Chapter 16
Dear Sophie,
I have linens for twin beds, double beds, and a king-size bed. Making beds at my house is a nightmare. I can never find all the matching pieces for the correct size bed. There has to be a better way.
Linen Queen in Bedlam Corner, Connecticut
Dear Linen Queen,
There is a better way. Simply store matching items together by folding them and sliding them inside one pillowcase. You’ll be able to tell the size of the bed from the package, and if you can’t, then store them on different shelves in the linen closet. Now you can grab and go!
Sophie
I stared at the shoes, thinking I was seeing things. The dogs pulled me toward the shoes. I leaned to my left, trying to get a better angle so I could see more.
The dogs bolted toward the woman on the ground, pulling me along. It was Dulci. She lay exactly as Lark had lain, on her abdomen, her head turned to the right. She was fully dressed. Either she had been there all night, or she had dressed for the day this morning. I tried to remember what she had worn the previous day. A red dress, I thought, but I couldn’t be sure. She was wearing a cream blouse with a fancy gold, brown, and red design on the fabric that reminded me of horse reins, with brown slacks this morning. Earrings set with rubies and diamonds graced her ears and she wore a hefty gold coin pendant surrounded by a gold rope. A stepladder lay beside her as if she had fallen.
I closed the gate so the dogs wouldn’t get out when I dropped their leashes to check on Dulci. If this was a crime scene, their presence, and mine for that matter, was a problem. But what if she wasn’t dead? I released the leashes and knelt next to Dulci.
“Dulci?” I said. I picked up her hand. It wasn’t very cold. She hadn’t been out here all night. I couldn’t feel a pulse, so I reached for her neck where it would be stronger. Still nothing.
My fingers trembled as I dialed 911 and reported the situation. Rats! I didn’t know Dulci’s house number. I grabbed the leashes that were dragging along behind the dogs and the three of us ran out the gate to the front of the house. I reported the house number to the dispatcher.
A squad car pulled up immediately and Wong stepped out.
“That was fast!” I said, disconnecting the call.
“I happened to be on the next block over. “What’s up?”
“It’s Dulci. I found her lying on her brick patio.”
“Is she hurt?” asked Wong.
“I think she’s dead,” I whispered.
We ran around the corner to the spot where Dulci lay. I had to give Wong credit, she could move a lot faster than me.
Her radio crackled and in a matter of minutes, EMTs arrived.
I always felt better when I saw them. If there was any hope of reviving someone, they knew how to do it. Wolf strode in and cast a look at the dogs, but he didn’t throw us out.
“She’s positioned exactly like Lark was.” I said, skipping the niceties of polite society, like saying good morning.
In a matter of minutes, he was on his radio requesting a medical examiner, and I was reeling from déjà vu. Except for the fact that it wasn’t her grandchild who discovered her body, everything seemed to be an exact repeat of Lark’s death. Even the people responding were the same, right up to Dr. Chryssos, who walked through the gate.
“Sophie,” he said warmly, furrowing his brow, “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
Wolf watched him impatiently. “Over here, Chryssos.”
The doctor pulled on disposable gloves and kneeled on the ground next to Dulci. Everyone grew quiet.
He stood up and peeled off his gloves. “Preliminarily I’d say she died very recently, within the last couple of hours. The similarity to Lark’s death is eerie. Someone hit her on the back of the head, much as in Lark’s case. Did you ever find the weapon?” he asked Wolf.
“No.” He said it curtly, as if he was upset that he didn’t have it.
The EMTs packed up and left.
“Was the gate unlocked?” Wolf asked me.
“Yes. I was supposed to be here for coffee this morning. I assumed Dulci left it open for me. . . .” My voice trailed off.
Wolf slid on a glove, not unlike the doctor’s, and tried the handle of one of the French doors. Like the gate, it opened easily. “Did you go in the house?”
“No.”
He spoke into his radio and looked straight at me. When he was through, he motioned to me to follow him out the gate. “Tell me what happened.”
I relayed the whole thing, not that there was much to tell.
He patted Daisy and Muppet. “You were supposed to meet Dulci here this morning?”
“Yes. She asked me to stop by for coffee this morning after seven. She didn’t say why, but when I asked if something was wrong, she said she wasn’t sure.”
“Any idea what that could have been about?” he asked.
“Not a clue. But she did look back at her husband. I got the feeling that maybe she didn’t want him to know she was meeting with me. There was something about the way she said it. I don’t think she wanted me to set up a charity event for her.”
“Something might have come to her about Lark’s death. But she didn’t want Emery to know,” he mused. “All right. If anything else occurs to you, let me know.”
And just like that, I was dismissed. I really wanted to go into Dulci’s house to look around. But I had the pups with me, and I was fairly sure they wouldn’t have let me in anyway.
