If the Coffin Fits

by Lillian Bell

  “We’re not figuring anything out. We’re dropping this.”

  “Please, Nate. I might have figured out how to make it all end. I’ll be a whole lot safer if the person who shot at me is in jail. My family will be better off, too. Everyone will know I’m not some crazy weirdo randomly accusing people of murder.”

  “Tell me and I’ll look and then I’ll tell you.”

  “No.” That was not going to fly. I was not going to get cut out of the last few steps of this.

  He made a funny noise. “Fine. I’ll come over.”

  “No.” I didn’t want Donna to see any of this.

  “Fine. Meet me at Tappiano’s in an hour.”

  Before I left, I went into the folder that had the photos Donna had used to make the slideshow for Frank Fiore’s memorial service. I found a few that showed what I wanted and printed them out.

  “Wanna go get a drink?” I asked Orion. He stood up, wagged his tail, and barked. I took it as a yes. I got his leash and a jacket for me, checked in with Donna, and left and got as far as the foot of the driveway when Jasmine pulled in.

  “Where are you going?” she asked.

  “Tappiano’s to meet Nate.”

  “Get in.” She clicked the unlock button. We got in and I sat up straight all the way past the corn maze. Screw fear.

  We found Nate, sitting with a folder in front of him, looking uneasy. Orion walked up to him, cocked his head to one side, and did that thing where he rested his head on someone’s lap. Nate’s hand fell to Orion’s ears giving them a thorough scratch and somehow his shoulders relaxed, lowering away from his ears. The dog was a natural. We were going to rock that puppy training. Nate was already more relaxed. Add another glass of wine to the mix and he’d be fine. He’d see that it was better this way. It was better, wasn’t it?

  “So you just want to see her hands and face?” he asked.

  “I have no desire to see her kidneys or her liver or anything else like that,” I confirmed.

  “Ew,” Jasmine said. “Who would?”

  “You’d be surprised.” Nate opened the folder and sorted through. He pulled out a couple of photos and set them down in front of me. I saw what I’d expected. I pulled the photos of Frank Fiore out and put them side by side with Violet’s.

  Nate looked at them. “I’m not sure I get it. I mean, there’s a slight resemblance, but not enough to really be remarkable.”

  “Look at their chins.” I put my finger on Frank’s cleft and then on Violet’s.

  I watched as understanding dawned on Nate. It was written all over his face. “A cleft chin is passed down genetically.”

  Then I found the photo of Violet’s left hand. It was a little trickier with Frank. Nobody had taken a photo just of his hands. I’d needed to find one that I could magnify so his hands could be seen better, but I had eventually found one. I placed those next to each other.

  Nate nodded. “The crooked pinky.”

  “Daisy has the same crooked pinky and Iris has the cleft chin.” I looked up at him.

  Then I took the photo I’d found on the counter at Violet’s house, the photo of Frank with another woman. I tapped the other woman. “I’m pretty sure that’s Violet’s mother.”

  “What would that mean?” Jasmine asked.

  “I think Violet was Frank Fiore’s daughter and she figured it all out after finding out she had relatives in Verbena from her Helix Helper account.” Then she’d moved here and done something in her conniving way that had made someone kill her.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa. You’re making my head spin here.” He grabbed his head as if it really might go flying off.

  “Imagine how much it would have made Violet’s head spin! Or worse yet, imagine how it would have made Iris and Daisy’s heads spin.”

  He shook his head. “To suddenly find out you had a half sister. Must have been mind-blowing.”

  “It may have blown more than that. It may have blown all of Iris’s plans for the future. Everyone says they were running through Frank’s money pretty quickly and Iris needs that money to send Rose to school.” I paused.

  I was fairly certain that Iris and Daisy had had no idea at all that they had another sister. Violet’s sudden intrusion into their life must have been shocking. What would it feel like to suddenly find out your father had that big of a secret? I had a sick feeling that I might be about to find that out myself. There was that little girl in the photo. There was the way Dad was smiling at her. I sat back in my chair.

  “What?” Nate asked.

