Chapter 21 #2
“Interesting question,” Drew acknowledged, “and really good thinking, but the answer is no. Apparently this provider from the snake shop said he sold Mason three shots the last week since he’d forgotten his supply at home.
Then he shut up when we started talking about conspiracy to murder charges.
The coroner said the blood report showed three times the amount of toxin than the syringe we found in the kid’s car.
Someone mixed all three shots in one syringe.
The kid swears they were separate when he sold them.
He also said he wasn’t stupid, so there’s that. ”
“Someone wanted to kill him with the venom.”
Drew sighed. “Looks that way. And it had to be someone close enough who knew he was using it in the first place.”
After talking to Drew, Rarity decided to go for a drive.
She needed to think about Mason’s death and his life before.
Who would have wanted to kill him? Did he have someone else in his life who was close enough to know about Mason’s habit and could have gotten close to him that night at the bookstore?
She bundled Killer up with his leash. “Want to go for a short drive? Maybe we’ll even go to the pet store. You’re almost out of dog treats.”
Killer thought that was a great idea and ran to the door to wait for her.
As she drove out of the subdivision and around town, she started thinking about who Mason would tell about his situation.
Not a guy, definitely. Drew and Archer both had been uncomfortable with even the idea of using the spider venom in any way. Rarity smiled as she remembered the way Archer had covered his ears even, like a young boy.
So the killer had to be a woman. He said they had asked a judge to gather fingerprints, but he didn’t say on who. Talia? Or Jane? Or someone else?
Jane obviously was in love with her boss.
Especially after seeing her Facebook page.
But had Mason ever seen her that way? She was Talia’s and Darby’s total opposite.
Dark, straight hair compared to their red, curly hair and green eyes.
Jane wasn’t ugly, but she’d never be called beautiful.
At least not in the California movie industry.
He probably appreciated her quick wit and dedication, along with her intelligence, but for Mason, the attraction must not have been there.
Rarity found herself at the theater. The doors were open, and it looked like they were cleaning up after last night.
She parked and put Killer on his leash; then she walked up to the still blocked-off parking lot.
No one even looked at her as she wandered around the empty tables and chairs.
A piece of paper, maybe a business card, was in the corner of the lot.
She leaned down and picked it up. It was for the snake shop in Flagstaff. On the back was a name: Jax.
She stared at the card then looked around the area, trying to remember who was here last night.
They’d sat over by the side, and in each corner, a different movie group had taken up shop.
And in this corner, Talia had been holding court.
If she remembered right. She texted Archer and asked if he remembered where Talia had been sitting.
Talia who?
Okay, so Archer wasn’t going to be a help here. She texted a never mind, then sent the same question to Jonathon.
This time she hit pay dirt. He did remember.
She started to call him then saw someone heading her way. She put the phone away.
“Can I help you?” the man in a polo with the theater’s logo asked.
“Oh, I thought I left my shawl here last night after the fireworks. You didn’t find one, did you? It’s pink with sparkles?” Rarity asked, hoping that someone else hadn’t had the same shawl and had left it.
“No sorry. I’m going to have to ask you to leave. We’re tearing down the area and I don’t want you to get hurt.” He held his hand out toward the entrance. “You can call the theater on Wednesday. Ask to talk to Cheri about your shawl. If it was here and someone turned it in, she’d know.”
“Oh, thank you. I appreciate the help.” She tugged on Killer’s leash as he sat down to wait for her. They went back to the car where Rarity called Jonathon. “Hey, are you sure they were in that corner?”
“Southwest by the street, yep,” he answered quickly. “Why? What did you find?”
“I’ll bring it Tuesday night.” She paused. “Look, I’m heading into Flagstaff. I’ll chat with you Tuesday.”
“Okay, I’ve already talked to Shirley and I’ll be at the bookstore tomorrow with Romeo to write, if you want to stop by.” Jonathon was giving her another option.
“I’m not sure what I’m doing Monday,” she said. “Anyway, I better go. I don’t want to be on my phone driving.”
“You have a Bluetooth system, but whatever. Romeo wants out anyway.” He paused then said, “Just be careful and call me on your way home.”
“I’m not out sleuthing,” Rarity said. Okay, so she was, but Jonathon didn’t need to know that.
“Whatever you want to say. I raised two kids and was a police detective. Rarity, I can tell an omission as well as a lie.”
“Okay, well, I’ll call you on my way home.” Rarity ended the call. She knew that Archer had a Find My Phone app on both their phones, just in case something happened. Besides, she wasn’t actually going sleuthing, was she?
As she drove to Flagstaff, she decided to go talk to the guy at the spider store again. Maybe he remembered seeing Mason when he bought the toxin from Jax. And maybe, Mason had had a companion with him.