Treated and Dyed (A Bekki the Beautician Cozy Mystery Book 13) (2 page)

As Bekki weighed the pros and cons of shutting down the salon for the day she tidied up a little. She picked up Stella's purse and set it on the counter. She was sure that someone would want to retrieve it soon. Before Bekki could decide if she was going to turn the sign in the door to closed, her next appointment came walking in the door.

Bekki knew that Lacey Hubert was one of the mayor's secretaries. If she wasn't satisfied with the service she received she could cause a lot of commotion, and she was no stranger to doing so. She had made such a fuss about a shoe repair shop when the owner failed to repair her favorite heels in time for an important event.

“Hello Lacey,” Bekki said. She tried to sound normal, but she knew that her voice was still wavering.

“What's wrong, Bekki?” Lacey asked. She scrunched up her nose in distaste at the sight of Bekki's pale visage. “Are you sick?”

“No, I'm sorry,” Bekki said. She led Lacey to a chair on the opposite side of the salon. “I didn't have time to contact you, as this just happened. Stella Black was here for her appointment and unfortunately she passed away. I can reschedule you for another appointment time if you'd like.”

“You'll do no such thing,” Lacey said sharply. “I have a very important dinner to attend tonight and I can't go looking like this. Stella's dead, okay, that doesn't mean I shouldn't get my appointment.”

Bekki stared at the woman. She was a little shocked by the way she was speaking. “I only offered because I thought you might be uncomfortable,” she explained.

“I'm not,” Lacey said. “I want my hair shorter this time. Also, please make sure not to overdo it with the hairspray, I have allergies and the smell gets to me.”

“Okay,” Bekki said. She began preparing for the haircut.

“So, Stella Black is dead,” Lacey said as she leaned her head back. Bekki tilted her chair so that Lacey's head eased into the sink. She tested the water and then began running it slowly over Lacey's scalp. “I guess her daughter, Jodie, will be pleased.”

“Pleased?” Bekki asked. She was so surprised that she nearly dropped the bottle of shampoo in her hand. “Why would she be happy that her mother is dead?”

“Well, maybe not happy,” Lacey said. She shrugged her shoulders. “We go to the same country club and she's been complaining about her mother for years. Jodie has to beg for every dime she gets, and Stella never lets her forget how much she gives.”

“Maybe she just wanted Jodie to be financially responsible,” Bekki suggested. She lathered Lacey's hair. The soap suds sliding across her fingers were slippery. Her mind kept shifting back to Stella and the last words they had exchanged about people always wanting more from her.

“I'd believe that if she was that way only with Jodie. But she's always been like that. If she held her pennies any tighter they'd turn to dust.” Lacey tilted her head back a little further as Bekki rinsed her hair. “Now, Jodie will inherit everything, I'm sure she'll be living it up by tomorrow.”

Bekki bit into her bottom lip. She wanted to come to Jodie's defense, however she also didn't want to offend Lacey. She didn't really know Jodie or Stella that well, but she was sure that anyone that went through the loss of a parent would be left with a lot of grief to deal with. Bekki continued with the cut and style while Lacey chatted about local politics.

“I suppose with Stella gone there will be quite a few properties up for sale,” Lacey said. “I wonder if Jodie will be selling everything right away.”

“Maybe, she'll keep the properties,” Bekki suggested.

“Jodie?” Lacey shook her head a little. Bekki combed her hair back into place. “She's never worked a day in her life. She'd have to maintain the properties, collect the rent, actually leave the country club once in a while. No, I can't see her doing any of that.”

“Sometimes people surprise you,” Bekki pointed out. She was trying to keep the conversation light and positive.

“Not usually,” Lacey said. “I know what you're doing, Bekki. You feel like I'm being cold about someone who just passed away. I've just never understood why people speak of the dead as if they were saints. Stella wasn’t exactly young and we're all going to die eventually, and none of us is perfect.”

