Murder and Salutations (8 page)

“
I can hear you just fine,” I said, “but I won’t be able to see her face. I need to see her expressions if I’m going to be able to tell if she’s lying or not.”

“
Sorry, I don’t have any one-way glass for you to peek through. You know, that might not be such a bad idea. I could duck into the pantry and see what my guests are really up to behind my back.”

“
Lillian, could you be serious for one second?”

“
Jennifer, I’ve never been more serious in my life.” The doorbell rang, and she said, “Not a word out of you. I’ll keep the door ajar so you can hear our conversation, but unless she’s trying to strangle me, I don’t want to see you come out of that pantry, do you understand? No matter how provoked you feel, you’re going to have to keep your mouth shut. Can you do that? If you don’t think you can, tell me now and you can slip out the back door.”

The doorbell rang again. “Just let her in. I’ll be quiet.”

“
No matter what?” Lillian asked again.

“
Yes, now just go.”

Lillian pulled the pantry door nearly closed, then I heard her high heels clicking on the hardwood floor as she went to let the realtor in. The only light I had was coming in through the narrow gap in the door. I was glad I didn’t get claustrophobic.

Through the crack, I could see Polly as she walked into the kitchen. Her hair was dyed a shade of blond few people could naturally claim. She wore a dark blue suit, and a colorful scarf that added a blast of color. I could smell her perfume soon after she came in. Poor Lillian must have been overwhelmed by it if it was that strong in my confined space.

Lillian said, “Why don’t you take a seat at the bar? This is my favorite room in the house.”

Polly said, “I’ll need to look around later, but we can certainly start here. I see you’ve got a fireplace in the kitchen. That’s excellent, you know.”

“
I enjoy it,” Lillian said. I could tell she was straining to keep her voice level. She had admitted that she wasn’t a big fan of Polly, so I knew how hard it was on Lillian to make it appear otherwise.

I could see Lillian’s foot from where I stood, and if I strained, I could barely catch sight of Polly’s left arm.

“
Lillian, do you mind if I ask why you’re moving? I never thought you’d leave Rebel Forge.”

My aunt said, “Sometimes one needs a change.”

Polly jumped all over that. “Now, dear, you mustn’t blame yourself for your relatives’ actions. We all know you had nothing to do with what happened the other night.”

“
What exactly are you referring to?” Lillian asked.

“
Why, the murder, of course. How difficult it must be to see your niece accused of the crime.”

“
I hadn’t realized Bradford had made an arrest yet,” Lillian said. I could tell without even seeing my aunt’s expression that she was straining not to throw Polly out.

“
Of course not, but everyone knows it’s just a matter of time. So you’ve finally decided to go out on your own again. Jennifer must be crushed by your decision to leave her. From what I’ve heard, she wouldn’t be able to run that little shop of hers without you.”

“
Jennifer will be fine,” Lillian said. Her foot was nearly a blur, it was bobbing up and down so fast.

“
Honestly, just between the two of us, she really did bite off more than she could chew. You’re propping her up, aren’t you? I can’t imagine she makes enough on her own to buy food for those two stray cats she has, let alone pay rent.”

Despite my promise to Lillian, I was ready to rush out of the pantry and let Polly say those things to my face. Lillian must have sensed it, too.

“
Since we’re letting our hair down,” Lillian said, “you must have mixed emotions about Eliza’s murder yourself.”

“
Whatever do you mean?” Polly asked.

“
Now that she’s out of the picture, I can’t imagine the chamber choosing anyone else but you to run the organization. It’s rather convenient, isn’t it?”

“
I’m just as crushed as everyone else in Rebel Forge about what happened to Eliza,” Polly said.

“
I’m sure you are,” Lillian replied. I doubted that Polly believed that she was being sincere. “So, have you already made your bid for her office, or are you going to wait a few days? You’d better not tarry, dear; you know how much power the president has.”

