Necklaces & Nooses Read online

  “Well, don’t keep me in suspense. What?”

  “Are you sure you want to know? I could always wait until later,” he said with a teasing look.

  “I think it would be in your best interest to tell me,” I shot back. But I was only half kidding. I really wanted to know and wasn’t above force or bribery.

  He smiled. Boy, he had a nice smile. Almost made me forget what we were talking about. “C’mon, Willie, tell me, please.”

  “So, the guy with the fake German accent that was bothering you the other day who we saw at the bar?’

  “How do you know it was fake?”

  “He is renting the apartment above the store next door. When I knocked on the door he yelled just a minute in perfect English, but when he saw me he switched back to his horrible German accent.”

  “What?!”

  “Yep. I knew you’d be shocked. But it explains why he was at the bar, since it’s right around the corner.”

  “Wonder if he was American or German at the bar?”

  “Good question.”

  “What did you say to him? Did you call him out on the accent and ask him what the heck he was doing in that apartment? Not to judge, but if he could afford one of our necklaces, he would be living somewhere else besides one of those apartments above the shops.”

  “I kind of thought that, too, but I didn’t even let on I remembered him from the store, although I am sure he knew I did remember. Just like I knew he knew who I was but didn’t let on. I just asked him if he had heard anything the other night like I asked everyone else. He said no and basically slammed the door in my face, and I went about my business.”

  “Why didn’t you ask him why he was such jerk and why he needed the necklace so badly? This is too much of a coincidence.”

  “Presley, it’s not a crime to be a jerk. I couldn’t ask him those questions; he’s not a suspect and doesn’t even need to talk to me. Plus, if he has done anything wrong, the last thing I would want to do is tip him off.”

  “I guess it just sucks that you can’t ask and just be able to cross him off the list of those you think might be involved.”

  “I completely agree. I’m going to keep an eye on him, that’s for sure.”

  “What’s his name?”

  “Peter. Peter Green. I ran him in the system once I realized who he was. There wasn’t much other information on him. He does have a criminal record, but just for petty theft not any major crimes. Just reinforcing the fact that he couldn’t have actually been in the market for a necklace, which at this store starts at, what did you say?”

  “Six thousand dollars”

  “Right, six thousand dollars, for a necklace.”

  “Hey, its quality!”

  “I don’t doubt it. It’s just weird to me for jewelry that isn’t diamonds or something of that nature.”

  “It doesn’t have to be diamonds to be high quality or in high demand.”

  “I guess you’re right.”

  “So what are we going to do?”

  “Right now just watch him. I need more proof that he might be involved, if indeed he is. If he comes in here again, obviously, call me right away and try to keep him here until I can get here. Then if he doesn’t actually buy anything, I have more to go on.”

  Willie left, and the next few hours that the boutique was open flew by. It had been a tiring day, and I was so glad to be going home and just sitting back and relaxing. I was tired of cleaning and working. The day had been filled with people just wanting to know what had happened. While I could understand (I was somewhat like those people), I didn’t like being the one who gave out the information. It was tiring to talk about the same stuff over and over. My couch, a glass of wine, and a good book were all I wanted that night.

  I walked in the door of my building and waved hi to Charles, the doorman who had been here forever; he was an adorable old man. I pushed the button to the elevator going up and jumped in when the door opened. I was so tired I didn’t even admire, as I usually did, the beautiful wrought iron spindles casing the elevator. The elevator shuddered to a stop, and I walked off and down the hall to my door—to find it cracked open.

  This was very reminiscent of the store that morning, except I could clearly see someone had broken in. The wood was splintered on the door and the doorjamb right by the lock. It looked like someone had taken a crowbar and pried the door open. Not that I was an expert, but I sure knew who it was, and I knew well enough not to go inside. I grabbed my cell phone out of my purse and dialed what was now a familiar number. Willie.

  “Hey there, what’s up? Change your mind about that drink later?”

  “No, I wish it were that.”

  “Is everything okay?”

  “What’s up is that you’d better get to my place. Someone broke in.”

  “What? Are you all right?” Again he had that immediate concern that was so sweet.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. I haven’t even walked in yet.”

  “Don’t. Go back downstairs and stay with the doorman until I get there.”

  “Okay. But this routine is starting to become way too familiar, and I’m tired of it.” This sucked. I was so tired and now had no hope of getting to bed soon. Willie would come and bring the crime tech guys, they would do their thing, then I might be able to get in. But probably not until tomorrow—and then I would have to clean.

  “I can imagine. I’m sorry, but we’ll get to the bottom of this soon.”

  “Do you think this is related to the break-in at Silk or Solange’s murder?”