“Maybe not, but don't you think there's a time for honoring a person for who they were despite their faults?” Bekki asked. She was treading dangerously close to arguing with a customer, something she never did. Her emotions were still raw from Stella's death.

“Bekki, you're such a sweetheart,” Lacey said. “The truth is, not everyone deserves to be honored.”

Bekki bit her tongue to keep from speaking up about that. She spun Lacey slowly in her chair so that she could see the final outcome of her hairstyle.

“Well?” Bekki asked. Lacey stared critically into the mirror. Bekki held her breath and waited.

“It's just lovely,” Lacey finally said. She smiled with approval at her own reflection. “Here's my card,” Lacey said and handed it to Bekki. Bekki walked over to the front desk and ran her payment through the credit card system. As the receipt was printing out, the door swung open and two customers stepped into the salon. Bekki offered a smile of greeting to them, but it was forced. She had hoped to cancel a few of the appointments to give herself a chance to process what had happened, but she couldn't turn them away now that they had already arrived.

“Just a moment, ladies,” Bekki said. “There are some new magazines in the waiting area.”

“Can I schedule you for your next appointment?” Bekki asked as she walked back over to Lacey with her receipt.

“Sure, in two weeks, please,” Lacey replied. She shot a glance in the direction of the two women that had stepped in. “Linda, Hattie, how are you?” she asked. She held out her hand for her receipt from Bekki, but her gaze remained on the two women in the waiting area.

Linda Lars settled her gaze on Lacey. Her high cheek bones seemed to lift even higher as she scrutinized Lacey.

“I'm just fine, Lacey. Your hair looks beautiful, just further proof that Bekki can work miracles.”

Bekki tensed as she placed the receipt in Lacey's palm. She could see that Linda's compliment was more of an insult. Lacey closed her hand around the receipt. The paper crumpled as Lacey curled her hand into a fist.

“She does have talent,” Lacey said. “I'm just glad that once in a while she has someone worthy of using it on.”

Linda clucked her tongue at Lacey's words.

“Now now, ladies, today is not a day for petty squabbles,” Hattie said. Her shoulders were straight and her lips upturned in a pious smirk. “Think of the tragedy that has unfolded today.”

“Tragedy,” Lacey muttered under her breath.

“You're absolutely right, Hattie,” Linda said. “I'm sorry for my rude behavior.”

“Who are you apologizing to? The dead woman?” Lacey asked snidely. She brushed past Bekki and towards the door. “Good luck with these two, Bekki,” Lacey called back over her shoulder before whisking out of the salon.

“She's so crass,” Linda said. Her lips had pursed into a faint pout.

“She's just grumpy,” Hattie said. “She's still single you know.”

“That doesn't surprise me,” Linda replied. Bekki tucked her copy of the receipt into the drawer beneath the register and then turned to the two women.

“So, what can I do for you two today?” she asked.

“I just need a styling,” Hattie said and fluffed her chin length hair.

“I'd like to try something dramatic, like ringlets,” Linda said and smiled.

“Ringlets would look beautiful,” Bekki assured her. She led the two women towards the styling chairs. “Would you like a shampoo as well?” Bekki offered.

“No way, then our heads will be stuck under those dryers. We want to gab,” Hattie explained. Bekki suspected that the only reason they were in the salon at all was because they had heard about Stella dying. She felt as if they were there only to gawk at the place that Stella had drawn her last breath. Before she could think about it the door swung open again. A young woman stepped inside, Bekki was fairly certain that her name was Nettie. She had been in the salon only once before. Bekki remembered her by her long, chocolate brown braid. She always wore her hair the same way, even if Bekki had just tried out a new style on it.

“Excuse me, Bekki?” Nettie called out. “Do you have any appointments open?”

Bekki considered turning Nettie away, but she hated turning customers away even though she knew that Nettie was probably mainly there to gossip as well.

“Sure, but you'll have to wait about twenty minutes,” Bekki said. She gestured towards the waiting area. “There are some new magazines if you'd like to look through them.”