We walked slowly to Bean Time. Daisy pranced with excitement. She knew there was a delicious Puppucini in her future. Muppet watched her, clearly confused.
I took my latte and their treats to an outdoor table. They licked their Puppucinis with gusto while I sipped my latte and looked around, feeling a little numb. It was a gorgeous spring day. The sun was shining, and the air was crisp and dry.
Dulci had planned to make an aspirational word wall for her grandchildren. She was going to start a new business setting up home command centers for busy families. And now she was gone. In the blink of an eye, all her plans and dreams, her entire life had come to an abrupt end. What was it she had wanted to tell me? Something about the trip? Something about Lark?
And then it dawned on me. Nina was next. If it hadn’t been for Muppet, I would have found Nina lying on the ground outside her house yesterday morning. I jumped to my feet, alarming the dogs. I quickly gathered the empty cups, tossed them in the trash, and took off for home, walking as fast as I could.
I’m ashamed to admit that I was the one panting when we reached my house. The dogs were psyched about our fast walk.
I entered through the kitchen door, which was not locked. Bernie was flipping French toast and Nina was wandering around in a bathrobe, clutching a mug of coffee.
“We have to keep the doors locked,” I said. “Where’s Mars?”
“Right here,” his voice came from the foyer. Mars walked into the kitchen still towel-drying his hair. “That’s some snazzy bathroom you had installed, Soph. Bernie, you really ought to think about renovating some of the bathrooms in your house. You can start with mine.”
I unfastened the harnesses.
Bernie handed him a plate of French toast. “It’s not a bad idea at that.” He frowned at me. “Have you been running? Why are you breathing so hard?”
“I’m just glad to see you all here. Especially you, Nina.” I plopped into a chair by the fireplace in a most unladylike manner. “Dulci is dead.”
My words brought everyone to a halt. They stared at me and then everyone asked questions at the same time.
Thankfully, Bernie brought me a mug of English breakfast tea. I sipped it. He had made it just the way I liked it, with milk and a little sugar. I thanked him and told them what had happened.
“I can’t believe this,” said Nina. She gasped. “If it hadn’t been for Muppet, that would have been me!”
She looked for the little dog and swept her into her arms. “You saved me!”
I had a feeling that after all the animals Nina had fostered, this one was going to be a failed foster. I knew I wouldn’t be able to give up Muppet.
“I guess that means Humphrey is off the hook,” said Mars.
“He went home last night,” Nina pointed out. “He doesn’t have an alibi. He could have killed her.”
Mars gave her a look. “I seriously doubt that he has secretly been seeing her or that he proposed to her.”
Nina snickered. “Well, this is Humphrey we’re talking about. He’s been known to do wacky things.”
I was glad they were bickering, but the full impact of Dulci’s death hadn’t dawned on them yet. Two women were dead. The only survivor was right in front of me. Someone would be after her. I bent forward, toward Nina. “What happened in Portugal?”
She stared at me. “You make it sound so sinister. Nothing special happened. It was just a trip like any other.”
I could see from the expression on Bernie’s face that he understood. “Did the three of you meet anyone there? Have lunch with a stranger or tea at someone’s house?”
“I don’t think they do afternoon tea in Portugal, Bernie. But in answer to your question, we stayed mostly with our group.”
“Except for the day you got lost,” Mars said.
Nina shrugged. “That wasn’t any big deal. I’ll admit I was a little panicked for a minute when I couldn’t figure out the way back to the hotel, but the cab took me back and all was well.”
“What about the baby?” I asked.
“What baby?” Nina asked. “There was no baby. There were only adults on our tour.”
“The one that was thrown at you.” I drank my tea, hoping her version might differ slightly from Emery’s and reveal something.
“Oh, that.” She shook her head. “It was nothing but a ploy to divert attention while they picked pockets and purses.”
Mars was incredulous. “Was the baby hurt?”
“It’s not a real baby, Mars,” said Bernie. “It’s a doll, but they wrap it up in swaddling so that it appears to be an infant. I can’t believe they’re still pulling that old trick.”
“I would fall for it,” said Mars. “You’d have to have a heart of stone not to try to save a baby.”
“And that’s why it works. Who’s ready for French toast?” asked Bernie.
We all pitched in and within a matter of minutes, we sat down to eat breakfast. Bernie’s classic French toast with butter and maple syrup tasted heavenly. He had made a fruit salad to go along with it and had tossed in pomegranate seeds which were sweet and burst in my mouth.
I had to bring us back to protecting Nina and figuring out what had happened to them on their trip. “Nina, are you in any organizations with Dulci and Lark?” I asked.
“I don’t think so. I didn’t know them very well before the trip,” she said.
Their trip had to be key. But Nina didn’t seem to think anything unusual had happened.
