Picture Perfect Murder (Ryli Sinclair 1) (4 page)

I decided to ride downtown with Paige. She had a roomy SUV
her parents bought her when she graduated college. Paige was an only child and
was constantly doted on by her parents. She sometimes complained they smothered
her, but I knew she was grateful for everything they did.

The streets downtown were jam-packed with cars. It was an
odd thing to see this early in the morning on a weekday. We were getting ready
to head down the back alley when a car pulled out two spaces from Legends.

Legends Salon and Nails was the third storefront on Elm
Street. When I was a little girl, I used to think that Legends was actually
Iris’s house. I remember telling Mom that I wanted a house that had a beauty
salon in it when I grew up. Mom thought that was funny and had to explain to me
that Iris lived above the store. It wasn’t an actual house.

I also remember Iris used to have this Coke bottle machine
that when you put in twenty-five cents, you got to pull out an actual glass
bottle of Coke. To a five-year-old girl, there was nothing fancier than sipping
Coke and listening to the ladies gossip on a Saturday morning.

The front of the building was made of red brick and was
sandwiched between Closet Antiques and Subway. The awning was large and shaded
most of the sidewalk in front of the salon. It was a pretty maroon and cream
combination and had scalloped edging around the bottom. The door was one of
those heavy oak doors that you had to push with all your might just to open,
and then you had to hold onto it just to keep it from slamming shut. I never
got the novelty of the door. It was a pain in the ass as far as I was
concerned.

The first thing I noticed when Paige and I stepped inside
the salon was that it looked like a zoo. Two toddlers about three years old
were crawling on the floor, making tunnels with the hair being cut. Their
mothers were oblivious to this disgusting act because they were too busy yammering
away at one another. Hands were being thrown in the air with excitement, hair
dryers were blowing, and the gossip was being tossed around like a beach ball. Christ,
the volume was deafening.

I wasn’t quite sure where to start. Paige and I hadn’t even
been noticed when we walked in. I guess no one could hear the dinging of the
bell over the cacophony of other sounds. Cindy Troyer was blow drying Anna
Johnson’s hair, while Patty Carter was regaling them with what she’d already
heard about the murder.

Knowing Patty, she’d probably heard a lot already. Patty was
a nurse out at the Granville hospital. She used to be a nurse at the school
years ago until Dr. Garver suddenly fired her. There was definitely no love
loss between those two.

The other stylist, Tina Anderson, was setting Claire
Hickman’s hair in rollers. My God, what had Claire done, walked straight over
from her graveyard shift? Didn’t these people have a life? Lined up against the
wall, sitting patiently waiting and gossiping amongst themselves, were four
other women.

Any other day Legends
wouldn’t be this busy.
Evidently nothing brings out gossipmongers like a good murder.

I walked over to Iris’s nail station. She was sitting on a
black vinyl stool painting Janice Tillman’s nails. You’d never know Iris was a
successful businesswoman who owned a thriving salon…mainly because she always
dressed from decades past. Today she had on a button-down jean shirt tucked
into a pair of pleated, high-waisted, acid-washed jeans. Her hair was a dull
brown, and she still curled her short hair every morning with a curling iron
and then feathered it out on the sides.

Janice and Iris had a love-hate relationship. Their typical
M.O. was to get into a catfight over something ridiculous, back stab each other
publically, then down a few bottles of wine and make up. They once went three
weeks without speaking—it was the quietest this town had ever been!

I had to clear my throat twice before they even acknowledged
me. When recognition hit, they both sat up straighter.

Leaning in my general direction, Iris asked, “Ryli, honey,
are you here to write about
the
murder
?”

I barely suppressed a grimace. “Yes, I was hoping to maybe
get some quotes from a couple ladies on what they’re feeling.”

“Well,” Janice interjected. “I always knew if someone was
going to be killed, it would be that woman. There probably won’t be a single
tear shed for her at her funeral,” Janice continued, shaking her close-cropped
blonde hair and clucking her tongue.

“I heard they weren’t gonna have a funeral, they’re gonna
have a memorial service instead.” This from Debbie Perkins sitting against the
wall.

