Corpse in the Crystal Ball (22 page)

“A friend.”

“That’s nice. I’m Sunny Meadows, by the way. And you are?”

“Roz Sanderson,” she spit out as she struggled to lift the bar one last time.

“Whooo?” I screeched and lost my grip. The bar dropped to her chest.

“Oooph!” She squirmed beneath the bar. “Get this thing off me. Are you crazy?”

“I-I-I can’t lift it.” I huffed and puffed to no avail.

Mitch came running over and grabbed the bar, pulling it off her easily with one hand. “Sunny, what do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m so sorry,” I said. “Guess I’m not very good with weights.”

“No kidding,” she said. She reluctantly thanked Mitch, then said to me, “Find another hobby like sprinkling pixie dust before you seriously hurt someone.” Mitch tried to stifle a chuckle, and Roz took off.

I glared at him.

“Sunny, I—”

“She’s right. I’d better go before someone gets hurt. Preferably not me,” I muttered. “Be a pal and give Jo a ride home for me, will ya? Thanks.” I hurried after Roz before Mitch could say anything, leaving him staring at me and scratching his head.

I slipped into my bug and ducked down as I watched Roz zip by me in what had to be a rental car from Big Don’s. I carefully followed, trying not to lose her or be seen. She took the back roads, skirting any public paths. After circling the block a couple times, she finally pulled into the Divinity Hotel.

I pulled in behind her and waited for ten minutes then finally went in after her. The lobby was empty, so I approached the front desk. Johnny Burrows was working.

“Hi, Johnny.”

He blinked. “Miss Meadows.” He nodded, then scanned my workout clothes. “Can I help you with something?” He looked around nervously. “Am I in trouble?”

“No, no. This has nothing to do with you. I’ve got your back.” I winked. “And I was sort of hoping you would have mine.”

“How so?”

“Do you have someone by the name of Roz Sanderson staying here by chance?”

“Well, I’m not really supposed to give out that information. But seeing as how you have my back and all, and my boss isn’t here, I’m sure I can make an exception this one time. She’s staying in room fifty-six B.”

“And when exactly did she check in?”

He scanned the ledger and read off the date, which just happened to be the morning of Isabel’s murder.

“Thank you, Johnny. You’re a doll. I, um, just need to use your bathroom.” I headed down a hall, bypassed the bathroom, and continued toward room 56B.

After waiting a good ten minutes and not hearing a peep, I gave up. I was almost back to the main desk when I heard a door behind me fling open. Roz stormed out of her room and looked down the hall like she was waiting for someone, so I jumped into an alcove with an ice maker and vending machines. She’d been in her room the whole time? I wonder if she knew I had been out there.

I peeked around the corner and saw her still standing there, waiting and checking her watch. Finally, some man came down the hall and followed her into her room. I couldn’t see his face, though. I jogged back to her door and listened.

“It’s not my fault, so quit blaming me,” he said in an angry, muffled voice.

“Yeah, well, it’s not my fault, either. You didn’t do your job, and now we’re both paying the price.”

“And you were supposed to lay low. Yet you were at dinner at that Papas place that night. I’m not taking the rap for this alone, I’ll tell you that much.”

“Just do what I tell you this time. I’ll take care of the rest. And don’t screw up again or else. You keep your eye on her. I want to know every move she makes.”

I heard footsteps so I ran back to the ice machine.

The guy left her room and slammed the door, exiting the hall before I could get a good look at him. Meanwhile, Roz hurriedly left her room as well and took off down the hall and around another corner. I was shocked.

Who was that guy? Roz knew someone in town and was obviously working with them. But who? And for what? My hunch still said she knew about the money and had come here to find it. But whom had she told, and why were they helping her? For their own cut of the share?

I quickly made my escape back to my car but not before I saw Chuck Webb standing outside smoking a cigarette. Johnny had said he wasn’t working that day. Had it been him secretly visiting Roz? He might have an alibi for the murder, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t helping Roz.