As if he was reading my mind, Bernie asked, “Is it possible that you, Lark, and Dulci saw something that you shouldn’t have?”
Nina helped herself to another slice of French toast. “Like what?”
“A murder,” said Mars.
Bernie flashed him a look. “I’m serious. An altercation? A strange meeting between a fellow traveler and someone else?”
Nina stopped eating for a moment. “We drank wine, ate tapas, saw sunsets, looked at architecture, went to art museums. . . I promise you we didn’t see anything peculiar.”
Mars sighed. “All right, then. We don’t leave Nina alone.”
Nina looked at each of us. She broke into a smile, “Aww, y’all are just being silly.”
“Then why have you and I been staying here?” Mars asked, making his point quite clearly.
“Because I would sleep better if I wasn’t alone. But you don’t have to babysit me.”
“I think we do,” I said. “The murders took place early in the morning, shortly before dawn, when it was still dark outside. So we need to be most vigilant then.”
“You can come to work with me,” said Bernie.
“Maybe you shouldn’t work at Paisley’s tent anymore,” I said. “I know there are a lot of people around, but there’s no point in tempting fate by having you out in the open where the killer can find you.”
“Now stop it!” cried Nina. “You’re scaring me.”
“Good,” said Mars. “You need to be careful.”
It was almost noon when I arrived at the festival. I felt like vendors swarmed out of their tents to question me. Most of them didn’t have problems. They had heard rumors and were curious about Dulci. They wanted to know if she had really been murdered and whether there was any truth to the rumor that she had been left for dead in the exact same way as Lark.
Humphrey found me, his pale face rosy around the edges and the tips of his ears practically blazed. “This has to be the worst day of my life.”
“Your visit to the police was a bomb?” I asked.
“How do people who actually break the law manage to cope? I haven’t done anything wrong, but I was a wreck. The only bright side was that I knew Wolf. He was calm and polite but I was so nervous I thought I was going to faint!”
“You must have passed inspection. They didn’t arrest you,” I said cheerfully, hoping to make him feel better.
“They might. Paisley’s husband, Frank, went to the police and told them I had manipulated Lark and convinced her to give me power over all her money! Me! I’ve never even contemplated doing anything like that. I loved Lark.” Tears welled in his eyes. “I’d have done anything for her. She was strong and independent, and I’m not some swindler who runs around cheating people.”
Poor Humphrey was so agitated that his hands shook.
“Anyone who knows you realizes that. I’m sure Wolf took your character into consideration.”
“Character! Yes, that’s it. I’m not some bamboozling lothario. I have character and morals.” Humphrey’s chin lifted a bit. He sucked in a deep breath. “I’m on my way to meet Lark’s children. Wish me luck?”
I pecked him on the cheek. “You’ll do fine. Remember that they had a big shock when Lark died so they’re fragile right now. They might say things they will come to regret later on when they get to know you.”
At that moment, Natasha rushed up to us. “Is it true?”
“I presume you’re talking about Dulci?” I asked.
“Dulci . . . Someone phoned the funeral home about Dulci this morning and the police asked me about her,” said Humphrey.
Natasha shrieked and clasped a hand to her throat. “What is happening here?”
“Who is Dulci?” asked Humphrey.
I explained what had happened to her.
Natasha was horrified, but Humphrey appeared to feel better.
“I don’t have an alibi for her death, but I didn’t know Dulci.” Relief washed over his face. “I’m really sorry she was murdered. Truly. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. But on the list of suspects, I believe I just tumbled way to the bottom. It had to be someone who knew both Lark and Dulci.”
Natasha backed up a step. “You’re a suspect? Well, don’t come to my house.” Natasha scurried away as if she were afraid of Humphrey.
I smiled at him. “Don’t mind her. But I think you’re probably right about not being the prime suspect anymore.”
“Thanks, Sophie.”
I watched Humphrey walk away and disappear into the crowds of people. I hoped Paisley and Bennett wouldn’t be too hard on him.
An hour later, Wolf tracked me down. He handed me a cold drink, which I suspected was a peace offering. I wasn’t far off. He asked me questions about Dulci again. The only problem was that I didn’t have any different answers.
“How is Emery taking Dulci’s death?” I asked.
“He’s completely broken. He can barely function.”
“I trust he had an alibi?” I asked.
“He left early for the hospital. It checks out. Several people saw him.”
Wolf frowned at me. “Keep an eye on Nina.”
He walked away and I couldn’t help looking around at all the people walking past, laughing and going about their day. Had one of them murdered two women?
I spent the next few hours scurrying between tents and checking to be sure the people who would be doing live demonstrations hadn’t forgotten. By six o’clock, when the tents closed for the day, I was bushed and ready to go home.