Shampoo and a Stiff (3 page)

“
It would,” Nick agreed with a sigh. “If Steven didn't have an alibi.”

“
You already checked?” Bekki asked with surprise.

“
Well, it is kind of my job,” he reminded her with a sly smile.

“
Good point,” Bekki smiled and then glanced back over her shoulder into the diner. Tom was finishing up his food and nervously glancing in Nick's direction. “Are you sure it's valid?” she asked as she looked back at Nick.

“
Well, he was at Doug’s,” Nick shrugged a little. “You know the bar owned by Doug Matthews.”

“
Sure,” Bekki nodded as she recalled the bar. Doug Matthews had been one of her teachers in high school. “And Doug saw him there?”

“
Yes, he said Steven was in there last night. It was a little busy,” he added. “They had a special. But he clearly remembers Steven being there.”

“
Hmm,” Bekki frowned thoughtfully. “Well, I guess my hunch was wrong,” she sighed and shook her head with slight embarrassment. “Maybe I should leave the detective work to you.”

“
Bekki, if there's one thing I've learned about you,” he said with a slight quirk of a brow, and his arm snaking around her waist. “It's that you're never wrong,” he pushed her long, dark, wavy hair off her face with his free hand and kissed her lightly on her lips as she smiled broadly.

“
Why Nick, if I didn't know better, I'd think you were flirting with me,” she narrowed her blue eyes slightly. “You do realize that I'm a married woman, don't you?”

“
I do,” he drawled in return and stole another kiss before sighing. “All right, I've got to get going before I get completely distracted.”

“
Can't have that,” Bekki winked at him. Then she paused and smiled. “I'll see you at home.”

“
See you there,” he nodded and they both savored the sweetness of being able to say that to one another.

***

When Bekki returned to the booth where Sammy and Tom were taking the last bites of their food, she sank down across from Tom.

“
What did Nick want?” Tom asked with a suspicious glance.

“
He was just checking in with me,” Bekki replied with a hesitant smile. She didn't have the heart to tell Tom that he was still the prime suspect.

Bekki
felt like she was back at zero, since she had been pinning all of her suspicions on Steven. If it wasn't Steven, and she was sure it wasn't Tom, then it could have been any number of employees that worked at the factory. Or even someone that knew Brad outside of work. She had to find out more about Brad, but she knew Steven wasn't going to share much with her. It struck her that he probably didn't share much with anyone. But the thing about some men who were so tight-lipped and straight-laced, was that a little bit of alcohol could really loosen them up. If it was true that Steven had been at the bar, then maybe he had been confiding in the bartender, or someone else who was there. It was a long shot, but it was the only one she could think of.

“
Don't worry, Tom,” she said as she paid the bill. “All of this will be straightened out soon.”

“
I hope so,” Tom muttered as he stood up from the table. “I think you're about the only ones in town that would dare share lunch with me.”

“
Anytime, Tom,” Bekki said firmly. She remembered what Nick had said about dining with murder suspects, but having been one herself in the past, she understood what it was like to be under suspicion of a crime while innocent. She didn't wish that feeling on anyone.

“
Yes, anytime,” Sammy said and nodded in agreement.

“
Thanks,” Tom replied and then walked out of the diner with his head hanging low.

Bekki
presumed that on his salary he couldn't afford a lawyer. He would have a court-appointed one who might look at the circumstantial evidence against Tom and encourage him to take a deal. Bekki couldn't let him sit in jail for years just because he was doing his job.

“
Sammy, what do you say about grabbing a drink tonight?” Bekki suggested as she and her friend walked out of the diner.

“
Really?” Sammy asked with surprise. Since Bekki had been back in town she hadn't often gone out for a night of fun, at least not with Sammy. “I think that's a great idea. Do you mind if I invite Morris?” she asked.

“
Perfect,” Bekki nodded. “I'll text Nick and ask him to come along.

“
Sure,” Sammy smiled. Bekki texted Nick and then drove back to the salon. She had it shut down for most of the morning so it was time to get caught up with some customers.

Bekki
still felt a twinge of anxiety pulling into the salon’s parking lot. As she parked and walked up to the salon she noticed that there was still some yellow police tape stuck to the gate that led to the storage area behind the store. She walked over to it and snagged it off the gate. As she did she caught sight of someone staring at her. Her blood ran cold as she felt the strange sensation of knowing that a stranger was looking directly at her. He was a tall, thin man, thin enough to be called wiry. He wore a light blue hoodie but it didn't hide his face. He was staring at Bekki with a mixture of anger and annoyance.

“
Can I help you?” Bekki asked, her voice sounding stronger than she felt.

“
I'm just wondering if you knew him,” he said as he walked towards her. Bekki took a slight step closer to the door of the salon. She had never seen him before which was unusual in her small town.

“
Who?” Bekki asked as politely as she could.

