A Bead in the Hand (Glass Bead Mystery Series Book 2) (13 page)

“I can do that,” she said, leaning in with a conspiratorial grin.

“Take Gummie up to the room and then come back down and get started. Here’s a map,” I said, grabbing a brochure with a layout of the booths. “I’m circling all of the vendors that I want you to visit.”

“I can do this. You can count on me, honey.”

“And make sure it looks like you and I have never met.”

“Got it,” Val said, giving me a little salute and nearly poking herself in the eye with her long red thumbnail.

“Wear this necklace, so you look like just another bead lady,” I said, taking off my choker, a beautiful piece made with three large beads of clear glass with purple and sparkling gold aventurine swirls.

“Oh, sparkly, I like it,” Val said.

The elevator arrived, and Val stepped in, lugging the enormous tote with my cat inside.

“Why is it so chilly in this elevator?” Val asked as the doors started to close. “Do you think it’s poltergeists?”

The doors closed before I could answer. I didn’t think it was poltergeists.

SEVENTEEN

TESSA WAS PACING BACK
and forth behind my table when I skidded to a stop in front of it.

“Why did you take so long? What happened?”

I told Tessa all about my failed attempt to enter Saundra’s room. As I was about to tell her about Val, I noticed that she was staring wide-eyed at a voluptuous redhead entering the bead bazaar.

“That looks just like—” Tessa said.

“Val? Yes, that’s because it is Val.”

“What? What is Val doing here? She’s not a bead lady.”

“She is today. There was a crisis at home. She’s apparently staying for the weekend. I asked her to do some snooping around. Everyone knows us, or at least they know me, because I’m the one who found the body.”

“Who’s watching Stanley?” Tessa asked.

“He’s staying with a friend,” I said vaguely, deciding I didn’t need to tell her that the minimally-potty-trained dog had been added to the chaos at her house this weekend.

“And Gumdrop, where is he?”

It was going to be harder to avoid answering this question.

“He’s, um, he’s…”

“Do not tell me. Just do not tell me she brought your cat with her.”

“Okay, I won’t tell you,” I said. “Just be careful when you open the door to the room, so he doesn’t escape.”

“
Che casino
,” she muttered.

Tessa used the phrase a lot around me. It meant “What a disaster” in Italian. She often switched into her native language during times of stress or when she was drunk. I’m sure she wished she’d been drinking. I had a feeling that would happen tonight.

I filled Tessa in on my conversations with Tiffany and Sal.

“Listen to this—Sal said Luke lost a lot of money on non-refundable airline tickets when Saundra was a no-show at a class in Southern California,” I said. “And, of course, he said that Saundra was rude to her students—including Luke. That could make him angry enough to do something rash.” We looked across the ballroom and watched Luke as he adjusted a necklace around a petite blonde, her face flushed with excitement—or was that embarrassment?—from all the attention Luke was lavishing on her. Luke was well-known, or perhaps a better word was notorious, for being a ladies’ man. He was rugged and tan, and looked like he spent more time in the outback than in a studio designing necklaces. With his lovely Aussie accent, no one—well, no woman—was immune to his charms. He laid it on especially thick when selling in his booth. He’d put a necklace on me once, and I swear, I needed a cold shower after that.

“He seems like he’s more of a lover than a fighter—or killer,” I said.

“But what about Sal? Isn’t he also a suspect?” Tessa asked.

“I guess so. Anyone who was here on Preview Night could be a suspect.”

“Not just that, Jax, think about it. Luke wasn’t the only one who lost money when Saundra didn’t show up for class,” Tessa said.

“That’s right, Sal would have had to refund money to all the people who had planned to attend,” I said. “That could be thousands of dollars.”

“And he wouldn’t have gotten a refund on any of the classroom space he rented.”

“Okay, so Luke’s on the suspect list, plus Sal,” I said. Both men seemed shady enough to do some unsavory things, but I couldn’t believe murder was one of them.

EIGHTEEN

TESSA HAD RETURNED
from her latest shopping spree with a bag of books about everything from beadmaking to macramé, and dumped it under my table.

“Whew!” she said, taking a seat next to me. “I’m going to have to stop for a while and rest.”

“Hi, ladies,” said Val in a whisper as she arrived at my table, trying to look like a casual shopper. She looked around cautiously, to see if anyone was watching.

