by Lydia Rose
Rachel offered. “Yes. I was waiting for him in the living room. He was so upset when he walked in the door. He told me what he had happened and what he had heard.”
“Was Tom wearing the same clothes that he left the house in earlier?” Marnie asked.
“Yes. I had complimented him on his shirt before he left.” She continued. “They were the same jeans too. I told him that he needed to get some new ones because the ones he was wearing were wearing thin.” Rachel grinned. “He told me that’s the way they were wearing them.” She looked at Marnie. “Is that important?”
“Yes. I’ve seen the crime scene photos and Tom would have been covered in blood.”
“Then I can testify,” Rachel said quickly.
“You are his mother. I need other people that aren’t related to him to testify to that fact.” Marnie stood. “I’ll let you all get some rest.”
“Thank you, Marnie. For everything you’ve done,” Alan Reynolds said shaking her hand. “I’ll have some money for you shortly.”
“Let’s not worry about the money right now, Alan.” She turned toward the stairs. “Good night.” Marnie watched as Leslie hugged them both and walked toward the car. “I don’t know about you, but I can use a drink. Want to go for a drink?”
“Yes,” she said quickly.
A short while later, Leslie pulled into another driveway. “Where are we?” Marnie asked looking at the house.
“My house.” Marnie turned with a smirk. “Get that out of your head,” she said laughing. “If I take you to a bar, the town will think we are having an affair. I won’t risk anything on this case that could hurt my brother.”
“So you taking me home won’t cause tongues to wag?”
Leslie opened her car door and got out. Marnie followed. “Do you see another house? No one is going to know you are here. Wilma goes to bed at ten so she won’t know what time you returned.” Leslie opened the front door and turned on a light. “What’s your poison?” she asked dropping her jacket on a chair.
“Vodka,” Marnie answered.
“Have a seat.” Leslie returned with the vodka and a bottle of beer for herself.
Marnie poured herself a healthy portion and took a drink. “I needed that.”
Leslie sat down. “So what do you think so far about the case?”
“I’ve had harder cases, but it’s going to be hard to find witnesses that put your brother away from the party at the time of death.” Marnie finished off her glass and poured another. After three glasses, Marnie was feeling no pain. Her head dropped back on the couch. “This is the first vacation I’ve taken in five years,” she snorted. “I should be sunning myself in Miami right now. I thought I would get your brother out of jail on bail and then recommend an attorney.” Marnie wiped at her eyes. “All I’ve done is work. I was so busy building my career that I let life pass me by.” She turned to Leslie. “Have you ever been in love?”
“Once,” Leslie answered without elaborating because she knew Marnie needed to talk.
“Good for you. I’ve never been. I have all this money and every couple of months I meet with women like me. Women who are too busy to date so we use each other and then go back to the life that is so important to us.” Marnie poured another drink and looked at Leslie. “I’m so tired, Leslie. Tired of helping people that deserve to go to jail. I just wanted to take some time off and go visit my friend in Florida.”
“So why did you stay?” Leslie asked before Marnie drifted off.
“You.” Her eyes closed and Leslie took the glass out of Marnie’s hand. As she did that, Marnie’s eyes opened. “You are very beautiful,” she said before adding, “you are just my type. That is, when I had a type.” Her eyes closed again and didn’t open.
Leslie got Marnie to lie down and she covered her with a blanket. Before she walked away, she caressed Marnie’s face. “You are beautiful too,” she said before shutting the light and going to bed.
CHAPTER 7
Marnie let out a loud groan as she opened her eyes and immediately closed them again. Her hand went to her head as she sat up. Peeking her eyes open again, she looked around. “What the fuck?”
“You drank too much last night,” Leslie said as she approached with two aspirins and a cup of coffee.
“I don’t remember much of anything after we got here.” Marnie swallowed the pills and drank half the coffee. “Thanks.” She now realized there was a problem. “Shit. How am I supposed to get back in the hotel without Wilma seeing me?” Her eyes strained to see Leslie.
