Stitch Me Deadly (4 page)

“Not that I recall,” I said.

“Did you have anything to gain from Louisa Ralston’s death?” he asked.

“Certainly not!” This outburst brought on a coughing fit, and I had to excuse myself to get a drink of water.

“Are you able to continue, Ms. Singer?” the lead investigator asked when I returned.

“Yes, thank you. I’m fine. I’ve just had a bit of a cold the past couple days, and I—”

“Yes, ma’am. Are you familiar with the drug Halumet?”

“No, I’m not.”

“Then there is no reason you should have this drug on the premises of your home or business?”

“No.”

“You’ve never been prescribed this drug. No one in your family takes the drug. Is that correct?”

“To my knowledge, it is.”

“Once again, Ms. Singer—you’re saying there is no reason why we should find Halumet on any of your properties. Is that correct?”

“That’s correct.” I looked at Manu, and he gave me another slight head gesture. I believed he was trying to convey to me that this was all routine.

“Ms. Singer, we have no search warrant, but we would like your permission to search both your shop and your home for Halumet to absolve you of suspicion in the homicide of Louisa Ralston. Do we have your permission to conduct said searches?” He slid a consent form across the counter to me.

I glanced again at Manu, who gave me an exaggerated blink. I signed the consent form, taking Manu’s blink to mean, “Yeah, sure. Go ahead. No big deal.”

 

 

As soon as Manu and the county police officers left, I called Sadie and filled her in on the search.

“Yikes,” she said. “Are you worried?”

“A little,” I replied. “The clothes hamper in the bathroom is nearly overflowing. How embarrassing is that? I’ve been meaning to get the laundry caught up, but I’ve felt so lousy the past couple days I haven’t wanted to do much of anything after I get home.”

“You know that’s not what I meant. Aren’t you afraid they’ll find something?”

“Yes, Sadie. My dirty laundry. I don’t want Manu and Reggie thinking I’m a slob.”

She blew out a long breath. “I’m just glad it isn’t my house the investigators are searching. Even if they only went through my medicine cabinet, they’d find prescriptions that expired two years ago.”

“If they’ve expired, aren’t they harmless?”

“Maybe,” she said. “Hey, I don’t have any chicken soup, but maybe I can bring you over a latte and a double-chocolate-chip muffin. Would that help?”

“That would be wonderful. Everybody who comes in tells me I need chicken soup, but I’m thinking there’s no cure for what ails a girl like chocolate.”

She laughed. “A double-chocolate-chip muffin it is, then. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

While I was waiting for Sadie to arrive, I went to the bathroom and dampened a washcloth with the hottest water I could tolerate. I closed my eyes and held the cloth on my face. Afterward, I reapplied my makeup—just the basics—since I didn’t want to make it painfully obvious to every customer who came into the store that I had a cold.

I heard the bell over the door jingle and called that I’d be right out. When I stepped back into the store, Sadie was sitting on the navy sofa facing away from the window. She had my muffin and a nonfat vanilla latte with cinnamon waiting for me on the coffee table.

“Thank you,” I said, as I sank onto the sofa opposite Sadie and picked up my latte. “This hot coffee will do wonders for my scratchy throat. And the muffin will perk up my woe-is-me spirits.” I lifted the latte to my lips, and the scent was almost as wonderful as the taste. The hot liquid both seared and soothed my throat.

“I can’t believe you aren’t more worried about this police thing,” Sadie said. “I’m telling you, I’d be so rattled.”

I set the latte back on the coffee table and picked up my muffin. “It’s not that big a deal . . . except for the laundry. I’d never even heard of that drug they’re looking for.”

“Neither have I.” She chewed on the inside of her cheek. “But that doesn’t mean there’s not some of it in my outdated medicine cabinet.”

We shared a laugh.

“How are things with you and Blake?” I asked. I knew the trust issues raised during the Timothy Enright investigation had been a strain on the couple.

Sadie sighed. “We’re getting there. Blake is terrific, and I love him with all my heart. I’m just still having trouble getting over the fact that he kept things from me.”

“And his blurting out to me that the two of you were trying for a baby when you wanted to keep it a secret from everyone didn’t help, either.” I bit into my muffin.

“No, that didn’t help. But it wasn’t the big issue. He was right in that if I’d been going to tell anyone, it would have been you. And I know the things he kept from me were to protect me, but . . .”

“Have you considered counseling?” I asked.

“Yes and no. We discussed it briefly, but we honestly don’t have time. Between running the coffee shop and doing everything that has to be done at home . . .” She shrugged. “You know how it is.”

“I know, but some things you
make
time for.”

“We have been working on our relationship,” Sadie said. “We’re just trying to do it on our own before seeing a counselor. For instance, we’ve been doing this thing where we’re reading and working out a plan to rebuild our trust.”

“Like what? And is this professional advice or tabloid advice?”

“You’re nosy when you’re sick!” She grinned. “Professional, of course. The most important thing is making the choice that we are going to be open and trusting and focus on our marriage.”

“Good. I’m glad. You know I’m here to help in any way I can.”

“I know. But things are really going well. We’re even having date nights again.”

I laughed. “That’s more than I can say. Work and this cold have put me on the shelf for a while.”

“So you and Todd haven’t been out lately?”

“Not in a couple weeks,” I said. “He’s been swamped at the Brew Crew, and I’ve been swamped here.”

“What about Ted?”

“What about him?” I asked. I knew to tread carefully there. Sadie had handpicked Todd for me, and we’d already had one argument about whether I was interested in Ted. What can I say? I liked both men, but I wasn’t ready for a serious relationship with either one.

“Have you and he been out?”

