A Mold For Murder (17 page)

That certainly got his attention. “They’ve never heard of
The Fabulous Clipjoint
? How about
The Screaming
Mimis
?
What Mad Universe
? What kind of lame places have you been going to?”

“So, do you have something by him?” he asked hopefully.

“No mystery novels,” Rufus said, and the man sighed. Then he added, “But we’ve got a killer anthology. Hang on a second.” In a fast pace I’d never seen Rufus use before, he was back with a thick book titled,
From These Ashes
. “Okay, I’ve got a confession to make. Strictly speaking, these are science fiction stories, but it’s every SF short story he ever wrote. This dude was king of the short-short. Trust me. You’re gonna love it.”

After the customer was gone—his purchase clutched tightly to his chest—Diana came out of the back room. She looked furtively around the room, as if expecting to be mobbed.

“I thought I heard voices,” she said as she joined us up front.

Rufus laughed. “They say that’s the first step toward insanity. You’d better watch out—you’re catching it, Boss.”

“Don’t let him kid you,” I said. “He just made a sale, and from the look of it, it was a nice one.”

Rufus blew it off. “No big deal. At least the guy had some taste.” He gestured to the photographic array spread out on the counter. “I was just showing Ben the photos I took at the book signing.”

“Which one?” Diana asked as she leaned over the counter to look. “These are all of Where There’s Soap.”

Rufus said, “Okay, maybe I should have said the attempted signing. It’s tough to do one without an author. You know, it’s the soap thing.”

Diana looked a little embarrassed. “Sorry about that, Ben. I thought it would be a nice keepsake of your celebration.”

“I appreciate the thought,” I said. “Listen, we need to talk.”

Rufus said, “Woo, woo, woo. That can’t be good.”

“In private,” I added.

“Come on, Ben, we can chat in my office.”

“Spoilsport,” Rufus said. As I walked back with Diana, he asked, “Hey, do you want any of these shots?”

Why not? “Sure, I’ll take them. Thanks.”

“No problem,” he said, a phrase I hated. “I’ll have them ready for you when you leave.” And then he went back to studying the pictures in front of him.

As Diana and I walked back to her office, I said, “I can’t believe he doesn’t use a digital camera with all the pictures he takes.”

“You’d think so, wouldn’t you, but he says that digital images lack soul.”

I scratched my chin. “His processing bill must be more than he makes here.”

“Don’t worry about him. His girlfriend’s dad owns the camera shop, and he gets his prints for nearly nothing. That’s why I’m afraid I’m going to lose him.”

“He does seem to know his authors,” I said as we walked into her office. “I guess that counts for something.”

Diana sat behind her desk and asked, “So what’s so urgent, Ben?”

Now that it was time to have our conversation, I wasn’t in any mood to talk. “You know what? Let’s forget about it for now. It can wait,” I said.

“Ben, you can ask me anything. You know that. Go ahead, let’s get this over with.”

I bit my lip, then blurted out, “There’s a witness who saw you talking to Connie Brown the night before she was murdered.”

I kept waiting for Diana to deny it, but instead, there was only silence.

“Diana? Is it true?”

“Yes and no,” she said as she frowned down at her desktop.

“How can it be both?”

Diana blew out a puff of breath, then said, “It’s true that I talked to her at the bed-and-breakfast the night before the event, but I didn’t know who she was. She told me she needed to meet me in person before she would allow me to handle her signing. Believe me, I’ve had stranger requests from authors than that.”

“So what did she say once you got there?”

Diana considered it a moment, then said, “Nothing much, really. It kind of surprised me how quiet she was when I showed up.”

“I also heard you were arguing with her.”

“That’s a lie,” Diana snapped. “We barely spoke. Whoever your source is got it wrong. Is there anything else?”

“Nothing I can think of at the moment,” I said. “I’m sorry I brought it up. You just never told me you went over there, that’s all. It caught me off guard.”

“I don’t always tell you everything I do, Ben. Does that surprise you?”