  I shook my head, not quite ready to say what I was thinking out loud. What if that was exactly the kind of secret that my father had? Iris and Daisy had had no idea. What if I didn’t have any idea either? Everyone’s argument against my father having faked his own death was that he would never leave his daughters. What if there were other daughters? What if the little girl in that photo was my half sister? What if he’d kept a relationship secret from us the same way Uncle Joey had tried to do? They were so much alike. Maybe those instincts would be the same. Donna and I had been in really good places when he disappeared. It had all gone to hell in a handbasket, but there wouldn’t have been any way for him to know what was going to happen. Then maybe once it all hit the fan, he felt bad about leaving us and left us those notes and those little gifts.

  Maybe there would be some little check marks in the possible relative columns on a Helix Helper report if I did one. Maybe there would be half sisters or brothers that Donna and I knew nothing about.

  “So you think Iris or Daisy killed Violet so they wouldn’t have to share Frank’s estate?” Nate asked.

  I snapped back to the present. “That’s exactly what I think. Frank was diabetic, right?”

  Nate nodded.

  “Iris was the one taking care of him. She probably gave him his insulin all the time. She’d know how to do it. But wouldn’t Violet notice?” I chewed my lip.

  Nate shook his head. “The needle mark was in the middle of her back. Those needles are tiny and thin. She might barely notice if someone who’s really experienced gave her the shot. I saw one of the nurses give one to a woman so quickly that the woman didn’t even know she’d done it. If Violet did feel it, it would only be for a second or two. Like a little bee sting.”

  Bee stings. I sat up straight. “The gym! The lavender and sage bushes in front are covered with bees right now. What if Iris told Violet there was a bee on her? Or something like that? Then popped that syringe in there when she patted her on the back or gave her a hug.”

  Nate nodded slowly. “That was the last place Violet was before she crashed her car.”

  “What are the early signs of an insulin overdose again?” I asked.

  He began counting them off on his fingers. “Shortness of breath, sweating—”

  I cut him off right there. “Laverne said that Violet was sweating way more than usual when she saw her getting into her car in the parking lot. More than she’d been sweating in class.”

  “So what are you going to do? See if anybody saw Iris with Violet in the parking lot?” he asked.

  “I can definitely ask the Zumba instructor. I know she saw Violet around then.” I chewed on my lip and then remember something I’d learned when I was figuring out who killed Alan Brewer. “We can also see if the gym has a security camera in their parking lot. You know what this means, though, right?” I couldn’t help the smile that quirked at the corner of my lips.

  “That Iris might have killed Violet. That’s what we’ve been talking about, right?” Jasmine said.

  “Yes, but what does that mean?” I prompted.

  She shook her head. “I’m not sure I’m following.”

  I stood up. “It means I was right. There was something wrong about Iris. Nobody believed me. Everybody said I was making things up, but I was right.”

  “Oh, for Pete’s sake, Desiree. Is that what’s really important about all this? You being right?” Nate said.

  I kicked at the gro
und with my toe. “It’s not the number one most important thing, but it’s up there in the top five. Especially since it almost cost my family their business.”

  “Go see if you can find that security footage. Then we’ll know for sure,” Nate said.

  “I have a few other things to check out first,” I said. I took a few steps away from the table and called Janet Provost, best lawyer and baker in town. “Can somebody see someone else’s will?”

  “Before that person dies? No.”

  “How about after?” I asked.

  “After the death, they become public documents.”

  That was good. That could help solidify my thoughts. “So how would I go about seeing somebody’s will?”

  There was a hesitation on the other end. “Whose will do you want to see, Desiree?”

  “Frank Fiore’s.”

  “Frank’s? Why?”

  “Do I have to tell you?”

  There was another pause. Janet owed me. I’d been the one to exonerate her client of murder charges, after all. Plus, she liked me. “Give me an hour.”

  My next stop was still not the gym, however. “I need to go over to the Free Press,” I told Jasmine and Nate.

  They exchanged a glance. “I’ll walk with you,” Jasmine said. “It’s on the way to my office.”