“Really? I hadn’t heard that.” Janice said. “Although, I
have to say, it will be weird not seeing her in the salon anymore.”

Deep breath, Ryli. Deep breath.

I took out my pad and pen. “What I’m really looking for is
reaction as far as personal safety, maybe reaction on what it means for the
town, the school.”

“What it means is that we’ve just started the new school
year and now suddenly we’re without a superintendent. Do you know how long
it’ll take to get another?” Iris said.

“I know. This is
so
inconvenient,” Janice, the
minion, chimed in.

I turned to the ladies sitting against the wall. I happened
to make eye contact with Paige. She’d been flipping through a hair magazine,
feigning interest. I rolled my eyes. She mouthed a curse word.

“Could I get a reaction from any of you about what happened
last night?” I asked.

“I heard it was pretty gruesome. Were you there, Ryli?” I
turned and saw Sharon Williams, my preacher’s wife, standing next to me. I have
to say I was a little surprised to see her there, clutching her purse as though
it was her lifeline. Today she was dressed in a sensible brown A-line skirt,
white blouse buttoned up to her neck, and brown orthopedic slip-on shoes. Probably
why I didn’t hear her come in and walk up behind me.

“Yes, I was.”

“Was it? Was it really as bad as they’ve been saying?” her
thin, bluish lips whispered.

“Yes, was it?” Debbie asked. I saw the gleam of hope in her
eye. The hope of hearing first-hand all the gory details that she could tell
people.

I hesitated, not wanting to switch the focus of the
conversation. “Yes.”

“Well, it’s sad, that’s for sure,” Debbie said, unable to
hide her disappointment at not getting anything juicy.

“It sure is,” Sharon agreed. “But at least the good Lord
gave her some time here on Earth. Iris, I stopped by hoping I could get an
appointment today, but I see you’re busy.”

Iris didn’t even bother looking up from Janice’s nails.
“Yep, sure am. Try back later, will ya?”

This time I heard the bell ding above the door, signaling
another arrival. I glanced over and saw Garrett standing by the door. He motioned
to me with the crook of his finger. My heart raced. I know I should play hard
to get, but who am I kidding…I nearly ran to him.

“Hey. I saw Paige’s car and thought maybe you two were
together.”

I smiled in response. Mainly because I was afraid I’d say
something stupid.

“I was thinking. Why don’t I pick you up around six and we
can drive over to your brother’s for dinner tonight.”

Be still my heart!

I went for casual. “Sure. But you know we don’t have to be
there until seven, right? It only takes five minutes to…oh, right.” I trailed
off lamely.

Garrett’s eyes bore into mine and he smiled that
predator-like smile.

Closing the heavy oak door of Legends behind me, I breathed
a sigh of relief. I’m not sure when I’d heard more cackling women in all my
life. I was just getting ready to open Paige’s car door, praying for Calgon to
come take me away, when I felt a hand on my arm.

“Hey, Doc,” I said, surprised to see Dr. Martin Powell
hanging out downtown on a Friday morning. Doc Powell was the local veterinarian
and current president of the school board. He loved Miss Molly almost as much
as I did…always giving her extra cat treats on her visits.

He was attractive in that Sean Connery way. In fact, for
about a year now I’d been trying to set Mom up with him. I knew he was a little
older than her, I just wasn’t sure how much older.

“Hello there, Ryli,” he said, running his hands through his
salt and pepper hair.

His wife, Pearl, had died some years back from breast
cancer, and he’d never remarried. Being a handsome widower along with a doctor
guaranteed him a homemade dinner from a different woman each night. He accepted
the food, but never the company from what I’d heard through the grapevine.
Still, it didn’t stop me from bringing up my mom every time I had an
appointment with him.

Doc’s green eyes bore into mine. “I just finished talking
with the ladies down at central office about Dr. Garver.”

Central office was where the superintendent, her secretary,
and some other school officials had their offices. I could tell by the look on
his face it hadn’t gone well. “Just mostly a lot of shock. No one can believe
this has happened,” Dr. Powell said.

“Yeah,” I agreed, “it was pretty shocking.”