“Don’t worry. I’ve got that covered.”
“What, are you going to knock Wilma out until I get past her?”
Leslie laughed. “No. That hotel was a brothel in the twenties. There’s a back staircase. She will never know you didn’t come back last night.” She watched as Marnie still held her head. “Would you like to take a shower before we leave?”
“No thanks. I just need to get back and get some sleep before Sheila shows up.”
Leslie gathered her things and they drove to the back of the hotel. “Follow me.”
Leslie led her to the back door and pushed on a wall once they were in the hotel. “The staircase will lead you up to the rooms. I’ll see you later,” she said with a smile.
“I’m sorry that I passed out on you last night,” Marnie said mournfully. She had to learn to deal with problems without alcohol Marnie reprimanded herself.
“That’s okay. It was very enlightening.”
“It was?”
“No time to talk. Get upstairs before Wilma finds us.”
Marnie climbed the stairs and wondered what Leslie was referring to about last night being enlightening. Her mind couldn’t concentrate any longer and she let herself into her room. Marnie jumped in the shower and then laid on the bed. Her phone alarm was set for two hours, but the ringing of the phone awoke her earlier. “Hello.”
“Are you still sleeping?” Sheila asked grumbling.
“Yes. Too much to drink last night.”
“I thought you were working a case,” she sighed, “not having a good time.”
“After everything that has happened, I needed that last night.”
“I’m only teasing you, my friend.”
“Are you here?”
“Close. I should be there in a half hour.”
“Okay, I’ll see you then.” Marnie now picked up the hotel phone and called downstairs. “Hi, Wilma. After Sheila Simmons checks in, would you send her to my room?”
“Of course, Marnie. I’ll give her the room next to yours.”
“Thanks, Wilma.” Marnie got off the bed and got dressed. At least her head stopped pounding and if Sheila got here soon, they could go next door for something to eat before the café closed.
“You look like shit,” Sheila scolded as Marnie opened the door to her room.
“Gee thanks, friend.” Sheila walked in and dropped her suitcase. “Are you hungry?”
“Yes. You know the airlines don’t serve food anymore.”
“Then let’s go before the place closes.”
Sheila looked at her watch seeing it was two-thirty. “Where are we?”
“Mayberry,” she answered taking Sheila’s arm so they could leave.
The two women walked into the café which was nearly empty. “Are we too late?” Marnie asked as Leslie walked toward them.
“No. Have a seat.” She handed them menus.
“Leslie Reynolds, this is Sheila Simmons. Sheila, Leslie.” Marnie quickly did the introductions and went back to the menu.
“It’s nice to meet you, Sheila.”
“You too, Leslie. It’s your brother, right?” Leslie nodded. “Well, you’ve got the best attorney on the case,” she said with a smile.
“I understand you’re very good at your job too,” she said smiling at Sheila.
“Do you know what you want, Sheila?” Marnie asked, stopping the two women from speaking.
“Geez, Marnie. Calm down. You
act like you haven’t eaten in days.”
“Just about. This place closes at three and I didn’t have dinner last night.”
“No,” Sheila laughed. “Just a bunch of booze.” She turned to Leslie. “Did you get her drunk?”
“She did that all by herself. I just gave her the bottle.” Leslie answered with a laugh.
“Food, Sheila. Concentrate on food.”
“Okay, okay. Go ahead and tell Leslie what you want.” She picked up the menu.
“I’ll have the turkey club, French fries and coffee,” Marnie quickly said.
“I’ll have the chicken Caesar salad and an iced tea.” Sheila closed the menu and handed the menu to Leslie.
“Dot, an iced tea and coffee, please.” Leslie walked back into the kitchen.
Dot placed the drinks on the table and looked at Sheila. “Who are you?”
The look on Sheila’s face was priceless. “Dot, this is Sheila. Sheila, Dot.”
“Is she your girlfriend?” Dot asked over Sheila’s head.
