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I waited, patiently texting our babysitter, Kenny, to check in on Laurie, while Paula and Sean exchanged information.
I was missing her like crazy now and feeling guilty for having left her so long.
While I waited for him to reply, my stomached growled.
I wanted to propose lunch to Paula, but she and Sean were in the middle of a passionate discussion about paint colors.
I suppose I could do a little more looking around.
I headed toward the back of the spa, following the trail of Sean’s equipment, around a corner. The back hallway was a disaster zone; cordoned off with “Under Construction” signage, tarps, orange cones and black tape sectioning it off.
The warnings not to enter seem to tempt me. I stepped over some of the orange cones and pushed by some hanging tarps.
“Um, excuse me!” a loud voice called from behind me. A wiry woman wearing one of the spa workers basic black uniforms with the logo above her right chest scurried down the hall toward me. “Excuse me!” she called a second time, a sour look on her face.
I paused. “Yes?” I questioned.
“You can’t be over here!” she exclaimed. “This is off-limits. This part of the building is under construction!”
I heard women’s voices on the other side of the hanging tarp. I desperately wanted to pull aside the tarp and take a peek, but as my hand inched toward it, the attendant was upon me.
“Off-limits!” she repeated. Now, she was standing right beside me with angry eyes blazing.
I lowered my hand, deciding a peek was not worth it. This woman was tiny –about half my size, but I know crazy eyes when I see them.
You don’t mess with crazy eyes.
“I’m a detective,” I said, a hint of pride in my voice. “Your boss, Jane North, hired me to investigate what transpired this morning on the premises.”
“Oh,” the young attendant said. “Well, either way, you still can’t go over here. It’s a liability! If you want to go into the nail salon, you’ll have to go outside and go through their front entrance.”
“So that’s what this hallways leads to?” I asked. “The nail salon next door?”
“It’s what it will lead to when the hallway is finished,” the attendant said. “Will you please step away before you trip over any equipment?”
“If you insist,” I said, following her back around to the section of the hall that wasn’t covered in tarp and signs. “Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?” I beckoned as we rounded the corner.
The attendant crossed her arms. “I guess if Jane hired you for an investigation, I should cooperate, huh?”
“That would be nice,” I said. “How about we just start with a name?”
“Erin,” she said.
“Well, Erin, could you tell me more about this construction project?” I asked.
“Not much to tell. They’re basically just busting down the wall that separates the two shops,” Erin explained. “They’re going to do an archway leading into the nail salon.”
A thought struck me. Could the people who worked or owned the nail salon hold some sort of grudge against the spa?
Was this some sort of business takeover?
Excitement jolted through me as I considered the possible motive.
While McNearny was busy interviewing bridal party guests, I might have possibly stumbled over something.
“So, tell me, Erin, how do the people in the nail salon feel about this company takeover?”
“Takeover?” Erin chuckled. “No, it’s nothing like that, I don’t think. The businesses are just combining to help bring in more customers. Make it a sort of one-stop shop. As far as I know, there is no ill-will. Jane managed to work it out to where the nail salon didn’t have to lay off a single employee.”
“Really?” I questioned. “Normally when two businesses merge like that someone gets burned.”
“Jane isn’t like that though,” Erin said. “She worked with the nail salon’s owner to make sure she wouldn’t have to lay anyone off.”
“That’s very considerate,” I said, but secretly I was a little disappointed. Looks like I was going to have to turn my attention back to the bridal party. Attempting to ruin the spa’s business didn’t seem like a plausible motive just yet –not unless Jane had some sort of enemy she hadn’t let me in on.
“So there was not any sort of... assertive takeover?” I asked.
“I don’t think so,” Erin said. “I’ve been working here for a while. I probably would have heard something. Jane’s a sweetheart. From what I hear, the nail salon owner was the one who asked Jane to merge in the first place because the business wasn’t doing too great on its own. The merger’s going to be good for both companies.”
Gosh darn it.
And here I thought I was onto something.
No, it was probably something against Kelly, the bride.
As Erin escorted me out of the construction area, I mulled over my suspects.
