6 Beach Blanket Barbie (10 page)

I walked across the
shop and sat down on one of the chairs Courtney had placed outside of the dressing rooms. She had a flair for style, but these chairs had been selected for trendiness rather than comfort. Especially if you had short legs, which I do. I stood back up and leaned against the wall.

“
At first I thought Barbie might have died at the hands of a past lover or a jealous wife,” I said. “But I’m starting to think her death had more to do with what she got into after she left Ashton Falls than anything that might have occurred before she left.”

“
Maybe, though Barbie made a lot of enemies,” Courtney admitted. “She seemed to like stirring things up. She’d flirt with some random guy and then wait for the wife or girlfriend to go ballistic. I think the fact that she could get any guy to pant after her gave her a sort of twisted thrill. I don’t think she slept around quite as much as people assumed, though. It was usually enough for her to make the guy want her. She never took any of the guys she dated seriously. In fact, I think she considered most to them to be some sort of jokes. The easier the guys succumbed to her wiles, the less respect she had for them. I knew her for quite a while, and the only guy I ever saw her really fall for was . . .”

“Levi,” I supplied.

“Yeah, and what did that get her?”

My natural inclination was to jump in and defend my friend
, but I realized that doing so would most likely end the conversation, so I bit my tongue . . . well, not literally.

“What about Brock
?” I asked, mentioning the man Barbie had lived with prior to hooking up with Levi. “Have you heard from him lately?”

“Brock moved to Bryton Lake after he and Barbie split. I don’t think they
stayed in touch, although she might have gone to him if she were in trouble. I have his number if you’d like to contact him, though I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention that I gave it to you.”

“Did Brock and Barbie end things on good terms?”

“Surprisingly, they did. I know Brock has a new girlfriend now, and I think they’re pretty serious. Barbie knew about the relationship but didn’t seem to care. I think their affair had run its course by the time they ended things.”

“Okay, well
, thank you for your time. And I really do need some clothes. You know my size and taste; why don’t you pick out some things and I’ll come by to try them on later in the week? Be sure to include a few of those tops I was looking at. Maybe lime green and lemon yellow. The mauve is nice as well, but no pink.”

“Okay, I’ll do that. And Zoe
. . .”

“Yeah
?”

“Be careful. Whoever killed Barbie is bad news. I wouldn’t want to see you get hurt.”

After I left Courtney’s
, I returned to the Zoo. I’d left Charlie with Zak today and missed him desperately. I almost went by the house to pick him up but decided that a day apart wouldn’t kill either of us. Still, I reasoned, it wouldn’t hurt to call Zak to check up on things. Besides, Zak had promised to have a chat with Scooter’s dad, and I’d been on pins and needles all morning, wondering how the conversation had turned out. I dialed Zak’s cell number as soon as I arrived at the Zoo and said hi to Jeremy.

“How’s my little guy?” I began.

“Little guy? I thought I was your
big
guy.”

“Not you
; Charlie,” I clarified.

“Ah, I should have known you called to check up on your dog rather than your boyfriend.”

“He’s been in my life a lot longer,” I teased.

“He’s fine.
The dogs and I went for a hike this morning, and now Lambda and Charlie are napping on the deck. How was your meeting?”

“Boring
, but it looks like we have everything handled for the weekend. Did you have a chance to talk to Scooter’s dad?”

“I did,” Zak confirmed.

“And?” I began pacing nervously. If Zak couldn’t work something out with Mr. Sherwood, there was a good chance poor Cody might be facing a death sentence.

“He agreed not to pursue a lawsuit or a complaint with the county.”

I let out the breath I’d been holding for two days. “Did anyone ever tell you that you’re an amazing man?”

“Actually
, no.”

“Well
, you are. Thank you so much. Cody thanks you as well.”

“Here’s the thing
. . .” Zak sounded hesitant.

“Thing?” I was afraid to ask.

“There was a price.”

“He asked you for money
? I figured he would. Whatever you had to pay the man was worth it. Cody doesn’t deserve to die for protecting Sally.”

“I agree. Cody doesn’t deserve to die. That’s why I agreed to the price. The thing is
, Scooter’s dad didn’t ask for money.”

“He didn’t?” My heart started to pound. “What did he want?”

“A babysitter.”

My heart sank into my shoes.
“Babysitter?” I croaked.

“Scooter
’s dad has to go out of town for a few days, and he insisted that the only way he’d drop the whole thing is if I agreed to watch his kid.”