“
It’s a great deal of work,” Polly said. “In fact, I often helped Eliza with the day-to-day operations.”

“
Were you helping her the night of the banquet?” Lillian asked. “I understand the two of you had quite a discussion at Hurley’s that night.”

“
That’s utterly ridiculous,” Polly said. “I don’t know where you’re getting your information, but Eliza and I got on wonderfully all the time.”

“
So you’re claiming now you didn’t fight with her that night?” What did Lillian know? If she had information about Eliza and Polly fighting, she hadn’t shared it with me.

“
We were discussing the award presentation,” Polly said.

“
From what I heard, you were talking about more than that. It was just before she died, wasn’t it? You might have been the last person to see her alive.”

“
You mean besides the killer, don’t you?”

Lillian hesitated, then said, “Tell me about the argument.”

“
I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about. If someone thought we were fighting, they were mistaken.”

“
How interesting,” Lillian said.

“
You don’t believe me?” Polly said. “Do you honestly think I’d kill her to get control of the chamber? You must be joking.”

“
Polly, I want you to look at me. Does it look like I’m kidding?”

Suddenly the realtor stood, and I could see her face for just a second. “Lillian, I don’t think you’re serious about selling this place at all.”

“
Perhaps you’re right,” my aunt said. “Thanks for coming by, though.”

“
My pleasure,” Polly said as she fled the room, and then the house. I waited for Lillian to come back, but after a minute I couldn’t stand the suspense. I swung the door open and walked out of the pantry.

Lillian came back into the kitchen, a tight smile on her lips. “That was interesting,” she said.

“
I can’t believe you let her sit there and talk about our family that way,” I said.

“
Jennifer, the only way I was going to get her to talk was by egging her on. I kept expecting you to break out of the pantry any second and hit her with a can of peas.”

“
They were green beans, actually,” I said. “You did a good job holding your temper in.”

“
When you’ve been married as many times as I have, you get good at certain things, and holding your tongue is one of them. It’s a shame you couldn’t see Polly’s face when I asked her for her alibi.”

“
That was slick, I’ll give you that,” I said. “How did she look?”

“
Like I’d just stepped on her tail,” Lillian said. “I might not have any proof she did it, but Polly certainly didn’t do anything to encourage me to take her off our list.”

“
So it’s lunch with Luke next, right?”

Lillian nodded. “It’s set for one o’clock, so that will give us time to open the card shop and sell a few things first. Are you ready to go?”

I followed her out as she locked up, then I rode to the shop with her in her Mustang. Her last one had been wrecked, though not by Lillian, and I thought she’d try something different, but in the end, she’d gone with a nearly identical vehicle, down to the color of the carpet and the convertible top.

As she drove to Custom Card Creations, I said, “Does the entire town really think you’re carrying my business with your checkbook?”

Lillian laughed harshly. “Jennifer, you can’t believe one tenth of what that woman says.”

“
You didn’t answer my question,” I said.

“
Who cares what they think? You and I both know that you’re making it on your own. Does it really matter what the local gossip is?”

“
It does to me,” I said. “I’m still a little sensitive about the fact that you don’t take a salary from the shop.”

She glanced over at me. “Are you kidding me? I use more supplies than you’d ever have to pay me. I’m getting the bargain here, not you.”

She pulled into a space near the shop, but not directly in front of it. As I started to get out, I saw that Lillian was staying in her seat. “Aren’t you coming?”

“
If you don’t mind, I think I’ll take the morning off. I want to do a little snooping before my lunch with Luke.”

I glanced at my shop, then back at Lillian. “I can come with you, if you’d like.”

She laughed. “Jennifer, I know you’d regret every second away from this place. Go on, run the shop, and I’ll see you at lunch.”

“
Are you sure? I don’t want you taking any chances without me,” I said.

“
Jennifer, I was watching out for myself long before you came into this world. I’ll be fine.”

“
You’d better be,” I said. “Who else could I afford to hire if something happened to you?”

