by Lotta Smith
“Look at her, Mandy.” Rick chuckled. “She’s like an angel when she’s sleeping.”
“I know,” Jackie and I said in unison.
“Um… Ms. Rowling?” Shannon called to me. For some reason I couldn’t quite fathom, she sounded unsure.
“Oh, yes. I’m coming.” I smiled at her, and then I looked back at Rick. “Let me talk some more with Shannon, okay? She doesn’t recall if she saw the killer’s face, but we’re diving into her memory.”
“Good.” He nodded. “I’ll give you some privacy now that our princess is happily asleep.”
I went back to Shannon. “Sorry for keeping you waiting.”
“Oh, no. Not at all. Well, can I ask you something?” She tilted her head.
“Sure. Go ahead.” I smiled. She was interacting with me, and I found it a good sign.
“Well, I don’t usually ask my clients for their gender…but are you a female?” she asked hesitantly.
My eyes widened. I thought, Oh my God, do I look like a guy? Is anything wrong with my hormones? but the words failed to come out of me.
“Of course, she’s a girl,” Jackie chimed in while I opened my mouth and shut it like a total idiot. “In case you haven’t noticed, Mandy is the birth and legal mom of Sophie, which makes her a hundred percent woman.”
“Oh, really?” Shannon clapped her hands in front of her face and looked at me. “You know, I didn’t mean you looked like a guy. This salon deals exclusively with male clients, and that’s why I assumed you must be a guy.”
“Oh, in that case, I don’t look like a guy?” I muttered, sounding like a question than a statement.
“Of course not. At first, I thought you look much more feminine than typical clients of mine,” Shannon went on matter-of-factly. “The truth is, it’s often hard to tell each client’s gender just from the looks.”
“I can imagine that.” I glanced at Jackie, thinking perhaps some of Shannon’s clientele were in showbiz or something, and their looks could be deceiving in terms of gender.
As for Shannon, she was practically staring at Jackie with super keen eyes.
“Hi there! I’m Jackie, Mandy’s guardian angel. Nice to meet you!” In her signature perky tone, she introduced herself.
“Hi. I’m Shannon, an esthetician here at Cordelia Spa. It looks like I’m newly dead,” Shannon replied. “Jackie, I see you’re floating. How do you do that?”
Jackie tilted her head. “Well, it’s hard to tell. I’ve been floating around for years, and I don’t know how I started doing this. You know, I’ve been a ghost for years. Perhaps, you’ll be able to master the art of floating as you get used to being dead.”
“I see. That’s interesting.” Shannon nodded, and she sounded actually interested in floating. “It’s like Peter Pan. You can fly! You can fly!”
“I know.” Jackie gave her a thumbs-up.
I cleared my throat. “Shannon, what were you doing here in the locker room when you were beaten?”
“I’m guessing I was checking everything in this place was in order,” she replied. “I usually visited here while my client was soaking in germanium-enhanced detox bath—typically, fifteen minutes. And, we have the robes for the body massage course in the right-side locker here…” She reached for one of the metal doors and sucked in air. Her hands went through the door, without grabbing the door. “What the—” She stared at her hands.
“No worries, Shannon.” Jackie flew over to her side, patting her shoulder. “When you’re a ghost like me, you can’t touch stuff and living persons like you used to when you were alive. Still, we have so many things living people can’t do.”
“Such as?” Shannon furrowed her eyebrows.
“Well, spying on murder suspects without getting caught, for one thing,” Jackie said proudly. “Also, Sophie loves it when I disappear and reappear whenever we’re playing peek-a-boo.”
“Oh, okay.” Shannon shrugged. “Unfortunately, I don’t know kids who’d enjoy playing peek-a-boo with a ghostly auntie.”
I caught the slightest hint of sadness in her tone. In an attempt to steer the conversation into a different direction, I said, “Now, let me open the locker for you.” I opened the door. Good thing I’d already put on a pair of plastic gloves so as not to contaminate the crime scene with my fingerprints. Also, I wasn’t keen on touching the surfaces—where total strangers would have definitely touched—with my bare hands.
