Chapter 18
While the beading class dispersed and the crafters broke for lunch before Cora’s paper bead class, she slipped away to her apartment. Luna greeted her with a long, high-pitched meow.
“Hello, sweetie,” she said, sitting down at the kitchen table. Luna jumped into her lap. While she was talking with Jane and Lulu, she had made a mental note to call Cashel, though now that she thought about it, he probably wouldn’t tell her a thing about Zee—attorney-client privilege and all that. Cora did have a friend on the police force—Brodsky. She surmised he was pretty busy right now with the case. So she texted him, instead of calling him. He preferred calls because he was a bit old-fashioned and had just figured out how to text last year.
Hey, are you busy? I’m worried about Zee. Anything you can tell me? Cora keyed into her phone She hit SEND.
In the meantime, Cora prepared a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and poured herself a glass of iced tea. In most cases, she’d be eating with the guests. However, most of them decided to go out for lunch, and she needed some time to get her head together before her paper beading class.
I’m sorry. I’m not sure there’s anything else I can tell you, Brodsky texted back a moment later.
Okay, Cora responded. Thanks anyway.
A knock came at her door.
“Cora?” It was Lulu.
Cora opened the door, and Lulu fell into her arms. After their hug, Cora led her into her apartment.
“What a delightful apartment,” Lulu said.
“Thank you. Please have a seat. Can I get you something?” Cora led her into the living room section of her loftlike attic apartment.
“No, thanks,” Lulu said. “I really can’t stay long. Oh my gosh, I’m trying to figure all of this out, and I just can’t wrap my head around it.”
“Tell me everything you know,” Cora said, sitting down.
Lulu lifted her chin. “I don’t know much. One thing I do know is that my sister is innocent.”
“Sure she is, so why are they keeping her?”
“Evidently, when they found her she was holding the murder weapon,” Lulu responded.
So, Cashel’s gossip was true this time. “Who found her?”
“I don’t remember the name ... someone from the theater group. Zee was passed out next to Stan with the blade in her hand,” Lulu said, stammering.
“Have you talked to her about that?”
Lulu sat straighter. “She said she found him lying there and she tried to save him by pulling out the knife. She doesn’t remember anything after that. She was hysterical, as you would expect.”
“Makes sense to me.” So why didn’t it make sense to the police?
Cora mulled things over a few minutes before speaking. “Was he still alive when she found him?”
“I don’t know,” Lulu said.
“I’m just trying to make sense of all this,” Cora said. “I mean, he was attacked in the alley and moved to the theater. He was too large of a man for Zee to move him. So, it stands to reason that she should be freed and off the suspect list.”
Lulu moaned. “I know. I don’t understand. At first, I thought it was her ex-husband getting his revenge on her, but at this point, it’s gone beyond that. Maybe he’s trying to frame her. He’s the only one I know who despises her enough to do such a thing.”
“Surely not. Surely a judge, even one who’s best friends with her ex-husband, would know better,” Cora said. “Keeping her in jail longer than necessary is one thing, but framing her for murder is another.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Lulu said.
“Speaking of her ex-husband. I had no idea she was ever married,” Cora said.
Lulu’s hand gestured with a flourish. “Oh, it was a long time ago. She moved here to be close to him. Gave up her career so they could marry.”
“That doesn’t sound like Zee.”
“It was a different time, dear. Randall Mancini wasn’t going to marry a woman who was never going to be home. Her music took her all over the world. But she was crazy about him,” Lulu said.
“What happened? I hope you don’t mind my asking?”
“Not at all. I couldn’t tell you if I wanted to. Zee never said.” However, Lulu would not meet Cora’s eyes.
Oh yes, there is more to the story.
“She’s very private. Always has been. I didn’t know she was involved with the man until after they married. They eloped. It was all so sudden and romantic,” Lulu said, and sighed. “And as far as I could tell, it ended as suddenly as it started.”
Cora made a mental note to check this judge out. Could he be harboring such a strong grudge that he was allowing her husband to frame Zee for murder? Difficult to fathom. But stranger things had happened. Love could twist you into all kinds of heinous knots.
“About this lawyer of hers, Cashel O’Malley?”
“What about him?” Cora said.
“Is he any good? It seems she should be out already.”
“Yes,” Cora said. “He’s an excellent lawyer.”
Ruby’s son, Cashel, was good at his job but bad at his life. He had admitted his feelings for Cora, but only after she had fallen in love with Adrian. Cashel was not a temptation. Not anymore. Though when she first moved to Indigo Gap, she found him handsome and intriguing. When she realized he was Ruby’s son, that was that.
“I was thinking about getting another lawyer. But if you say he’s good, I’ll leave it alone,” Lulu said.
A rapping came at the door, and it opened. Jane sauntered in.
“Lulu, I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do?” she said.
“Thank you,” Lulu said. “I don’t know that there’s anything any of us can do for her. We have to trust in this O’Malley guy, I suppose. Or find the real killer ourselves.”
Cora’s heart jumped to attention. She’d helped the police enough to know her way around a murder investigation.
“Wait,” Jane said. “Lulu, it’s best if you let the pros handle this.”
“What are they doing?” she said angrily. “We need to get Zee out of jail.”
“I agree, it’s best if we let the pros handle it. But it wouldn’t hurt if we helped the police any way we could,” Cora said.
“How? Besides, we have a retreat to run.”
“I know that. It seems to me the first thing to do is to make a list of people who’d want to kill Stan,” Cora said.
Lulu rolled her eyes. “That’s about half the town, isn’t it?”
“Why is that?”
“He wields his power like a damn king, that’s why. Plays favorites at the theater. If you know what I mean. It’s all about money, you know. Everybody knows if you become a supporter, you can get any part you want. Especially with the kids over there. Their loudmouth rich parents buy their way onto the stage. It’s a sin, I tell you. It’s not at all what community theater should be.” Her voice trembled with anger.
Based on her brief time working at the theater, Cora had suspected as much. Cora and Jane had both tried to not listen to the rumors about Stan’s pushing the kids too hard, along with his arguing with parents and with the crew.
“Surely none of that is a motive to kill a man,” Cora said, after a few seconds.
Lulu harrumphed. “Ever met a true-blue stage mother? Those women are a different breed. Now, let’s get busy on our list.”