There was a real bite to her words, and I couldn’t help myself. I fired right back. “It shouldn’t, should it? We don’t owe each other anything.”

That stung her, and maybe I’d wanted it to a little. She hadn’t been completely honest with me, and if there was one thing that was important in a relationship for me, it was trust.

Diana stood, and I could see the pain in her eyes. “Ben, I didn’t mean to keep it from you. It just didn’t seem all that important before the murder, and afterward I was afraid it made me look guilty. Do you forgive me?”

“There’s nothing to forgive,” I said. I was being too hard on her—I knew that—but I had no idea how to make it up to her. “Listen, I’ve got to go.”

“What’s the rush?” she asked.

“I’m meeting someone in half an hour, and I have to get ready.”

She looked at me intently, so I finally added, “Molly’s going to let me tag along on something about the murder, and if I’m late, she’ll go without me. I want to find the killer as fast as I can, for all our sakes.”

“That’s what I want, too,” she said.

I was at her office door when she added, “Call me later, okay? I don’t care how late it is.”

“I’ll try,” I said as I left her. I knew I should have hugged her and told her everything would be all right, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I was a stubborn and pigheaded man, but blast it all, she should have told me.

I nearly forgot about the photographs as I walked out, but Rufus wouldn’t let me. As he handed me a folder with them in it, he said, “Take it easy on her. She’s had a rough couple of days.”

“So have I,” I said.

“The last I heard, nobody’s accused you of murder.”

“Not recently, anyway,” I said. I knew he meant well. “Thanks for the photos.”

“My pleasure. I got some good shots of the shop, so if you ever want a print enlarged, I’m your man.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

I grabbed a quick sandwich back at my apartment, but I didn’t taste a single bite of it. I’d botched things up with Diana, and I was going to have to find a way to make things right again between us. For now, though, I had to meet Molly at the soap shop. I was hoping Barry Hill would be a little more cooperative with both of us there ganging up on him.

It was the best lead I had right now, and I was glad Molly was going with me.

She was twenty minutes late, and I was just about ready to go without her when Molly pulled up in her pickup truck. It was her off duty vehicle, and it took me a second to recognize her.

As she stopped in front of me, the passenger door swung open. “Get in.”

“You’re not in uniform,” I said.

“Are you coming or not?”

I slid in, shut the door, and fastened my seat belt as she took off. “So why the civilian clothes?” I asked. “Not that I mind you in blue jeans and a blouse.”

“I’m glad you approve,” she said. “I couldn’t exactly chauffer you around in a squad car dressed in my uniform. Why else did you think I wanted to wait before we went to see Hill?”

“We have to get one thing clear first,” I said as she drove. “It’s important that you know this isn’t a date. It’s strictly business, no matter how much you’d like it to be otherwise.” It was all I could do to keep a straight face as I said it.

She laughed, which was the reaction I’d been hoping for. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t confused by your invitation. Besides, I’ve already got a boyfriend.”

“So I’ve heard.”

She drove a little longer, then said, “Ben, I’m taking a real chance bringing you along with me tonight. Don’t make me regret it.”

“I’ll be good.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” she said, but added a smile to soften her words. “Let me do the talking once we get there, okay?”

“You might as well let me out right now then,” I said. “I’m not sure I can keep my mouth shut if I think of something you might be missing.” Before she could react to that, I added, “I’m not saying you will, but I won’t keep quiet if I think I can help.”

She nodded reluctantly. “Fine. Just let me lead off. Can you promise me that much?”

“That I can do.”

As we drove on toward the inn, I wrestled with the idea of telling Molly more of the details about Diana’s meeting with Connie the night before she died. A part of me felt like I owed my allegiance to my current girlfriend, not my former one. But what if Diana had lied to me about more than that? If she’d snapped and killed Connie Brown, did I really want her to go free? My sense of justice was too strong to accept that. I really had no choice. If she’d committed murder, I would do everything in my power to be sure she was properly punished for it, no matter how I felt about her.

I took a deep breath, then said, “There’s something I need to tell you.”

“I’m listening,” Molly said, never taking her eyes off the road.

