Black Beans & Vice (32 page)

"Absolutely!" Roslyn waved him into her office. "I'd definitely
recommend echinacea. It will decrease his symptoms and the
length of his cold. I also have some wonderful dissolvable vitamins
that include Ester-C and elderberry. They're a wonderful source of
vitamins. Would you care for a sample?"

"Yes, please." James followed her into the hall. "Do you mind if
I check out your stores? I've never really laid eyes on these types of
medicines and I'm pretty interested in how they're packaged."

Roslyn led him into the hall and pointed at the door James had
unsuccessfully tried to open earlier. "Some have to be kept cold, so
I've got a small fridge in that closet, but most of my products are
in here." She opened the supply room door and frowned. "Did I
leave this light on?"

James did his best not to fidget and to maintain a blank expression. "Wow, look at all of this stuff! I haven't heard of half of these
plants. These products are all natural?"

"Plants in their purest forms," Roslyn replied proudly.

"Were you always a holistic healer or did you start off learning
about traditional medicine first?" He asked even though he knew
Sullie and Lucy had spent the day running background checks
on everyone in the village. James was certain that not everything
made it onto a person's official profile and it wouldn't hurt to dig
a little deeper.

Roslyn pulled her long, graying braid over her shoulder and
twirled the end around her index finger. "Of course. In fact, I graduated from pharmacy school. It was there that I began to see that the major drug companies were really complicating plant qualities
in order to make cheaper products. I began to do some research on
my own and realized that the more concentrated the plant part is,
the more effective it is. For those giant pharmaceutical companies,
it all comes down to dollars and cents. For me, it was always about
the purest product, so I started practicing holistic medicine."

"That means you have twice the knowledge of most pharmacists. You know the traditional drugs and the natural ones. Look
out, Mr. Goodbee!" James referred to the town's senior pharmacist. "But there are hundreds of plants and I'd guess that most have
more than one use." He pointed at a box of thunder god vine tea.
"What does that one do, for example?"

The question was meant to distract Roslyn from focusing on
the lights. It worked. "Extracts from the thunder god vine root can
be used to treat inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis. A study is currently being conducted to see whether it can
be used on Lupus patients." She handed James a brown box covered with a print of green stalks from which dozens of tiny white
flowers burst. In the center of each delicate bloom was a canaryyellow center. "Like many herbs, this one can be harmful. In ancient China, farmers used it as an insecticide and it was believed to
be quite an effective murder weapon as well."

"Do not add thunder god vine to my spaghetti sauce. Got it!"
James joked. "Seriously though, this is fascinating. And I honestly think death by thunder god vine sounds more dignified than
death by defibrillator."

Roslyn leaned forward and replaced the tea box on the shelf.
Because her raised arm obscured her face, James was unable to witness her reaction. When she turned to him again, she looked
bewildered. "I'm not sure I understand."

"I don't think I was supposed to say anything about Ned
Woodman's case. That just slipped out." He put on his best expression of chagrin. "I'm not very good at keeping secrets. But neither
was Ned, I guess. The authorities believe he had a girlfriend and
that she's sitting pretty with all that money Ned stole from the
town."

Something flashed in Roslyn's eyes, but it happened so swiftly
that James wasn't certain he'd seen anything after all. He blinked
and Roslyn was now shaking her head, her face full of sympathy.
"His poor wife. It's bad enough that she's lost her husband, but
now to have to endure public humiliation too. I feel terrible for
her."

The words sounded genuine and James decided that he'd grilled
the friendly holistic healer enough. He purchased the products Roslyn had recommended, though he doubted he would ever use them.
He'd been lying about Eliot's cold and couldn't help but feel a slight
distrust of Roslyn's products. James didn't plan on giving anything
to his son that wasn't approved by the FDA.

When he stepped outside into the warm evening, he found
Bennett lounging on a nearby bench, engrossed in the latest edition of the World Almanac.

"Planning another jeopardy! appearance?" James quipped.