“Great,” Nettie said. She settled into one of the chairs and grabbed a magazine. Bekki noticed that she didn't open it, she just rested it in her lap. As Bekki was moving between the two women preparing their hair for a quick styling, she noticed that they all seemed to be staring at her. Nettie was staring from the waiting room. Hattie and Linda were staring through the mirror.

“What's going on, ladies?” Bekki finally asked. Their stares were getting unnerving.

“We heard,” Linda confessed as Bekki wound her hair around the curling iron.

“About Mrs. Black?” Bekki asked.

“Yes,” Linda said. “It must have been awful for you to be the one who found her.”

“It was very jarring,” Bekki admitted.

“I'm still having such a hard time believing that it's true,” Linda said.

“It's true,” Bekki grimaced.

“Oh, I know that it is. I just mean, she was tough as nails. She was one of those people that I thought would never die. She's been a terror in our town for decades.”

“A terror?” Bekki repeated. “I think that's a little harsh.”

“I mean it in a good way,” Linda said. Her newly shaped ringlet curls began piling up along her shoulders. “She's always been so strong. She outlived three husbands.”

“Three?” Bekki asked. “I didn't realize there were three.”

“Yes, the first was Jodie's father. The second was some count from some European country, which she felt made her official royalty, and the third was the poor mailman who delivered her mail,” Linda sighed. “She didn't seem like the type of woman who would ever fall in love, but somehow she managed to meet and marry these men.”

“She was a spry woman,” Nettie piped up from the waiting area.

“I can't recall a day that I've known her that she wasn't well,” Hattie agreed.

“I really shouldn't say anything about this, but since it's just us girls,” Nettie smiled as if she was hiding a very juicy tidbit of information.

“Tell,” Hattie demanded.

Linda leaned forward to listen more closely. Bekki narrowly avoiding chopping one of her curls off as she was trimming the ends. She set her jaw and adjusted the angle of the scissors. But her attention was on Nettie, too. Even Bekki had to admit to herself that she was a little curious.

“Well, I work in a doctor's office, the same doctor that has Stella Black as a patient. When he found out about her death he was shocked. He said that she was healthier than he was, and demanded her files to look over,” her eyes sparkled.

“Wow, that's shocking,” Hattie said.

“That her doctor would say that?” Linda asked.

“No, that doctors actually read files,” Hattie winked.

“The point is that the doctor doesn't think she could have died from a heart attack,” Nettie explained. “He was nearly irate when I overheard him on the phone with the medical examiner. He was demanding that they do a more thorough exam.”

“That's a good thing,” Bekki said. “But I can't imagine what else it could have been. I was right here with her. One minute she was talking, the next she was gone.”

All three sets of eyes turned directly on Bekki again. “So, you were alone with her?” Hattie asked.

“Yes,” Bekki replied.

“Did she seem confused? Maybe she had a stroke,” Linda suggested.

“No, she was just as sharp as ever,” Bekki shook her head. “No one could have been more shocked than I was.”

“My cousin's husband had a heart attack out of the blue like that,” Hattie said. “He was a runner, and he kept a healthy diet. One day he just dropped dead. It's sad, but it happens. I don't think we should turn this into more than it is.”

“But what if it is more than what it seems?” Linda asked. “What if Stella didn't die of natural causes?”

“Ladies, I think the important thing to remember here is that a woman is dead,” Bekki admonished carefully. “How would you feel if Jodie overheard this speculation?”

“Jodie is a basket case to begin with,” Linda said. She clucked her tongue lightly. “If I drank as much booze as she did I wouldn't be able to walk straight let alone think straight.”

“I didn't realize she had a drinking problem,” Bekki said. “When did that begin?”

“I think it started with her husband,” Hattie said. She lowered her voice sympathetically. “He's always in some bar, and the rumor is he cheats on her with all kinds of women and the latest is he has put them in debt because of a gambling addiction.”