Seams Like Murder (15 page)

Babs was hanging around the table in the yarn department when I got back to the bookstore. Dinah had gone off to Beasley to teach her class. Neither Dinah nor I was too happy with our conversation with Tony. Had he mentioned having a gun to discourage me from any further sleuthing? Babs seemed rather nervous, but her face lit up when she saw me approaching. She started talking before I reached the table.

“That was some excitement last night. I tried to find out what was going on, but the police officers kept telling us to go home. I saw you and your friend Dinah. It looked like you were in the thick of it. Was there another problem at CeeCee’s house?” she asked.

Babs had a friendly face, like she had spent most of her life with a smile. I had seen her enough times now to realize that fashion was certainly not at the top of her priority list. Her brown hair was done in a short style, and it was obvious
she didn’t spend a lot of time with a blow-dryer. Her clothes were sensible and not jazzed up with scarves or jewelry, other than a pair of gold hoops on her ears. Makeup seemed to be limited to a dab of lipstick. She glanced toward the kids’ department, where Adele was in the midst of doing one of her dramatic readings.

She seemed to have forgotten that she’d asked a question. “This is the only place my son will let me take the kids. He’d never let me do it if he knew that adults are banished from story time.” She looked around the yarn department with a sigh. “I was hoping some of the group would be here.” Babs clearly needed to be around people and to have some kind of purpose.

“I’m the only one here right now. I wish I could sit down and crochet, but I have to finish putting away the stock.” The words were barely out of my mouth before Babs was next to me, offering to help. It seemed almost therapeutic for her, so I let her join me.

“It was all a misunderstanding with the cops,” I said, referring to her question about the night before. I told her Dinah and I had found a back gate to CeeCee’s. “One of the neighbors saw our flashlight and called the cops.”

“It looked like they had you in handcuffs,” she said, leaning in for more details.

“Only temporarily.” I pushed some skeins of forest green yarn to the side of the cubby so I could fit in a batch of turquoise-colored yarn. “Did you know there was a gate on that part of CeeCee’s yard?” I asked.

She shrugged and said she didn’t. “I know more about the people in the area than their property.” I stopped to think for a moment and suddenly came up with a win-win situation. She needed something to do, and I needed some information.

“I wonder if you could do a little detective work for me.”

“I’d be glad to,” she said before even knowing what it was. “Whatever it is, it’s better than standing around watching my grandkids be hovered over by the nannies.” She finished with another box and turned to me. “Does it have to do with the woman we found at CeeCee’s house? I would be glad to do anything to help straighten that out. I heard the police believe she’s somehow involved, and I’m sure it isn’t true.”

So the word on the street was that CeeCee had something to do with Delaney’s death. I was afraid of that, but then without knowing about the back gate, I could see where people might think that. “I’d like to know who knew about that gate at CeeCee’s,” I said.

Babs was listening intently. “I can do that. I’ll do it this afternoon and report back later.”

Mrs. Shedd drifted into the department and gave Babs a puzzled look. “I know I made you assistant manager, but any new hires still need to go through me.”

I stepped away and let Babs continue filling up a cubby with orbs of lavender yarn. “She’s a volunteer helper,” I said, and Mrs. Shedd relaxed—a little, anyway.

“Have you gotten the deposit for the extravagant baby shower?” my boss asked.

“No,” I said, and Mrs. Shedd gave me a knowing look. Filling out paperwork didn’t mean anything. Until we had a nonrefundable deposit, it was too easy for the client to change their mind. I promised to work on it later in the afternoon.

“You do remember we’re having an author event later.” She picked up on the momentary blank look on my face. “Molly, I know you said you could handle all this, but are you sure? I’m depending on you to make sure Yarn University is a success. It will certainly help support the yarn department. And the crochet parties are definitely bringing
in extra revenue. But we need to take care of our core business of selling books.”

“I’m on it,” I said as the details came into my mind. “I’ll do the setup later,” I said. When I went back to the yarn department, Babs had unloaded the boxes and straightened up the other cubbies. Kids were beginning to come out of story time. Babs grabbed her things and started toward them, and I followed along on my way to the information booth.

“Until this afternoon,” she said to me. “Aren’t you supposed to say something like ten-four?” I guess I wasn’t the only one who liked to play Nancy Drew.