"Nope, but I'll never get tired of learnin' new facts." Bennett
folded down a page corner and closed the book. Seeing the look
of horror on his friend's face, he quickly folded the page flat again.
"Jeez, man! It's not like I killed somebody!" he protested, thumping on the fat paperback. "And neither did the yoga lady. That woman's one of those happy-all-the-time types. Not a mean word
to say about anybody. She was a stay-at-home mama until hubby
gave her the money to open her own studio. Says all her dreams
have come true. We can cross her off the list. What about the medicine woman?"

James shook his head. "Roslyn Rhodes doesn't seem like she
has anything to hide. Like your yoga lady, she's found her place in
life." He hesitated. "It's just that when I mentioned Ned's having a
girlfriend, I thought her eyes turned strange. But it happened so
quickly that I'm not sure I really saw anything."

"Go with your gut, man. She could be sneakin' that heart shocking machine out the back door as we speak."

Though Bennett was partially jesting, a wave of doubt assailed
James. "Can you stick around to see if she comes out of the office
looking worried or, like you said, carrying a large box? I've got to
meet with Harmony."

"Will do," his friend agreed. "Gillian's gonna be jibber-jabbin'
with the needle lady all evenin' long anyhow. Why do you think I
brought this book?"

Inside A Better State of Mind, Skye was humming as she watered the houseplants. She welcomed James with her customary
grace and warmth, and then apologized, saying that Harmony's
current appointment was running a little late and that he'd have
to wait a bit.

"No problem." James settled into the chair nearest her desk and
began to small talk with Skye about Lennon, her passion for running, and how had she ended up working for Harmony. They were
interrupted once by a customer looking to purchase a gift certificate for his wife.

"She wants to quit smoking. Let me tell you-after living with
that smell for eleven years, I'd do anything to help her stop!" he
exclaimed, passing Skye a credit card.

Once the satisfied customer had gone, James used the subject
of gift certificates as a segue for a discussion on birthday presents.
He told Skye about the mailbox shaped like a stack of books that
Scott and Francis had carved for him. He really wanted to find out
whether she'd received Fern's lovely photographs so he could let
his new employee know that another person had been delighted
with her work. "How about you? Do you have a birthday coming
up soon?"

Skye shook her head. "Mine was last month. Lennon got me a
fantastic pair of running shoes. They're so light I barely feel them
on my feet"

"Cool" James moved off to pour himself a glass of water, but
his mind was spinning. If the prints weren't for Skye, why did Lennon pretend they were?

He didn't have the opportunity to ponder the question any
further because Harmony and a pretty female client entered the
reception area. The hypnotherapist bid her previous client goodbye and then smiled at James. "Come on back," she said.

Before he could settle into the recliner, his phone chirped, signaling the receipt of a text message. James had never sent a text
message in his life and wasn't sure if he knew how to read an incoming message. Luckily, the words appeared on the screen as
soon as he opened the phone.

"This is from Lucy," he explained to Harmony. "I don't think
we should start the session as it's bound to be interrupted."

Harmony gazed at him quizzically. "Oh?"

"She and her fellow officers are on the way here. Apparently,
they've got a search warrant for every cottage in the Village."

"Does this have something to do with Mr. Woodman's death?"
Harmony asked, the picture of calm curiosity.

James nodded. "And possibly Tia Royale's as well." If he'd expected to provoke a dramatic reaction by bringing up the dead
woman's name, he was to remain disappointed. In fact, Harmony
never broke eye contact. She stared at him with a concerned, but
distinctly untroubled gaze.

"I'm afraid I don't understand," she confessed.

It was time to pull out all the stops. "Ned Woodman and Tia
Royale were probably killed by the same person. The investigating
deputies believe this individual may have some connection to the
Wellness Village." He paused. "I can't say anything else. All I know
is they're on the hunt for a very specific object."

Again, Harmony appeared unfazed by the knowledge that her
office was about to be invaded by members of the Shenandoah
County Sheriff's Department. Extending her hand, she indicated
James should follow her to the reception room. "We'll have to reschedule your appointment and I guess I should have Skye cancel
the rest of tonight's clients. This way, we can be available to assist
the deputies in whatever manner possible."