Dr. Powell peered down into my face. “How’re you doing? I
heard you were there and saw the body.”

Man, I’ll never get over how fast word
travels in this town
. “Doing about as good as can be expected,” I
said.

Dr. Powell glanced over at Legends. “Did you just come from
in there?” he asked, shuddering at the thought.

I couldn’t help but laugh at his expression. It was the
exact same one I had when I came out a second ago.

“Hey, Doc,” Paige said, popping out from the driver’s side.

“Hello, Paige. I was just telling Ryli here how saddened we
are at the sudden loss of Dr. Garver.”

I couldn’t help but wonder if he really was…saddened by this
news, I mean. I’d always heard the two doctors didn’t get along very well. In
fact, if rumors could be believed, the last board meeting had resulted in a
doozie of a fight between the two of them.

“Paige and I were just questioning some of the ladies
inside, hoping for a quote for the paper,” I said, trying to fill the awkward
silence.

Doc scowled and
his lips became a flat line of disapproval. “Oh, I’m sure you got plenty from
that group in there,” he said.
Giving himself a little shake, the good
doctor smiled again at us. “Ladies, you have a lovely day. And, Ryli, give Miss
Molly an extra treat for me tonight, would you?”

“Sure thing, Doc.”

Paige and I watched Dr. Powell make his way down the street,
waving at people that called out to him. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of
the strange conversation we’d just had, other than to say trying to find
something nice to say about Dr. Garver was an awkward experience for everyone.

Paige dropped me off at Dairy Queen. I hopped in the Civic
and drove over to the office. I knew Hank was going to be pissed that I didn’t
get more than I did, but I couldn’t
make
people say what I wanted them
to say. I parked and walked inside.

“Well, what the hell did you get?”

“Nothing. No one wants to talk about their
feelings
…they
want to talk about Vera. All I got was hounded about the crime scene.”

Hank narrowed his eyes at me. “How was the crime scene? And
don’t give me some political bullshit about how you can’t talk about it. I’m
your boss. You tell me everything.”

I barely refrained from rolling my eyes. “You know I’m not
telling you anything I shouldn’t. I’ll have something in half an hour.” I
turned and walked toward Mindy, my safety net.

“Honey, you want some tea before you start? Might help you
relax and think.”

God I
loved this woman
.

Now that I’d had a few more hours to really think about what
had happened, it didn’t take me long to plunk out a story about Vera Garver’s
death and throw in my one lame quote from the salon.

I came up for air around lunch. Mindy made us a sandwich
with chips while I put the finishing touches on the story. I hit send on the
e-mail as I finished my sandwich.

“I heard they weren’t going to have a funeral but a memorial
service instead,” Mindy said as she munched on her chips.

“I heard the same thing this morning at the salon.”

“Wonder why that is?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Weird.”

Hank came out of the room waving my submitted story. “It’ll
do.”

Knowing this week’s paper would need to have a different
layout, what with all the write-ups on the incident, another piece for
reactions, another for the covering of the memorial service, and then the rest
of the weekly news, Hank and I worked tirelessly for the rest of the afternoon.
 

At two-thirty I made the announcement I had to get going.
Hank was pretty good about letting me make my own hours as long as I met my
deadlines.

“What’s going on?” Mindy asked.

I didn’t know if I should tell her. After all, she’s my
friend, but she’s also my boss’s wife. What do I say? That I’m going home to
shave my legs because I may or may not fool around with a hot guy tonight.

“I’m going to Matt’s tonight for dinner. I wanted to stop by
the store so I can bake a dessert.”

Hank snorted. “One death this week isn’t enough?”

“Bite me.”

Mindy laughed. “So just the three of you?”

I stared at her. How does she do that? Like she knows I’m
hiding something. “No, Garrett is picking me up. We’re going together.”

Mindy squealed. “Oh, my gosh…you know what this means,
right?”

“It means she’s probably gonna go and get herself knocked
up,” Hank growled, shoving an unlit cigar into his mouth and stalking back to
his office.

Flipping him the bird I yelled at his retreating backside,
“Piss off, Hank. It’s just dinner.”