Inside, the locker was divided in multiple layers with metal boards.
“The bottom area is for shoe storage. Here’s the shelf for storing the client’s street clothes,” Shannon explained, indicating each shelf. “And, here’s a clean spa robe ready to be worn.”
“Okay.” Jackie nodded and pointed at something looking like a package of paper napkins. “These are disposable slippers, right? What’s that white stuff sitting over the robe?”
“That’s a disposable brief,” Shannon replied matter-of-factly. “Sauna and detoxing bath are included in our package, and you tend to sweat a lot following those services. So, we ask our clients to change into a disposable brief so the client doesn’t end up stuck in sweaty underwear.”
“I see.” I nodded.
“Mandy, can you pick it up and unfold it, pretty please?” Jackie fluttered her hands excitedly.
I looked at Shannon, who nodded okay. So, I picked it up, showing the unfolded paper brief. “Hmm, it’s like a diaper for adults.” I glanced at Jackie, who couldn’t stop giggling. “What’s so funny?”
“Oh, no. Nothing. I just couldn’t help imagining Brian in it and nothing else.” Jackie expanded her arms as if she was striking a pose in a photo op.
“Hey.” I tried to produce a chiding tone, but failed to do so. We’d known Brian as a towering exorcist dressed in black from head to toe, and he was slightly scary if you didn’t know him, and the vision of him in a diaper-like brief was…well, funny.
“Hello? You’re trying your best not to laugh yourself, Mandy,” Jackie pointed out. “Oh my God, I’m so glad Fiona’s not here with us. She wouldn’t like it if she saw us giggling as we envision him almost naked.”
“Oh, yes.” I nodded. Fiona Edenfeld, my BFF from college, was working as Brian’s secretary. They were not just business partners. Actually, they were dating and living together at Brian’s luxe condo in Chelsea.
“Okay, then. We’ve got to prove his innocence.” Jackie pumped up her fists, looking so full of motivation. “As a cupid, I can’t leave Brian falsely accused of a murder he never committed.”
I was tempted to roll my eyes at her, but I didn’t. In my opinion, Brian and Fiona clicked on their first encounter, but Jackie really loved to regard herself as a cupid.
Jackie turned to Shannon. “So, Shannon, you were checking the locker to see the spa set is all ready to be used, right?”
“I believe so.” Shannon nodded. “Darrel Murphy, a newbie assistant esthetician, is actually in charge of setting up everything in order, but his performance is shaky, you know. Seriously, he doesn’t know how to fold the spa robe neatly. And, on top of all that, he occasionally forgets to place the disposable brief with the robe. So, I made a habit of checking out the lockers on a daily basis.” She shook her head and crossed her arms.
“I see.” I observed the locker. The spa robe was placed on the lower part. If she was to refold it, she’d have to bend down.
In an attempt to simulate her moves, I crouched to the floor. In that position, the locker’s door was on the right side of my face, and it would have conveniently covered my sight. So, while she was in that position, anyone could have snuck into the room without her noticing—especially if that person was stealthy. Even if the killer wasn’t that discreet, she wouldn’t have seen his or her face.
I stood up, determined to ask something different. “Shannon, can you think of anyone who could have killed you? Say, anyone who might have held a grudge against you? Or, any troubles—concerning a personal relationship or financial?”
“No. Not at all,” she immediately responded, biting her lower lip. “I have no idea why anyone wanted me dead.”
“I know.” Jackie made some sympathetic noises as she patted Shannon’s hand. “When I was killed, I didn’t know why and how anyone could have done that to me. But rest assured, you have Mandy and her husband, Rick. I’m here for you, too. Look, we’re so going to find your killer.”
“Thanks.” Shannon managed to put on a weak smile.
“Well, you were going to start working with a new workplace, right?” I asked. Detective Rogers had told us about this on the way from the precinct, but I thought it would be better to hear that in her own voice.
