2 A Dyed Blonde and a Dead Body (3 page)

“Wait a minute,” she murmured to herself. “That couldn't have belonged to Lydia, she only wore gold,” her eyes widened as she realized this.  She tried to sleep, but her mind was buzzing with the possibilities of just what might have really happened to Lydia.

***

The town awoke to the shock of the news of Lydia's apparent suicide. It was all anyone was thinking or talking about. Bekki cringed as she overheard some people talking about the horrible nature of suicide as she walked past them on the sidewalk toward the salon. She wanted to turn around and insist that this might not have been suicide after all, but she knew that would only alert people to her suspicions. So far all she had to base them on was
a hunch. When she arrived at the salon she was surprised to find Sammy there.

"Happy birthday," Bekki said with a sad smile as she hugged her friend.

"I've postponed my birthday," Sammy said firmly. "Once everyone has a chance to say goodbye, we'll have dinner or something. It's just too sad to be happy about anything right now."

"I can understand that," Bekki nodded as she glanced through the front window of the salon at the people who had gathered outside of the bakery, some out of curiosity, some out of grief. "But you're still not going to work on your birthday. Home with you young lady," she demanded.

"I thought after last night that you might need the day off," Sammy explained with a light frown. "That must have been such a tragic thing to see."

"It was," Bekki agreed, her eyes growing distant as she recalled the scene. "But I'd rather be here, than at home obsessing about it. Working will take my mind off things,” she managed a stern smile.

"All right," Sammy said reluctantly. "If you're sure?” she questioned one last time.

"I'm positive," Bekki insisted and hugged her friend again. "And even if it is a sad day, I am still going to wish you happy birthday."

"Thank you," Sammy smiled into her shoulder and gave her a squeeze. "Call me if you need anything, okay?" She met her eyes to be sure that she would.

"I will," Bekki promised as she sat down behind the receptionist desk. After Sammy left she spent most of her morning fielding calls from clients who were canceling their appointments. The town had come to a standstill as people tried to figure out how someone as cheerful and loving as Lydia had chosen to hang herself. Once the flurry of calls died down and Bekki was preparing to make a list of her suspicions, the door to the salon swung open. She glanced up and was surprised to find a woman about her age who was dressed in the finest and latest fashion. Bekki stood up from her chair as the woman walked further into the salon. Her delicate nose scrunched up at the sight of the simple place, and she cleared her throat.

"Well, I guess this will have to do," she mumbled to herself. Her glossy blonde hair was pulled back into a tight bun, and her eyes were hidden by a pair of dark sunglasses. She looked as if she belonged in a high end salon, certainly not Bekki's.

"Can I help you with something?" Bekki asked with a friendly smile.

"I just need a touch up on my roots, and maybe a bit of a style," the woman smiled in return, but there was more loftiness than friendliness in the expression. "Do you think you could do that?"

"I'm sure I can," Bekki replied, gritting her teeth. She never liked the prissy attitude of some of the wealthier women she had met in the city. This woman had plenty of attitude.

"Have a seat, and I'll be right with you," Bekki gestured to one of the open chairs. The woman walked over to it, her nose still scrunched. She pulled a tissue out of her pocket and wiped off the seat of the chair before sitting down. Then she tossed the tissue in a nearby waste basket. Bekki grabbed a new customer form and walked up beside her.

"Are you visiting?" she asked as she jotted down the woman's requests.

"Yes, just for a day or so," the woman explained.

"My name is Bekki, welcome to Harroway," she managed to retain her friendly tone. She was not going to tarnish the town's good reputation over one woman's disrespectful behavior.

"I'm Julie," the woman replied sounding a little impatient. "Will this take long? I was hoping to get some lunch and do a little shopping this afternoon."

"Shopping? Here?" Bekki asked with surprise as she eased the woman's sunglasses off to reveal her pale green eyes. She walked behind her and began releasing the pins that held up her bun. "Don't worry it won't take long."