“No. She is here to help with the case.” Marnie couldn’t contain her laughter at the look on Sheila’s face.
Dot nodded and walked away. “As if I’d date someone like you,” Sheila said indignantly.
“Hey, you’ve dated a lot worse than me.”
“Yeah, like who?”
“Too many names to remember.” Then they both started laughing.
“This town is something else. I feel like I’ve been transported back in time. Hey, we aren’t going to have to skip dinner tonight, are we?” Sheila asked, now remembering what Marnie had said.
“No. I’ll ask Leslie for the name of that restaurant she took me to. Now that we have a car, we aren’t stuck in town.” Marnie watched as Leslie carried their plates.
“Why don’t you sit down with us?” Sheila asked before Leslie left the table.
“Sure. Let me just get my coffee.”
“What are you doing?” Marnie asked with a whisper.
“She’s cute and I’m stuck here,” she said with a shrug.
“Leslie isn’t interested in you,” she said with a roll of her eyes.
Sheila’s eyes flicked to Marnie’s quickly. “Why? Is she interested in you?”
“No. No. She isn’t that type of girl.” Marnie couldn’t elaborate because Leslie took a seat with them.
“So, Leslie,” Sheila said laying down her fork. “Are you single?”
Marnie rolled her eyes and she bit into her sandwich. Then she kicked Sheila under the table.
“Hey,” she said looking at Marnie with a scowl.
Leslie laughed. “I’m single and gay, Sheila. I guess Marnie didn’t tell you.”
“No she didn’t.” Her eyes never left Leslie’s face. Her manicured nails tapped the surface of the table while her smile never left her face.
“Sheila, you and I have a lot of work to do on this case before I can get out of here.”
Sheila ignored Marnie’s remark and continued flirting with Leslie. “Maybe you and I can have dinner one night?”
“I’d like to take both of you out to dinner to thank you both.” Leslie tried to sidestep Sheila’s obvious interest.
“I’m sure Marnie can find something to keep her busy one night.”
“Leslie,” Dot called from the back.
Relief filled Leslie and she stood up. “Enjoy the rest of your lunch, ladies.”
Once Leslie went back into the kitchen, Marnie started, “What the hell are you doing?”
“Trying to have dinner with a beautiful woman.”
“Leave her alone. You’ll be out of here in a week.”
“Yes, but what a week it could be.” Sheila grinned at Marnie and was not about to give up.
Marnie’s phone began to ring and she answered the call which allowed Sheila the opportunity to continue her conversation with Leslie. “Hi,” she said sticking her head into the kitchen. “Can I speak with you a moment?” Leslie stepped out of the kitchen and Sheila handed her business card to her. “My cellphone number is on there in case you change your mind about having dinner together.”
Leslie looked at the card before sticking it into a pocket of jeans. “Sheila, you seem like a nice woman, but you are leaving soon,” Leslie sighed. “It just wouldn’t work.”
“It’s just dinner, Leslie,” Sheila insisted with a big smile.
“Hey, Buddy,” Marnie said when she answered her phone.
“Hi, Marnie. Do you have time to stop over at the store?”
“Sure. I’ll be there in a few minutes.” Marnie got up from the table after dropping a twenty on the table. She approached Leslie and Sheila. “We’ve got to go,” she said taking Sheila’s arm. “Thanks for lunch, Leslie.” She led Sheila from the restaurant.
“Where are we going?”
“Buddy wants to see me,” Marnie answered, pulling Sheila down the street.
“Buddy?”
“He’s the kid that caused my accident and has been a good source of information on this case.” They headed for the antique store.
The bell dinged as the door opened to the store. Buddy came from the back of the store and greeted Marnie warmly. “Buddy, this is Sheila. She’s working with me on this case.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Buddy,” Sheila said to Buddy’s obvious blush.
“You too,” he responded, shying away from the beautiful woman.
“What have you got for me?” Marnie asked moving closer to him.
“All the kids are meeting at the lake for a candlelight vigil tonight for Jess.”
