrolled laughter. Good thing we let that out, because as Rose always told me, it’s not healthy to choke down a laugh for too long.
Pip, free to roam around the room, set off sniffing in every nook and cranny, which made me think that this probably wasn’t the first time the carpet had experienced some sort of food malfunction. Her nose was having a field day. So, I got to thinking about the building we were in.
“Lily, did Ray ever mention wanting to sell this building like Frank suggested?” I hoped we had sufficient time to share some basic information before anyone returned.
My question set off a puzzled expression on Lily’s face. “He said the Wilde brothers wanted to buy it, but I don’t remember him telling me he planned to sell. Do you think I should?”
I darted my head around the door, making a surreptitious glance down the hall to make sure no one was eavesdropping on us. “The coast is still clear,” I whispered, but I stayed close to the doorway to keep watch. “Before you make any decisions, you have to find out the details in Ray’s will. And then you’ll have to talk to your lawyer. It’s not something that will happen soon no matter what you decide to do. But you sure can have some fun toying with Frank if you want to. My advice is, keep him dangling on a hook and off balance.”
She nodded like she thought that was a sound plan. “Did you notice his nervous habit?”
“Not really. He came across as jittery, like he might be hiding something but not anything that I’d call a habit. What did you see?”
“He kept rubbing his earlobe.” Lily’s fingers went to her own ear and she fiddled with her earring. “It was like he was used to having an earring to fidget with but there was only an empty hole when he dropped his hand.”
I patted the pockets in my skirt. “Darn. I’m not wearing the same skirt I had on for the fake funeral. Remember that sparkly earring I found on Ray when he was still in the casket? I slipped it into my pocket. Maybe it was Frank’s.”
“Ewww.” Lily wrinkled her nose. “You put his earring in your pocket? Are you going to give it back?”
“I don’t even know if it’s his.” I put my finger to my lips. “Shhh. Someone’s coming.”
Based on Pip’s reaction when the intruder entered, this new person wasn’t welcome. With the same fury I’d seen on the beach, Pip charged full speed at the invader.
Pip growled, and Ray’s sister yelled, “Get that dog out of here.” Then she jumped behind me when Pip tried to bite Rhonda’s ankle. She sneered, “Too bad whoever killed Ray didn’t take care of his dog, too. She’s a menace to ankles everywhere.”
My mouth dropped open at the sheer contempt in her words. “Only if Pip doesn’t like someone,” I said. I tried to keep my tone calm but even I could hear my scorn. “And, it makes me wonder why she doesn’t like you, Rhonda.”
I picked up Pip and scratched her belly, which distracted her enough to send her back leg into a twitching frenzy.
“What are you even doing here?” Rhonda asked as she moved several paces away from me. She planted her hands on her hips and a sneer on her face. “This is a meeting to plan Ray’s funeral. You’re not part of the family.” She directed an if-looks-could-kill glare at Lily, “or a friend.”
Like a nervous crab, Frank rushed in with a handful of rags and some kind of spray cleaner. “This will only take a sec and we’ll be able to get on with the planning,” he said in a singsong voice. The he noticed Rhonda and flashed her a smile before he cleaned up the mess.
“Frank!” Rhonda’s voice came out whiny and grating. “What is Danielle Mackenzie and Ray’s horrid ankle-biting dog doing here?”
Frank gathered up his soiled rags and I saw some kind of silent communication pass between him and Rhonda. I sent Lily my own silent look letting her know something funny was going on between those two. She returned a slight nod, so I knew we were on the same page.
I settled myself in Pip’s chair, thinking it was the seat with the most power since it had been Ray’s seat. Pip was happy to share with me.
Rhonda scowled her dissatisfaction but made no objection to my seating choice. She chose a spot as far away from Pip and me as possible. I patted Pip’s head letting her know she was still an excellent judge of character.
“To answer your question, Rhonda,” I said, “Pip and I are here at Lily’s request. As Ray’s widow, she has every right to have me at her side. Is that a problem for you?” I smiled, even though it hurt me to do it.
“Of course not,” she said, as her head moved up and down. If that wasn’t a contradictory answer, I didn’t know what was but at least I knew exactly where she stood—not liking me one bit.
“Who are we still waiting for?” Lily directed her question to Frank.
“Nick should be here shortly. Are your parents coming, Rhonda?”
She sniffled and used an embroidered handkerchief to dab at the corners of her eyes. “It’s too painful for them and,” sniff, sniff, “as Ray’s devoted sister, they asked that I represent their wishes here today.”
Rhonda almost sounded sincere, but when Frank patted her hand and they shared another look, I couldn’t help but wonder what show the two of them were putting on for us. It could just be a mutual attraction between two lonely people, or it could be a mutual cooperation between two people up to no good.
Then I saw the nervous habit that Lily mentioned earlier as Frank fiddled with his earlobe.
“Sorry I’m late.” We all turned as Frank’s younger brother, Nick, rushed in. “I was consoling a grieving family. So sad.” He pulled out a chair between Rhonda and Lily and sat down.
