Invitation to Murder (Book 1 in the Candlemaking Mysteries) (21 page)

“
It’s your decision.
Jennifer,” she said. “I’ll do whatever you’d like.”

“
Including going back to
the shop and reopening while I talk to Beth Anderson?”

Lillian shook her head. “Anything but that,”
she said. “Whither thou goest and all that.”

“
I’m getting awfully tired
of having people watch me day and night,” I said.

“
Then you’re just going to
have to learn to deal with it,” Lillian said in a stern voice. “As
long as this murderer is loose, someone needs to be with you all
times.”

“
Then let’s go talk to
Beth,” I said. “The sooner we resolve this, the better.”

Chapter 15

As we drove to Beth Anderson’s house,
Lillian asked, “Do you really believe she killed Tina just so she
could be the maid of honor?”

“
I don’t know what to
believe,” I said. “But I do know I’d like to talk to
her.”

When we got to the address, I parked in
front. “Is there any chance I could get you to wait here?”

“
Not a single one,” she
said. “Let’s go see what Beth has to say for herself.”

I knocked on the outside door of the
apartment and rang the bell, but there was no answer. I was about
give up when the door next to hers opened and an older woman
reached out for her newspaper. I wondered how late she’d been up
the night before if she is still in her bathrobe after lunch. “You
looking for Bethie?” she asked us.

“
We are. Is she
home?”

“
Did she come to the door
when you pounded on it, Einstein?”

Lillian said, “There’s no reason to be rude.
We were just asking.”

The woman appeared to be contrite. “Listen,
I’m sorry I snapped at you. I’ve got the monkey’s own hangover, and
I feel like I’m going to die.”

“
I’m sorry,” I said, not
meaning a word of it. “Do you know where we might find
her?”

She scratched her left ear, then said, “I
bet she’s at work.”

We waited for her to supply the name of
Beth’s employer, but she started to close the door, so I had I
shout to catch her attention. “Where does she work?”

“
Easy,” the woman said,
holding her head in her hands with the paper tucked under one arm.
“She works at Hurley’s over on King Street.”

“
Thanks,” I said, and we
started to go.

The woman called out, “Hang on a second. Do
you happen to know how to cure a hangover?”

Lillian said, “I have the perfect cure.”

“
Come on, give it to me.
I’m dying here.”

“
Don’t drink so much the
next time you go out,” Lillian said.

“
Thanks for nothing,” the
woman said, and slammed her door. This was immediately followed by
a string of profanities from the other side.

As we got into the car, I said, “That was
cruel. I know you take a nip now and then yourself.”

“
I admit that I don’t have
a problem with the occasional tipple,” she said. “But she asked,
didn’t she?

“
You’re one tough broad,
aren’t you?” I said with a smile.

“
It’s so sweet of you to
notice. I assume we’re going to Hurley’s.”

“
I need to talk to Beth
before she talks to anybody else we’ve interviewed. It’s a shame
she wasn’t home.”

Lillian nodded. “I know. How are we going to
make sure she has a complete set of earrings?”

“
I’m sure well think of
something,” I said as I drove back toward my shop. King Street is
close to Oakmont Avenue, so I decided to park in my usual spot so
we could walk over, then back to Custom Card Creations. Maybe I’d
be able to finish my interviews and fit in a sale or two at the
shop before the day was a complete wash. Then I remembered the two
sets of invitations I’d committed myself to making. It looked like
I was going to have to put in some heavy-duty overtime if I was
going to meet my commitments in the next few days. Well, I’d hoped
I’d be busy. I just hadn’t planned on helping my brother solve a
murder while I was starting a brand-new business. On the plus side,
I didn’t have any romantic entanglements to slow me down. On the
downside, I didn’t have any romantic entanglements to slow me down.
I was fine without a boyfriend, but I had to admit that it usually
made the sky a little bluer and the air a little crisper when there
was a new love in my life.