If that woman's hiding something, then she's a master of concealment, James thought. In truth, he was relieved that Harmony
seemed above suspicion.

Later, after a pair of brown Sheriff's Department cruisers had
disgorged six deputies bearing copies of the search warrant, Lucy
met with the rest of the supper club members to get their take on
the Wellness Village employees and business owners.

"The background checks were useless," she informed her
friends. "Some moving violations, a shoplifting charge that was
later dropped, and a few people who were late paying their taxes
here and there. That's it. Not a single red flag on our end."

The supper club members gave Lucy summaries of their casual
interrogations. After James shared his experience questioning Roslyn, Bennett added that no one had entered or exited her cottage
since he'd been watching her front door.

"Each house has a back door," Sullie pointed out, having just
returned from examining the perimeter of the complex. "It's
where the dumpsters are located and probably where they get their
deliveries." He looked at Lucy. "The trash has already been picked
up. The bins are totally empty. If there was any evidence in those
things, it's sittin' in a heap at the landfill now."

Lucy scowled. "Seems like Roslyn would be more likely to kill
someone with one of her thousand herbs than with a defibrillator, but we'll search her cottage first. I want to see what's behind
that locked door James mentioned. Thanks for doing your best to
flush out the perp, everyone. I'll let you know if we find anything
interesting."

She and Sullie hustled off. James noticed a sulky Deputy Donovan waiting for instructions and couldn't help but smile. The
combative redhead didn't dare start trading insults with Lucy
when Sullie was around. Donovan might look like a bulldog, but
Sullie still towered over his fellow officer and was a solid mass of
muscle. James cast an envious glance at the snug fit of Sullie's uniform shirt and then hastened out to the parking lot. He still had
one more errand to complete before heading home for dinner.

A half hour later, James left the local jewelry shop with a small
bag containing a pair of gold wedding bands nestled inside red
velvet boxes. As he waited for the clerk to shine the bands until
they twinkled, he strolled over to the coffee shop next door and
ordered an iced white chocolate mocha latte. Taking a sip, the jolt
of sugar covering his tongue and washing over his teeth shocked
him. It had been so long since he'd ordered such a sweet treat that
he was unprepared for how unbalanced it tasted. It was, amazingly, too sweet.

James knew that he should stop sipping the cold coffee drink
then and there, but he'd paid four dollars for the thing and couldn't
make himself throw it out. Slowly, as he became distracted examining and paying for the rings, he grew accustomed to the taste. By
the time he crossed the street and headed in the direction of the
public parking lot, the plastic cup was empty.

Irritated with himself, James chucked the cup into a nearby
garbage can from several feet away and was surprised when someone applauded his successful shot.

"He shoots and he scores! Would you like to coach our JV basketball team next year?" James turned to see Luis Chavez grinning
widely at him. "They didn't exactly have a winning record this past
season.

James reached out and shook the principal's hand. Lindy's
boyfriend was good-looking and charismatic with dark, intelligent
eyes and a ready smile. James hid the bag from the jewelry store
behind his back and fell into stride next to Luis. Together, the two
public servants headed toward the parking lot. "School's almost
out for the summer," James said as they walked. "Do you have any
big plans?"

"Besides shipping my mama back to Mexico?" Luis laughed
loudly. "Always. I'm a man filled with big plans." And before James
could ask him to elaborate, Luis dug around in his pocket and
pulled out a handful of tickets. "I was going to drop these by the
library, but now that I've bumped into you there's no need. These
are tickets for our musical this Friday night. I'm asking you, as a
special favor, to come to our play with your family, staff, and all of
Lindy's supper club friends. Can you do that for me?"

His curiosity piqued to its highest level, James accepted the
tickets. "Is this some kind of special performance?"

"Absolutely!" Luis clapped James heartily on the back. "It's at
my school, after all! And, it's Shakespeare. A musical version of
Much Ado About Nothing. I promise that it will be the most memorable dramatic performance this town has ever seen."