  “You know my standard line is I don’t know yet, but I honestly can’t imagine how it’s not related. I’ve got a call in to the crime scene techs to get the results from their processing of the store from earlier.”

  “Boutique.”

  “Ah yes, boutique. See you soon.”

  “Hi, again Charles,” I said, stepping off the elevator.

  “Hey, Red, what brings you back down so soon?”

  “Someone broke into my condo, Charles.”

  “Oh no, Red, I’m so sorry.” He immediately frowned and started wringing his hands.

  “Charles, did you see anyone go up that you didn’t know?”

  “No. I got here at six and only residents have been here, not even any visitors. Red, I’m so sorry. This is my fault. It’s the doorman’s job to keep everyone safe.”

  Poor Charles looked almost in tears. He took his job very seriously and often said we tenants were like family. I had no doubt he had been diligent at his job.

  “Charles, this isn’t your fault. The intruder obviously came in before your shift or snuck in somehow. Please don’t worry. The police will be here soon, and they will figure it out. I don’t blame you.”

  As I spoke, Willie walked in. He was in shorts and a tank top. Most definitely workout clothes, and boy, did he look yummy. I must have called when he was at the gym.

  “Willie, this is Charles, the doorman,” I said. “Charles, this is Detective Willie Landon.”

  Charles looked at me strangely probably wondering how I was on first name basis with the police. I didn’t even want to try and explain that one.

  “Hi, Charles, please excuse the way I’m dressed,” he said flashing his shield. “I was working out when I got the call, and it was faster to just come right here than to change.”

  “No problem, sir. Like I told Red here, I’m really sorry. I don’t know how this happened. All the doormen here are very good at their jobs. This is terrible; we don’t want people thinking it’s not safe.” Charles wrung his hands nervously.

  “I’ll be needing to talk to everyone who was on duty today, Charles. If you could call them and ask them to come in, I’m going to go upstairs and survey the crime scene. There will be more of me here soon; I would appreciate it if you would send them right up.”

  “Sure thing, sir.”

  “Presley, let’s go take a look at your condo and see what we’re dealing with.”

  Back u
p the elevator again. Being in a small space with Willie made me uncomfortable in a good way. We were silent on the short ride up, and I led him to my door. “There you have it. One more trashed place for me to clean.”

  “Sorry, Presley. Or should I call you Red?”

  “Only Charles gets away with that.”

  “I know you’ve had your fill of cleaning. When did you leave home this morning?”

  “Ummm…elevenish.” We stepped through the broken doorway into what used to be my lovely home. I had spent so much time and effort painstakingly making my condo the way I wanted it. I had to do it on a budget because, although I’d made a lot more money in my corporate days, I’d never had a ton, and most of it went to the condo payments and basic maintenance. On first glance, it looked as if a bunch of teenagers had had an out of control party. Things were out of drawers and cupboards and strewn over the floor, but not broken and destroyed. Just an absolute mess.

  “Someone was looking for something. Where do you keep your valuables?”

  “Ha! You’re making an assumption I have valuables. No valuables. Just my laptop. And I see it right where I left it, on my desk.”

  “Okay.” He sighed. “I’m sorry, Presley, but you aren’t going to be able to stay here tonight.”

  I sighed, too, knowing for certain my dream of a relaxing evening was over. “I figured as much.”

  “The department will pay to put you up in a hotel.”

  “No thanks. I’ll call Anna. I would rather stay with her. She has wine.”

  “Good call. I’ll text you when we’re are done here, since it will probably be late, but I want to let you know when you can come back.”

  “Okay.”

  I texted Anna and told her I was on my way. I called a cab because parking around Anna’s apartment was a nightmare, and I was so exhausted I didn’t feel like driving across town. I just wanted to sit back and relax.

  “You poor thing,” Anna said when I arrived. She quickly poured me a glass of wine. “You have been through so much.”

  I sat in Anna’s kitchen waiting for the first few sips of wine to take effect. I knew after the day I had, the wine would hit me and I’d be dead tired, but right then I was wide awake and wired.

  “So why would anyone want to break into your place?”

  “That is the million dollar question. Even Willie says it’s probably related to the break-ins at Silk, that it’s too much of a coincidence not to be. But what I don’t get is what people are looking for. I don’t have anything in my condo of value, and they didn’t take anything at Silk.

  “Has Willie figured out who might be responsible for killing Solange?”

  “No. Or if he has a clue he hasn’t shared it with me. And I can’t begin to imagine who might have wanted to hurt her.”

