2 A Dyed Blonde and a Dead Body (2 page)

***

As soon as Bekki stepped into the salon she was met with Sammy's scathing glare.

"Where have you been?" Sammy demanded to know. She was obviously frazzled, and Bekki could see why. There were several women in the waiting room. It wasn't usually a busy day but apparently there was a new bachelor in town and several of the women were vying for his attention.

"I'm sorry, I just needed to run an errand," Bekki frowned as her friend scowled in her direction. The salon was a place that Bekki had grown up in. She had spent many afternoons playing at the reception desk or sweeping up hair, while her mother, who was the owner of the salon, took care of customers. As a result, in many ways the whole town had been part of Bekki's childhood. There were very few townspeople that she didn't know.

"I'll take whoever is next," Bekki announced, hoping to make up for dropping the ball. As she ushered a woman to one of the open chairs, she overheard a couple of the other women gossiping.

"Oh yes, I was over there last week," Ethel nodded with a smirk. "Very hoity toity with her fancy cupcakes."

"Not at all," Sue insisted across from them. "She's a lovely woman, and her baked goods are delicious. I mean, have you had her cookies?"

"Well yes," Ethel admitted and licked her lips lightly. "They were quite tasty. But who needs all that fancy decoration?"

"Young people," Sue replied sternly. "Right, Bekki? You kids just can't have a cookie without a little design on it now, right?"

Bekki laughed out loud at being called a kid and shook her head as she combed through the fine blonde hair of the woman in her chair.

"Well, it never hurts to make things look pretty ladies, now does it?" she told them with a sweet smile and they all laughed.

"That's true, we could all use a little decoration," Ethel laughed loudly and soon the entire salon was buzzing with a jovial energy. After a few customers, the salon began to empty out a bit.

"Sammy, do you need a break?" Bekki offered as she glanced over at her friend.

"Oh no it's all right, I'm off tomorrow," she shrugged casually but from the way she said tomorrow it was obvious that she expected Bekki to know why. Bekki had not made any mention of her birthday, as if she had forgotten completely.

"Oh that's true," Bekki nodded a little. "I'll miss you," she sighed dramatically.

"Sure," Sammy laughed and shook her head. "Oh Ethel, did you hear about Morris' first act as a rookie officer last night?" she smirked and her eyes took on a devilish gleam.

"Sammy!" Bekki groaned.

"Oh yes I heard all about it," Ethel laughed loudly as Bekki rinsed the soap from her hair. "Something about a couple of lovers curled up in the starlight, he scared the passion right out of them."

Bekki blushed deeply and glared in Sammy's direction.

"Oh so you didn't hear who it was?" Sammy teased.

"Well no, do you know?" Ethel asked intrigued.

"I heard about it," Sue sang out from the waiting area. She would often stick around even after her hair was done just to spend time with her friends. "Now don't you blush Bekki, you weren't doing anything wrong. That rascal Nick should know the law, after all."

"Is that so?" Nick asked as he stepped into the salon and flashed Sue a disarming grin. "Well, I'll have you know, I was off duty."

"Hmph," Ethel called out as she moved under one of the dryers. "You might be off duty, but there's still a curfew in this town!"

"For the teenagers," Bekki reminded Ethel.

"Well," Ethel smirked in a sassy way.  "If you two are going to go about behaving like teenagers, then you should obey the curfew too."

Nick laughed out loud and shook his head as Bekki rolled her eyes to the ceiling. It was easy to think of herself as a teenager again when she was surrounded by the women who had watched her grow up.

"Hi Nick," she said sweetly, to change the subject. "Is this an official visit?"

"No, no," Nick shook his head slightly and met Bekki's gaze over the top of her customer's head. He was still regretting their night getting cut short. "I'm here to invite you to dinner."

"How delightful," Bekki replied with a smile as if she had not texted him a few minutes before and asked him to do just that. "Well, I'd be honored. When?"

"Tomorrow night," Nick said swiftly. "If you're available."

Sammy dropped her scissors on the counter of her station. Bekki ignored the clatter and pretended to be thinking about it.

"Yes I do believe I'm free. Six sound okay?" she inquired.

"Perfect," he replied. He nodded his head to Sammy. "Good to see you Sammy."