*   *   *

There were posters around the bookstore advertising the event—I’d just gotten immune to seeing them. I quickly refreshed myself on the details before beginning the setup. There were boxes of books to put out, along with an assortment of natural body products. I had just cut open the first box when Mrs. Shedd found me. She was carrying the blue zippered pouch, and it seemed to be bulging. “We took in a lot of cash this morning, and I don’t like to keep it around. Would you take it to the bank now?” She said it like a request, but I knew it was a command. As she had said before, it went with my new title of assistant manager. I suppose I should have been happy that she trusted me with the cash, but it still made me nervous. There had to be a reason a lot of stores used a service with an armored car and men with guns to pick up the cash. I made some lame remark about wishing I had an armored car with a guard, and she shook her head.

“Just put the pouch in that tote bag full of yarn and nobody will even suspect you’re carrying a large amount of cash.” Her attention was already back on the main part of
the store, checking to see that all the customers who needed help were getting it. She saw a lone person looking lost in the travel department and, with a cluck of her tongue that no one had helped him, left to offer her assistance.

I retrieved my tote and stuffed the pouch in it as I walked toward the front of the store. Adele was at the checkout counter. She handed our cashier a stack of children’s books and thanked the customer for their business. It amazed me that nobody seemed bothered that Adele was still in her story time outfit. I’m not sure what book she’d read this time, but she had on a purple velvet cape and was holding a wand with a star on the end of it. She topped the outfit with a silver crocheted crown.

“Where are you going?” she asked as I walked by. I considered what to say. She was still not over the fact that I had been hired to be event coordinator when she thought she should have been given the position. I imagined she was even more upset now that I was assistant manager—she didn’t realize that most of what came with the title was more work. But before I could think of another answer to give, Adele had already figured out I was off on some business for Mrs. Shedd. I could tell she was about to get pouty, so I told her the truth.

“She’s sending you off alone with a bag of cash?” Adele seemed genuinely concerned, though I wasn’t quite sure if she was questioning Mrs. Shedd’s trust in me or actually worried that I might get mugged. Adele was a handful, but at the same time she had decided I was her best friend in the world—she called us French toast sisters because I had invited her for brunch once.

“Pink, you better let me come with you. Eric showed me some self-defense moves.” To demonstrate, she jumped back and assumed a stance with both of her arms out in front of
her, hands balled into fists. For once, I was actually glad that she wanted to get into the middle of what I was doing.

“Okay,” I said. The word was barely out of my mouth when she had her bag and had already told Mrs. Shedd that I needed some backup to help deliver the cash. I think Mrs. Shedd had long since decided just to go along with whatever Adele said, especially because the kids’ department was flourishing under her direction. All her drama and costumes were a hit with the kids, and they got their parents to buy a lot of books.

The sky was gray as we walked outside, and there was a cold, wet feeling to the air. A true winter’s day in Southern California. Adele pulled the purple cape around herself for warmth and stuck close to me as we walked down the street and around the corner to the parking lot. Her head was constantly moving as she surveyed the area for any danger, making the silver crown wobble.

She rode shotgun and jumped out of the greenmobile as soon as I’d parked in the Bank of Tarzana parking lot. There were lots of people coming and going to the bank, and Adele seemed to be viewing each of them as a threat. I can only imagine how they viewed her.

Evan Willis came out of the bank, dressed in track pants and a blue jacket, with his gym bag slung on his shoulder. He stopped to talk to a similarly dressed man who was just heading into the bank. I only got a glimpse of the other man’s bland good looks. Was it Pia’s husband? As Evan Willis started down the steps, I caught his eye. I nodded my head in the start of a greeting, which I intended to follow with a verbal hello, but he abruptly looked away. I was sure he’d seen me. Then I realized that it was a reproach for the previous night. He’d probably mentally branded me as a troublemaker. What if his wife felt the same?

I thought of Mrs. Shedd’s question about the deposit for the shower. As soon as I got back I was going to contact Kelsey and do damage control.

Adele was taking her role as bodyguard very seriously and stuck to me like her purple cape was made of Velcro as we threaded through the people coming and going and went inside.

The greeter practically curtseyed when we came in and barely did a double take at Adele’s outfit. Then I realized why—the local kids’ dentist, who called himself Dr. Supertooth and wore a Superman-like costume, was already in the line. This time I knew to go to the special line and steered my caped and crowned associate toward it.

When it was my turn I stepped up to the window and slipped the pouch under the divider. I heard Adele let out a satisfied sigh. “Eric would be so proud of how I got you here safely.”

“What?” the teller said.

“It’s nothing. We’re just relieved to have gotten here without a problem to drop off the cash,” I said. By then she had opened the pouch and was separating the bundle of cash from the checks.