Marnie turned to Sheila. “That would be a good time to question some people since they’ll all be together.” She smiled at Buddy. “Thank you for the information.”
“Anytime, Marnie.”
They left the store. “Where to now?” Sheila asked as they walked toward her rental car.
“I want to go to the crime scene.” They drove to the woods that backed up to the house where the party took place and got out. “Officer,” she said as she got out of the car wearing her vacation attire of jeans and a sweatshirt. “I’m Marnie Winters and this is my associate Sheila Simmons.”
“I know who you are. You can’t remove anything from the crime scene,” he said giving them both dirty looks.
Marnie nodded and walked to the taped off area. “What are we looking for?” Sheila asked when they were far enough away from the officer.
“Anything that they may have missed. I want to compare the crime scene photos with the area.”
They both walked around looking at the massive amount of footprints that were added to the scene by the officers that were here that night. Marnie studied the crime scene photos while looking down at the ground where the body was. “Look at this, Sheila,” she said pointing at the photo.
“It looks like two different pairs of footprints.” Sheila studied the ground.
“Clearly this print is bigger than the other print near the body. Everyone is thinking that one person did this, but I believe there were two people here.”
“Why didn’t the sheriff see this?” Sheila asked as she continued looking around.
“How many murders do you think this town has handled?” Marnie asked to Sheila’s shrug. “None,” she said firmly. “They have no clue what to do with a crime scene.” Her head shook back and forth. They took their own pictures and then walked away from the crime scene. “Whoever it was couldn’t go back to the party because their clothes would have been covered in blood.” They walked further into the woods before it came back onto the road. “They could have gotten into their car without anyone ever seeing them. By the time the body was found, the party was almost over.”
They turned around and walked back to the crime scene and then walked toward the house looking around very closely. “Marnie, over here,” Sheila called.
“What is it?” Marnie asked as she approached.
“Someone was sick over here. Were there any pictures of this?” Sheila
asked looking at her friend.
“No.” Marnie got down and looked toward the crime scene. “Someone saw what happened,” she said softly as she stood up again.
Sheila nodded in agreement. “Do you want me to take a sample and send it out for DNA?”
“Yes. I’ve got an evidence bag in my case.” They gathered the evidence and Marnie put it in her briefcase. “Now we just have to figure out who was out here when the crime occurred.”
“Yeah, like that is going to be easy,” Sheila said with a firm shake of her head.
“I know that at one point in the evening Steve, Rodney, Ann and Pat were out here with Tom before he left the party without Jess. One or both of those girls could be a witness.”
CHAPTER 8
Marnie and Sheila arrived at the vigil and stood off to the side while the group talked about Jess. On the other side of the crowd, Leslie was standing with her best friend Ashley. “Has Marnie said that she found anything more?” Leslie shook her head. “She’s very pretty and seems like a very nice woman.”
Leslie looked at Ashley. “She is, but she’ll be gone as soon as this is over.”
“Maybe you can give her a reason to stay,” she said softly into her ear.
“Yeah, right. Stay in Georgia or go back to New York City. I’m sure that is going to be a tough choice for her. Ash, please don’t try and play matchmaker when there can’t be a match.”
“How about that investigator?” Ashley asked. “I heard she’s beautiful.”
“She is, and she wanted to take me to dinner,” Leslie admitted.
“When are you going?” Ashley asked now excited for her friend.
“I’m not. She’ll be gone before Marnie. I’m not looking for a brief affair. A very brief affair.”
“Yeah because you have had sex often living in this town,” she said holding back a chuckle.
“What can I say? I want a relationship and not just sex,” Leslie said keeping her voice low so no one else would hear their conversation. That was why she and Patty broke up. She wanted someone to spend the rest of her life with and Patty didn’t want that.
The service was over and the crowd began to separate. Sheila and Marnie went into action trying to find the people they wanted to speak with. Marnie watched as a girl approached Leslie. “I’m glad Tom is out of jail,” Ann said to Leslie.
