The Sweet Taste of Murder: An Angel Lake Mystery (8 page)

“Crystal,” Lavina hissed through gritted teeth and even Elise stifled a groan. Only pompous Crystal could bring out that reaction in Lavina. The recently divorced socialite treated Lavina with the social acquaintance of a rival mob wife—overly polite to her face, but wouldn’t stop to spit if she found her on fire. And, for some reason, things had really amped up between them this last year.

Crystal addressed them from the doorway. “My good-gracious. This place is buzzing today.”

“You have an appointment?” Ada asked.

“Yes, of course. Two o’clock.”

“Come this way.”

Lavina groaned as Ada settled the newcomers at the table across from them.

Crystal arched her eyebrows in their direction. “Why, hello there. Seems you’re both enjoying a girl’s day out. Bless your hearts.” She carefully removed her purse and placed it on the cushioned seat next to her. “Pricilla, you remember Miss Chantly.”

“Ms.” Lavina corrected, before smiling in Pricilla’s direction. Pricilla bobbed her head with an air of boredom and reached for a People magazine.

“Too bad you didn’t invite us. We just got back from the hair salon. The four of us could have had a full-blown girl’s day.”

“Oh, come now.” Lavina shot back a tight grin. “It’s been some time since you’ve been called a girl.”

Crystal’s eyes barely flickered at registering the insult. “I hardly have time to hang with girls, with all the charity work that must be done.”

Ada gestured to the other esthetician, Kata, hurrying out from the back room at the sound of the door chime. “You help her.”

Kata quickly scurried over with a steaming porcelain dish of water and placed it before Crystal. With a nod towards the younger woman, Crystal placed her fingertips in the water.

Ada dried off Elise’s hands off with a towel. She quickly pushed back the cuticles.

Kata rolled the bottle of polish before gently adjusting Lavina’s hand. She applied the polish with even strokes.

“Well, it’s nice you’re getting a mother-daughter break,” Elise replied, hoping to defuse the tension.

“It’s just so odd to run into you today,” Crystal continued, ignoring her comment. “We were just talking about you. Weren’t we, Pricilla, dear?”

The teenager barely looked up from her magazine. She quickly nodded and turned the page.

“I was so surprised to hear that Cameron was your father, Lavina. How long were you planning to keep that a secret from all of us?” Crystal dropped the bomb with a purr.

Lavina straightened her shoulders. With her free hand, she fished her lipstick out of her purse. After gliding the red over her lips, she sent a wide smile back. “Why would you care, dear?”

Crystal sniffed at the use of the term. “I thought we were close friends, Lavina.” She smiled up at Kata, who had set a glass of sparkling water in front of her.

“I hardly think taking the same yoga class makes us close friends. By the way, your downward dog definitely needs some improvement.”

“I hardly dare to ask why you’re such an expert.” Crystal took a delicate sip of water.

Lavina laughed. “Oh, honey. I’m an expert in all sorts of things. But it seems you lost your chance to ask Cameron about that. Being newly single and all.”

Crystal slammed her glass down. The sound seemed to startle her into reining in her emotions, and she drew in a deep breath. “Could I get a napkin?” She smiled at Kata. Then, coolly she answered, “I believe we’ve all lost the chance to ask Cameron something. I hear your getting a new sibling? A new itty bitty who might be contesting daddy’s will with you? By the way, have you been asked if you have an alibi?”

Lavina went visibly white behind her sunglasses. Ada turned towards Elise, having just finished the last few strokes of the clear top coat on Lavina’s nails.

“Elise, darlin'. Do you care if we continue our day elsewhere?” Lavina’s tone was cheery despite her countenance.

“Of course.” Elise stood up, taking her hand from the esthetician. “Maybe another day,” she said to Ada.

“Oh. Leaving so soon?” Crystal’s face shone with victory. “That’s too bad. I imagine it’s so difficult to squeeze in a manicure with all the hours you put in waitressing. Nice to see you give yourself a rare treat, dear.”

“I’m not a waitress. I own the deli. But, it’s okay. At your age, we can’t expect your memory to be perfect.” Lavina pulled out a hundred dollar bill from her purse and set it on the table. “Thank you, Ada. It was a joy as usual. Please keep the extra as recompense for the uglier people you must deal with.” And with that, she adjusted her sunglasses and glided out.

