Chapter 1 #2
“So are Eleanor and Mildred partners in this yoga thing?”
“I honestly have no idea. My understanding through the gossip train is that the relationship between Mildred and Eleanor wasn’t close, which makes sense with Mildred leaving and never even coming to visit.
But I don’t know either well enough to ask why that’s the case or, to be honest, to care enough to ask why.
I just know that Mildred turned up in Mudbug this spring and has been living with Eleanor ever since. ”
“Maybe they reassessed their relationship when their immediate family was cut in half.”
Ida Belle nodded. “That will do it. Anyway, the property the retreat is located on, and all the cabins, belonged to the girls’ father, who rented them out.
I looked into buying the property when he passed, figuring Dora wouldn’t have any interest in running the rentals, but the whole thing was held in trust and Dora had no ability to sell it. ”
“Their mother’s name was Dora Matte? That’s unfortunate.”
“More like prophetic. Her husband was a real piece of work. No one knows why she married him, much less stayed with him all those years. He was an angry, abusive alcoholic on his best days.”
“Maybe she was afraid to leave.”
Ida Belle raised one eyebrow.
“Okay, I didn’t say I get it, but they say that on TV.”
“The women the infamous ‘they’ say that about usually don’t have options.
Dora did. Family would have helped. Friends in Mudbug and Sinful would have helped.
The churches would have helped. It’s more likely she stayed put because of religion and stubborn pride.
Everyone, including her parents, told her not to marry Bruno, but she swore it was going to work. ”
I sighed. “Living a miserable life just to avoid people saying ‘I told you so’ is ridiculous. So moving forward to today, people died, the sisters inherited the cabins through the trust, and Eleanor decided a yoga retreat was needed. I guess I understand the desire for peace after all that and what must have been a rough childhood, plus the past year being a crap show.”
Ida Belle frowned. “Maybe.”
“Why do you say it like that?”
“It’s just that Eleanor was never a peaceful sort.
Bruno died when the girls were in their twenties so still plenty of time for her to mature and change into a solid adult, but no one really saw an improvement in her personality.
Charitably, she could be called abrupt but more accurately, I’d go with rude. ”
“Abrupt like you and me when we’re telling the truth but no one wants to hear it?”
“No. She seemed to go out of her way to twist the screws in sometimes. Gertie and I worked with her on a couple of charity things and let’s just say, she’s the last person I would have predicted to take up anything peaceful or self-reflective.”
“People who knew me before Sinful would never believe I sometimes wear a dress, have a hairstylist, and am living with a man I’m engaged to and am actually happy about it.”
“You still get to kill people occasionally.”
“There is that. So other than the sisters and Ronald and Gertie, do you know anyone else at this retreat?”
“No idea. I mean, it’s a yoga retreat. Past saying ‘absolutely not’ when Gertie tried to cajole me into going, I never spoke about it.”
I made a turn into the woods at the sign for the retreat.
“Well, hopefully it’s some attendee who came trying to sort things out and couldn’t manage it.
Even better, it will be someone from out of town who has no connections to Sinful or Mudbug, and Carter will be completely off the hook, and I won’t have to worry about that under-radar nonsense. ”
Ida Belle’s phone signaled an incoming text as I pulled into a parking spot in front of a building designated as the Welcome Center. She checked the text and shook her head.
“I’m afraid we’re batting zero. The victim is Eleanor, and I don’t believe for a second that woman was suicidal.”
Gertie must have been watching for my Jeep because she practically ran out the door of the main building before I even put it in Park.
Ronald was right behind her, hands flying and mouth running, and I knew he was blathering before I ever opened the door and heard him.
At least they both had long T-shirts on over their leotards.
I had been afraid we were going to pull up on a butt floss parade, and most people I’d met didn’t have the kind of butt built for floss.
Since they were both yelling at a million miles an hour, and Ronald was sniffling at the same time, Ida Belle stuck her fingers in her mouth and let out a piercing whistle that stopped them both.
“They’re holding us hostage,” Ronald said. “And with that dead woman there and everything.”
I stared, a bit confused. Carter’s truck was parked in front of the building, which meant he was in control of the scene.
“Carter’s holding you all in a building with the body?” I asked.
Ronald turned two shades paler than his already white. “Good. God. No. The body is in the sauna. I don’t even know how one disinfects after something like that. I mean there’s that body just oozing everywhere with all that heat.”