Pip tensed briefly at this latest addition, but I stroked her back, and she curled up on my lap with a long, contented sigh. Was this an endorsement of Nick? Too soon to tell, but I’d keep my eye on Pip in case she took a dislike to him. In the meantime, I gave the latecomer my full attention as he started the meeting.
“Ray’s attorney, Mr. Fulton, called and said he couldn’t make it today but would reschedule at a time that works for the family,” Nick said. “So, is everyone here now?”
Lily nodded and stood up. Her hands trembled slightly, but as she began to talk, her voice strengthened. “Thank you all for coming.” She looked at each person at the table. Frank reached for his earlobe, Rhonda looked away instead of meeting Lily’s eyes, Nick shuffled through papers he’d brought to the meeting, I nodded and smiled at my best friend, and Pip snored.
“I would like to have Ray buried in the white casket he used yesterday for his fake funeral.”
Rhonda gasped.
I covered my mouth and coughed to cover a laugh that would have been inappropriate.
“And I want white lilies surrounding the casket.”
Rhonda pushed away from the table, sending her chair crashing onto the thick carpet behind her. Frank rushed to right it. “I can’t believe this. You,” Rhonda pointed her long, red fingernail at Lily, “are making a mockery out of Ray’s murder.”
Much to Lily’s credit, she looked appropriately stunned when she replied. “Don’t you think, Rhonda, that Ray chose the white casket and white lilies because that’s what he liked? Do you have any information to show me that he’d prefer something different for his final send off?”
“Of course not. Who plans their own funeral?” Her hand shot up to cover her mouth, but it was too late to shove those words back in.
I’d had all the absurdity I could tolerate for one day. I felt my eyebrows shoot up and my mouth failed to follow Rose’s advice. “Someone with an ego bigger than Blueberry Bay? Someone who was known to deal less than ethically with his real estate transactions? And this, in my opinion, is the worst side of Ray Lemay,” I looked at everyone in the roo
m. “Ray Lemay is someone who tried to manipulate his wife by putting on an extravagant fake funeral.” My voice rose with the last statement as my fury increased. “Should I go on, Rhonda?”
Frank stood next to her, wringing his hands and his face contorted as if he had a fishbone stuck in his throat.
I had to assume that this was not the norm for most funeral planning meetings. Too bad because I was enjoying it so much more than I had expected to.
Nick picked up his stack of papers, tapping them on the table until they were in a nice, neat rectangle. “I have all of Ray’s plans for his...event yesterday right here with me. Lily, should we, Two Wilde Funeral Home, proceed according to these guidelines?”
Lily’s braid was coming undone, which seemed to signal her growing impatience with the proceedings. “Yes, please, Nick,” she said, a little abruptly. “That’s exactly what I’d like to do. I think Ray knew best what he would have wanted so there’s no sense in changing anything.” Lily tilted her head and squinted at Rhonda. “You’re missing one of your earrings.”
Rhonda felt her earlobe and then looked at Frank. His fingers nervously touched his own earlobe.
I tucked Pip under my arm and got out of my chair to check for myself. “Let me see what your earring looks like, Rhonda.” Her dark hair was pulled back into a tight bun, exposing one brilliant diamond star shaped stud in one ear and an empty hole in her other earlobe. “I’m not sure if the earring I found matches exactly and I don’t have it with me…but I’ll be sure to check.”
She huffed at me and said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about since I didn’t lose an earring. My ear is infected, so I took it out.” She finished her sorry explanation by shooting me a dirty glare.
Frank took her elbow. “I’ll walk you out.”
Nick gave me a questioning look. “That was interesting. Frank asked me recently if I’d seen his earring. He was kind of upset about losing it, said it had sentimental value.” Then Nick shrugged like he found the whole problem ridiculous. “I guess if the one you found is his, he’d probably like it back.” Returning the conversation to business, he asked Lily, “We’ll have the funeral on Sunday?”
“Yes, Nick. Sunday at three in the afternoon.”
He made a note on one of his papers. “Very good. You’re in excellent hands with Two Wilde Funeral Home. I’ll take care of everything, Lily, but call if you have any questions or changes. Otherwise, I’ll see you on Sunday.” As quickly as he’d come into the room, Nick left.
I wiped my sweaty forehead with my arm. “You did great, Lil. Let’s get out of here before Rhonda comes back for our heads, or at least mine. I don’t think she likes me very much.”
With Pip tucked securely under one arm, I held the other one out for Lily. We walked out with our heads high, and shoulders back, which was our preferred way to enter or exit this place.
Chapter Thirteen
“Where to now?” Lily asked as we left Two Wilde Funeral Home.
“I’m going to my apartment to pack up some clothes. Rose insists that I stay at her place until this murder is solved.”
Lily reached her car first. The MG, still parked in a galaxy far, far away, looked like it managed to escape any damage. Pip found a grassy strip at the edge of the lot and sniffed around while we talked.
“Do you think we’ll be able to get into the diner?” Lily asked as she pointed her key fob to unlock her car.
I shrugged my lack of insight. “I’ll be surprised if the police are done this quickly, but maybe they can give us a time frame. Are you coming with me to my apartment?”
“I guess so,” she said, my normally upbeat friend sounding like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. “I’m feeling a bit lost and I don’t know what else to do with myself.”
