Part 20 (1/2)

Chapter 13.

'Did Savannah find you?” Lillian asked as I walked back into the card shop. ”Jennifer, what's wrong?” My face must have given me away.

”Bailey's dead,” I said, not meaning to just blurt it out. ”It was his body they found in the house.”

Lillian nodded. ”Sara Lynn suspected as much, but I told her she was being paranoid.” My aunt looked at me sharply. ”Your sister must be devastated. So why are you here?”

”She didn't want me,” I said, letting myself cry. Honestly, sometimes I could be such a girl.

”There, there, it's all right,” Lillian said as she stroked my back. ”It's nothing against you. Your sister always was one to stand strong. No doubt she threw Bradford out, too.”

”She did,” I admitted as I pulled away and dabbed at my tears. ”I can't believe Bailey's dead.”

”You can't? I've been slamming the man since I found out about his affair, and now I have all of that bad karma to live with.” She patted my hand. ”When your sister needs you, she'll let you know, and when that happens, drop everything and go to her. That's the best thing you can do for her.”

”That's what Bradford said,” I admitted. ”But it's hard. I don't much feel like working today.”

”Jennifer, aren't you worried about your own safety?”

I shrugged. ”So you've come to the same conclusion w I have. I'm the last target standing.”

Lillian s.h.i.+vered. ”What a wicked way to phrase it.”

”It is a little too vivid, isn't it?” I admitted.

”So what do we do?”

”I'm more determined than ever to find out who killed Bailey and Eliza,” I said. ”I'll never believe the murders aren't related.”

”Neither will I,” she said. ”Did you have any luck earlier?”

”Just in making half the town mad at me.” I recounted what had happened with Addie, Kaye and Luke.

”My, you are leaving a wide band of hostility in your wake, aren't you? If one of them didn't want to see you come to harm before, they certainly do now.”

”It's a gift, really,” I said. I suddenly remembered putting Savannah off, so I grabbed the phone. ”I need to make a quick call,” I said.

”Be my guest. It's your shop,” she said.

Savannah came on the line. ”I'm so sorry about Bailey. I just heard. Could I speak with your sister?”

It was tough admitting that I'd bailed on her, but I really had no choice. Savannah was understanding though. ”Everybody deals with tragedy in their own way. When my grandfather died, my grandmother wouldn't cry for weeks. All she'd do was iron. When she ran out of clothes and sheets, that woman ironed towels, and even my daddy's socks. She'll come around. All she needs is time.”

”I wanted to apologize for being so rude earlier. You had something to tell me.”

”I'm not sure if it amounts to all that much, now that I've had some time to think about it,” Savannah said.

”Why don't you tell me, and I can judge for myself?”

”I suppose that's the best way to handle it, but I hate pa.s.sing rumors along, especially when they might not be true.”

”Savannah, I can't promise I won't tell Lillian, and Bradford if I have to, but I can say I won't breathe a word of it idly.”

”I know you won't. Now I've made such a fuss about it you'll be sure to think I've lost my mind.”

I waited, and a few seconds later, she said, ”Okay, it's not much, but here goes. Pete and I were looking for our table at the banquet, and we saw someone take one of the letter openers from our table. At first I thought it was just some petty theft, but with what happened to Eliza, I'm beginning to wonder if it was more than that.”

”Who was it?” I asked.

”A fellow who comes into the restaurant now and then. He's not a member of the chamber, so it kind of surprised me to see him there. Who knows? Maybe he walked in off the street and wanted a souvenir. Though with his kind of money, it would surprise me.”

”Savannah, I've known you my entire life, and I've never known you to beat around the bush like this. Do you even know the man's name?”

”Of course I do,” she said curtly. ”There's another reason I don't want to say. It's because of that best friend of yours.”

”Gail? What does she have to do with this?” And then I knew. ”You saw Reggie Bloom take the letter opener, didn't you?”

”So you already know,” she said.

”Not until a second ago. Thanks.”

”Jennifer, be careful.”

”You know it,” I said as I hung up.

”Reggie Bloom?” Lillian asked. ”What's he got to do with this?”

I held up a hand. ”Give me a second.” I started mulling over the possibilities that my new landlord's son could have been mixed up in the murder. I knew he'd looked familiar when I'd met him at dinner, but I hadn't been able to place him. Had I seen him at the banquet myself and not realized it? Gail had complained that she thought Reggie had been seeing another woman, and on the dock Bailey had told me that he thought Eliza was involved with someone else, too.

”Okay, I may be nuts, but listen to this.” I told Lillian what I was thinking, and she followed my reasoning every step of the way.

”Call your brother,” she said. ”He needs to know about this.”

”Do you honestly think we have enough to go to him?”

Lillian frowned. ”Jennifer, Bradford can question him, can't he? What harm will that do?”

”What if I'm wrong?” I said. ”Reggie's going to hate me.”

”But what if you're right,” Lillian replied. ”You may be living on the grounds with a murderer. If anything happens to you, and we didn't tell Bradford, he'll kill me, so call your brother for my sake if not yours.”

I picked up the telephone and dialed Bradford number. When he answered, I said, ”Do you have s minute to talk?”

”Sure, I was just about to take a break, and I'm in my office. Do you want to come over?” He was in City Hall at the other end of Oakmont, a short stroll from my business.

”Okay, I'll be there in two minutes.”