Take in a deep breath through the nose and when lungs are filled, pack in another breath. Hold for three seconds and exhale slowly. At the end of the exhale, push air out from the lungs three times. Repeat this process 20 times for rejuvenation and stress relief.
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“Hey, Lorea, can you pick up some posters I ordered for the art festival at the copy shop?”
“Sure. You look like you have a lot on your mind.”
“Yeah, I can’t get my mind off Lily.” I didn’t tell her about my run-in with Vickie at Tim’s office, but my mind was on that as well.
Lorea leaned forward. “I know what you mean. I was talking to Tony the other night, and he said something that got me to thinking. Don’t worry, it wasn’t anything about the case,” she reassured me. “But it made a light bulb go off in my brain.”
“What did he say already? You’re killing me here.”
“He said sometimes the best clues are like geodes. On the outside they look like a rock, but crack them open—” She snapped her fingers. “—and you find the real treasure. The inside of the geode is like the details that line the most obvious clues. You know the flashy suspicions. The first hunch or jump to a conclusion. Tony said that he solves cases by looking inside those clues, deep inside, and then tearing them apart and putting them back together.”
I drummed my fingers on the countertop, considering her metaphor. “And this led to what great revelation?”
“I think Tim and Phil are both involved in Lily’s murder.”
“Not Tim.” I shook my head. “I already told you, there’s no way he’s involved.”
“Adri, I’m going to tread on thin ice for a minute.” Lorea lowered her voice. “We both know people from our past who were incredibly talented at hiding the truth. People who appeared to be completely different than what they really were. Dangerous people.”
I held up my hands. “Okay. I get what you’re saying.” I blew out a breath. “I’ve been wrong in the past. We’ve all been wrong. But I’m not wrong this time. It’s not Tim.”
“Prove it.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Maybe I will.” I nearly told her right then about my visit to Tim’s clinic, but I held back. She was determined to have her opinions, and I had mine. The only way to change her mind was to uncover a clue that pointed away from Tim.
About thirty minutes later, Lorea came stomping out from the back room. “Why do you think you’re the only one who can figure things out?” Lorea snapped.
I felt like she’d just stepped on my toes hard—or maybe I’d stepped on hers. “I don’t.”
“You’re so sure that Tim didn’t have anything to do with this that you’re willing to undermine Tony’s investigation to prove your point.”
“Hey, that’s not true,” I protested, holding my hands up. “Where is all this coming from?”
“It’s coming from a place where I trust the police to do their job. Tony just texted me and said that he got a complaint from the animal clinic that you’ve been bothering Tim. Did you go there today?”
I rolled my eyes. “Let me guess, was the complaint from someone named Vickie?”
“I don’t know, but Adri did you go talk to Tim today?”
I chewed on my bottom lip. “Yes. I just asked him why he didn’t tell me about the second life insurance policy when I talked to him before. And just so you know, his assistant is a witch. She all but threatened me for talking to him. I can’t believe that she called the police. Why would she do that?”
“You talked to him before?” Lorea threw up her hands. “Adri, he’s a murder suspect.”
“But he didn’t kill Lily.”
Lorea was usually even-keeled, but now she was fuming. “You shouldn’t be talking to Tim—definitely not going to his clinic! The police arrested Tim for good reason, and now, just because he has a great lawyer, he thinks he can get away with it.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t believe it.” I was starting to sound like a recording, but every time I defended Tim, it felt right. He didn’t kill Lily. I couldn’t be wrong again, not on this one. I’d thought Lorea agreed with me on that hunch, but something had changed her mind.
Lorea pulled out her phone and sent a text. “I’m asking Tony about that Vickie person.”
“I promise that Tim didn’t mind at all. He thanked me for helping him.”
Lorea waved her hand at me and sent another text.
“Have you ever wondered if it was some kind of mistake?” I asked. “What if Lily wasn’t supposed to die? Maybe there was some kind of mix-up and this is bigger than anyone’s thought of?”
Lorea scoffed. “She had a needle full of poison injected into her body. I don’t see how anyone could make that big of a mistake.”
I lifted one shoulder and let it drop. “There are just lots of things that don’t make sense in this case.”
“Only if you’re trying to make things more difficult than they really are. Tim and Phil colluded to murder Lily for almost three million dollars of life insurance money. That makes sense.”
I shook my head. “It’s too easy. Fits together like a puzzle. Murder is messy.”
Lorea ran her fingertips through the hair at the nape of her neck. “Just let Tony do his job.”
“I am.” It was all I could do to keep my tone even. I hadn’t even snooped around that much with this case. Tony was a great detective, so I decided to let it go. Lorea was obviously in love; there was no other way to explain her strange behavior.