Wayne was not an option. Not only had
Corrine’s story creeped me out, but the man himself was starting to
bother me. As Lillian and I walked over to Hurley’s, I grabbed my
cell phone and called Bradford. I’d forgotten to turn it on that
morning, and there were messages waiting, but they’d have to stay
there until I was ready for them.

“
Where have you been?” my
brother shouted the second he heard my voice. “I’ve been working,”
I said. “Not at your shop. I’ve been by twice. We’ve been worried
sick about you.”

“
Don’t tell me who the
‘we’ is. You’ve talked to Sara Lynn?”

Bradford let out a puff of air. “You’re
kidding, right? She came by your shop to talk to you and found it
locked up. I had to go search your apartment and I’ve got my guys
looking for that Gremlin of yours.”

“
Well, you can call off
the dogs. They must not be very good. I haven’t exactly been
hiding.” He snapped, “Then where have you been?”

“
I’m not sure I want to
answer that. I don’t like your tone of voice.”

Lillian kept tugging on my arm so I’d move
the phone enough for her to listen, but I had enough to worry about
without letting my aunt eavesdrop on the conversation.

In a calmer voice, he said, “Listen, I’m
glad you’re okay, but you can’t blame us for being worried, not
with what happened last night.”

I started to waver in my resolve. After all,
as irritating as their behavior was at that moment, my brother and
sister loved me. “I’ve been talking to members of the wedding
party.”

“
About what?” he asked
suspiciously.

“
About the wedding
invitations, if you must know.” Okay, again it was a half-truth,
but at the moment a half the truth was better than none of it. At
least this was the position I was taking.

“
That’s fine, but from
here on out, keep your cell phone turned on, would you? And call
Sara Lynn. She’s going nuts.”

I hung up, and before I could dial my
sister’s number, Lillian asked, “Do I even need to ask what that
was about?”

“
I’m guessing you got
enough of the gist of it from my end.”

Lillian shrugged. “They have a right to be
worried. You never got around to telling him why you we calling him
in the first place.”

“
Well, he was so upset, I
didn’t want to bring it up.” Lillian wouldn’t let it go at that.
“So what were you going to talk to him about?”

“
I was going to ask him to
assign someone else to guard me if he’s bound and determined to
have me followed.”

“
You don’t trust Wayne
Davidson,” she said as we waited to cross King Street to
Hurley’s.

“
There’s something about
him that really makes me uncomfortable,” I admitted.

“
Surely you can’t think
he’s the murderer. Jennifer, Tina told you it was a woman there
with her.”

“
That’s true,” I said,
“but he still gives me the creeps.”

Lillian said, “Then that’s reason enough. I
learned long ago to trust my instincts, especially when it comes to
men. Talk to Bradford about it.”

“
I will, but first I have
to tackle Sara Lynn.”

Lillian bit her lip, then said, “You’re on
your own there. I believe I’d rather face the murderer.” Sara Lynn
answered on the first ring. I said, “Hey, Sis. I heard you were
looking for me.”

I held the phone out away from my ear for
two reasons: one, she was shouting, and two, I wanted to let
Lillian hear as well. After Sara Lynn started to wind down, I said,
“I was working, even though my shop wasn’t open. Sara Lynn, I
appreciate your concern, I really do, but I just got it from
Bradford, and my patience to listen to both of you lecturing me is
gone. I’ll keep my phone on from now on, but I’m fine. Lillian’s
with me.”

“
I’m sorry, Jennifer. I
may have overreacted. We can talk more tonight.”

I took a deep breath, then said, “We can
talk, but I won’t stand still for another sermon. Is that
understood, or are you ready to move back home with your
husband?”

She paused a few moments, then said, “I
agree. I’ll see you tonight.”

When I hung up, Lillian was looking at me
with a new respect in her gaze. “What’s up with that look?” I asked
her.

“
I never thought I would
see Sara Lynn cave in to anyone like that. You’re tougher than you
look, Jennifer.”

“
I can be when I have to
be,” I said. “Now, let’s go talk to Beth Anderson.”

“
I’m not about to try to
stop you,” Lillian said, Ming in step behind me. I hated to use
that tone of voice with one of my siblings, but with everything
going on in my life at the moment, I was really stressing
out.