“You didn’t.”

“You wanted to save the dog,” Zak reminded me. “In fact, I seem to remember you asking me very nicely to do whatever it took.”

“I was thinking of giving him money.” I
was starting to hyperventilate. “I wanted you to give him money.”

“He didn’t want money.”

I reached for the chair behind me. I was pretty sure I was going to pass out. “Is he there now? At your house?” I clarified.

“He is.”

“Oh, God,” I groaned. “I hope your homeowner’s insurance is paid up.”

“It is,” Zak assured me.

“What are we going to do with a kid? What are we going to do with
that
kid?” I emphasized.

“He’s been here for over an hour. He went for a swim
, and now he’s playing video games. I think you’re worrying for nothing.”

I heard a crash in the background.

“I gotta go,” Zak informed me. “Bring Cody when you come over.”

“Cody?” I asked
, but Zak had already hung up.

“What about Cody?” Jeremy poked his head in
to my office.

“Zak wants me to bring him to his house.”

“I’m not sure you should do that. He’s under unofficial quarantine.”

“Scooter
’s dad is dropping the complaint,” I informed Jeremy.

“That’s great. What did Zak say to convince him?”

“He told Scooter’s dad he’d babysit him.”

“Babysit?” Jeremy said, the horror
of the thought evident in his tone.

“Apparently
, Scooter’s dad had to go out of town for a few days.”

“Poor Zak. Does he know what he’s getting himself into?”

I remembered the crash. “If he didn’t before, I’m pretty sure he does now.”

“So if Scooter is at
his house, why does he want you to bring Cody over?”

“I guess he’s going to try to work out some sort of peace treaty between the two. I should call the Browns
to let them know what’s going on.”

“I’m sure they’ll be relieved that you figured out a way to get Cody off the hook
, but be careful if you do decide to get Cody and Scooter together. Somehow I don’t see Cody warming up to Scooter any time soon, and another bite could be bad news all around.”

“Yeah, I’ll take precautions. How did things go this morning?”

“Good. We arranged for an adoption for the last of the Birdwell kittens, and I’ve had four calls inquiring about the Lowery puppies. On the flip side, I’ve had two calls from families wanting to drop off kittens. I told them that we’d be happy to take them and offered them a coupon for a free spay. Both families are going to take me up on the offer. I have a call in to Scott to make arrangements for the mother cats.”

“Excellent. How is Goliath doing this morning?”

“Better. His appetite is returning and he’s starting to complain about his accommodations.”

I smiled. “Excellent. We’ll need to warn the others not to enter the cage
without one of us, now that he’s up and about. Scott seemed to think he’d recover quickly if we could get him up and eating. I’ll need to talk to the forest service about a possible location to release him once the stitches come out.”

“
While you’re at it, you might as well enter into a discussion about releasing the coyote pups. Now that the snow has melted and food sources are plentiful, I think they’ll do fine on their own.”

“Yeah, I will. Any other messages?”

“We had a call to pick up a stray bothering picnickers at Snowshoe Beach, but Tiff went ahead and took it. Other than that, it’s been a quiet morning.”

I picked up a stack of paperwork and headed down the hall toward the records room. Jeremy picked up his own pile and followed along behind me.
“How’s Morgan feeling this morning?” I knew Jeremy’s month-old daughter had come down with a cold over the weekend.

“Better. Mrs. Broman has been a wonderful nanny. She knows exactly what to do in pretty much every situation. I don’t know what I’d do without her.
By the way, I’ll need to leave early tomorrow, if that’s okay. Mrs. Broman has a doctor’s appointment.”

“Sure
, no problem. Did we get the ad in the weekend edition of the
Bryton Lake Courier
for the pet adoption?”

“Yeah
, the proof is on your desk. They said the deadline for the ad is tomorrow, so they’d like you to get the proof back right away, if possible.”

“I’ll look at it as soon as I’m done here
. Did you ask them about placement for the ad?”

“It’s going to be featured on the weekend events page.”

“Awesome. I’ll be in my office if you need me.”

I turned
away and Jeremy returned to the front counter. The ad was colorful and appealing; Jeremy had done a good job with it. I was certain it would attract a lot of people to the adoption who otherwise might not have attended. The weekend events page was a color insert that was only printed on Fridays. I knew that the Events Committee had taken out an ad in the same insert for the Memorial Day festivities. The sales rep from the newspaper had suggested I pull up the special insert from a previous edition so I could consider the best placement for my ad. I logged into the site on my computer and entered the proper search command. I found the page that had run two weeks before. It featured a full-color ad showcasing an antiques auction that was to take place the following weekend, featuring a sampling of the items for sale, including an antique clock. Standing in the background behind the clock was none other than the late Barbie Bennington.