She drove away, and I opened the card shop for business. Lillian had been right: I was exactly where I wanted to be. While I found a great deal of satisfaction in digging into the lives of the folks in Rebel Forge and helping unearth the truth, my first love was making and selling cards.

STENCILS AND STAMPS

A terrific way to jazz up your greeting cards is through the use of stencils and stamps. Most specialty craft and hobby stores carry a wonderful selection of each. Be creative with your ink to make the additions jump off the card. I like to shade the stamps and stencils I use with specialty marking pens. The results are beautiful, and all you need to do is color between the lines! Don’t worry if your pen strays now and then. It just adds to the charm of your card!

Chapter 7

The door chime announced a customer, but I was just as happy to see my best friend, Gail, walk into the shop. “Hey, Jen. Any chance you could take an early lunch?”

“
Would you believe it? I’ve got plans.”

“
Don’t tell me you’ve got a hot date,” she said.

I shrugged. “No, but Lillian and I are going to Hurley’s, and I can’t get out of it.”

Gail shivered. “I don’t know how you can go back there, especially so soon.” She picked up a card, studied it a second, then put it back. “Listen, I wanted to talk to you about last night.”

“
It’s okay, Gail, you don’t have to apologize. After all, it’s not your fault the guy didn’t show up. Believe it or not, I had fun, anyway.”

She bit her lip, a sure sign there was something she had to tell me, but didn’t want to.

“
Go on,” I prompted her.

“
What?”

“
I know you’ve got something to say, and it’s not exactly news you’re glad to share. I won’t get mad, I promise.”

Gail laughed, but it was weak. “You know me too well. Okay, here goes. Reggie’s not sure it’s such a great idea that you move into the cottage.” She expelled the words in a rush, and refused to make eye contact as she did.

“
Yeah, I kind of got that impression last night. Helena thought it was a wonderful idea, though. Gail, is, he giving you grief about this?”

She nodded. “Just a little. He thinks you took advantage of his mother.”

“
What’s the matter? Does he think I’m not paying enough rent? Helena asked me what I was paying now, and when I told her, she halved it. Gail, that woman is lonely. She needs some company, and I need a place to stay. Unless you’re totally against this, I’m going to go ahead and move.”

She appeared to think about it a few seconds, then said, “Of course you should take it. It’s perfect for: you. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

I smiled at her. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. The last thing I want to do is come between you and
your boyfriend.”

“
I don’t know how long that’s going to last,” she: said. “I saw a side of him last night that didn’t exactly thrill me. Then when he called me this morning demanding I talk you out of taking the cottage, I liked him even less. You know what? I’ll help you move. How’s that for sending a message of who I really support?”

“
I’d never turn down the help,” I admitted, “but you’re just asking for trouble, aren’t you?”

“
Sometimes the world needs a little trouble to keep things alive.”

The chime rang again, and I was surprised to see Kaye Jansen come in. She had a basket tucked under, one arm, and it looked like she had chosen to visit my store on the one day I wanted to see her.

“
Hi, Kaye, it’s so nice to see you.”

She looked startled by my enthusiastic greeting, and I guess I could understand it. We’d never been all that chatty in the past, so I suppose I caught her off guard, Gail said softly, “I’ll see you later.” “Thanks for coming by.”

After Gail was gone, Kaye approached me. “Jennifer, I hate to ask you this, but I’m taking up a collection from the Oakmont merchants for a floral arrangement for Eliza’s funeral. Would you care to contribute?”

“
Of course I would,” I said, trying to sound as sincere as I could. “Let me get my checkbook.” I reached down to get my purse where I stored it behind the counter, and Kaye noticed my golden anvil, “I must say, you didn’t waste any time displaying it, did you?”

It took me a second to realize what she was talking about. “I’ll come up with a better place for it later. To be honest with you, winning kind of caught me by surprise.”

“
You weren’t the only one,” Kaye mumbled.

“
Excuse me?”