“I don’t know if this will make you feel better, but we have people coming in with lots more cash than this, and they just walk in by themselves,” the teller said. “I just handled one of those transactions. I think the deposit was for nine thousand dollars.”

Adele was still sticking close, even though I’d turned over the money. “What kind of business did he have?” she asked the teller.

The teller didn’t seem happy with the question. “I know we’re supposed to be friendly, but I think it’s more important to be discreet. I don’t think you’d like me telling someone else how small the deposit from the bookstore was.”

As she took the bills and put them in a counting machine, she continued talking. “I’m new to handling the business accounts, but that’s just what I think.”

It didn’t register at first, but her comment made me think about something. “Did Delaney Tanner used to handle the business accounts?” The teller seemed surprised and a little uncomfortable with my question.

“Yes, this was her regular spot. I want you to know that I’m nothing like her. The way she went on about some actor who came in . . . She said he used to be in a soap opera.”

“He was in the business line?” I asked.

The woman caught herself. “I shouldn’t say anything. I thought Delaney was wrong for talking about the customers. Actually, the bank wants us to call them clients.”

“Did she say anything else about him?” I asked, suddenly very interested.

“I guess there’s no harm in me telling you since it really didn’t have to do with the bank. She said he was going to let her be an extra in some series he’s doing. Did you know her?” She took the stack of bills out and put in some more to be counted. “No one will tell us what really happened to her. I’m sure it was an accident or suicide.” She looked at me with a furrowed brow. “It couldn’t have had anything to do with the bank, right?”

I felt bad for the woman and could understand her concern since she’d taken over Delaney’s position. “I actually was the one who found her,” I said. The woman’s eyes widened so much I thought her eyeballs were going to pop out. “I’m trying to figure out what happened.”

“You’re the one,” the teller said. “I’ve heard about you! You’re like the Sherlock Holmes of Tarzana.”

“Not exactly,” I said, blushing. “It’s just that I seem to be somehow connected to people who have died around here.”

Our transaction was done, but the teller kept talking. She offered us bottles of water and lollipops from the jar on her counter, but eventually several people had gotten into the merchant line and the teller realized she had to let us go. As we walked away, she said something I didn’t quite hear. Did she say Molly or Manny?

Adele and I retraced our steps and were back in the bookstore in no time. I knew it was going to turn into a big deal, but I thanked Adele for accompanying me. She surprised me by throwing her arms around me, which caused her silver crown to tilt, and said, “That’s what French toast sisters do for each other.”

Was there any doubt that Delaney had been talking about Tony Bonnard? Not that I had time to think about it. As soon as I got back to the bookstore, I was on the phone with Kelsey Willis doing damage control.

It was a touchy business. My goal was to not lose the shower business and get her deposit, but without making it seem like I thought she might be backing out. I got her on her cell phone, and she sounded like she was in a restaurant. The whole point was to try to get her to come into the bookstore as soon as possible.

It took a minute for her to understand who I was—finally, I had to say it was Polly.

“Oh, it’s you,” she said. “I was going to call you.” I had the sinking feeling that I knew what was going to come next. She was going to cancel.

What I did was rude, but under the circumstances, necessary. I cut her off and started to talk. “I know we talked on
the phone before about your daughter’s choices for the shower, but I’d really like to show you what we offer.” I hesitated about adding,
And then you can drop off the deposit
.

“You showed everything to Erin, right?” she said.

“I did, but I figured since you were paying for it, you should really see what you’re getting.” That apparently struck a nerve.

“Of course, you’re right. I should really see what she gave the go-ahead for.”

We agreed on a time that afternoon, and I tried to casually bring up that she might want to drop off the deposit at the same time. She didn’t respond.

*   *   *

I went back to setting up in the event area. There were already signs around the bookstore and in the window announcing “An Evening with Esmaya.” Her event was to promote her book,
The Average Joe’s Guide to Meditation
, and a line of natural skin care products she was connected to. I knew from the copyright that her real name was Lynn Adler. I hadn’t met her yet. Mrs. Shedd had set it up because she had been convinced that Esmaya would draw a crowd to the bookstore.

The way the sky was clouding up and the air smelled like rain, I wasn’t so sure about the turnout. I set out a bunch of chairs and put together a display at the front with a table for her books and another table for all the body products. I’d smelled them, and they all had a nice, unisex citrus scent.

I was just finishing up when Mrs. Shedd pointed two blond women in my direction. I should have figured that Kelsey wouldn’t come alone. But then, Pia was the one who suggested she have the shower at the bookstore to start with.