“Nope.” I didn’t tell Sadie that I thought it was only a matter of time and that if Ted asked me out I’d go. Only by getting to know both him and Todd would I be able to make an informed choice.

Sadie’s cell phone rang, and she answered it. She smiled. “I miss you, too. Be there in a few.”

“Blake, of course,” I said when she ended the call.

She giggled. “Of course.”

“I really am glad you two are back on track. I was worried about who’d get custody of me and Angus.”

“Me,” Sadie said firmly. “But you don’t have to worry about that. I’ll call you later to see how that search-and-destroy mission went.”

I groaned. “Please don’t call it that.”

When Manu and the county investigators returned later that evening, I decided Sadie might have made the right call after all. The officer who was apparently the lead investigator placed a clear evidence bag containing a bottle of pills on my counter. The bottle was a tall, skinny brown pharmacy bottle with a childproof cap.

“Can you please explain this, Ms. Singer?”

I looked past the investigator to Manu. He looked as confused as I felt.

“Where did you find this?” I asked. “I’ve never seen it before. Is it possible a customer dropped it?” I bent closer to the evidence bag and read the name of the person for whom the drug had been prescribed. “Selena Roxanis . . . That name doesn’t sound familiar, but there were a lot of people in last week. I suppose—”

“The drugs weren’t found in your shop, Ms. Singer. They were found at your house.”

I looked from Manu to the lead investigator and back again. “That’s not possible.”

“It’s true,” Manu said. “The bottle was in a nightstand in your guest room.”

I stared at him blankly, my mind struggling to grasp what was happening.

“Is that the room your mother occupied last week?” Manu asked.

“Yes,” I said, “but I don’t know why she’d have this woman’s medication.”

The lead investigator stepped between Manu and me. “Ms. Singer, we need you to come down to our offices and answer some questions.”

“I’ll drive her,” Manu said, “if that’s all right.”

“That’s fine with me, Manu—er, Chief Singh,” I said.

The lead investigator nodded brusquely. “We’ll meet you there.”

He and his partner left the store.

I was trembling so badly I had to give my keys to Manu and have him lock up the shop. It was a good thing I didn’t have to drive myself. It was a better thing I wasn’t going to the police station in the back of a county squad car.

Manu opened the passengerʹs side of his cruiser, and I got in and fastened my seat belt.

“Manu, I’m—” I began, but he was already closing the door and moving around to the driverʹs side of the car.

When Manu got into the car, I finished my sentence. “I’m innocent. I had nothing to do with Louisa Ralston’s death, and I don’t know how that stuff got into my nightstand. I didn’t even know Mrs. Ralston. And even if I had, I wouldn’t have hurt her.”

“I believe you,” he said. “What about your mother? Does she know a Selena Roxanis?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know.” I took a deep breath and tried to think. “I’m sorry about the laundry. I usually don’t let it get so far behind. Oh, what about Angus? I need to call Sadie and have her take care of him.”

“Angus will be fine. You need to call your mother.”

“That’s right. I do.” I fumbled in my purse until I found my cell phone. I dialed my mom, but the call went straight to voice mail. I hung up and redialed three more times. No luck. Finally I gave up and left a message:

“Mom, it’s me. I’m on my way to jail right now because of some pills that were in the guest room. If you know anything about them, call me immediately. This is not a joke. The pills were prescribed for someone named Selena Roxanis, and they’re called Halumet. Please call my cell or call the Tallulah County Sheriff’s Department as soon as you get this message. I’m in big trouble, Mom.”

I ended the call but didn’t put the phone back into my purse. I clutched it as if it were a lifeline.

“Manu, what am I gonna do? Will they believe me? Will they realize I’d never even met Mrs. Ralston before yesterday?”

“Okay, listen to me,” Manu said. “We don’t have much time. I know you had nothing to do with Louisa Ralston’s death. But you don’t need to go into that interrogation room blind.”

“Am I going to be arrested?”

“No. I’ll stay with you.”

“Thank you. You don’t know how much this means to me,” I said. “Do you need to call Reggie and let her know?”

“I’m fine. Please listen to what I’m telling you. I expect them to question you and then let you go.”

“Do I need a lawyer?” I asked.

“Not at this point. You didn’t touch the prescription bottle at the shop, and you said you hadn’t seen it before then.”

“I hadn’t. I swear.”

“I believe you. Once you allow the officers to fingerprint you, your prints will be compared to those on the bottle, and you’ll be exonerated.”

“But that doesn’t prove anything, does it? What if I wore gloves?”

Manu sighed. “Did you wear gloves to open the bottle?”

“No.”

“Then please don’t say things like that during the interrogation. If you—or anyone else—wore gloves to open the bottle, then there probably aren’t any prints on it.”

“Oh. That’s good, then,” I said.

“That’s very good.”

“Unless Mom stole that bottle from this Selena chick for some reason and then wiped the fingerprints off of it. Maybe
she
was planning to kill someone with it. Selena, I mean. Not Mom.”

“Can we please not borrow trouble? I’m trying to help you, Marcy.”

“I know. I know. I’m sorry. I’d never seen that bottle until just a few minutes ago. And I’ve never touched it, so my fingerprints are definitely not on it.”

“Good. Now, simply retell your story. The officers will take your prints, see that there’s no reason to suspect you in Mrs. Ralston’s death, and I’ll bring you back to your shop.”

“Yeah, but here’s the problem, Manu. I told my story back at the shop, and now I’m on my way to jail. Apparently, my story isn’t good enough.”

“Your story is fine,” he said. “It’s the truth. The investigators are only trying to shake you up. They’re seeing if you change your story or confess to something. Everything will be fine.”

I didn’t say anything, but I was thinking,
The last time you told me that, I got ordered to come to police headquarters.