"Yes, there's a fabulous antique store I have been dying to visit," she exclaimed as if it was the most delightful excursion she could imagine. Bekki nodded in quiet agreement but she could not think of what antique store she might be talking about. As the woman's hair tumbled down to the base of her neck, Bekki reached forward and swept it back away from her ears. As she did her finger caught lightly on one of the woman's simple stud earrings. She noticed that the earring was silver, but the backing on it was a very different style. She glanced at the woman's other ear and found that the back of it matched its earring perfectly.

“Calm down,” she told herself. Plenty of people lose those little backs to earrings, and replace them with others. But her mind was reeling at the sight. What were the chances of it being a coincidence? The woman prattled on about her shopping intentions.

"I am looking for small town memorabilia as I want to do a bit of a diner themed kitchen, you know, just for fun," she laughed. Her laughter was not real. It was the light and airy kind that Bekki always imagined women like her practiced in front of the mirror before they left the house each day.

"Well, you've come to the right place for that," Bekki said as pleasantly as she could. As she took the woman through the stages of touching up her roots, she tried to ask questions to put her mind at ease.

"Do you have a friend or family member who told you about Harroway?" she asked casually.

"No, I just happened upon it, lucky me," Julie replied with a sly smile.

"Do you live far from here?" Bekki inquired, her words nothing more than the friendly banter of a hair stylist.

"I'm from Chicago, actually," Julie answered proudly. "But I'm a bit of a wanderer."

The name of the city burned into Bekki's mind. It was the same city that Lydia was from. Sure, there were plenty of people in Chicago, but what were the chances of two of them ending up in Harroway?

“I've heard Chicago is an amazing city,” Bekki smiled. “I'll let this set for a few minutes. Would you like some tea, some water?” she suggested.

“No I'm fine thank you,” Julie replied and settled back in her chair. Bekki's mind was filled with pieces of information that did not fit together. She could not comprehend what Lydia and Julie would have to do with each other, and yet she couldn't shake the certainty that there was a connection. When she returned to style Julie's hair she decided to ask a few bolder questions.

“Did you just get into town today?” she asked. Maybe, if Julie had been there the day before, she had visited the bakery, and that would explain how her earring back might have ended up on the floor.

“Just this morning,” Julie nodded and watched Bekki like a hawk as she arranged and styled her hair.

“Will you be staying long?” Bekki wondered as she gave the woman's hair a final fluff.

“Well, with such an amazing stylist as yourself, I might have to,” Julie cooed as she smiled at herself in the mirror. Bekki tried not to let the compliment make her like the woman more but she couldn't help it. It meant a lot coming from someone as refined and obviously well off as her.

“Thank you,” Bekki said genuinely. “I'm glad you like it.”

“Now I can shop in style,” the woman sighed with relief and followed Bekki over to the front desk. She handed her a card to pay with. Bekki held the card in her hand long enough to get a clear view of the woman's full name, then she ran it through.

“Well, I hope you enjoy your time here,” Bekki said as she plastered on her brightest smile. “Everyone is very close here.”

“Good to know,” the woman said with an arched brow and then headed for the door. As soon as she was gone, Bekki grabbed a notepad and scribbled down her full name, Julie Ann Brentwood

“Julie Ann…,” she said aloud.

“Who's that?” Nick asked as he entered the salon.

“How do you always do that?” Bekki demanded with exasperation.

“Do what?” he frowned as he walked up to the desk.

“You sneak in places, you're like a ninja,” she huffed and quickly tucked away the notepad.

He quirked a brow and leaned across the desk, meeting her eyes boldly. “I am a ninja,” he stated flatly. “There you know my deepest, darkest secret.”

Bekki couldn't help but smile a little. She was still annoyed with him over the night before, but there was something about Nick that never allowed her to stay angry with him for long.

“All right then Ninja Nick, what brings you here? Need that ego trimmed a bit?” her lips curved into a cheeky smile.

“Excuse me?” he blinked at her words and his mouth dropped open slightly. “My ego?”

“Oh yes grand detective,” she bowed her head playfully and looked back up at him.

“I am a police detective,” he pointed out, tapping the top of the desk lightly. “I actually have training, and experience, and…”

“A shiny little badge,” she smirked and batted her eyes sweetly.