I remembered that Salinger
had said he’d caught Barbie in the act of trying to steal an antique clock. I had to wonder if the clock in the photo and the clock she’d been attempting to steal were one and the same. Was it possible that Barbie, or someone associated with her, had sold the clock to the owner of One Man’s Trash and then tried to steal it back? It made no sense that anyone would do such a thing, but the mere fact that an antique clock had been stolen the previous weekend and Barbie was then caught trying to steal it a few days later was too much of a coincidence to ignore. I printed the page, grabbed my purse, and headed out to Salinger’s office.

“So you think this has something to do with Barbie’s murder?” Levi asked later that afternoon, as I sat with him at his dining table and explained what I’d learned.

“I don’t know. Maybe. I checked with Salinger
, and he confirmed that the clock in the photo is the same one Barbie tried to steal. And I went to One Man’s Trash and spoke to the owner, who confirmed that he had attended the sale and bought the clock, as well as several pieces of furniture, a few paintings, and a number of boxes of smaller household items. I offered to buy the clock, but he said he’d purchased it for his private collection and it wasn’t for sale.”

“So maybe Barbie tried to buy the clock
, but he wouldn’t sell it, so she tried to steal it,” Levi theorized.

“Yeah, but why sell it in the first place?” I asked.

“Maybe she wasn’t selling it. Maybe she was there to buy it,” Levi suggested. “All we really know from the photo was that she was at the preview for the auction when the photo for the ad was taken. What if she was at the auction to buy the clock but lost the bidding to the antiques store owner?”

I frowned. “Does that clock seem like something Barbie would want?”

“No,” Levi admitted.

“I suppose she could have been there to buy the clock on behalf of someone else. Several people I’ve talked to have suggested that Barbie was into something illegal. What if she’s part of a group who uses antiques to make some sort of exchange
?” I suggested.

“Exchange?”

“Yeah, like what if the clock has a secret compartment filled with drugs or diamonds or spy messages or something?”

“I think you’ve been watching too much television.”

“Do you have a better explanation as to why Barbie a) attended the auction preview and b) broke into the antiques store and tried to steal the clock?”

Levi picked up the copy of the fl
yer I’d brought and looked at it again. It was clear that it was Barbie in the background. I’d called the auction company and confirmed that the preview had taken place over a three-day period from May 6 to 8. I knew the deadline to get an ad into the insert was the Wednesday prior to the Friday it was to be run, so the photo had to have been taken on Tuesday, the sixth. The auction had been held on Saturday, May 10, and according to Salinger, he’d found Barbie breaking into One Man’s Trash on Wednesday, May 14. Barbie had called Levi on Thursday, May 15, and she’d drowned on the night of Friday, May 16. If she had indeed taken an ad out in the paper she’d sent to Levi, she’d most likely done so on Thursday, May 15.

“Wasn’t there something about a sale or auction in the classified ads we were looking at?” I asked Levi.

He got up, walked across the room, which was cluttered with laundry and take-out containers, and picked up the paper. “Yeah,” he replied. “There was an ad for an estate sale. The auction takes place this Thursday at 10 a.m.”

“Maybe that’s the clue,” I suggested.

Levi frowned. “I don’t think so. Remember, Barbie would have no way of knowing that we’d found out about her break-in or her attendance at the auction the previous weekend. Don’t you think that if she was sending me a message, she’d send one I could figure out?”

“
You have a point. If you were going to pick an ad, which one do you think she’d most likely send?”

Levi looked at the choices once again. There were two ads for vehicles for sale, two help
-wanted ads, the ad for the estate sale, the ad for an antique cabinet for sale, and one for an apartment for rent. “The apartment,” he finally decided. “She used to talk about us getting a bigger place, with a pool. The ad features an apartment that’s exactly the type of place she used to talk about.”

“Okay, so how did the game work? Was the message embedded in the text? Or could the message be to check out that specific location?”

Levi frowned. “In the movie, the message was a code embedded in the text.” He looked at the ad more closely. “Nothing really pops, but maybe with a little more time . . .”

“Okay, you work on that. I really need to get home
, and I still have to pick up Cody.”

“Cody?”

“A dog with a record. I’ll explain later. Call me if you figure anything out.”