Elise followed, feeling slightly out of her league.

CHAPTER 14

L
avina was tight-lipped as they left the salon and asked Elise to excuse her. “I feel a headache coming on. We’ll have to do it another day, darlin'.”

Elise gave her friend a hug. She drove home replaying the scene at the nail salon over and over. “This isn’t going to get any better thinking about it,” she muttered with a grimace. But something in the back of her mind wouldn’t let it go…triggering her to pay attention.

What was it?

Something that nasty old Crystal said? Elise twirled her Fitbit, trying to remember. She glanced at the rubber bracelet and pushed the button. Her eyes widened when she saw how low the number of steps were that she’d taken. If she was every going to compete in the half-marathon, she’d better get a move on.

Her phone rang. “Hello?”

“Hey, Elise. It’s Brad.”

A smile skirted her lips before she could help it. “Hi, Brad. How are you?”

“I’m good. Staying out of trouble?”

“Always.” The grin was getting bigger, darn it. “What’s going on?”

“I figured since you are feeling so detectivish I better do something to keep an eye on you. Want to tag along while I go over some footage from the outside of the McMahon dealership?”

“You don’t need to ask me twice. Yes!”

“Great! Want to meet in a half hour?”

“Where? At the dealership?”

“Not yet. Let’s meet at the movie theater.”

“Oh—kay.”

He laughed. “Seriously, I’m going over an alibi for Frank. I’m a little smoother than that.”

Fifteen minutes later, Elise ran inside the theater where Brad was already interviewing a concessions stand worker. She walked up just in time to hear the teen say, “Yeah, he was here. I recognize him.” The teen handed Frank’s photo back to Brad.

“You have something to say about him?” Brad asked.

The kid scratched at a zit on his chin. “He, uh. I bumped into him out in the hall about twenty minutes after his movie started.”

“Was he getting snacks? Going to the restroom?” Brad asked, his pen poised above his notepad.

The kid shook his head. “Nah. He was coming from that way.” He pointed toward the front door. “I told him he better hurry, man. Those first ten minutes of Zombies Bride are smoking. He just said he left something in his car.”

“And then what happened?”

“He went back into the theater. I didn’t see him again.”

Brad closed the pad and reached into his pocket for a card. “Thank you for your time. Give me a call if you think of anything else. Here’s my number.”

The kid thumbed the card and nodded. Elise wondered how long before that card ended up in the trash.

They turned to go.

“Interesting.” Elise grabbed the door. “Twenty minutes unaccounted for. And a motive.”

Brad raised an eyebrow. “Easy there, detective. First, just gather the facts. Now, come on. They’re probably ready for us at the dealership.” He eyed her sweaty hair. “Let me guess. You ran here.”

“Yeah, I’ll meet you over there.”

“Hang on. I can give you a ride.”

“No, you go ahead.” She showed him the Fitbit. “I’m training for the Key Center half-marathon.” She laughed. “And, it hasn’t been going well. But I’m trying.”

He smiled at her and swung into his car. As he drove by, he blipped his siren making her jump. She could see him laughing and shook her fist at him.

A soft, happy feeling filled her as she bent to check her laces. It had been a long time since she’d had felt silly and free to have fun like that.

Elise switched on her favorite playlist. Her bare nails caught her eye, and the almost-memory whisked right around the edges of her mind. She tried hard to claim it but it skittered away. “Just think about something else. It’ll come back.”

Unbidden, another thought overtook her mind as she jogged along the sidewalk. Her soon to be finalized divorce. Her feet echoed her thoughts as they pounded against the pavement. Eight more days. Eight more days. She still hadn’t heard from Mark since they’d separated, and that surprised her. They’d been solely communicating through their lawyers.

Their marriage hadn’t started that way. That first year had actually felt like a real life fairytale. He’d been so attentive, so loving. Every morning had started with a kiss, his darkly whiskered face lightly scratching against hers. And the way that man could move in bed. She’d lay there gasping when they were through. He’d always laugh and tease that she was booting him out now that his job was finished.

The memory made her smile. They had good times, but did she ever really know him?