“Having fun?” I asked.

“I’m not going to stand here long. I don’t want anyone to get suspicious of us,” said Val. “I can give you a full report later tonight.”

“Are you done shopping?” Tessa asked.

“Yes. I’m all burned-out on beads. I mean, really, don’t you get tired of looking at beads?”

“No,” we responded in unison.

“I mean, really, when do you finally have enough beads?”

“Never,” Tessa and I responded. We needed Bead-o-holics Anonymous.

“Seriously?” Val said. “I’ve got to do something else. I can’t look at another bead.”

“What are you going to do then?” I asked.

“I heard there’s a fun place called the Saturday Market. It’s supposed to have arts and crafts and artisanal food. You
know
how I love to eat yummy things. And I heard it can be a real hot spot for singles.”

“Val—wait. We’ll be done at five, so meet us back in the room and we’ll go have dinner,” Tessa said.

“Okay, ladies. Sounds good. Unless I get a better offer. I better go now, before anyone gets suspicious,” Val said as she gave us a discreet wave and swished out the door.

“I’m going to check out that sale on Thai silver beads,” Tessa said. “Anything I can get for you?”

“No, I’ve at least a pound of those at home.”

“See you back in the room,” Tessa said, before making a beeline for the table on the opposite side of the ballroom.

Adriana approached my table. Today she was wearing all white with a long cascading necklace of Swarovski crystals. Val would have exactly two things to say about the outfit: That it was too far past Labor Day to be wearing white and that the necklace Adriana was wearing was her favorite piece of jewelry because of how sparkly it was.

“How’s the sale going for you?” Adriana said, picking up a handful of bargain beads and rattling them like dice. She seemed nervous.

“It’s going well, all things considered,” I replied.

“Oh yes, I heard the terrible news about Sandy, I mean Saundra. Back in the old days before she became a big deal, that was what we all called her.” Now this was interesting news. Adriana knew Saundra, and had known her for a long time.

“I hope you’ll be joining us for karaoke tonight at Club Arigato,” Adriana said.

“I’m not much of a singer.” Not a singer
at all
.

“Oh, none of us are. It’s just our chance to have fun. Don’t make us come and drag you there,” Adriana said with finality. In her mind the matter was settled: I was going out tonight.

I had just been Shanghaied to a Japanese—not a Chinese—restaurant.

• • •

My phone rang while I was sitting behind my sales table. I answered it.

“Jax. Hi. It’s Zachary Grant. I’m glad I reached you.”

Detective Grant, the prickly Seattle detective I’d met a few months before, was calling me. How strange.

“Hi,” I said, trying to find some words that would make sense right now.

“I suppose you’re wondering why I’m calling. I was driving by your house—”

“Driving by? Just happened to be in the neighborhood?” I asked. I wondered how often Zachary drove by. Val had said he’d stopped by looking for me last week. Curious.

“Ahem.” Zachary cleared his throat. He sounded nervous. “Yes, well, I thought I’d stop by. You’re not home, are you?”

“No, I’m in Portland this weekend.”

“That’s good because there is a burly man standing on your front steps. He looks angry, like he’s waiting for someone.”

Bruno. Val was not exaggerating, as she often did, about her crazy boyfriends. Bruno must have been looking for Val. I was glad she was safe with me. Safe, except for the murderer who was lurking around the hotel somewhere.

“Oh yes, I know who that is. He threatened my neighbor Val and her friend Rudy.”

“Do you want me to send some officers over to move him along?”

“I think that would be good. Thanks.”

“And Jax, do you mind if I stop by some other time?” Zachary asked, with a warmth I’d not expected to hear.

“Sure, I’d like that,” I said. The stern detective might not be as prickly as I thought.

• • •

The bazaar finally closed for the day. I grabbed my handbag and Tessa’s sack of books, and headed for the lobby. When I got to the elevator, Vance was waiting for it. “After you,” said Vance, holding the door open for me.

“Thanks,” I said, as the doors clunked shut.

“Sorry your table display got taken away,” Vance said.

“Tessa and I came up with some creative solutions for making my booth look presentable. I just wish I had some lights.”

“Hey, you know, I have some lights you can use.”

“That would be amazing, thanks.”