“You're pushing it you know,” he heaved a sigh, but she could see the sparkle of amusement in his eyes.

“Okay, fine, you're the detective,” she waved her hand in his direction. “But that means I get to be the ninja, you can't be both, and I'm the one with the black belt.”

“Well, you can wear it when I take you out to dinner tonight,” he shrugged. “I thought since we're postponing Sammy's birthday party, we could actually have dinner instead.”

“Don't you have anything you need to do about Lydia?” she asked nervously.

“Bekki,” he frowned, his playfulness abandoned. “There's nothing to investigate. We've notified her family.”

“Her family?” Bekki asked with surprise. She had never really thought about Lydia having much family.

“You see,” he said with an air of authority. “You don't know everything about Lydia. She has a past, just like the rest of us, and it probably wasn't very pleasant.”

Bekki wanted to argue the point but he was right. She didn't actually know that much about Lydia. “So dinner?” he prompted her.

“Sure,” she nodded, feeling a little distracted.

“Meet me at Santini's around six?” he suggested. “I have some paperwork I have to file.”

“I'll be there,” Bekki assured him, her mind still on Lydia.

“So what was that name you were saying when I walked in?” he asked just as he was about to turn away.

“Oh, it's nothing,” Bekki said swiftly. He narrowed his eyes slightly, as if she had given something away.

“Dinner,” he reminded her and then leaned forward to kiss her gently on the cheek. Bekki savored the kiss and sighed as he pulled away.

“We could always just look at the stars instead,” she smiled.

“Uh uh, proper date, remember?” He winked and walked out of the salon.

***

Bekki watched through the front window of the salon until she was certain that Nick was gone. Then she turned to the computer and opened up the internet. She did a web search for Julie Ann Brentwood. She didn't expect too much to come up, but right away the results flooded onto the screen. There were pictures of Julie in all kinds of fine gowns at some very exclusive events. She was nearly always on the arm of a man, Dan Brentwood. Until recently Dan had been a billionaire bachelor. He was on all kinds of top twenty hottest lists. Not only was he very handsome, but he seemed to be involved in quite a few charities. He had made his riches himself, running his own business. A few months back he had made a big splash in the media by marrying Julie Ann. Julie seemed to enjoy his money and his connections. She was always offering a smile to the cameras and keeping a possessive hand on Dan's arm.

Bekki sat back in her chair as she studied the screen. None of this made anything clearer to her
.
Julie was apparently a very well off and practically famous person. But the pictures offered no explanation of what she might be doing in Harroway or what her connection with Lydia might be. Bekki did a few more searches on Julie but she could not find any information about her before she was with Dan. She couldn't even find the woman's maiden name, as if all evidence of it had been wiped away. With a sigh she closed the website and wondered if she had hit a dead end. How could she find out more information about Julie?

She began to wonder just what shops she might be hitting during the afternoon. If she was staying in town, then there were a couple of little boutiques she could be visiting. If she was staying in town.

"That's it!" Bekki snapped her fingers and smiled as she seized on an idea. All she had to do was figure out where Julie was staying, then she could have a look inside her room. Of course it seemed much more simple in her mind than it actually would be, but that did not stop her. Bekki looked around the salon and found a scarf that someone had left behind
.
It looked elegant enough to belong to someone like Julie. She flipped the sign on the salon door to read “Closed” and locked the door behind her. As she headed down the sidewalk that wound through the majority of the town square, she kept turning over in her mind the clues that she had already found. She stopped in the first small boutique in a line of shops. When she stepped inside the owner was sorting through some necklaces. He glanced up and offered her a distracted smile.

“Bekki, what can I do for you?” he asked. It seemed just about everyone in town knew her name, although she didn't always remember their names.

"I'm looking for a woman who is visiting in town, her name is Julie," Bekki explained to the shop owner. "She left her scarf in the salon and I just want to figure out where she is staying so I can leave it for her."

"Oh yes, she was in here," the shop owner nodded with a grimace. "Tried on every pair of shoes in the place."