As the day went on, I still felt uneasy about the semi-argument Lorea had instigated about Tim and Phil’s guilt. What was the driving force behind her certainty that they had killed Lily? She’d mentioned some kind of clue, but nothing I’d heard or thought of was so clear cut.
At ten minutes to five, I got a text from Luke.
Luke: Bad news. Lost the Benavidez case.
Me: Oh, I’m so sorry. Really, that is terrible news.
Luke: Sucks to lose.
Me: What can I do for you? Can I make you dinner?
Luke: I’m thinking of wallowing in my sorrow, but I got two new cases today and I’ll be up until midnight working.
Me: Sorry! :( Maybe tomorrow?
Luke: Yes.
Me: My place at six for dinner?
Luke: I’ll be there.
“Well, this day just went from bad to worse,” I muttered as I swept up in the back room.
“What happened?” Lorea put down her needle and thread and looked up at me.
“Luke lost the case against Rose Benavidez.”
“Oh no! He’s been working his guts out on that case, hasn’t he?”
“Yes, and it really dragged on because of the delays with Lily’s funeral.” I put the broom in the closet and leaned against the door. “I feel so bad for Luke.”
“What will happen with the dad?”
“I’m not sure, but I think it means they’ll have shared custody. Or maybe not? I wasn’t clear on that.”
There was an ache right in the lining of my heart whenever I thought of little Jasmine Benavidez and the fierce custody battle her parents had fought. Luke lost, which meant Jasmine would still spend time with her mother, Rose. I couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or not. Poor Luke. I had no doubt that he would stay up late working, but part of me wondered if he was burying himself and his pride in his work.
I made up my mind to do something for him. He’d shown me he cared in lots of little ways. It was my turn. “Hey, Lorea. I’m closing up early so I can run to the store,” I said. “See you in the morning?”
“Wait. I’m sorry about earlier.” Lorea stood next to the desk with her hands behind her back. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”
“It’s okay. You’re right. We both need to be careful and let the police do their job.” I ducked my head. “I know Tony is an excellent detective.”
“Thanks, Adri. Sounds like you have something planned for Luke. Good luck.”
I smiled. She was good at reading me, but I hoped she wouldn’t blow up again if something about this mystery sidelined me on my way home from work. I flipped the sign to “Closed,” turned off the showroom lights, and waved at Lorea on my way out.
I was almost to my car when I remembered I needed to check the drip system on the hanging plants I’d ordered earlier that summer. They hung in front of my shop, and when I’d looked out the window earlier, I’d noticed they appeared a bit wilted. In the dry desert heat of Sun Valley, they would shrivel up within a couple days if not tended to.
Dark purple petunias cascaded over the side of one of the hanging plants, accompanied by a scattering of white alyssum, purple asters, and bright-blue Salvia. It made me happy to see the flowers blooming so beautifully in the chosen array of my company’s design colors. They were a nice accent to the flowing script on my shop window—Adrielle Pyper’s Dream Weddings, Where Happily Ever After is Your Destination.
I poked my finger into the soil and found it to be slightly damp, but a bit too dry to combat the July heat, so I fiddled with the nozzle of the drip system to allow more water to slowly irrigate the flowers. With one more look at the front of my shop, I wiped my hands on my pants and headed for my car.
I walked around the corner and ran into Tony, coming out of Walter Mayfield’s ring shop. “Oh, hi. Coming to see Lorea?” I teased.
To my surprise, Tony blushed. “Uh, no. Actually I was just, uh—meeting with Walter—er, going over some details on a case.” He stopped and moved his hand behind his back, but not before I saw a clear bag with “Mayfield Jeweler’s” printed on the front. And inside the bag was a velvet green ring box.
I gaped. “Is that a ring—”
“No,” Tony interrupted me. “Walter didn’t want anyone to know about this, so please don’t say anything. It should be an open-and-shut case.”
I eyed the sack, then Tony. “... Okay?”
“Not a word to anyone, Adrielle Pyper. I can arrest you for interfering with a police investigation.” His voice was stern, but I detected a hint of nervousness behind his police bravado.
“Got it.” I patted him on the shoulder, noting that he was dressed casually—not on duty. “Good luck. I’ll talk to you later.” He was up to something, and I wasn’t sure it actually was police business, but I’d give him his space—at least until I found out otherwise. I bit the edge of my cheek so he wouldn’t see the grin begging to be released.
He hurried on his way, and I waited until I was in my car to let out a giggle. Police business? I didn’t think so. I’d missed a chance to grill him about the investigation or share anything that I might have learned, but Tony had been very preoccupied. Maybe I could try to catch him tomorrow.