“It’s about Diana. She admitted to me that she met with Connie Brown the night before the murder. Diana claims she didn’t know who Connie was, and I believe her.”

“I would expect nothing less from you. You always have been loyal to the people you care about.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Molly took so long to answer I was afraid she wasn’t going to. When she did speak, there was real sadness in her voice. “Ben, I know how you feel about her, but you should take a step back, at least until we get this resolved.”

“I can’t do that,” I protested. “If I drop her now, how on earth can I go back with her later when she’s exonerated?”

“If she ever is,” Molly said.

“I don’t want to hear that.”

“I know, but maybe you need to, anyway. My gut tells me she’s involved in this thing up to her eyebrows.”

“I don’t have to listen to that, either.”

We rode the rest of the way in silence. I knew Molly was trying to look out for me, but I didn’t have to like it.

Molly and I got to the Lakefront Inn, and there was a crowd there already for dinner, despite, or maybe because of how expensive the place was. I’d eaten there a few times myself in the past, and I envied the diners their experience. We parked in the guest lot and walked toward the guest rooms.

I glanced at Molly and said, “That’s a nice purse you’ve got there. It’s kind of big, isn’t it?”

She tapped the handbag. “That’s because it’s got to carry a lot of stuff. I’ve got my handgun, cuffs, some Mace, and a few other treats, just in case Mr. Hill decides to get a little rowdy.”

“Cool. Could I get purses like that for Christmas? I never can figure out what to get my sisters, and that sounds like the perfect accessory for a modern gal’s wardrobe.”

“Knowing your family, I’m not sure they need the extra help. Be quiet.”

She put a hand on my chest and in a second, I heard what had stopped her. A man was yelling fiercely at someone, and I recognized the voice. It was Barry Hill. But who was he shouting at?

Molly motioned me to be quiet as we rounded the corner, but I think we could have been shooting off fireworks for all the impact our arrival made.

Sharon, looking vulnerable and nervous under Barry Hill’s glare, was taking a verbal pounding.

“You think you’re smart, don’t you? Well you’re wrong. Don’t think you’re better than you really are.”

Molly stepped out of the shadows, and I was right behind her. “Is there a problem here?”

Barry nearly snapped his neck as he turned toward us, and Sharon took full opportunity of the diversion we were providing.

“I’m so glad you two are here,” she said as she hurried over to us.

“I asked you a question,” Molly said as she stared at Barry.

“It’s not what it looks like. We were just talking.”

Molly said slowly, “It sounded like it was more than that to me.” Then she turned to Sharon. “Are you all right?”

Sharon shot a quick glance back at Barry. “I’m okay now.”

Molly looked at me and said, “Ben, get her out of here so I can have a talk with Mr. Hill, would you?”

“I don’t have the Miata, remember?” I said.

“Take my truck,” she said as she reached for her keys.

“I’ve got my car,” Sharon said.

Molly looked intently at her and said, “Ben is going to ride back to the motel with you. Is that all right with you?”

“It’s fine,” she said. Then she leaned in toward me. “Can we just go?”

“Are you going to be okay?” I asked Molly.

She diverted her stare from Barry for just a second. “I’ll be better than that as soon as I get you two out of here.”

“Call me later,” I said as Sharon and I headed back to the parking lot.

I heard Barry say, “I didn’t do anything. You can’t arrest me for raising my voice.”

“Mr. Hill, at the moment you have no idea what I can and cannot do. Now are you going to use a civil tone when you speak with me, or do we have to have this conversation downtown?” Though Molly was dressed in casual attire, there was no mistaking the official tone in her voice. I was more concerned for Barry Hill at the moment than I was for Molly’s safety.

Sharon didn’t know her as well as I did, though. “Should we stick around, just in case she needs help?”

“Believe me, Molly can handle herself. What was that argument about, anyway? It sounded pretty fierce.”

As Sharon opened the door of a lime green Volkswagen Beetle convertible, she said, “He usually sounds that way. Barry’s got a terrible temper. I hate it when he yells at me.”