  It wasn’t really, but it wasn’t like I didn’t want the company. We said good-bye at the doorway to the Verbena Free Press office and I went inside. Vern was behind the counter. I pulled up the calendar on my phone. “Can I see the paper from October fourth?” I asked him.

  “Sure.” He hit a few buttons on his computer and then motioned for me to come around and look. I saw exactly what I expected to see. Front page news about Violet’s death. Practically everyone in town got news alerts and read the Free Press. Iris and Daisy wouldn’t have had to, though. I’d put a copy of the newspaper on the coffee table in the Lilac Room before they got there. It’s what they were probably looking at when I’d gone to get Iris a glass of water. It was what had prompted Daisy to ask Iris what she had done.

  “Can you search for an article on Rose Fiore winning the science fair?” I asked.

  “Sure.” It was a matter of seconds and he had that article up, too. As I thought, it was on genetics. She’d had her personal DNA run and had used that as the basis for her presentation. “Thanks, Vern,” I said.

  Rafe came in just as I was getting ready to leave. “Desiree, what are you up to?”

  “Solving Violet Daugherty’s murder,” I said, unable to keep the grin off my face.

  “Ooh. Can I tag along?” he asked, his grin matching my own.

  “Even better than that. You can drive.”

  *

  Verbena Fitness did have a security camera. I spotted it the second I got out of my car and started looking around in the parking lot. In fact, they had two. One on each end of the lot.

  Ty was at the front desk again. “We put those in about a year ago. We had problems with cars being broken into while people were working out. Mainly those real early birds, you know? Especially in the winter when it’s still dark.”

  “That’s great,” I said, clapping my hands.

  He gave me a funny look.

  “Not that cars were being broken into, but that you have the cameras. Could I see the film from October second?” I asked.

  He gave me an even funnier look. “No.”

  I stepped back. That hadn’t been the answer I’d expected. I thought we were friends now. “Why not?”

  “Why should I?” He crossed his arms making his already big biceps bulge. I wondered if that was supposed to intimidate me.

  “Because we’re trying to figure out what happened to one of your members.” Rafe pointed to the sign over the desk. “Safety is your number one concern.”

  Ty turned and looked at the sign as if he’d never seen it before. “I only have your word saying that’s why you need it. We have to think of our members’ privacy, too.”

  “I’m not going to violate anyone’s privacy.” Except maybe a very clever murderer’s, but he didn’t have to know that.

  He shook his head. “If you want to see the footage from that day, you better come back with some kind of official paper. A court order or a search warrant or something.”

  I bit my lip. That could take days, especially with Luke blocking me at every turn. “How long do you keep the footage?”

  “Two weeks.”

  It was already October fifteenth. Iris died on October second. I didn’t have much time. Getting a court order or a search warrant could take days. The footage would be gone. I tried to think of some way to get this kid to do what I needed him to do.

  “What happened to your arm?” he asked, leaning over the counter to look at my bandage.

  Maybe I could impress him with the gravity of the situation. “Someone shot at me when I was in my car. I got hit with the flying glass.” I edged closer.

  The kid reared back. “Was Orion in the car with you?”

  “He was. It’s just luck that he didn’t get hit, too,” I said, trying to gauge his reaction.

  “Who would do that? Who would put a cute dog like that at risk?”

  Rafe said, “Someone very evil. Someone very bad. Someone who might be on the security footage from your parking lot on October second.”

  The kid looked at us for a long time. Then he grabbed a microphone on the desk and hit a couple of buttons. The intercom clicked on. “Lakeisha to the front desk. Lakeisha please.” He clicked the microphone off then turned to me. “As soon as Lakeisha gets here, we’ll go look at that footage. No dog shooters are working out at this club on my watch.”

  Apparently it was okay to shoot at me, but not my dog. I decided not to get huffy about it since I was getting what I wanted. A few minutes later we were all in the back office of the gym. I leaned over Ty as he brought up the security footage for October second on the computer. We watched as Violet arrived at the gym and went inside. Iris arrived a few minutes later, but she didn’t go into the gym. She got out of her car and sat down with her purse by the lavender bushes. She stayed there for over an hour.