“Let’s get off at my floor, and I’ll get them for you.”

When Vance opened the door to his room and I saw what was inside, my heart stopped. He—and Lin—were kinky. Very kinky.

His print advertisements were always over the top—his wife dressed in outrageous garb—but what he had stored in his room was much more extreme than anything I’d ever seen in any of his magazine ads. Vance and Lin were into bondage, discipline, and whatever SM stands for in BDSM. I wasn’t familiar with all the ways people could punish each other in the bedroom, but they seemed to have covered all the bases.

“Vance?” I said, standing in the open door, unsure if I wanted to enter what looked like a torture chamber. I stared around the room, full of all sorts of kinky accouterments: leather cuffs with rings, high heeled thigh-high boots, a whip, a cattle prod, and red satin ropes. It was too much for me, especially the cattle prod.

He noticed my hesitation. “Oh, don’t worry, it’s nothing. It’s just some props for our next photo shoot,” he said, rummaging around in a black crate on the floor. “Here they are.”

I took a few hesitant steps into the room, leaving the door open. Vance handed me two adjustable photography lamps. They would work fine as impromptu lights for my displays.

“I’d better get going,” I said. This room was giving me the creeps, and I didn’t want to stay a moment longer than I needed to. “Thanks for the lights; they’ll help brighten things up at the new table.”

“Can you stay a while?” he asked as he headed for the door. Was he going to block me from leaving?

“No, I—uh, I told Tessa I’d meet her back up in our room. I don’t want her to worry about me,” I said, struggling to hold two lamps, my purse, and Tessa’s heavy bag.

“Do you want me to drop the lights off at your booth in the morning?” Vance asked, noticing that I was about to drop everything I was juggling.

“That would be terrific. Thanks.” I slipped out the door and headed toward the elevator. I didn’t hear Vance’s door click shut behind me. I glanced back and sure enough, he was standing in the doorway watching me. I gave him a small wave and stepped into the elevator. Safe, for now.

• • •

I was hit with the stench of Val’s perfume as soon as I walked into our room. Tessa had opened the window, but it didn’t seem to be helping.

“Why would Val put on so much perfume?” Tessa asked.

“No idea. Actually, I take that back. I do know. She told me perfume was ghost repellent.”

“That can’t be true,” Tessa said.

“Val has some crazy ideas. Maybe she’s right. I haven’t seen a single ghost. But listen to this—you’re not going to believe what I saw in Vance’s room.”

“That’s probably true. I haven’t believed most of what has happened this weekend was possible.”

I fell onto my bed. I had to be careful, so that I didn’t crush Gumdrop when I landed. He’d decided to sleep on my pillow, as usual, since he always tries to find the comfiest place to sleep.

“It was full of bondage gear,” I said, not wanting to elaborate.

Tessa stared at me in silence.

“I know, I’m speechless too,” I said.

“He doesn’t seem like the type. And neither does his wife,” said Tessa.

“You think they could be bizarre enough to kill someone?”

“You know, when we decided to come to the bead bazaar, I didn’t think it would be the
bead bizarre
.”

“Are we adding Vance and Lin to the suspect list?” Tessa asked.

Gumdrop decided my lap looked more comfortable than the pillow and curled up on my thighs. My cat thought he was psychic, or more accurately, I thought he was. He once told me I needed to leave Miami and move to Seattle, and for that I would be forever grateful. Other than giving me that advice, he hadn’t been able to help me solve crimes, or any other problems, for that matter. I figured I might as well try and ask him for help.

“Okay, Gummie. There must be a reason why you’re here,” I said, holding him up by his armpits (front-leg-pits?) so I could look into his giant green eyes. He didn’t look happy, which was usual. “Do you know who killed Saundra?”

Gumdrop just stared at me. Nothing. Then he wriggled out of my grip.

“So much for Gumdrop and his telepathic communication,” Tessa said as Gumdrop jumped onto her lap. He clearly wanted to be far enough away from me that I couldn’t reach him and put him into that undignified position again.

“We’re just going to have to rely on our own brains to find the killer, since Gummie is uncooperative,” I said. “Detective Houston said that if I didn’t cooperate with her—not just cooperate but actually help her—she was going to cuff me and parade me around the bead sale so all my friends could see me being dragged off to jail.”