Deadly Greetings Part 14

If you're at all handy with a paintbrush, you can embellish your cards with everything from autumn leaves to s.h.i.+ning stars, but I've found a way that everyone can add a touch of color to their offerings. An inexpensive watercolor kit can do wonders to give a handcrafted card that distinctive touch. By adding washes of different colors to your paper-simply diluting some of the pigment into water until the desired effect is achieved and then brus.h.i.+ng it onto your card-you can make each of your efforts a truly unique gift.

Chapter 11.

"I'm saying good-bye to an old friend, not that it's any of your business," I said.

Lillian took a few steps back, pretending to give us privacy while hanging on every word. I didn't care who our audience was. It was time to put Barrett in his place.

He said abruptly, "She was my friend, too, but that's not what I'm talking about. I know you're up to something, Jennifer. Is that why you took Frances's apartment, to snoop around?"

"What on earth are you talking about?" The man was positively daft.

He stepped into me, close enough for me to smell his aftershave. "Don't play games with me. It was a suicide. n.o.body killed Frances, and n.o.body killed Maggie, either. One was a mistake, and the other was a tragic accident."

I took a step back. "Have you lost your mind? I didn't even know Frances, and I wouldn't have suspected she knew Maggie if you hadn't told me yourself."

That seemed to shake him. "I just thought ... I a.s.sumed . . . you've been . . ."

"Enough," I said. "I'm not in the mood for your prattle." I turned to Lillian. "Let's go."

"Jennifer, wait a second. Let me explain," Barrett said to my back.

"I'm not interested in your explanations," I said. "Call Penny if you want someone to talk to. I'm sure she'd be delighted to hear from you."

Once we were out of Barrett's earshot, Lillian asked, "Would you like to tell me what that was all about?"

I kept moving toward the main part of the crowd. "He's delusional, what can I say? We need to find out Hester's connection with Maggie. Do you want to ask her, or should I?"

Lillian said, "Why don't you wait here? She'll talk to me, but other people make her nervous. To be honest with you, I'm surprised she's here."

"Go talk to her before she gets away, then," I said, slightly miffed that I couldn't question her myself.

I waited until Lillian approached Hester, then got closer so I could overhear their conversation. As I neared, I heard Hester say, "Before long, I'll be the only one left." Was there a hint of amus.e.m.e.nt in the woman's voice? Lillian had said she was an odd bird, but Hester's comment was beyond the norm, even for her.

I could feel someone's presence behind me and turned, ready to blast into Barrett again, when I saw that it was only Hilda.

"Nice turnout," she said as she surveyed the dozen people milling around.

"I suppose," I said, still mad at Barrett.

"So what was that all about?" she asked as she gestured to Barrett.

"We're having a communication problem," I said.

"How do you know him? Is he a boyfriend?"

I shook my head. "He wishes. No, I live in the same house he does. It's not like it sounds. The place is divided up into three apartments. It's called Whispering Oak. Have you ever heard of it?"

Hilda thought about it a moment, then said, "It doesn't sound familiar. Where is it?"

"Over by the lake, but it's a tough place to find, Hilda, did you know that nearly everyone else in our card group got letters from Maggie just before she died?"

Hilda looked honestly surprised by the news. "I didn't have a clue. Actually, I thought it was just the two of us."

"So did I, but Betty told me otherwise."

Hilda asked, "So what did hers say?"

I shrugged as I caught sight of Lillian trying to catch my attention. "I'm sorry, but my aunt needs me."

"That's fine; I'll talk to you later. I need to come by the shop to pick up a few things. Will you be open later?"

"I'll be there," I said as I left her to see what my aunt wanted.

Lillian said, "Jennifer, are you quite finished socializing? I need to speak with you."

I shrugged. "You know me, I'm a social b.u.t.terfly, What's so important?"

"Hester Taylor just told me something fairly interesting. Did you realize that there was another tenant in your apartment after Frances died?"

"No, but it doesn't surprise me," I said as I watched the other people head for their cars. "Can we continue this conversation in the car? I'd like to get the shop opened back up if I could."

"Yes, of course we can. One second, don't you want to see if Bradford learned anything this afternoon?"

I looked for my brother, but he was gone, and so was his car. "If he wants me to know something, I'm sure he'll tell me. Let's go."

As we drove back to the shop, Lillian asked, "Did you want to go home and change first?"

"No, I don't want to take the time right now." I wasn't sure if I was avoiding the change of clothes, or if I didn't want to see Barrett any time soon. I did want to talk with Jeffrey Wallace, especially now that I had new information about his relations.h.i.+p with Maggie, but it was going to have to wait. "So tell me about this interim tenant."

"I didn't get the name," Lillian said. "Apparently, the woman only stayed one night. Hester was so eager to leave that I barely got that much out of her. I just thought it was significant," she added lamely.

"It might be," I said. "After all, it just makes sense."

As she pulled up in front of the shop, she asked, "And why do you say that?"

With my hand on the door latch, I said, "Think about it. Why else would they think the place was haunted, unless someone else was living there?"

Lillian said, "They could have heard about it from Mr. Wallace and your friend Barrett."

"Believe me, Barrett is no friend of mine. So they based it all on b.u.mps in the night they heard upstairs?"

As I unlocked our shop door, Lillian said, "No, from what I heard, it was substantially more than that. According to Hester, your downstairs neighbor claimed it sounded like someone was wrecking the place. He even called the police once, so your brother should know about it."

"Let me guess," I said as I flipped the closed closed sign to sign to open. "He didn't find anything there." open. "He didn't find anything there."