"You too," Sammy replied dryly and did not even attempt to hide her look of contempt. She was not pleased that her best friend had just made plans on her birthday.

"All right then, I'll see you tomorrow night," Nick said as he glanced at his watch. "Better get back. I left Morris in charge of the cross walk."

"Oh dear, last time I had a bag of groceries he nearly picked me up and carried me," Sue giggled.

"He's very enthusiastic," Nick agreed and winked at Sue.

"Afternoon ladies," he nodded to them all as he stepped out of the salon.

"Oh isn't he delicious," Ethel sighed dreamily. Sammy pushed the dryer down over her head and flipped it on.

"Sure he's great," she muttered.

After Ethel was finished, Bekki could tell that Sammy was getting more irritated by the moment.

"You have the day off tomorrow, why not head home early?" Bekki suggested. She wanted to make sure that Sammy wasn't around when she picked up the cake. "I can close up."

"Perfect," Sammy sighed and gathered her things. She paused by the front door of the salon and glanced back at Bekki.

"So I guess I'll see you on Wednesday," she said with a shrug.

"Sure," Bekki nodded barely glancing up from the papers on her desk. "Night!"

"Night," Sammy frowned and stepped out of the salon. As Bekki looked up and watched her friend walk sullenly away, she wondered if she should let her in on the truth. But she didn't want to tip her off to the party she was planning.

Chapter Two

After closing up the shop for the night Bekki made sure the coast was clear. With no sign of Sammy anywhere she walked directly over to the bakery. The front blinds were down, and she knew the door would be locked. She walked around the side of the building towards the rear of the shop. When she reached the back door she found it unlocked as expected. She opened the door and stepped inside.

"Lydia?" she called out as the inside of the bakery was dark. She wondered if she might have gone home already and forgotten to lock up. She flipped the switch on and flooded the kitchen with light. There were still some ingredients sitting out that Bekki was sure Lydia would have put away before going home for the night. She began to feel a little uneasy as she walked toward the front of the shop.

"Lydia?" she called out again, hopefully. She froze as she stood behind the counter of the bakery. Before her was a silhouette. A figure was hanging from a noose tied to a rafter in the ceiling. "Lydia?" Bekki whispered in horror as she flipped on the light. Lydia's body was revealed instantly, dangling limply from the noose.

"No!" Bekki shouted and ran forward to grab the woman's legs. She nearly tripped over a chair that had been kicked over beneath the woman. "Lydia," she gasped out, clinging to the woman's legs and trying to push her upward just in case she might still be breathing. But she knew from her ice cold legs, she knew that Lydia was already dead. Bekki could not hold back her tears as she fumbled in her pocket for her phone and dialed the police. As soon as they were on the way she dialed Nick's personal cell.

"Nick," she sobbed into the phone. "Nick, get to the bakery fast."

Within minutes officers had arrived along with paramedics. Only then did Bekki let go of Lydia. The paramedics shook their heads sadly as there was no sign of life in the woman.

Bekki backed away from Lydia's body. Despite the fact that she was horrified by what had happened, Bekki's natural attention to detail had her focus in on a few things. On the floor not far from Lydia was what appeared to be a suicide note. It was written on a piece of dark blue paper, which seemed odd in itself. But its message was even stranger. It was a simple apology and goodbye. No real explanation for the action that Lydia had taken. It struck Bekki as odd that the note would be on the floor, not on a counter, or a table. If someone took the care to write a note, would they then toss it on the floor? She crouched down to take a closer look at it, and something else caught her eye.

"Don't touch it," Nick said sharply from the doorway of the bakery.

"I'm not," Bekki sniffled. She was looking past the note at the silver glint that had caught her eye. It was the back of an earring, easy to lose, impossible to find.

"Are you okay?" Nick asked breathlessly as he guided her up from the floor and pulled her into his arms.

"Nick, this can't be what it looks like," Bekki insisted quickly as the oddities of the situation began to add up in her mind. "There's no way Lydia killed herself. I just talked to her this afternoon, I just ordered Sammy's cake, I…"

"Shh," he murmured soothingly as he stroked his fingers down through her raven locks. "It's never easy when someone does something like this. We always think we know people, but we don't know everything."