“
Brad Zane, the guy that was in the back of that truck,” he explained as he paused a few feet away from her.

“
Are you a friend of his?” Bekki asked and narrowed her eyes.

“
Not exactly,” he replied. Then he reached into the large front pocket on his hoodie. Bekki braced herself as she expected him to withdraw a weapon. Instead the black mechanism he brandished was nothing more than a camera. “I'm a reporter,” he explained and smiled a little. “Sorry if I scared you. It's just Brad Zane's death has made a bit of a splash in the business world. There were a few big names in the fight.”

Bekki
sighed with relief that he was a reporter and not just someone hanging around a crime scene. “What fight?” she asked as she studied him.

“
Fight over the factory,” he shrugged as if it should be common knowledge. “Buyers have been courting Steven for over a year, but Brad wasn't budging. Should be interesting to see how this plays out, now.”

“
I wouldn't call a man's untimely death interesting,” Bekki pointed out but his words were sticking in her mind. “Did you know Brad?”

“
No. I tried to ask him a few questions before, but he just wasn't one to enjoy the limelight. Steven on the other hand, let me do a full spread photo shoot of the factory,” he held up his camera and shook his head. “Too bad it didn't do anything for the business.”

“
Was it struggling?” Bekki asked curiously. She was going to get as much information out of the reporter as she could.

“
Just the opposite,” he corrected. “It was booming. The factory needed expanding, maybe some new locations, it outgrew what they expected. But Brad was big on the whole family business thing, and he kept pushing to keep things small and local, give the guys they grew up with a good solid place to work, all of that nonsense.”

“
It doesn't sound like nonsense,” Bekki said sadly. The more she learned about Brad the more she thought he must have been a decent man who had a pretty strong set of values. “It sounds like he really cared.”

“
Yes, well really caring, and big business, don’t go hand in hand,” the reporter pointed out. “Anyway, sorry to bother you, I just thought maybe you could give me a perspective on finding the body. But, if you didn't know Brad, then it's not really necessary.”

“
No, I had only met him once,” Bekki admitted as she shifted the strap of her purse on her shoulder. Now that she thought about it she couldn't even remember actually speaking to Brad. Steven was the one who did all the talking, and Brad had teased him about spending money on his fancy pens. 

“
Thanks anyway,” the reporter said and waved as he walked off. Bekki unlocked the salon and stepped inside, her mind churning with the information that the reporter had just revealed.

The salon was filled with the fruity scent
of the new shampoo Bekki had purchased. It was infused with essential oils, which seemed to make the difference with her customers. As she walked further into the salon she smiled to herself at how neat and tidy it was. She prided herself on it being a place of escape for the women and even the few men who came into the salon.

Bekki
wanted her customers to be able to relax in an environment free of clutter, free of anything that could cause them stress. However, it was not exactly that space for her today. All she could think of as she set her purse down was the body in the delivery truck. She knew if she couldn't get the mystery unravelled she would be preoccupied with it for some time. She also felt an obligation to help her old friend, Tom. Before she could get too involved in her thoughts the door swung open. She looked up to see Minnie Palan, a regular of the salon. She had a big, floppy hat covering her head, the sides pulled down so that they were pressed against her ears.

“
Minnie?” Bekki asked as she studied the woman and attempted to hide her amusement. “What's going on with that hat?” she asked as Minnie shuffled up to her on her high heels.

Minnie was as close to a socialite as you could find in their little town. She liked to wear the latest fashions and had always been a frequent flyer in
Bekki's chair. She loved to get tips and style advice from Bekki since she had experience in the big city. Bekki tried to encourage her to find her own style, but Minnie always insisted on something spectacular and right off the cover of the latest magazines.

“
Oh Bekki,” Minnie gasped out dramatically. “I've done something terrible.”

“
Whatever it is, it can't be that bad,” Bekki offered soothingly.

“
You're so sweet,” she squeaked out. “Even after I've betrayed you.”

Bekki's
jaw locked briefly. She stared hard at the hat that was hiding Minnie's beautiful shoulder-length hair.

“
What have you done, Minnie?” Bekki asked sternly.

Minnie sniffled.
“I came by to get my hair done, and the police had the place shut down. So, I went to another salon,” she whispered her last words and slowly pulled off the hat. As Bekki gasped in horror, Minnie looked away in absolute shame. Her hair tumbled to her shoulders in bright orange curls, the exact color of a carrot.

“
Why?” Bekki asked, unable to sputter out more than one word at a time.

“
I felt like being a strawberry blonde,” Minnie explained, her eyes cast down towards the floor. “I know I should have just waited for you to reopen, Bekki, I'm so sorry.”

“
Minnie,” Bekki walked up to the woman and patted her shoulder gently. “You are welcome to go to any salon you choose. You don't need to apologize to me. Let's just see what we can do with that color, okay? A few good washes, and a little tweaking of the color, and you'll be the most beautiful strawberry blonde!”

