Part 4 (1/2)
Kelly felt like she'd taken a step back in time when she walked into Betty's Salon. The walls were covered with posters of lipsticks, products for permanents, and makeup ads. Kelly remembered the names from when she was a child. There was even one for Johnson's Baby Oil ”Cover Yourself in Baby Oil and Get the Tan of Your Life.”
Right, Kelly thought. I wonder how many people are paying for that today with wrinkled skin. Glad it was usually overcast, cloudy, and rainy where I grew up. Who knows what I'd look like if I'd gotten a lot of sun?
”May I help you?” asked the young receptionist, never taking her eyes away from her cell phone.
”Yes. I don't have an appointment, but I'd like to get my hair trimmed.”
The young woman reluctantly looked away from her phone and examined the appointment book in front of her.
Of course there would be an appointment book and not a computer. I'll bet nothing has changed in here since this place opened. They even have the old chair style hair dryers I remember from Wanda's Salon when my mother took me there as a kid.
There were two hairdressers working and they, too, looked like they'd been stuck in time. They had identical large backcombed beehive hairdos which probably looked great in the 60's, but not so much now.
The receptionist walked over to one of them who looked at Kelly and said, ”Have a seat. I'll be through here in a few minutes, and I can take you then.”
While she waited, Kelly leafed through some of the beauty magazines that were scattered on a nearby table. She wondered if the hairdressers would be able to duplicate any of the hair styles in them if a customer asked. She doubted it.
”Honey, come on over here. I'm Betty, and I'm ready for you,” the large hairdresser with the pancake makeup and bright red lipstick said. Her lipstick was a shade lighter than her hair color. She wore light blue eye shadow, and her eyes were accented by a heavy band of black eyeliner. It was hard for Kelly not to simply stare, and she was very glad she only needed a trim and nothing more. It was obvious there was a vast difference in their taste in makeup.
”What do you need today?”
”I need a trim. Not a cut, just about ” taken off,” Kelly said.
”Piece of cake, honey. Don't think I've seen you around here before. New to Calico Gold?”
”Yes and no. I've never been here before, but my husband was here a lot when he was younger.”
”Well, welcome to Calico Gold. What's your husband's name?”
”I don't think you'd recognize it, but I'm sure you knew his aunt, Agnes Johnson.”
Betty's scissors came to an abrupt stop, and the room became quiet. Everyone's eyes in the little shop were focused on Kelly.
”Knew Agnes well. I hear she was murdered this morning, and her funeral's gonna be tomorrow. Is that true?”
”Yes, unfortunately it is,” Kelly said as tears welled up in her eyes. ”I'm sorry, it was just such a shock.”
”You don't need to apologize. I imagine it was. Do they know who did it?”
”No, but the police chief is working on it. I guess Agnes had some enemies.”
”You can say that again, but she also had a lot of friends. Town's practically split apart over whether it should become a destination tourist trap or continue like it's always been. There's real strong feelings on both sides. I happen to agree with your husband's aunt. I like Calico Gold just the way it is.”
She was interrupted by an attractive older woman who had just finished having her hair cut by the other beautician. She wore an expensive knit suit which had a very short skirt, cheapening the overall effect. Her hair was dyed blond, and she wore bright red nail polish on her fingers and toes which could be seen through her peek-a-boo high-heeled sandals. She was heavily made up.
”I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. I'm Judge Susan Lane. Your husband's aunt and I were certainly on different sides of the fence regarding the future development of Calico Gold, but I'm sorry to hear she died and even sorrier to hear she was murdered.”
Wow! This must be the judge Aunt Agnes mentioned last night.
”Thank you. I only met her yesterday, but I really liked her, and obviously, my husband is quite broken up. She was his only relative, and they were quite close.”
”Please give him my condolences. I'll be attending the funeral tomorrow. What's going to happen to Agnes' ranch? I understand several people would like to buy the Robertson Ranch.”
”Under the terms of Agnes' Will, the ranch and all of her estate will go to my husband, but he hasn't made any decisions regarding the ranch. There are too many other things that need attending to first. Agnes told us at dinner last night she didn't want her property developed. I don't know if that will affect his decision, but I suspect it will.”
”You never know. People say one thing, and then when they see how much money they can make by ignoring what the deceased person wanted, they tend to forget about it. Money can be very seductive.”
”You don't know my husband. Money has never been that important to him.”
”Sorry to disagree with you, but it's been my experience that money can and often is more important than anything else. It's been nice talking to you. I have to hear some cases this afternoon. See you tomorrow at the funeral.”
That is not a nice person. No wonder Agnes was funding the young man's campaign who's running against her. Think I'll make a contribution to him as well.
”Honey, don't pay no attention to the judge,” Betty said. ”She don't know when to keep her mouth shut sometimes. They say she's a good judge, but I sure have my doubts. Lots of rumors about her being in the pocket of the big real estate developers. Might be some truth to that. They say if you do what she says and one of your family's in trouble, the judge is real lenient, but if you go against her and one of yours is unfortunate enough to have some legal problem, it's gonna be a bigger problem by the time she's through with you. Don't know. Just sayin' what I hear, and you can't begin to imagine everything I hear in this shop.”
”I'm not surprised. I own a coffee shop in a small town in Oregon, and everyone comes there to gossip. It's probably the same here.”
”It is. I heard about Agnes' death about the same time the police chief got to the Robertson Ranch this morning. It was all over town in minutes. Even heard when and where the funeral's gonna be held. Everyone's talking about what's gonna happen to the ranch. A lot of people want the money that would come from increased tourism if a golf course was built on the property, and a lot of people don't want the tourism and don't want the ranch sold to some out-of-town developer. Guess is, your husband's probably going to be pressured from both sides in the next few days. Kinda feel sorry for him, although it's hard to feel sorry for anyone who's suddenly that rich.”
”I'm sorry, I don't understand what you mean,” Kelly said.
”Well, everyone knows Agnes was a very rich woman. Her lawyer's secretary gets her hair done here, and she told me Agnes was probably the richest person in Calico Gold. Figure she'd know if anyone would. Heck, in a town this small everyone knows everyone else's business. Not much else to do. Hear she had a lot of stocks and investments and was a multimillionaire in her own right. Since your husband's the sole beneficiary of Agnes' Will, that means he's gonna get everything. That'll make him a millionaire, just like Agnes was.”
”I have no idea what his inheritance might amount to, and I don't think he does either.”
”Well, the townspeople sure think he's gonna get a bundle.” She finished tr.i.m.m.i.n.g Kelly's hair and handed her a mirror so she could look at the back of her head.
”Looks great, Betty, thanks.”
”You can pay the receptionist on your way out. It was nice to meet you. Tell your husband I'm sorry about his aunt. Might want to tell him to be real careful. I'm thinkin' if Agnes was murdered, someone maybe wanted somethin' from her, and now that she's gone, your husband just might have what the killer wanted.”
”Thank you. I'll tell him.”
Like he doesn't already know.
CHAPTER 16.
Kelly had just pressed the automatic car door lock on her car after leaving Betty's Salon when a woman said, ”Kelly, please wait,” in a loud voice. Kelly turned around and saw a woman walking quickly towards her dressed in a T-s.h.i.+rt, sweat pants, and expensive looking tennis shoes.
”Thanks. I'm Lucy Thomas, a friend of your husband's aunt. I was in Betty's Salon and couldn't help but overhear your conversation. A friend of mine called me early this morning to tell me about Agnes' death. I can't believe it. Even though she was quite a bit older than me, we became very good friends. In fact, I often ate dinner at the Robertson House. If you have a minute, I'd like to talk to you.”