"I'm telling you Nick," Bekki's voice grew a bit louder. "I just saw her, there is no way she was suicidal. And if she was, why would she have turned all the lights out? Why would she toss the note on the floor?" Bekki demanded.

Nick sighed as he studied her, attempting to be patient.

"You can't expect someone who is intent on taking their own life to act rationally, Bekki. This is pretty cut and dry. There’s a note, for God's sake. I mean do you really think someone hoisted her up there?" he said a bit more crassly than he intended. "You have to listen to the evidence that is in front of you," he reminded her. He knew that Bekki liked to play detective. Truth be told she was good at it. "I know that Lydia was your friend," he added in a gentler tone. "It never makes sense when someone we care about chooses to end their life. But this one you're just going to have to accept Bekki."

Bekki blushed as all of the other officers were looking in their direction. She felt as if Nick was trying to put her in her place in front of his colleagues.

"No, I don't have to just accept that someone who was laughing and smiling with me a few hours ago decided it was time to end it all," Bekki replied in a subtle growl.

“Listen, you should go,” he said sternly, his eyes growing darker with his frustration. “We're going to have to take her down, and I think it's best if you don't see that.”

“Well if you think it's best,” Bekki retorted, wondering why he didn't think it was best to listen to her suspicions. To her it was clear that something was not right. But Nick only nodded, holding her gaze with his own as he did. She pulled away from him and he sighed as he watched her storm off through the back door.

***

As Bekki made her way around the corner of the bakery she nearly collided with Sammy.

"Bekki, I heard the sirens, what's going on?" she asked with concern. “Did something happen?”

When Bekki stepped under a street lamp Sammy could see her cheeks were covered with tears.

"Oh no, are you okay?" Sammy gasped and pulled her into a gentle hug.

"It's Lydia," Bekki managed to get out. "It's Lydia."

"What's wrong? Did she get hurt?" Sammy frowned and pulled away from Bekki slightly to glance in the direction of the stretcher that the paramedics were wheeling slowly into the bakery. It was clear that they were not in a rush.

"She's dead," Bekki revealed and wiped furiously at her cheeks. "I stopped over to pick up your cake and…"

"Wait, what do you mean she's dead?" Sammy winced and tears began to fill her eyes. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Bekki sniffled and tried to calm herself down. "I walked in the back door, she left it open for me, so I could get the cake.” She held her breath for a moment before admitting, "They think it was suicide." She glowered in the direction of a few of the officers who stepped outside of the bakery.

"Was it?" Sammy asked in a hushed voice.

"I don't know," Bekki admitted and shook her head. "But it doesn't seem right. I was just there this afternoon, and she was fine. I ordered the cake…"

"The cake," Sammy interrupted. "You mean for my birthday?" Her eyes widening.

Bekki nodded, fresh tears gathering. "I wanted it to be a surprise, I'm sorry Sammy."

"No don't be sorry," Sammy hugged her. "It's just sad to think that one of the last things she was making was my cake. What if something about it made her sad enough to do this?"

Sammy's words made Bekki's heart slow down. She remembered Lydia's warm smile as she promised to leave the back door open for her. Her stomach lurched. What if she had arrived there just a little earlier? What if she hadn't waited so long to pick up the cake? Could she have saved Lydia?

"This is all just so horrible," Sammy sighed as she watched the stretcher get wheeled back out, this time with Lydia's body concealed in a dark bag.

"I just don't see how a person could go from being so happy, to wanting to die, in one afternoon," Bekki said quietly as her nerves finally began to settle. She caught sight of Nick as he paused in the doorway of the bakery. He was looking over something he had written in his notes. As eager as she had been to see him again, now the sight of him only infuriated her. Despite the fact that she was certain things were not as they seemed, he had not been willing to listen.

"We were going to have a party," Bekki heard herself saying before she even realized she was speaking, “for you."

Sammy squeezed Bekki's hand gently. "Don't worry about that Bekki, come on, let me take you home. You need to rest."

Bekki closed her eyes briefly, but all she saw was poor Lydia hanging from the rafter. After Sammy dropped her off at home Bekki lay on her bed with her eyes half open. The flickering shadows in her room kept reminding her of the things she had noticed at the bakery. The note on the floor, which held no personal information, and the back of a silver earring. This stuck in her mind for a long moment.