When
Bekki led Minnie over to the shampooing station the gleam off her orange hair reflected on the metal surface. She cringed and wondered if a few good washes would really make that much of a difference. She reached for the half empty bottle of the nourishing shampoo she had been using, but then thought better of it. She decided she would use one of the new bottles of restoring shampoo, believing it would do the best job of removing the dye. She certainly didn’t want to use the color protection shampoo.

“
Just give me a minute,” Bekki said with a smile and handed Minnie one of the latest magazines.

When
Bekki stepped into the back room to get a bottle of shampoo off the shelf she noticed something. The label on the bottle was slightly scraped and the bottle had a dent in it. She had only received a few shipments of the company’s hair products, but all of the bottles she had received had been flawless. She set the bottle aside and grabbed another, but she still thought it was odd. As she worked up a nice lather in Minnie's hair Bekki could feel her mind churning over the case. If Steven truly had an alibi then who could have committed the crime? Did the scraped label have something to do with it? Was there a scuffle?

As each bubble floated through the air and popped
, Bekki formed a new theory. There were the workers at the factory. Perhaps a jealous lover, since Brad was friendly with the ladies. Maybe, an angry boyfriend of one of his lovers. The list of suspects seemed to grow as numerous as the bubbles in the shampoo.

“
Bekki, that feels fantastic,” Minnie sighed drawing Bekki out of her thoughts. She realized that she had been massaging Minnie's scalp for some time and that she had lost track of how long she had been shampooing.

“
Let's get you under the water,” Bekki said quickly and ran warm water across the shampoo in Minnie's hair. As she rinsed she could see an orange tint to the water, but she knew it would need a few more washes before it was dull enough to manipulate the color correctly. “I'm sorry that we weren't open when you needed your appointment,” Bekki said as she began to lather up Minnie's hair once more.

“
Oh, I know that it was because of Brad's death,” Minnie frowned. “I was so sad when I heard about it. He was a decent guy.”

“
You knew him?” Bekki asked with surprise.

“
Honey, I know every handsome, financially blessed man within one hundred miles,” she paused and cleared her throat. “Just for casual dinners and dating of course.”

“
Did you date Brad?” Bekki asked as she massaged the shampoo through the strands of Minnie's hair.

“
We had a few dates, but he wasn't really my type. He wasn't ambitious enough,” she cringed when Bekki's finger got caught in one of her curls.

“
Sorry,” Bekki said quickly and started another rinse. “So, he wasn't interested in a relationship, is that what you mean?”

“
No, not at all, he was head over heels. It might seem greedy to you, but I don't want to marry a man who is satisfied with a decent bank account. I have aspirations of being wealthy, and I want the man I am with to have those aspirations, too.”

“
Nothing wrong with that,” Bekki said with a shrug and squeezed the last of the shampoo from Minnie's hair. “It's important to know what you want and be honest about it.”

“
Exactly what I said,” Minnie agreed. “He did take it a little hard though. I heard after we broke things off he was picking up a new girl every week,” she frowned as Bekki led her over to a dryer so they could see how her hair looked once it was dry. “Honestly, I felt a little guilty. So, when I heard about his death, you can imagine, I was fairly upset.”

“
Sorry to hear that,” Bekki said gently.

“
I just hope the police are able to figure out what happened,” Minnie sighed. “Like I said, he was a decent guy.”

Bekki
switched on the hair dryer and then walked over to the reception desk. She pulled out her phone and saw that Nick had texted back agreeing to meet at the bar that night. She knew he wasn't going to be overly pleased if he found out she was snooping, but she was glad he was willing to go along with her. It was not right for Tom to go down for Brad’s murder. Already a decent man was dead, she didn't want to see another decent man behind bars for a crime he didn't commit.

Bekki
spent the next two hours getting Minnie's hair to a less carroty shade. In the end it looked a bit rusty, but Bekki assured her they would work on it more.

“
I don't want to dry it out by washing it too much,” Bekki explained as she put the final touches on the style she had chosen to downplay the color of Minnie's hair. “We'll get it straightened out soon enough.”

“
Thanks Bekki,” Minnie smiled. “At least I don't have to hide under that hat anymore.”

Minnie's word
s made Bekki recall the way that the reporter had been hiding behind the gate. If he was really there to get pictures and ask her questions as he claimed, why had he been hiding? She felt a deep sense of unease as she wondered if she had overlooked something about him. Sure, he had a camera with him, but that didn't necessarily make him a photographer or a reporter. She had taken him on face value. He had certainly seemed to know a lot about Brad's life. A reporter might know that much, but a stalker might, too. She made a mental note to try and find out more about him, then she smiled and greeted a new customer who had just walked through the door. She had four appointments for the afternoon before she could slow down long enough to figure out the mystery of what really happened to Brad.