  Chapter 10

  I hate funerals,” Anna whispered to me as we walked into the church. Since I’d spent the night with her, I had decided to drag her with me to Solange’s funeral for moral support. Even though I knew Steph and Lily would be coming, since I closed the store so we could all attend, I didn’t want to be all by myself until they got there. Normally, I wouldn’t mind being in a crowd by myself; I had a decent amount of extrovert in me, but a funeral was a whole different story.

  “Who actually likes them?”

  “You’d be surprised. My great aunt Sophie seems to enjoy each time she outlives one more family member.”

  “Only because she’s winning in the great game of life”

  “That’s funny and I’m sure you’re right.”

  “Let’s sit in the back,” I said to Anna. Not liking funerals either, because I hated crying in public, I also never knew the right thing to say to the family of the loved one and felt so awkward. My friend Katy from back home always knew what to say.

  “You know, they say that the killer usually shows up at the funeral,” Anna said. “Maybe if we watch the crowd closely we might be able to spot him or her.”

  “You watch entirely too much television. I would have no idea how to start looking at people to see if they were the murdering type or even the trashing-of-other-people’s-property type. I don’t even know anything about her family. She didn’t really talk about them much. And I have no idea what they might look like. She wasn’t one for posing for pictures, and she never showed me any. So any of these family members might look strange to me. I can’t just assume they might be a killer.”

  “You’re over-thinking this, Presley.”

  “If you say so.” My mind was not on finding a killer here at Solange’s funeral, but rather on this very uncomfortable black dress I was wearing. I wasn’t sure I would make it through the funeral without passing out. It was too tight, I needed to suck in all the fat to even come close to fitting in it, and the girdle was cutting off all oxygen to my brain. I wanted to pass out. I really needed to lose ten pounds. I could swear this dress wasn’t this tight last time I wore it.

  “That must be her family up there,” Anna said, pointing to the first pew where several people sat crying.

  “You’re probably right. Strange that none of them look that much like her. The older lady being comforted is her mom, I think. She came in the store a couple times, the only family member who has, besides James, but not since Solange’s dad died. I don’t think she gets out as much now. The few times I met her she seemed like a very nice lady.”

  “Wonder where James is?”

  “He has to be here somewhere.”

  “Isn’t that him toward the back?” Anna asked.

  “Where?”

  “Over by the doors. He’s talking to a group of people. I just saw a glimpse, but I’m sure that’s him. Black suit, black shirt, black tie. Next to the tall brunette.” Anna pointed in the direction until I finally saw him. He was standing next to a few of Solange’s friends. I recognized them from when they’d come into the store.

  But James wasn’t the only person I saw. The faux-German guy, Peter Green, from the boutique and the bar, was there. Why would the guy be here at Solange’s funeral? If he knew her, why didn’t he mention that when he came into the store? I took my phone out and sent Willie a text.

  “What are you doing?” Anna hissed. “Texting in church is not allowed, especially at a funeral. What are you thinking?”

  “This is important. You see that guy over there? The one standing in the corner all alone”

  “The one in the navy suit?”

  “Yes.” Now that I looked closer he was wearing the same navy suit he had on when he came to the boutique. He definitely wasn’t a typical client for Silk if he only had the one suit.

  “What about him?”

  “That’s the guy from the boutique that was such an ass when he came into Silk and who we saw at Muldoon’s. Remember, the one Willie and I were talking about?”

  “Vaguely”

  “Well, that’s him.”

  “Why would he be here?”

  “I have no idea. That’s why I’m texting Willie.” I felt my phone vibrate. It was Willie with the response to not talk to the guy, thanks for the information, and call him when it was over. I put my phone back in my black clutch along with my car key (I had taken it off the ring to get it to fit), a lipstick, and compact.

  I noticed a man, whom I presumed to be the pastor, speak quietly to James and motion toward the front of the church. It was a few minutes after two, and I wasn’t sure how prompt people usually felt funerals should start, but it looked like the pastor was rounding people up and herding them to the front so things could get underway. James walked to the front but sat on the opposite side as the rest of Solange’s family. There was palpable tension even with the space between them. I wondered what had happened. It looked as if none of them were on speaking terms. Solange and James hadn’t ever had kids, but sitting with James were people who looked liked his relatives. I could see some resemblance. So that was my assumption.

  “There’s Steph and Lily.” I waved my hand in their direction to
get their attention, hoping they would notice, as I didn’t feel that yelling across the church was appropriate etiquette for a funeral. Luckily, they saw me and made their way over.

  “I’m glad we saw you, Pres,” said Steph. “There isn’t anyone here we know, but we wanted to pay our respects to Solange’s family.”

  “I feel the same way; that’s why I dragged Anna with me. You both remember Anna, don’t you?”