I stopped what I was doing and led them over to the yarn
department and started to explain that was where we held all the crochet events.

Kelsey didn’t say anything. She just watched as I brought out the party bag samples and a finished baby blanket, explaining how everyone made a small square. There was definitely something on her mind. And I was afraid I knew what it was.

“I’m sorry about last night,” I said. Kelsey looked up from the selection of party bags.

“There was certainly a lot of commotion—the helicopter, the cops, the crowd in front of our house.” She seemed like she felt put-upon by the whole thing. “Evan said he saw two people creeping around in the bushes. And after what happened at CeeCee’s, he thought we were next.” I heard Pia let out a gasp at the thought before Kelsey continued. “He didn’t realize it was you and your friend when he called the cops.”

“Oh,” I said, thinking an apology was going to come next. I should have known better. People like Kelsey didn’t apologize.

“Then we heard you were some kind of amateur detective. So, you were investigating?” she said with a condescending laugh. She leaned a little closer, like she was going to say something important. “If I were you, I’d give up the gumshoe work and concentrate on Erin’s shower. I’m sure you understand that our having her shower here could open the door to a lot of business for you.”

I wasn’t sure if that was some kind of veiled threat or if she was just acting like she always used to in the PTA—holding on to the upper hand by bossing me around. Whatever it was, I instantly gave up my plan to ask her about their party guests the night of Delaney’s death. “So which of the party bags do you like?” I asked with a pleasant smile, as if I didn’t mind being reprimanded by her.

Kelsey looked up at Pia with a satisfied smile, thinking she’d gotten her way. “I know which one I like, but which one would you choose?” she asked Pia. Pia pointed out the one I considered top-of-the-line, and Kelsey nodded in agreement before saying, “Great minds think alike. That’s the one we’ll go with.” We went over the rest of the details, and except for some minor changes, she agreed with her daughter’s choices.

“Okay, then that’s settled.” Kelsey stood up.

“We just need the deposit,” I said, trying to keep it sounding casual. I was relieved when she agreed. “We can handle it up front.” I waited until they both had gathered their things and we headed out of the yarn department. We were waylaid when Kelsey paused to check out my Esmaya display. She picked up a tube of body lotion, and I was about to explain the upcoming event to her when my breath stopped.

Babs had just walked in the front door, and she was looking around the store. I knew what she was looking for—me. She’d said she would come back with the information I’d requested.

I couldn’t let her meet up with Kelsey and Pia. Not after Kelsey’s suggestion that I stay out of sleuthing. I could just imagine what Babs would say about how she was helping me with my detective work. She might even take it further and start asking Kelsey questions.

Babs saw me and waved frantically as she started to walk toward us.

What was I going to do? Just when it seemed hopeless, I heard Pia say, “I can’t stand that woman. I don’t want to hear any more of her neighborly nonsense.” Pia looked around frantically. “Let’s use that side door.”

Kelsey nodded in agreement and shoved a bunch of bills
in my hand. “Take out whatever the lotion costs and use the rest as the deposit,” she said, fairly running for the door. The side door they’d spotted was actually an emergency exit, and an alarm went off as the door opened, but it was a small price to pay.

Babs caught up with me as I was trying to reset the door. “I got your information,” she said in an excited voice. “It turns out everyone knew about the gate. Even with those bushes around her place, balls from the neighboring houses ended up in the yard.”

“That was fast work,” I said, grateful Kelsey and Pia weren’t there to hear it.

“It was easy. I asked someone who was familiar with the whole area.” It must have shown in my face that I was a little disappointed, because Babs asked me what was wrong.

“I’m still trying to figure out how Delaney ended up in the guest quarters. I thought if only a few people or, best of all, only one person knew about that gate, it would narrow it down. But if everybody but CeeCee was aware of the gate, it isn’t much help.” As we moved away from the emergency exit, Babs looked back at the door.

“I don’t understand why they left that way. I thought for sure they saw me.” Babs seemed genuinely perplexed.

*   *   *

It was dark outside when I went to the event area, ready to act as host. The cloudy skies had given way to a light rain, and the big window facing Ventura Boulevard had gotten fogged up from the warmth inside. Mrs. Shedd had left for the day, and there were a couple of part-time clerks there to help with sales.

By now other people had started to come in. I figured a
lot of them were Esmaya’s friends, as they all seemed to have an ethereal thing going.