“Oh, there’s a ton of ways to get fluids out of things,” I said.
Ronald yelped and threw one hand over his mouth. “You mean I might have sat somewhere that a body leaked on before? I need a drink. Scratch that. I need some of Nora’s best stuff.”
Ida Belle rolled her eyes. “What do you suggest people do—bulldoze every structure that someone passed away in?”
He nodded. “If they’re not in a medical facility, then that sounds like a plan.”
“A lady died in the Fifth Avenue Bergdorf’s last week,” Gertie said. “Just keeled over right there in the middle of a shoe display.”
Ronald squealed. “Not the shoes!”
“Will you please tell me why you called me here?” I said to Gertie. “I’m already limited as to what I can do because Carter beat me to it.”
Gertie glanced back as a man walked toward us from a path in the woods and frowned. “It’s not just Carter.”
The approaching man had cop written all over him. The reflective sunglasses, the disapproving and slightly bored expression on his face, the deliberate and cocky stride, and the rigid set of his jaw were all I needed to know. And unfortunately, he was locked in on me.
Six foot two. Two hundred twenty pounds, but the muscle was all from the gym.
Given his breathing rhythm from simply walking down the sidewalk in the heat, I’d put his cardiovascular health at about sixty years old.
Zero threat physically. I doubted he could even draw his gun fast enough to shoot me before I could run away.
“Dorothy’s here,” Gertie said quietly.
I groaned. Dorothy was Celia’s cousin and her biggest supporter in all things stupid. I had no doubt that the first person she’d called was Celia, and now the state police were here to make sure Carter was doing his job. Without interference.
“Miss Redding,” he said as he stepped up entirely too close to me.
“Do I know you?” I asked.
“I’m Lieutenant Calahan.”
I waited but nothing else was forthcoming.
“Congratulations?” I said finally.
His jaw flexed and he removed his sunglasses to glare at me. When I stared back without any visible response or even blinking, I saw a blush rise up his neck.
“I’m with the state police IA division,” he said. “Your boyfriend’s methods of operation have come under question. I’m here to ensure he’s following the letter of the law.”
I wriggled my fingers on my left hand in the air. “Fiancé. And again, congratulations? Why are you talking to me when you’re here to shadow Carter?”
“Because the biggest complaint from citizens about Sheriff LeBlanc’s policing is that he allows you access to confidential police business.”
“I wish he would. It would make my job easier. Look, I don’t know what’s going on here. I got a call from my friend saying she needed me, so here I am.”
I gestured to Gertie, who nodded.
He narrowed his eyes at Gertie. “Needed her for what?”
“She’s my emotional support assassin,” Gertie said.
“You think that’s funny?” he asked, but I noticed he moved back a bit.
“I think it’s accurate,” Gertie said. “Someone’s dead. I’m not interested in joining them, so I called Fortune to come get me and Ronald out of here. Trust me, there’s no better protection.”
“The woman committed suicide,” he said, clearly frustrated. “You don’t need protection.”
“Is that your official statement?” I asked.
“No.” Carter’s voice sounded behind me. “It’s not his official statement, and he shouldn’t be giving you information concerning an ongoing investigation, especially when it’s what he just accused me of.”
Calahan stiffened, and I didn’t bother to hold back a smile.
“Looks like you’re going to need to investigate yourself,” I said to Calahan, then looked at Carter. “Are they free to go?”
He nodded. “I’ll contact them later for their statements.”
“You should take the statements here,” Calahan argued.
Carter’s face flashed with anger. “I’m not holding a bunch of traumatized people here waiting for me to finish with forensics when that will take hours. I’ve known everyone in that building, save one, since birth. I’m pretty sure I can find them tomorrow and get their statements.”
He whirled around and headed inside. Calahan glared at his back, then flashed me a dirty look before following.
“Did they let you pack your things?” I asked.
“Yes,” Gertie said. “We all packed our stuff and put it in the lobby.”
“Then grab them and let’s get out of here,” I said. “There’s nothing I can do with Calahan here.”
Ronald reached under his T-shirt and pulled his keys out of his leotard bottoms. I refused to ponder that one.
“Can you please drive my car?” he asked Ida Belle. “I’m too upset to drive.”
Ida Belle stared at the dangling keys, probably wondering where they’d been dangling before and with what, but finally she shrugged and took the keys from his hand.
“It’s a Bentley,” she said.