I just hoped Beth Anderson could give us
more than we’d gotten from everyone else we’d interviewed so
far.

Hurley’s was a place that catered to
tourists, a fancy Irish pub that served hamburgers and deli
sandwiches at exorbitant prices. No locals ate there as far as I
knew, but they did a bang-up job with the tourist trade.

Jack Hurley was behind the
bar, wiping it down with a rag and polishing it until it gleamed.
Jack had gone to school with Sara Lynn, and once upon a time they’d
dated. Though I was now old enough to know better, every time I saw
Jack I reverted back to twelve-year-old girl. I’d had a huge crush
on him and had been so jealous of Sara Lynn for getting to go out
with him. He was happily married now, his wife pregnant with their
fifth child.

“
How’s the family?” I
asked as Lillian and I approached the bar. My aunt pretended to
study a menu but I knew she was listening to every word. “Growing
day by day, Shortcake,” he said. I fought the blush creeping onto
my cheeks. He’d called me that as a kid, and I’d never been able to
convince him that I was all-grown-up now.

“
Listen, I hate to bother
you, but I need to talk to one of your employees.”

Jack said, “What are you
going to do, make a card for her?”

“
Jack Hurley, I run a
business just like you do, and I’d appreciate it if you’d show me a
little mot respect.”

My outburst probably surprised us both. He
said, “Easy, Jennifer, I didn’t mean anything by it. In fact, two
ladies were in here talking about your shop earlier. They said how
disappointed they were that you were already closed. Sorry about
that crack. I should have known better.”

“
I was closed for the
morning, not for good,” I said. I promised myself that the next
time I took one these little field trips, Lillian was going to have
to stay behind and run the shop whether she liked it or not. What
could she do, quit?

“
I’ll be sure to pass that
along,” he said. “Now, who would you like to see?”

“
Beth Anderson,” I
said.

He shrugged. “She’s working in the kitchen
and waiting on tables. You can talk to her, but Miss Lillian needs
to stay out here. Don’t get in Beth’s way or slow her down,
Jennifer. I need her working.”

“
I understand.” I looked
at Lillian to see if she’d agree to being excluded, but she wasn’t
putting up any fight at all. I’d have to ask Jack what his secret
was. I walked back into the kitchen and found a young woman
preparing two salads. Though it was pretty obvious she was battling
a lot more pounds than I was, her attire was skintight. I couldn’t
imagine Jack allowing it, but then again, he was short on staff, so
maybe he didn’t have any choice. Her hair appeared to have gone
through several wildly different color incarnations, and I wondered
if Mrs. Albright was going to make her wear a wig to the wedding.
“Do you have a second?”

“
Nobody’s supposed to be
back here,” she said without looking up. Then she glanced at me and
said, “If you’re the new waitress, I don’t have time to show you
anything right now.”

“
I’m not here for a job,”
I said. “I’m a friend of Donna Albright’s.” That was as close to a
lie as I’d come to yet, but she had been friendly and we’d gotten
along all right.

Beth dropped one of the salad bowls she’d
just filled. “What’s happened now?”

“
Nothing,” I said as I
helped her clean up the mess. I kept expecting Jack to poke his
head into the kitchen and evict me, but there was no sign of him.
“I’m here to talk about the wedding, and the
invitations.”

The look of relief on the poor girl’s face
was obvious. “I was so afraid she was going to call the whole thing
off after what happened to Tina.”

“
Did you know her
well?”

Beth snorted. “I guess. She waitressed here
last summer. She wasn’t very good, in my opinion, but the customers
seemed to like her well enough.”

“
Whatever happened to not
speaking ill of the dead?” I asked before I realized that probably
wasn’t the best way to pump her for information. I had a few things
to learn if I was going to do any good at h looking into the
murder.

“
I’m sorry,” Beth said
defensively, “but I think it’s hypocritical to talk nice about
someone just because they’re dead. We didn’t get along when she was
alive and I won’t sugarcoat it now.”