“Oh, Lil.” My heart ached for her. “It will work out. Don’t expect to tackle everything all at once. One thing at a time and you’ll be back in a routine before you know it. I’ll follow you to the diner.”
Lily climbed into her car, and I walked to the MG. Poor Lily. She had been ready to strike out on her own and live without Ray when she served him with the divorce papers, but he still would have been around. Now, all of his affairs, for better or worse, were in her lap.
“Come on, Pip. Jump in to your spot as my little co-pilot.”
Pip eagerly settled on the passenger seat and looked at me with what I assumed meant, hurry up and let’s get going. She sure was a bossy little thing when I imagined what was going on in her mind.
When we arrived at the Little Dog Diner, the area swarmed with investigators. I suppose my concern should have been figuring out who killed Ray, but first things first. With yellow crime tape all over the place shutting down the diner, I worried how we would make up these days of lost income.
I pulled into the driveway next to the Blueberry Bay Grapevine and parked behind Rose’s Cadillac. Pip scooted across my seat, following me out on the driver side instead of waiting for me to open her door. Ha, bossy and impatient.
Entering the Blueberry Bay Grapevine office, I heard Rose hard at work pecking away on her forty-year-old typewriter. She had a computer, too, but she preferred to type her first draft the old-fashioned way. She insisted it made her focus better.
The click-clacking stopped when I walked in. She looked up at me over her reading glasses. “Just in time.”
“For what?”
She pulled the paper out of the typewriter and held it toward me. “You can retype my first draft of the fake funeral article while I get started on the murder article.”
I took the paper and sat at her other desk and teased her as I made myself comfortable. “Rose, did you actually get information, or did you just make something up?”
To her credit, Rose was diligent about every word she printed.
“I’ll have you know,” she said, twirling her reading glasses in her hand as she swiveled her chair in my direction, “I interviewed Detective AJ Crenshaw and he shared a few details about the murder. For example, did you know that they found a diamond earring near Ray’s body? He needed to know if it belonged to you, me, or Lily. I never saw it before, and he said he’d need to talk to both of you about it.”
I threw the paper on the desk. “Be right back,” I said over my shoulder as I scooted out the door.
“Dani!” Rose called but I didn’t stop. I needed to find that earring from yesterday morning. If it matched what AJ found, well, it would mean something.
I almost mowed Lily down as she hurried into the office. “Where are you off to in such a hurry?” she called.
“Be right back,” I answered over my shoulder. “Rose is inside. You can start typing her article for her,” I said before dashing up the stairs to my apartment.
I flung open my apartment door expecting this to be a quick in and out errand. But then I almost let loose some salty sailor talk when instead of quickly racing for my closet to search the pocket of my dress, my feet got caught in all of my running shorts and tank tops strewn on the floor, the remains of the tornado that had swept through my place. Instead of spewing four letter words when I realized someone had broken into my apartment, my blood pressure skyrocketed at the disaster left behind.
Stepping over every article of clothing I owned, along with pillows, papers, and countless other movable object, I was in a state of shock as I searched for my little black dress. This was no time to lose my focus when finding that earring had just become my number one priority. Providing the burglar hadn’t found it first!
“Danielle? I need to talk to—”
I turned around, surprised to see Detective Crenshaw standing in my doorway, his mouth hanging open as he surveyed what must have looked like a case for hoarders international. “Detective?” I mumbled.
“What happened here?” He stepped inside and closed my door. “Do you need a recommendation for a house cleaning service?”
I couldn’t tell if he was serious or sarcastic, but I hastily explained
the break-in. “I stayed with Rose last night. By the look of this mess, I’d say someone broke in and trashed my apartment.”
“Do you have the family jewels hidden in a coffee can somewhere?”
He could see the sum total of my possessions on the floor. Jewels? Really, he was going there? I rolled my eyes at him.
He stepped over my jogging shorts and said, “I mean why would someone break in to your place?”
After discovering I’d been targeted by some thug, I was in no mood for banter. I said, “Well, you’re the Detective, so maybe you can figure that mystery out.”
At that, AJ took me seriously. “What I mean, Danielle, do you think this mess could be connected to the murder? Was someone looking for something that you can think of?”
Hmmmm, I thought. Maybe. That possibility had been on my mind. I moved some of the scattered clothes around with the toe of my shoe, hoping to find my little black dress with the earring still in the pocket. My mood plummeted by the second.
“I don’t own anything of value.” I swung my arm around to indicate my measly collection of treasures. “You can see for yourself—used furniture, old pots and pans, and an assortment of clothes. Unless I see someone walking around town wearing some of my old clothes, I’m not sure I’ll even miss anything.”
My pulse pounded when I flipped a pillow with my foot, uncovering my dress. Now what? Wait for AJ to leave or tell him about the earring? I picked up the dress.
“Did you find something?” He stepped closer. I should have known that his detective skills would kick in.
“Maybe.” I patted the pockets. Nothing. I slipped my hand into one—empty. Then the other. That dang earring had to be hiding in there somewhere. Who would have known to check these pockets? “Ah ha!”
AJ peered over my shoulder.