Part 6 (1/2)
”Hey, what can I say? Everybody needs a special purpose in life. So what's your gut reaction? Did she do it?”
Lillian paused a moment, then said, ”She could have. When I asked her about her alibi, there were at least ten minutes she couldn't account for. She claims she ducked out of Hurley's to get her inhaler from Heaven Scent, but n.o.body saw her go, or, more importantly, come back. The store's worth quite a bit, despite their low sales at the moment. The two of them owned the building outright, and it all goes to Addie now. The only person left alive with any family connection to Eliza is Luke Penwright, and once they were divorced, she made sure to change her will. Addie said Eliza couldn't wait to disinherit him.”
I couldn't believe the flood of information. ”How did you manage to get all that out of her in just half an hour?”
”That just took five minutes,” Lillian admitted. ”Your little tirade loosened her up, and by the time I walked in, she was dying to tell someone how wrong you were.”
”So what do we do now?”
Lillian looked at the clock, then said, ”I'm going to take a long lunch, and when I get back an hour before closing, I'm going to take over so you can go to your apartment and get ready for your date tonight.”
”It's not a date,” I said automatically. ”I was talking about the case.”
Lillian shrugged. ”I've got a few calls to make, but they can wait. Jennifer, you can't let this ruin your evening. If nothing else, I don't think Gail would ever forgive you.”
”I still think we should keep digging,” I said. ”Proving that Sara Lynn is innocent is more important than my social life this evening.”
”That's where you're wrong,” Lillian said. ”You don't get out nearly enough, and I won't let you cancel this. We can investigate more tomorrow, I promise, but just for tonight, I want you to concentrate on having fun. Okay?”
”Okay,” I agreed reluctantly.
Lillian nodded. ”Then I'm off.”
She was gone again before I could stop her. I hadn't eaten yet, either, and I didn't want to wait until four o'clock to have my lunch. I should have known she'd realize that, though. Thirty minutes later, a waiter named Tommy from Hurley's showed up with a hamburger and fries. As I offered to pay him, he said, ”It's taken care of, and the tip, too. I don't know how you managed it, but I didn't even think we delivered our food.”
”I'm special,” I said as I slipped him a five despite his instructions. Tommy was in college-I'd heard Jack saying something about it the night before-and while he put up a token protest about taking more money, I managed to convince him just the same.
I felt worlds better after I'd eaten, but the threatening skies kept things quiet in the shop, and I couldn't bring myself to make any more cards. I finally just gave up and grabbed the paperback mystery I'd been reading during my spare moments, from where it was stored safely away in my purse.
Dame Agatha Christie herself couldn't hold my attention as I kept thinking about Eliza Glade's killer. Someone had to have had the guts of a second-story man to kill her with all those potential witnesses just on the other side of the door. Had the perpetrator planned to kill her with the letter opener from the start, or had it been a weapon of opportunity once the murderer was on-site? I knew Bradford thought that anybody could be a killer given the right circ.u.mstances. I couldn't imagine being able to bring myself to do it, and I hoped I never would.
The next few hours felt like an eternity until Lillian finally showed up again.
”How was lunch?” she asked as she took off her coat.
”It was great. Let me pay you for it,” I said as I reached for my purse, ”Please, it was the least I could do,” she said. ”Have you had many customers since I left?”
”For all the good I did, I might as well have gone home right after you left.”
”Don't worry, Jennifer, soon enough we'll be longing for the good old quiet days.”
”I hope you're right,” I said as I straightened the counter displays for the fourth time in two hours. ”If you'd like, why don't we just shut the shop down an hour early and you can go home, too.”
Lillian shook her head. ”I don't mind working until five,” she said.
”Really, I'm fine with it. In fact, I'd feel better if you took off, too.”
”That's nonsense. I have nothing else I need to do.”
Something was going on. Normally my aunt would jump at the chance to go home early, even though she was only a volunteer and could come and go as she wished. ”What is it? What aren't you telling me? You're not having a man meet you here, are you?”
”Jennifer Shane, I have enough places to entertain my gentleman friends without using your store as a rendezvous point.”
”Then what is it? I'm not going until you tell me.”
She frowned, then finally said, ”If you must know, I've made a few telephone calls, and I'm hoping I get some answers before we close.”
”Is there anything I should know about?” I asked.
”I won't know that until I get my answers,” Lillian said plainly.
I held her hands in mine. ”You didn't do anything silly, did you? I won't have you taking unnecessary risks, Lillian.”
”You worry too much,” she said as she withdrew her hands. ”Now go. Have a lovely evening.”
”Be careful,” I said as she ushered me out of the door of my own shop.
”I'd say the same thing to you, but it might just do you some good to take a chance tonight. I expect a full report in the morning, Jennifer.”
”You're overly optimistic about a blind date,” I said.
”I thought you said it wasn't anything like that.”
I was outside by that point. ”So I lied. I'll see you tomorrow.”
Oggie and Nash were waiting by my door when I walked into my apartment. They both looked too smug for my taste, so I looked around, and sure enough, someone had been foolish enough to slide a note to me under my door. Short of a roomful of catnip, there was nothing my cats loved more than shredding paper. I found remnants spread throughout the apartment, and to their credit, my roommates had been terribly efficient. There wasn't even enough of it left to read the handwriting, a monumental feat given the required level of destruction.
”So who came by?” I asked. ”Did you happen to see enough of the handwriting to tell who it was from before you shredded it?”
They both stared at me as if they were fascinated by my discourse, but I knew better. Most likely they were waiting for dinner. Of course, they were waiting for dinner at most times of the day or night.
”What am I going to do with you two?” I asked as I knelt down to stroke Nash's coat. Oggie, normally not one to seek out attention, joined us, weaving in and out between my legs. After a few minutes, he grew tired of the maneuver and plopped himself down in front of the cabinet where I kept the cat food. Nash would have allowed me to spoil him all night if I'd been so inclined, but I only had so much time, and I had to shampoo my hair as well. After I fed them, I took a quick shower and was ready a good five minutes before it was time to leave. I'd changed into my nicest dress for the occasion, a burgundy number that made me look sleek and graceful, as hard as that was for most of the people who knew me to believe. I'd given up eating lunch out for a month to afford it, but it had been worth every missed bite. When I wore it, I felt good. What more could I ask from a dress?
One of my downstairs neighbors was just coming in as I walked out the door. Barrett was a handsome man about my age, but he had a problem with an ex-girlfriend that I found irritating. Namely, he refused to let her go, and she constantly kept popping in and out of his life at the most inopportune times.
His eyes widened when he saw me, and I swear I could hear him suck in some air. ”Jennifer, you look lovely this evening.”
”Thanks,” I said. ”I've got a date.” Hey, a blind date counted, didn't it?
”I'm not surprised. Have you found a new place to live yet?”
”I just got the note yesterday,” I said. ”We've got a week, don't we?”
He shook his head. ”You must not have read the latest from our ungracious landlady. We now have three days to move, if we expect to get our security deposits back. She's so eager to evict us, she even offered to return last month's rent as a bonus. It seems she's got a rather eager buyer lined up ready to take possession of the property.”
”Can she do that?” I asked. ”Surely we've got to have some recourse. What does Jeffrey say?”
”Our friend has already left the premises,” Barrett said. ”I'm surprised he didn't say good-bye.”
”I got a note from someone,” I admitted. ”I'm just not sure who it was.”