divorced divas 02 - crimped to death (18 page)

“I love your license.” I snickered.

“If you only knew how much I had to keep up my appearance. Being a doctor’s wife isn’t easy.” She pushed a button on her keyfob and the trunk popped open. She looked me up and down. “You have no idea how much I’d like to dress down like you.”

I wasn’t sure if it was a compliment or not, but I let it roll off of me. The cutest green tote bags filled the back of her car. She grabbed one and handed it to me.

Dr. Russell’s logo was printed on the front. There was a travel coffee mug, magnet, toothbrush, floss, toothpaste, and mouthwash inside.

“Wow. This is like Christmas.” I was set.

“We have a new Keurig coffee machine that is going to be in the lobby for clients.” She smiled. “I’m thrilled Kevin finally listened to me about remodeling his office. He can be an old fogey sometimes.”

“Thank you so much. I’m glad I waited.” I held the bag in the air and waved her off.

Chapter Nineteen

“What are we going to do with her?” I pointed to the passed-out Reba. “Now I’m going to have to give her jewelry to her for free.”

“No you won’t.” Marlene had that
I know what to do
look in her eye. “We can come up with her design and tell her that she picked it out before she took a nap. Kind of like Jedi mind tricks.”

“You have come up with some off beat stuff, but this one takes the cake.” I wasn’t buying into any Jedi crap. I never saw Star Wars, much less knew anything like what Marlene was talking about.

“Think about it,” Marlene pleaded, rushing around to every bin, picking out all sorts of crazy color combinations. “We can convince her that she was under so much stress that she just is plumb exhausted.”

“Hmm…” The idea was crazy, but it just might work. “We could do a simple silver and clear design mostly made up of some of the antiqued bone beads.” They would match Reba’s vintage dress with the look of lace provided on the beads. Plus there was a focal oval design with a flower inset on it that would match perfectly.

As if on cue, Marlene grabbed a few of the beads and quickly got to work on a basic, but simply beautiful pair of earrings that any bride would want to wear.

While Marlene worked, I put Dr. Russell’s client pack behind the counter and got out the Diva’s bead boards. If they were going to be here, they might as well keep their hands busy while their mouths were talking. We were all working on a friendship bracelet made up of a few Bali rondelles and round sterling silver six millimeters between. I had gotten each of us a “D” charm and our initials put on the back. We are the original Divas and I wanted to make sure we all had a fun way to show it.

One-by-one, they trickled in. Bernadine was the first, packing all the goodies that Charlie had sent to Second Cup.

“What are you doing? Trying to sabotage us all?” I asked, giving her a frown as Ginger walked in behind her.

“I can’t believe it. I trusted that girl.” Bernadine jabbed her fist in the air. “Was she that insecure to think Henry really wanted me over her?”

Suddenly Bernadine started to cry.

Ginger rushed over to her and put her arms around her as more Divas filed in.

“Do you really think he wasn’t sincere the night he died?” Ginger asked knowing how much Bernadine was still in love with Henry Frisk even though he was an ass.

“He talked a good talk, but he always did.” Bernadine took a tissue from Agnes Pearl.

“They all do, honey.” Agnes tsked and adjusted her turban of choice for the meeting. A hot pink number with a large black feather jutting out the back.

“Oh,” I remembered. “I found a feather at Henry’s office.”

“A feather?” Flora’s eye narrowed. “You didn’t say anything about a feather.”

“What does that have to do with Henry?” Cheri didn’t care about the calories in the muffin she was stuffing in her face.

“I don’t know.” I picked up one of the pretzel sticks dipped in chocolate that Charlie had given Bernadine and took a bite. “It just seemed really out of place. There weren’t any feather things in his office. Not even a pillow where a feather could float out of.”

The pretzels were so good, I went back for seconds.

“It would seem odd since Henry hated birds.” Bernadine gave a little bit of trivia. “Where would it have come from?”

Agnes Pearl straightened up. “The outside. There are birds all around this city.” She laughed. “One could’ve floated right through the door. Just like on that movie Forrest Gump. There was a feather floating all around him.” She glared. “I never understood that part in the movie.”

“Anyway, I found it weird.” I shrugged. “Did you figure out anything from the calendar?”

“No.” Sadness crossed her face. “It’s like code or something.”

