Chapter Eighteen #2
“I want to find Bunny,” she said. “I still think she might be connected, somehow. She must have been staying somewhere nearby. Is there any master list of properties we could search for her name?”
He considered the question. “If there is, Connor might know.”
“Call him,” she said.
“It’s after six. I hate to bother him after work hours.”
She patted his thigh. “Remember what we said about leaning on friends?”
“You’re right.” He stood. “But instead of calling him, let’s go see him. Maybe I’m being paranoid, but I’m not convinced the sheriff’s department isn’t monitoring my phone calls.”
“Do you really think they would do that?”
“I don’t know what to think anymore.”
Connor lived in an apartment complex on the outskirts of town. He answered the door wearing gray jogging pants and a SkyCrest sweatshirt. “Hey, Brian.” He looked past Brian to Chloe.
“This is Chloe Anderson,” Brian said. “Can we come in?”
“Sure.” He stepped aside and they filed into the living room. Like Brian’s trailer, it was cluttered with multiple pairs of skis and various ski jackets and snow pants.
A goldendoodle rose from a bed in the corner and came to greet them, and a slender dark-haired woman stood also. “Um, this is Stacy McCrae,” Brian said.
Stacy offered her hand. “It’s good to meet you, Chloe,” she said.
“Connor told me how you helped him out when he was first arrested,” Chloe said.
“Unfortunately, there’s not much more I can do to help him,” she said. “This case is way out of my jurisdiction. But I’ve been keeping my ears open for any news.”
“My lawyer called today to tell me the prosecutor is convening a grand jury to consider charging me with murder.” His voice broke on the last word and Chloe reached out to grip his hand.
“Sit down.” Connor cleared coats from a pair of chairs. “Whatever you need, you’ve got it.”
“We’re hoping you can help us find out more information about a woman named Bunny Allerton,” Chloe said.
“She came to my salon a couple of days ago and made a point of booking a bunch of services with me—enough to keep me occupied for an entire afternoon. But she never showed up for the appointments and while I was at the salon waiting on her someone broke into my apartment and wrecked the place.”
“Wrecked as in vandalized?” Stacy asked.
“I’m not sure how to tell the difference, but this looked like they were looking for something,” Chloe said. “Though I can’t imagine what.”
“That’s not the end of Bunny acting suspicious,” Brian said.
“She was waiting for me at the salon the next morning,” Chloe said.
“She apologized for her failure to show. She said her mother in Florida had been hospitalized and she had been so upset she forgot to call me. She booked a manicure right then. I had just shown up to work and had to get things ready while she waited, but I didn’t think anything of it until I got ready to leave for the day and discovered my purse was missing.
She knew where I’d stored it when I arrived, and I left her alone up front while I adjusted the heater, turned on the rest of the lights and made coffee. ”
“That night, someone tried to get into the salon with a key,” Brian said. “But we scared them away.”
“It does sound like someone was looking for something,” Stacy said. “When they didn’t find it at your apartment, they targeted your shop. Do you have any idea what it might have been?”
“No idea,” Chloe said. “But I wonder if it’s connected somehow to Sharee’s murder. It seems like too big a coincidence that Sharee was killed and then I’m the target of two break-ins.”
“And whoever broke into Chloe’s apartment had a key,” Brian said. “And Sharee’s house key, which she should have had with her when she was killed, is missing.”
“Bunny left a phone number when she made her first appointment with me,” Chloe said. “When I called it the day of her appointments, either she didn’t answer, or I got a busy signal. But when I tried to call again the next day, the number was disconnected.”
“That does sound suspicious,” Stacy said.
Chloe turned to Connor. “Brian said you might know how to find out if someone rented a resort property,” she said. “If we could find where she stayed during the time we know she was in SkyCrest, maybe we could look and see if she was also in town when Sharee was killed.”
“We can do a search of resort properties for anyone with that name,” Connor said.
“Did she have an ID or a credit card in that name?” Stacy asked.
“If she did, I never saw it,” Chloe said. “She paid for her manicure in cash. And honestly, I’m not sure Bunny Allerton is her real name. The way she dressed—a wig, heavy makeup and kind of an over-the-top wardrobe—made me wonder if she was wearing some kind of disguise.”
“I can’t look for the information myself,” Connor said. “But I know someone.” He glanced at Stacy. “I don’t know if snooping is really illegal, but it’s definitely against company policy.”
Stacy held up both hands. “I’m staying out of this.”
“Let me call my friend in the resort offices and see if she can help us.” Connor took out his phone. “It would probably help if we had something to bargain with,” he said. “Something to persuade her to take the risk.”
“Tell her I’ll give her a full spa day if she helps us out,” Chloe said. “Massage, manicure, pedicure, hair and makeup.”
“That might do the trick.”
He made the call and explained what they wanted. Though his friend—Stevie—was hesitant at first, when she learned of Chloe’s offer, she became more enthusiastic. “She says she can meet at her office at six thirty tomorrow morning,” he said after he ended the call. “She can give us twenty minutes.”