A red and yellow spatter of color waving in the weeds reminded her of all the flowers he used to bring home. Guilt flowers, she knew now. He’d acted so sorry when she’d said she was divorcing him, and promised everything to get her to stay. But part of her wondered if it was because his firm looked down on divorce and he was due for a promotion. No matter what, she knew she’d never be able to trust him again. And what kind of life was that for her? Or for him?

When the dealership came into view, she felt a wave of relief to be able to the put the memories away. Picking up the pace, she sprinted the last few blocks.

She didn’t see Brad’s car as she jogged through the lot. She continued to the showroom’s cement steps and into the shadow made by the huge awning. After stretching a moment, she sat down and examined the time on her Fitbit. She was getting better.

“Hey, looking good.” Brad’s deep voice came from the top step where he was leaning against the pillar.

She jumped. “I didn’t see you there. Where’s your car?” He pointed to the rear of the building. She continued, “Who are we supposed to meet here?”

“The dispatcher said it was the new receptionist. A gal named Violet Wagner.”

“Oh, the one that replaced Sylvia.”

“Yep. And Eric.” He stood resting with his leg up on a step.

“Eric? Is his mom Crystal?”

“Yeah. You know him? He’s the car salesman and manager here.”

“You’d think there’d be more than just one salesman.”

“Yeah well, between Cameron and Eric, they had things covered.”

Just then, a middle-aged woman stepped out onto the terrace, the glass door closing slowly behind her. She wore a surly look and was staring hard at the cell phone in her hand. Her voice was terse as she spoke. “Apparently, Eric has decided not to show up. I honestly don’t know what to do now.”

Brad straightened. “Violet Wagner?” She nodded, and he held out a hand. “Brad Carter from the Angel Lake Police Department. This will just take a couple of minutes.”

Her face creased with worry. “I’m not sure I should let you in. I can’t get a hold of Eric or Mrs. McMahon.”

“All we’re looking for is movement outside the building around the time of the accident. Both Eric and Mrs. McMahon have alibis, so they aren’t at risk in any way. We just want to catch the person who did this. You might be preventing another murder.” Elise noticed he kept his voice reassuring with just a touch of warning at the end.

Violet rubbed her temple with her hand. Shaking her head, she stepped back and opened the door. “Fine. Eric should be here, and since he’s not, I’m making the decision. It’s right this way.”

The three of them walked to the far back office. The interior of the dealership was dark, and their steps echoed ominously. After leading them down a hall, Violet pushed open a door. “Right in there.” She pointed to a desk covered in papers. A computer sat amongst the chaos.

Brad dragged a chair over and motioned for Elise to sit. Violet punched some commands in the keyboard and then turned the monitor towards them.

“This is the pause, and here is rewind and fast forward.” She pointed at the symbols on the number pad.

Brad pushed play. The screen split into four shots from each of the different cameras. Nothing moved in any of the shots. He pressed fast forward and leaned close to study them carefully.

Nothing happened.

One hour later, Elise was pacing in boredom by the vending machine in the lobby. Violet came over shaking a handful of coins. “Here.” She offered them out.

“Oh, I can’t take your money.”

“Don’t worry. We keep a jar of coins specifically for customers who are on the hook. Get yourself something. I’m gathering he’s not having any luck?”

Elise plunked in the coins and pushed the option for iced tea. “Not so far.”

“Well, that’s good then, isn’t it?” Violet gave a hesitant smile before disappearing back into her office.

Elise carried the drink into the back room that now felt hot and stuffy.

Brad still stared just as intently at the screen.

She sank into a chair and spun it with her foot, then leaned forward to grab a letter opener and attempted to clean out under her nails.

“Put that knife down and come over here.”

Elise smirked at Brad’s dramatic tone. She tossed the opener on the desk and rolled the chair over. “What did you find?”

“Check this out.” He pushed play. After a minute, he clicked pause. “You see what I see?”

“Are you kidding me?” Elise reached over Brad’s shoulder and scrolled the mouse to rewind. They watched the scene again.

The resolution was fuzzy, but in the bottom left corner, the camera caught the figure of a man in a hat, dark overcoat and glasses. The man was there only an instant before disappearing around the corner of the car dealership building. The time stamp was 12:32.

“Jackpot, baby!” Brad leaned back in the chair with his hands twined behind his head.