Her cheeks reddened slightly. “Goodness, did I say that out loud?”

“
You did,” I said sternly, “and I’d like to know what you meant.”

“
Jennifer, you must realize your choice wasn’t unanimous among the award committee. After all, you barely qualified for it. I’m afraid there was so much heated debate that we had to shift our votes to anonymous ballots. Not everyone was pleased with the results.”

I hadn’t wanted the award, nor had I expected to win, but they’d given it to me. So why couldn’t Kaye, be more gracious about it?

“
So which side was Eliza on?” Kaye frowned. “She was your biggest advocate. I couldn’t imagine why she pushed so hard for you, not that you aren’t deserving, but we did have other choices.”

It was pretty obvious that Kaye hadn’t been one my biggest supporters. I wrote her a check for ten dollars—about all I could afford to withdraw from my anemic checkbook—but I didn’t hand it over just yet.

“
So I wasn’t the only thing you two disagreed on.”

That brought her head up with a snap. “Why? What have you heard?”

“
Kaye, you’ve lived in Rebel Forge long enough to know that people talk.” That was sheer bluff. I hadn’t heard a word about her, but Kaye didn’t know that I tried my best to look like I was in on all of her dirty little secrets. The trick was trying to keep my mouth shut and letting her explain. That was one of the best ways to get an answer from someone who didn’t want to talk. It was remarkable how most people hated silence, and were willing to fill it, even if it wasn’t to their advantage.

I had to give Kaye credit. She held out nearly a full minute before she said, “Jennifer, it was all a misunderstanding. We settled our differences just before Eliza died.”

Still silent, I arched one eyebrow and continued to stare at her.

“
It’s true,” she continued. “I agreed to drop my suit, and she promised to stop spreading those rumors about the store.” Kaye, her husband and her father-in-law ran a drugstore on the outskirts of town. So what rumors could Eliza have possibly been spreading? I’d have to ask around, now that I knew where to dig.

“
I’m sure,” I said, hoping she’d provide more.

“
Well, do I get that check or not?”

“
Certainly,” I said as I handed it to her. Kaye glanced at the amount, then said sarcastically, “Thanks so much for your generous contribution.”

“
You’re most welcome,” I said.

She stared at me a second longer, then beat a hasty retreat. Lillian and I certainly had more to talk about. If anyone could dig out the gossip on the rift between Eliza and Kaye, it was my aunt. I glanced at the clock and realized that if I didn’t hurry, I was going to be late. Part of the plan depended on me convincing Jack Hurley to seat me where Lillian was going to be.

I slapped the
back soon
sign in the door, then locked up and hurried to the pub. I just hoped that Lillian wasn’t there ahead of me.

It was early enough that Hurley’s wasn’t crowded yet; early enough in the day and the season as well. As soon as the main influx of tourists hit us, I wouldn’t be able to get within fifty yards of the place. As it was, the faux Irish pub was half deserted, and Jack was behind the bar, cleaning his menus with a soft cloth. “Jennifer, it’s good to see you.”

Jack usually loved to tease me, but there wasn’t a trace of humor in his voice. “What’s wrong with you?” I asked.

“
Can’t I be polite to one of my best customers?” he said.

“
Not if it’s me. What’s going on?”

He shrugged and threw the cloth down on the bar. “Things have been slow since the other night. I never should have let the chamber hire the place out. My wife told me it was a mistake, though she didn’t know how epic it would turn out to be. I hope you’re in the mood to eat a lumberjack’s lunch. I could use the business.”

“
Sorry, about all I can afford right now is a salad.”

Everyone kept telling me that once the full brunt of tourists arrived, I’d be swimming in money, but so far there was barely enough to dampen the soles of my feet.

“
Then it will be the best salad you’ve ever had in your life.” He stepped out from behind the bar and pointed me to a table.

“
I’ve got a favor to ask,” I said as I sat down.

“
Name it and it’s yours.”

