Chapter 23
Jane and Cora left the theater and headed toward Kildare House, past the shops and businesses. As they walked by the Blue Dawg Diner, Detective Brodsky was walking out of the door.
“Hey there,” Cora said.
“Cora. Jane,” he said with a polite smile on his face. “What are you two up to? Don’t you have a retreat going on?”
“Ever the observant detective,” Jane said with a wry note.
“Hah,” he replied. “Seriously, ladies. What’s going on? You two look like the cat that swallowed the canary. Or felted fur balls, as it were.”
Cora grabbed him by the elbow and led him off the sidewalk to the alley between the Blue Dawg and the Blue Diamond.
“We just came from IndigoArts,” she said.
“Oh?” His eyebrows raised.
“We talked to Ralph, the guy who found Stan and Zee,” Jane said.
“And?” He leaned forward.
“He said there were a bunch of stage moms around that day. Did he tell you that?” Cora said.
“Cora, Jane, I know Zee is a friend of yours, and you’re involved in the theater, but you had no business talking with him. And yes, he told us all of that. But really? Moms?”
“Some of those stage moms are certifiable,” Cora said.
“Is that your professional opinion?” His eyes slanted.
“No, not really,” Cora said. “I barely spoke to them, but I’ve observed their behavior. One woman went into the auditions and said if they didn’t give her daughter the part, she’d never support them again.”
“Big supporter?” he asked.
She nodded. “And the child got in.”
“That seems to be the way it works at IndigoArts,” he said. “Small-town theater crap. Just because you want to see your kid on the stage, doesn’t mean you have the personality to kill.”
“Right,” Jane said. “I still think it’s worth looking into who was there.”
“Thank you, Ms. Starr. I’ll take that under advisement,” he said with a joking tone.
“I’m sorry,” Cora said, feeling a bit foolish. They should back off. Detective Brodsky and his colleagues were the best. They would work hard to get to the bottom of this. “It’s just that Zee is our friend and we hate the idea of her being in jail under suspicion for murder.”
“I hear you,” he said. “We’re doing our best.”
Jane folded her arms. Cora realized she was holding back. Jane didn’t have the same soft spot in her heart for cops.
“Why hasn’t bail been posted, at least?” Jane said.
“Sometimes, it’s more complicated than it looks.”
“The situation with the judge and her ex doesn’t help, I’m sure,” Jane said.
“Look,” he said. “I’m aware of that situation. It’s under control. Don’t you worry.” His cell phone went off. “I’m sorry, ladies. I have to go. Behave yourselves. I mean it.”
Cora smiled and nodded. Jane frowned.
“He’s hiding something,” she said.
“I know,” Cora said. “He can’t divulge everything to us while the murder investigation is ongoing.”
Jane and Cora walked on down the sidewalk toward Kildare House.
“You are almost as much of a goody-goody as Cashel,” Jane muttered.
Cora gasped and playfully swatted at Jane. “That may be the worst thing you’ve ever said about me.”
“At least to your face,” Jane said, and laughed.
“I think the detective is selling women short,” Jane said, after a few minutes of walking along in silence.
“What do you mean?”
“Just that he disregarded the stage moms without a care.”
“We don’t know that.”
“Yes, we do. Brodsky almost laughed when you suggested it. I just think that women are much more capable of devious behavior than most men are aware. In fact, my theory is more women are killers than what we know. They’re just too smart to get caught,” Jane said.
“You know, Vicki was just talking about the same thing,” Cora said. She had found it unsettling that a new mom had been thinking so deeply about women and murder.
“What do you think?” Jane asked.
Cora mulled it over. “You may be right. But people are people. Some are good. Some are bad. Gender has little to do with it. When I worked at the shelter, most of the bad sorts were men. But we did have guys come in who were abused by their wives. I know women can have violent tendencies.”
“I certainly do,” Jane said. “Come at me or my kid?”
She didn’t need to go on.
Jane had come a long way. But admitting to her violent tendencies gave voice to them and somehow the more she talked about it, the less violent she became. Cora had been in bad situations and was able to defend herself without a weapon. But she had no doubt in her mind that she’d support someone in trouble, no matter what it took.
Which is exactly what she was doing with Zee. Still, maybe Detective Brodsky was right. Maybe they should leave it all to the police. After all, they had a retreat to run. A house full of moms away for the weekend. Her mood lifted. Up until she opened the front door.