  Then we watched as Violet came out of the gym and walked toward her car. Iris stood up and approached her. The two women stood and talked. Then they hugged. Iris’s arms went around Violet. Her hands were at Violet’s back.

  “There!” I said, pointing. “That has to be it. That has to be when she gave her the insulin.”

  The tape kept rolling. Iris walked away from Violet and got into her own car and drove away. Violet started to walk toward her car, too, but she stumbled as if her knees had suddenly gone weak. She pulled a water bottle from her gym bag and took a sip. Then Laverne Cason came out, spoke for a moment to Violet, and then she left as well. Violet made it to her car, got in, and pulled out of the parking lot, the car weaving a bit as she did.

  “Is that the proof you need?” Ty asked.

  “I’m not sure.” In the video, you couldn’t see any needle. All you saw was Iris hugging Violet, then walking away. I knew there was a syringe there. I was sure of it. I wasn’t sure a jury would see it, though. I felt fairly certain I knew why it happened and how. Now I just had to prove it.

  Think, Desiree. Think. What would prove it? Getting the syringe with Iris’s fingerprints and Violet’s DNA would be a clincher. What would have happened to that syringe? The one Iris used to inject the insulin into Violet? Iris would have had to have disposed of it someplace. I couldn’t imagine her throwing it in any old trash can or into the storm sewer. The hospice nurse had described her as fastidious.

  I gave Ty a hug. “Thanks, man. I really appreciate it.”

  “No problem,” he said.

  We walked out of the gym. “Where now?” Rafe asked.

  “Janet Provost’s house.”

  Twenty minutes later, we were tucked into the kitchen nook of Janet Provost’s house with a plate of cookies in front of us.

  “Have one,” she pushed
the plate at us. “They’re oatmeal chocolate chip. I figure the oatmeal makes them healthy.”

  I bit into one. I could taste the butter. It wouldn’t matter how much oatmeal there was. These would never be healthy by anyone’s definition. They were, however, delicious. I took another one from the platter and put it on the napkin in front of me. “Did you get the will?” I asked through the crumbs.

  She nodded and pulled the papers out of a file. “Here. Do you know what you’re looking for?”

  “Not exactly, but I’m pretty sure I’ll know it when I see it.”

  It didn’t take me long to find it. Frank Fiore’s will read to divide his estate equally between his daughters. It didn’t list them by name. It just said daughters.

  I tapped the phrase with my finger. “What would happen if a daughter showed up that no one knew about?” I asked.

  “If she showed up before he died, she’d get one-third of the estate, but Desiree.” Janet took a cookie, too. “Frank’s estate was not that big. It’s not like it was something to kill over. He’d chewed through a lot of it these last years while he was ill. Home health care costs a bundle even if most of it’s being supplied by your daughter.”

  “I think that might be exactly the point.” Frank’s fortunes were dwindling. One half of something was way more than one third of it. Iris had sacrificed her best earning years to taking care of her father. Now she needed that money for Rose to go to a fancy college. “What would happen if the surprise daughter died before the father died?”

  “Then the remaining two daughters would split the estate.”

  That had been precisely what I thought.

  *

  I was convinced we’d seen Iris administer the dose of insulin that would send Violet into a diabetic coma and into a state that would make it likely that she would have a seizure as she was driving. The problem was how to convince other people of it. Maybe if we could find the murder weapon, we would have enough evidence. “What would Iris have done with that syringe after she’d used it on Violet?” I asked Rafe.

  He shrugged. “I’m not sure. Throw it in the trash?”

  I shuddered. That sounded nasty. Plus, someone could notice it. It might lead people to start asking questions. I didn’t think Iris liked people asking questions. Someone had started rumors about Turner Family Funeral Home and I was pretty certain that someone was Iris. Who else would have known about that conversation I’d had with her and have spread it around? No way was it Nate. Whether she’d done it to punish me for asking questions or to discredit me to keep people from listening to me was immaterial. Maybe it was both. Besides, what had the hospice nurse at Frank’s funeral said about Iris? She’d talked about how careful and conscientious she was.