Esmaya arrived at last. Decked out in a long, pale blue dress with a floaty purple layer over it, she definitely looked the part. She had lots of bracelets, a silk scarf wound around her neck and hoop earrings that had feathers hanging off the bottom. When I looked closer, I realized they were actually tiny dream catchers. Usually the authors stood off behind a bookcase somewhere until I did their grand introduction, but Esmaya stayed right in the front, surveying the people as they came in. I hadn’t tried to get the Hookers to come, so I was relieved to see the chairs beginning to fill, and not totally surprised when I saw Babs had come back to the bookstore and had taken a seat in the back. It only took a moment before she came up to me and offered her help.

“I think I have everything under control, but thank you,” I said. She went back to her seat, and Adele came out of the kids’ area and stood to the side of the chairs. Adele had been fussing that Esmaya’s book had made no mention of crochet as an aid to meditation. I could just picture Adele jumping up and raising her hand when Esmaya took questions.

Most of the seats were full, and I stepped to the front to begin the introduction. I’d barely gotten out the welcome to the crowd when I was interrupted.

“Excuse me,” Kelsey Willis said, coming right up to the front. I was surprised to see her back at the bookstore so soon. Pia Sawyer was in tow, and they were dressed in similar Burberry rain gear. “I have to return this lotion.” Kelsey held it out accusingly toward me. “It has lanolin in it.”

Esmaya stepped right in. She took the tube of cream back and handed her another one. “You want the vegan version, then.” She turned to the crowd and explained that lanolin came from sheep.

Kelsey seemed surprised that the exchange had gone so easily, but Pia’s interest had apparently been piqued. She walked over to the display table of books and picked one up. “Meditation, huh?” she said. “It’s the hot thing right now.” I had to keep myself from adding that though it seemed to be trendy at the moment, it had actually been around forever. Pia held up her hand, admiring her mint green nails next to the green cover of the book. “It kind of goes with our mani-pedis,” the taller blond said to Kelsey. “It’s sort of a spa thing. Maybe we should stay.”

“I don’t think so,” Kelsey said, gesturing with her arm toward the crowd. Babs was waving wildly and pointing to the two seats next to her.

The way things turned out, I was glad they had left.

I returned to the front of the crowd and finished my introduction. Esmaya began her program. “The first thing we do is purify the space.” She had a big wad of something pungent-smelling in her hand.

“Is that marijuana?” Adele called out.

I got the feeling Esmaya had been asked that before. “No, it’s sage and perfectly legal.”

She held it up and lit it with a lighter, and it began to smoke. She waved her free hand and urged everyone out of their seats and had them form a line behind her. Then, she led the line around the perimeter of the bookstore, waving the smoking wad of dried plants.

“Pink, you better stop her,” Adele said, catching up with me. “I’m telling you—” The rest of what she said was drowned out by a loud wail as lights around the bookstore began to flash off and on.

“I tried to tell you,” Adele said. “Mr. Royal installed a new super-sensitive smoke detector system, and it automatically calls the fire department.”

“Oh no,” I said, grabbing my phone to call and try to stop the fire department. But apparently, once the call went in, nothing could stop it. The fire department was only a few blocks away, and within seconds I heard the whine of their sirens. Meanwhile, the lights kept flashing and the alarm continued to go off.

To make it worse, I saw that the way the windows were steamed up, it could appear the place was filled with smoke. All the engines pulled right in front of the bookstore, and the firefighters came in wearing their full gear, holding axes and a hose. Esmaya waved the smoking sage toward them, I guess in an effort to purify them, but of course all they saw was something burning. One of the firefighters grabbed it, threw it on the ground, and let loose with a fire extinguisher while another went to turn off the alarm.

“I’m so sorry,” I said to the captain. This wasn’t the first time one of our author events had led to their arrival. Babs had pushed to the front of the crowd.

“I’m from Iowa City, and we know how to treat our brave firefighters.” She turned to me. “We need to do something special for them.”

I did feel terrible for dragging them out on a false alarm, so we got our barista, Bob, to make them all special drinks and offer them his creation of the day, coincidentally called Hunka Hunka Burning Love Cookie Bars.

After the firefighters left, things went a lot smoother, although Adele did make a fuss, saying Esmaya should have something in her book about crochet being an aid to meditation. The author played some soothing music and was able to get everybody to join in a group meditation. She did a whole spiel on the creams after that and sold quite a few tubes despite one of the audience members bringing up that even all-natural ingredients could be a problem for some people.

Babs came up to me at the end, and I thought she was going to congratulate me on how well the event went, even in the face of the fire alarm incident. Instead, she said, “I can’t believe Kelsey and Pia didn’t see me again. I’d almost think they were trying to avoid me.”