“
Lillian is going to be coming in shortly with Luke Penwright. Is there any way you could seat them behind me?”

“
What are you two up to?” he asked with a scowl.

“
We’re doing a little snooping,” I admitted. I’d considered lying to him, but Jack Hurley had a strange effect on me. Whenever I was around him, I felt like an awkward teenaged girl again. It was all I could do not to giggle every time he talked to me, and I wasn’t in any position to lie to him.

“
Good for you,” Jack said to my surprise.

“
You’re not mad that we’re using your restaurant for our scheming?” I asked.

“
Now, why on earth should I be mad? If you can find out what happened to Eliza Glade, I’ll give you both free desserts for a year. It’s amazing to me how someone could stab her in my kitchen during a banquet and not a soul witnessed it. If your brother doesn’t solve her murder soon, I may be out of business.”

“
Is it really that bad?”

“
Jennifer, I do well enough with the tourist trade, but it’s the folks who live in Rebel Forge year-round who keep me going. I like my friends to feel welcome here, and right now it’s as if there’s a pall of death hanging over the place that’s killing its spirit.”

“
I’m so sorry,” I said. “I never even thought about how it would hit you.”

He touched my hand lightly, and I felt it tingle, despite the fact that I knew the man had more children than I had cats. “You’ve grown into a sweet and kind woman, you know that?”

Before I could stop myself, a giggle escaped. “Thanks,” I managed to mutter before completely embarrassing myself.

Jack smiled, but to his credit he didn’t laugh. “Now let me see about that salad.”

He headed off to the kitchen, and I was studying the furnishings when someone slid across from me at my table.

It was my ex-fiancé. “Greg, you can’t sit there.”

Greg Langston looked around. “Why? Is your date in the bathroom, or did he stand you up?”

“
My, aren’t you charming.”

He scowled. “Come on, Jennifer, you’re by yourself. There’s only one place setting.”

“
I never claimed I was eating with anyone else. All I said was that you couldn’t sit there.”

At that moment, Lillian walked in with Luke Penwright. She looked surprised to see Greg sitting with me. Well, she couldn’t have been any more surprised than I was. Jack came out of the kitchen, and if he noticed that Greg had joined me, he didn’t show it. He led Lillian and Luke to their table, then handed Greg a menu.

“
He’s not staying,” I said.

“
Actually, I am.” Greg yanked the menu out of Jack’s hands.

“
Jennifer, would you like me to reseat this gentleman?”

I saw Greg tense up, and it was pretty clear that Jack was ready for a little distraction from his slow business. “It’s fine,” I said, trying my best to defuse the situation.

Jack shrugged. “Then it’s all right with me. What can I get you?”

“
I’ll have whatever she’s having,” Greg said. I knew he hated salads, but out of sheer meanness, I kept my mouth shut.

Jack nodded and left. I could tell that Lillian and Luke were talking about something, but I couldn’t hear much of what they were saying.

Greg kept trying to talk to me, when all I wanted to do was eavesdrop on my aunt’s conversation. I had to brush him off if I was going to learn anything. “So how is Stephanie going to react when she hears we’re having lunch together?”

“
She’ll just have to get over it,” he said. “I’ve wanted to talk to you for a while now, but we never seem to get the chance to have a simple conversation.”

“
This isn’t a good time, either,” I said. “Can’t we do it later?”

“
We need to do it now,” he said. “Jennifer, I thought Stephanie might be the one, but every time I’m with her, I keep thinking about you. We’ve got to resolve what’s between us, so we can both move on.”

There was a serious undertone to his words that was rare for him. “How do you propose we do that?”

“
We need to go out on a date together, one last time, so we can put this behind us forever.”

I was so startled by his suggestion that I nearly choked on my water.

“
Are you all right?”

“
I’m fine,” I said, trying to catch my breath. “Do you honestly think a date will help us get past our situation?”

He smiled at me, and I felt my resolve weaken.