“Agnes,” I got her attention.

She was hunched over the bead board trying to string a few beads on her friendship bracelet.

“Did you talk to Bradford?” I was hoping she had quizzed her nephew about seeing Henry and the blonde.

“Yep. Sure enough it was Charlie.” The lines on her forehead deepened. “He said he had seen them a few times. She was at Henry’s office when Bradford got his teeth cleaned and again when he got his crown put on. Once they were in a compromising position.” She wiggled her brows.

“That is what Patsy Russell told me too.” I told them her story about Dr. Russell going to see Henry and how Charlie was all up in Henry’s lap. The story only made Bernadine cry more, which made her realize that Henry Frisk only
wanted
her to believe that he wanted her back because he loved her,
not
because he didn’t want to pay her anymore.

“What about you, Cheri? Did you get an appointment with Dr. Russell?” I asked, following up on her task.

“Yes. Carol told me that they were shutting down the office for a couple weeks for remodel.” She let out a heavy sigh. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get in front of him any sooner.”

“No problem.” Bernadine gave a small smile of gratitude. “At least you tried.”

“Ginger.” I looked over at my best friend. “Any more from Joni?”

“Nope. Still the fact remains, Henry’s office was on the waiting list for the security system,” she said.

“The bill collector for Buskin’s called me. They said I had to pay Henry’s bill or they were going to sue me.” Bernadine interrupted our round table discussion. She could tell none of us were getting any closer to solving who killed her ex. “Could this week get any worse?”

Before she could shut her mouth, the bell over the door dinged. Office Kiss walked in and headed straight to Bernadine.

“Ms. Frisk.” Officer Kiss stood with her legs hip-width apart. She reached behind her and pulled the cuffs off her utility belt. “I’m placing you under the arrest for the murder of Henry Frisk. You have the right. . .”

Helplessly, the Divas stood there with our mouths open. It didn’t even phase me that Agnes had held her unfinished bracelet in the air and all the beads had tumbled into the
Under.

Bernadine didn’t resist. She stood up and took it like a true lady. Her chin cocked in the air, but there was fire in her eyes.

“I’ll call Bennie.” Flora wasted no time getting her phone and punching the keyboard for Bennie’s number. When he answered, she talked swift and fast. “He’s on his way to the station. Don’t say a word. He will meet you there.”

Neither Officer Kiss nor Bernadine said a word as Officer Kiss directed Bernadine out to her squad car and stuck Bernadine in the back. Flora didn’t waste any time getting to her car and peeling off down the road. No doubt in my mind, I knew she was going to beat Bernadine and Bennie to the station.

This was a day the Divas would not forget. Seeing one of our own in the rear window of a cop car was far from our intentions of the group.

“Now what?” Agnes Pearl wrung her wrinkled hands together.

“We wait,” I said.

“Wait?” Cheri didn’t seem to like my idea.

“Wait until we hear from Flora. Until we hear all the charges.” In reality, I wasn’t sure what we were supposed to do. “Until then, I’m going to run my shop and continue to hunt for clues to get this thing straightened out.”

“Don’t forget about the decorating meeting tonight at the barn.” Ginger reminded me.

I grabbed the floss out of Dr. Russell’s bag and pulled a long piece out, cutting it on the silver tab. Carefully I ran the floss in my back teeth to get the pretzel bits from between them.

“I’ll be there.” I wasn’t sure why I was going to go there, but I would keep the commitment. “What are we going to do about Charlie?”

I looked at each of them.

“What are you going to do about her?” Agnes Pearl lowered her glasses down on the edge of her nose. Her beady eyes peered over them.

All of our heads turned toward Reba who was waking up.

“Reba!” I rushed over forgetting all about her. “I love these. Great choice.”

Marlene rushed over as I continued with our little plotted plan to throw off tipsy Reba who definitely couldn’t control her alcohol and shoved the pieces she had made in Reba’s face.

Reba was a little disoriented, but smiled when she saw “her” ideas come to life.

“I did pick out some nice beads, didn’t I?” She wanted confirmation.

“Beautiful.” Cheri confirmed and walked over taking a closer look at the earrings that did turn out very nice. “You are going to look stunning.”

“Thank you.” Reba still had a confused look on her face, but she bucked up and did her best to cover it up.