After all, room 56B had been Isabel’s room, too.

Roz might have checked in that morning, but she changed rooms and moved into Isabel’s the very next day. Why? Had she come to town to find Isabel and ask her for a cut of the money or threaten to turn her in? Had Isabel said no, so Roz got help and killed her? Then she changed rooms to look
for clues as to where Isabel might have stashed it? And who was the person Roz wanted this guy to keep an eye on?

The same feeling I’d had the other night when someone had been watching me skittered up my spine once more. Chuck’s face lit up in the orange glow of his cigarette, and his eyes were locked on mine.

What if the woman was me?

I didn’t go straight home from the hotel, and I called Fuller to tell him I had a headache and that I would catch up with him later. I needed some time to think, so I went where I always went to think.

The park.

It was a beautiful spring day. Bright sunshine, crisp air, and lots of color blooming all around me. A brisk walk would do me good. Clear my head and get in some much needed exercise, since the gym obviously wasn’t working for me.

I felt safe enough. It was daytime, and there were plenty of people milling about. No one would be foolish enough to hurt me here. Still, the walking paths stretched for miles, starting at the park and heading deep into the woods all the way to where Isabel had died and beyond.

The swans squawked in the pond as I drew near. I laughed, remembering Granny Gert cooing to them after
nearly ruining their home. “No worries, you two. Your home is safe with me.”

I kept walking, trying to think about what we were missing. I had to find the real killer and soon. Mayor Cromwell was getting antsy, and Chief Spencer wanted answers ASAP, preferably without Mitch being implicated. He didn’t think I was up to the job. Mitch didn’t think I was up to the job, either. Only the mayor and Captain Walker had faith in me. The mayor wanted Mitch to go down while the captain knew I’d do everything in my power to see that Mitch’s name was cleared and his job was restored.

There was so much pressure. Not to mention my clients were getting frustrated at having their readings put off. Could Selena possibly have killed her sister? My gut said no, but now she didn’t have an alibi. I’d love to get her back in my office to do a reading for her, but I doubted Mitch would approve even if Selena agreed. Fuller knew everything that I did and was champing at the bit to dig deeper. Even if I’d wanted to protect her, I didn’t have the power to do so. He’d never let me.

So I had to focus on my other suspects: Ted Baxter and Roz Sanderson. Roz had an alibi. I’d talked to Fuller, and he confirmed she’d eaten at Papas during the time of the murder. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t involved somehow. I was positive she knew about the money, no matter what she said.

Fuller had managed to talk to her before I’d seen her at the gym. He said she claimed she was Isabel’s friend. That Izzy had raved so much about Divinity and had told her she planned to go there, so Roz had decided to look her up when she got out. She claimed not to know a thing about the
money. And now that Isabel was gone, she had decided Divinity was as good a place as any to make a fresh start. So she’d stayed. That was all.

She was lying. Selena had told me Isabel had never been to Divinity. She’d simply found out where Mitch had gone and then followed him after she got out of jail.

I still suspected Roz and Chuck Webb were in cahoots somehow. It was too coincidental that he had switched her to Isabel’s room the day after the murder. Not to mention she had met with a man, and there was Chuck on his day off, standing outside looking guilty of something. Guilty and menacing. Who were they keeping their eye on now? Selena, in case she knew where the money was? Or me, in case I had found out? Either way the look in Chuck’s eye had been pure evil.

I shivered and scanned the area around me. Kids skipped rocks across the pond. Families picnicked. Dog walkers strolled along the paths beside bikers and joggers. Nothing out of the ordinary, yet I kept feeling like someone was following me. I pushed aside my concern and tried to focus once more.

Then there was Ted. I didn’t know what his deal was. He had no alibi and, for someone who claimed to be in mourning, he was having the time of his life with the ladies in town. He’d certainly been burned by Isabel. That alone could have made him want to kill her. But he also wanted her money. He was a gold digger for sure. Even if he hadn’t known about the embezzled money, he had thought she’d had a trust fund. I didn’t trust him one bit.