"On the contrary. He made Hester come out one night to see if anything was missing. According to her, the place was a wreck, but there were no signs of forced entry at all."

"No wonder Bradford insisted I get the locks changed," I said. "I've got a feeling we're not dealing with ghosts. Could it be that Frances left something behind that someone else wanted?"

"Jennifer Shane, don't we have enough to do finding out what happened to Maggie to worry about Frances?"

It was funny, but that was the first time I'd thought of the two of them together in death. Barrett's scolding had triggered something in my head. "Maybe they're related," I said.

"Nonsense. I knew all of Frances's family, and Maggie was nowhere in her family tree."

"I'm not saying they were blood family; I'm wondering if their deaths were somehow connected, though."

Lillian scoffed. "Jennifer, Frances killed herself. We know that."

"No, we don't," I said. "That's what the world thinks, but they also think that Maggie died by accident. What if neither death was what it appeared to be?"

Lillian's complexion paled. "Do you honestly think that one person killed them both and then staged them to look like anything but murder? What possible reason would someone have to murder those two women?"

"I'm not sure," I said. "But I think it's something worth exploring, don't you?"

Lillian appeared to think about it for nearly a minute before she said, "Absolutely, and I know just how we can begin."

"I'm waiting," I said, not at all sure I wanted to hear what my aunt had in mind.

"It's good you have on dark clothing," she said. "How do you feel about a little breaking and entering tonight?"

"I'd rather get the flu," I said. "Exactly where are we breaking and entering into?"

Lillian took off her coat and said, "Maggie's house, of course. If there's anything tying her together with Frances, we may be able to find it at her house."

I looked down at my nice outfit. "If I'm going to jail, I don't plan to do it in one of my best dresses. I've got some dark pants I can wear, though."

Lillian laughed. "Jennifer, sometimes you let yourself get bogged down in the minutiae of life. Loosen up."

I was about to protest when Hilda walked into the shop. "Is this a bad time?" she asked.

"No, we were just planning a little felony together," Lillian said, laughing a little too loudly.

Hilda obviously didn't know how to take that. I tried to lighten the tone of things when I added, "It's more of a misdemeanor, I think. So what can I help you with?"

Hilda shrugged and said, "I'd like one of those new embossing kits we tried out last night. It didn't seem appropriate to buy one then."

I nodded. "Would you like one of the demo units, at the same discount of course? Or I could sell you a new one still in the box."

Hilda said, "I'll take one of the demos. And some paper, too."

As I started to help her, she turned to Lillian and said, "I hear you got a card from Maggie, too. What did yours say?"

Lillian looked miffed by the question. "I wouldn't know anything about that," she said, then walked to the back room.

Hilda looked at me. "Sorry, was it something I said?"

"She's just a little high-strung today," I admitted, which was true most days. "Now let's get you fixed up."

It was pretty obvious that Hilda wanted to talk more about Maggie, but I couldn't bring myself to respond to any of her comments, and she soon gave up trying. After we settled her bill and Hilda was gone, I called out to Lillian, "It's safe to come out now."

She poked her head out of the back room. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"It was pretty obvious you were ignoring her. Lillian, we can't afford to be rude to our best customers."

"Jennifer, I don't need a lecture from you on customer service. I just wasn't in the mood to discuss it, with Hilda. If you're unhappy with my work here, you always have the option of firing me."

My aunt was in a mood, and if I wasn't careful, I was going to lose her. There was a tone in her voice that was full of finality. "How could I do that? I cant afford to replace you." Okay, I'd tried a light response, which didn't go over with her at all. So instead, trying to salvage the situation, I hugged her and added, "Besides, no one could replace you at any salary."

I felt her tension ease, and in a minute I stepped, back. "I really do need you here; you know that, don't you?"

It was obvious the declaration, while needed, made; her feel a little uncomfortable. "You don't need my help, not really."

"I'm not saying I couldn't do it by myself," I admitted, "but it wouldn't be nearly as much fun."

"I won't argue with that," she said, adding a smile; Lillian glanced at her watch, then said, "Any chance we could close the shop early? I know what your sister would say, but now that we've decided to explore: Maggie's house, I'd like to do it before it gets dark."

That surprised me. "You want to break in there in broad daylight? Have you lost your mind?"

"Think about it, Jennifer. If we go there at night, we'll be stumbling around in the dark with flashlights, barely seeing a thing and risking getting caught. But if we go over in the daytime, we can say the door was unlocked, and that we were helping get Maggie's affairs in order."

"Do you honestly think Bradford's going to believe that?" I asked. "He'll check-you know it-and then we'll both be in jail."

Lillian frowned a moment. "Yes, he is determined, isn't he? Let me make a few telephone calls and see what I can do."

She disappeared in back, and there was nothing left for me to do but wait on customers until my aunt deigned to tell me what she was up to. I was ready to flip the sign to closed closed when Daniel, my stay-at-home dad and brand-new card maker, came in with a briefcase tucked under one arm. when Daniel, my stay-at-home dad and brand-new card maker, came in with a briefcase tucked under one arm.

I had to give him credit. Though he did look around briefly before he spoke, Daniel didn't whisper when he addressed me. "Jennifer, I owe you."

"We settled our bill," I said.

"I'm not talking about money," he said. "I love making cards. They are so much fun."

He pulled a few samples out of his briefcase and handed them to me. "What do you think?"

I looked at the crisply folded edges, the clean cuts, and the nice balance of accessories to each of the cards. "I'd say you've got the knack for it. These are wonderful."