The groom’s ex, Merida, was a possible suspect. The scorned woman – such a cliché, but it was a cliché for a reason. Then there was the mother of the groom who seemed pretty willing to separate herself from the rest of the women.
Then again, I probably would have too if I was dealing with a bunch of intoxicated younger girls.
It’d be prudent to wait on the results from the medical examiner before jumping to conclusions.
When I returned, Paula was still deep in conversation with Sean. I sighed and headed into the lobby. Meeting Sean was a good business opportunity for her, so I wasn’t going to interrupt her any more than she would have interrupted me if I was speaking to a possible client.
I checked my phone and saw that Kenny hadn’t replied to my text yet. I dialed him instead.
The poor kid was probably having a freak out watching three little ones since he had Paula’s babies too.
He answered the phone in a whisper. “Hey, Kate. How is your spa day going?” he asked politely as always.
“Well, it could be better,” I admitted. “Someone died.”
“What?” he exclaimed, his voice sounding shocked but still in a whisper.
“Yeah,” I said. “One of the girls getting a face mask died right there on the massage table.”
“Are you alright?” Kenny asked, worried.
“That’s sweet, Kenny. I’m fine.” I said. “There’s a small upside. I got hired by the spa owner.”
“That’s great,” he said. “If you need any help, I’m your man.”
Kenny had been more than instrumental helping out on some of my previous cases.
“You’ll never believe this, though, the lady who hired me is McNearny’s ex.”
“What?” Kenny asked, his voice full of shock. “Run!”
I laughed.
“Seriously, Kate, you should probably run the other way,” he said, still whispering, and I could not ignore it anymore.
“Kenny, why are you whispering?” I asked.
“Oh, I just got Laurie down,” he said. “Paula’s kids are asleep too.”
“Wait, all three of them are asleep? At the same time?” I questioned.
“Well, yeah,” he said. “You two wanted me to try to get them down for a nap, right?”
“We did... I just... didn’t expect you to actually be able do it,” I said. “Wow,” he laughed. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“Sorry,” I said. “But even when I watch all three of them, I don’t manage to pull that off. Good job, Kenny. I’m impressed.”
“I try,” he said.
“So, anyways, I’m not going to be here too much longer, but I wanted to give you a call so you would not be wondering why we hadn’t gotten back yet. Paula’s speaking to someone right now about a booking herself, so as soon as she is finished we’ll head back to get the little ones.”
“So Paula got a booking today too?” he asked. “Superwomen over there.”
“Are you trying to flatter us so that we’ll tip you again?” I asked him with a grin.
“How dare you accuse me of being so sleazy!” he said, but I heard a slight chuckle in his voice.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” I said. “Relax, Kenny, you know we take care of you for taking care of our babies. We’ll see you soon, okay?”
“Take your time,” he said. “Like I said, they’re all asleep. I don’t have anywhere I need to go or anything. Uh, but can I order a pizza? The fridge is kinda of empty.”
“Empty? I thought there was some left over hot wings and ribs from Jim’s barbequed last night.”
“I already ate that,” Kenny admitted.
I laughed. “Go ahead and order a pizza, but order enough to leave Paula and me something. We haven’t eaten yet and you seriously don’t want to stand in the way of two nursing women and their food.”
“Okay dokey, Hawaiian fine by you?”
“Perfect. Thanks again,” I said and hung up.
Way to go, Kenny!
I really couldn’t believe he’d managed to get all three of them down for a nap at the same time. The toddler was difficult enough by himself – but two babies? I was more than impressed. I was a little envious!
Kenny was quite the natural.
Paula slipped out into the lobby looking quite embarrassed. “So sorry I made you wait, Kate. You ready to go?”
I nodded. “You won’t believe this, but Kenny got all three little ones asleep!”
“What? I can’t even get my two to sleep at the same time!” Paula shrieked.
“I know, right? Kenny’s a gem.” I laughed.
We headed out – for real this time, both eager to get home to our babies, because, after all, they were the entire reason we needed to be superwomen!