I rounded the last part of the pond and headed back out of the park toward my car, when I stopped in my tracks. Speak of the devil. Ted sat on a bench with his arm around
some woman, whispering in her ear. Was he seeking comfort for his aching heart, or trying to find a new sugar mama to foot his gigolo bills?

I drew a little closer to see if I could hear what they were saying, when the woman tilted her head back and giggled. I sucked in a breath, and the couple jerked their heads up and stared at me. Ted’s face grew rigid and angry, while the woman beside him narrowed her eyes in the most evil, menacing expression I had ever seen.

The woman was Abigail Brook.

Thursday morning I had come to the conclusion I was losing my mind. I had to be. First Roz and Chuck. Now Ted and Abigail.
What in the world was going on around here?
I thought as I grabbed my purse and headed out the door of my house to meet Fuller, who had just pulled up in my driveway.

The locals were mingling with outsiders, and my suspects knew each other? Were they all working together or was this whole thing one big coincidence? I mean, let’s face it, Divinity was a small town. Everyone was bound to meet everyone else at some point or other.

But still …

Crime of passion, crime of greed, crime of I-didn’t-know-what anymore. Yup, it had to be true. I was so desperate to solve this case I had officially gone insane.

Abigail didn’t have money, so why would Ted be into her? What was the connection? Hatred of me? Maybe they were both following me. Ugh. Even
I
could admit my paranoia was getting out of hand.

“Glad you’re feeling better today,” Fuller said to me from the driver’s side of his car.

“Thanks. My headache’s gone,” I responded. Paranoia still firmly in place, but headache definitely gone.

“That’s good. My wife gets migraine headaches. They’re not pretty. She has to have no light and noise around her. When it’s all peaceful-like, she gets better.”

“Peaceful would be good.” I sighed, then frowned. “Hey, why are we pulling into Gretta’s Mini-Mart?”

“To keep things peaceful-like.” He winked and cut the engine. “The wife asked me to pick up dinner rolls. I’m smart enough not to say no.”

“Ahhh.” I laughed and followed him inside.

Fuller headed straight for the bread aisle, while I made a beeline for the back office. I knocked on the door twice, and it opened instantly.

“Sunny Meadows, it’s so good to see you.” Gretta pulled me into a big bear hug. “How’ve you been?”

“I’ve been better,” I admitted.

“Come on in and sit a spell. Tell me all about it.” She held the door open and gestured for me to follow her inside.

I did as she commanded and admitted I felt better already.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing really.”

“Don’t give me that nonsense, young lady. It’s because of you I’m a free woman. Let me return the favor. What has you so tied up in knots?”

“Nothing …everything …I don’t know.”

She walked over without a word and locked her office door.

I blinked.

She went to a secret drawer and pulled a hidden key from her cleavage. After wagging her brows, she unlocked the drawer and pulled out all kinds of comfort food along with a bottle of Jack Daniel’s.

My eyes bugged.

“I know what you’re thinking. I look this way because I’ve had some work done, right? Or have some kind of eating disorder?”

My face flushed red, but I didn’t say a word.

“Wrong,” she stated proudly, then proceeded to pop a Ho Ho into her mouth and lick her lips in heaven. “Ninety percent of the time, I literally work my butt off by eating right and exercising. The other ten percent I allow myself to indulge in whatever I want. Life can be lonely and scary and downright painful. Pleasure can be pure ecstasy and put a Band-Aid on all that. I know indulging is not a permanent fix, but it sure can be a temporary cure.” She tossed back a shot of good ole Jack.

“But—”

“No buts. The trouble with your generation is you think too much. Don’t think for once and just go with it. Then work twice as hard the next day. Life is too short not to live fully or, worse, to live with regrets.”