“We have our next appointment scheduled.” I gestured to help her up. Marlene put the earrings in Reba’s bride box and whisked it off to the back. “I’ll see you then.”

Still dazed, Reba smiled and nodded, quietly walking out of The Beaded Dragonfly. I locked the door behind her and flipped the sign.

“I think we all need to go around town and dig a little more. Think,” I encouraged them. “Ask people. People in Swanee love to gossip. We have to help Bernadine.”

I glanced at the phone hanging on the wall hoping it would ring and that Flora would be on the other line. It didn’t. We sat in silence for a few minutes.

Finally, Agnes Pearl stood up and broke the tension.

“Well, I don’t think Bernadine did it. And it’s just like an ex-ass to get the last laugh.” She adjusted her turban and waddled out of the shop.

“We’ll see who gets the last laugh,” I muttered under my breath when all the Divas had left. “Charlie thinks she’s fooled us all, even her sister. She better think again.”

Chapter Twenty

I ran home to check on Willow to make sure she was okay and took her for a quick walk around the lake. The pretzels and chocolate were loaded with fat and it was the last thing I needed to eat. I had spent a good part of the afternoon trying to get the damn things out of my teeth with no luck. Dr. Russell’s floss was the kind that didn’t have wax. And I liked the wax. Slipped in and out easy. No fuss. No blood.

There hadn’t been any time to do laundry so I put the jeans back on that I had walked in with Bernadine and had worn the day before. They were already dirty and if I was going to be decorating a barn, there was no need to put on good clothes.

On the way to the meeting, I reached over to my console of my Beetle and got out the floss Bernadine had given me from Henry’s new office.

“Ha! Wax.” I read the label and happily tore off a large piece.

Just like I knew it would, the floss glided between my teeth, grabbing all those pretzels pieces Dr. Russell’s floss couldn’t. I made a mental note to tell Patsy at our bead meeting tomorrow about how she needed to get wax floss instead of the non-wax. I put the floss in my jean pocket just in case I needed it later.

The gazebo was in the open courtyard right behind the courthouse. The twinkle lights were already positioned around the top of the century-old wooden structure, through the lattice, and around the pillars. The performance stage will feature Swanee’s finest talents, including cloggers and local musical acts. The folding chairs and picnic tables dotted the courthouse lawn.

The old barn was directly behind the gazebo. It looked like a few men were in there building the dance floor.

“Holly!” Ginger waved her arms in the air.

She was in the front row. Her hair was pulled up into a loose ponytail. She wore a long flowing dress and jeweled sandals to match. She looked like she was still on the vacation she just got home from.

“I didn’t mean to sit right up front.” I sat next to her in one of the empty seats. “No one wants to sit up front.” I hung my bag on the back of the fold up chair. “Shit,” I whispered when I saw Sean and Charlie walking down the middle aisle.

I slumped down in my chair and ran my fingers through my hair.

“Holly.” Sean acknowledged me when he took the seat next to me and Charlie took the seat next to him.

“Sean.” I planted a fake grin on my face. Briefly, I glanced over at Charlie. Killer. “Charlie.”

One of the committee chairmen brought the meeting to order before Charlie could even speak which was fine with me.

I had no idea what the chairman and Bobbi were talking about and really didn’t care since I was there for one reason only. I looked around to see if I could find Dr. Russell and I continued to keep my eye on Charlie.

“Are you okay?” Ginger tapped my leg. The crickets chirped in the background helping disguise our whispers.

“I’m fine.” I swallowed hard and shook the notion that Dr. Russell and Charlie had somehow made some elaborate scheme to kill Henry.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a man that looked a lot like Dr. Russell stand up and walk toward the back. Out of the other corner of my eye, Charlie put her long fingers on Sean’s thigh and whispered something in his ear before she got up and walked toward the back.

I waited a second, trying to gather my thoughts before I whispered in Ginger’s ear, “I need to pee.”

“Now?” she asked.

I didn’t bother answering in fear I would miss out on where Charlie and Dr. Russell had gone. All the seats were filled and there was standing room only on the courtyard ground. I walked on my tiptoes to see if I could see over everyone’s head, but since I was vertically challenged—short—I picked up the pace. When I got to the back of the group, I looked left and right but didn’t see Charlie or Dr. Russell.