“Right. I was going to leave this spa by the end of this month.”
“According to the sources, some of your colleagues weren’t happy about your plan.” I regurgitated my knowledge.
Shannon was the top esthetician and responsible for the most sales at Cordelia Spa—indeed, more than seventy percent of the spa’s earning came from her. Of course, the bigger fishes in the market didn’t let her swim without luring her into their side of the water with a sweet deal. L’Etoile, the largest spa franchise in the beauty industry, headhunted her, and she took the offer. Not only was she quitting Cordelia Spa on a last-minute basis, she was taking all of her clients to her new workplace. Kevin Richards, Cordelia’s owner, was furious, and other estheticians weren’t thrilled about Shannon’s move.
“Seriously?” She chuckled as I provided her what little info I had. “In this industry, it’s absolutely common to keep on hopping spas, brushing up your skills as an esthetician. If people started killing off people for such an absurd reason, Manhattan will be literally covered by dead bodies in no time. Ask any estheticians, hairdressers, and cooks with outstanding skills, they’ll say the same thing as me—this, I can guarantee.”
“Oh, I see,” I muttered, slightly taken aback by her confidence and the total lack of sentiment.
“That’s interesting,” Jackie mumbled.
Shannon smiled. “Also, they were appointing me as the manager in my new workplace, not to mention a pay raise of over twenty grand. In my opinion, whoever says no to such a sweet deal is crazy.”
“Oh, yeah. I’d move to that spa if I were in your shoes,” Jackie interjected. “Then again, some of your colleagues might have been super jealous.”
“I don’t think so.” Shannon tilted her head. “Some people could have been envious, but I doubt anyone would have hard feelings toward me. After all, I’d proven that it’s possible for anyone to climb up the hierarchy in the beauty industry. Everybody must have been thanking me for showing them the way to go.”
Jackie whispered into my ear. “She reminds me of a certain diva actress I used to know when I was a Broadway actor.”
“Okay, then. How about your clients?” I said. “Some of your clients are on the verge of bankruptcy due to loans to purchase pricey beauty machines, right?”
“Oh, really? I didn’t know that. If that was the case, it’s their problem and not mine. They’re all consenting adults, and I never threatened them at gunpoint, demanding they buy the machines.” Shannon shrugged casually.
“Hmm, that’s a good point,” Jackie said flatly.
“I know,” Shannon continued. “Even if they’d ended up emptying their bank accounts, I don’t see much of an issue. All’s well if they turned out to look better. You know what? Everything has a price, and beauty doesn’t come cheap.”
“I understand,” I said, wondering how much I’d be willing to pay for getting rid of my baby weight.
“Thank you for being so understanding.” She smiled gracefully before I concluded how much money I was willing to pay for slimming my plump figure. “Personally, I’d be delighted if my clients invest in themselves so much to the point of going bankrupt. Being an esthetician, helping them make themselves more beautiful is my mission.”
“Oh… I can see you were very devoted to what you did,” I mumbled.
“Yes, I was.” Shannon nodded earnestly. “I had to earn good money to support my family.”
“Oh, what a shame.” Jackie made sympathetic noises. “You family must be devastated.”
“I hope so.” She tilted her head. “I’m not sure if Fluffy, my beautiful Doberman, would understand my death.”
“Pardon me?” My eyes widened. “I thought you were talking about your human family members.”
“Oh…” A corner of her lips quirked up into a lopsided grin. “Don’t get me wrong. I was on good terms with my parents and little sister.” Then she sucked in air. “Ms. Rowling, can I ask you for a favor?”
“Yes? What kind of a favor?” I leaned in. Maybe I could find some kind of a clue in her words.
“I need you to tell Kevin to let my sister Avery know that I’m dead.” Her face was serious as she looked at me with her big blue eyes, and her tone was more than serious. She sounded almost pleading. “Good thing Avery and I were always close. She lives in New Jersey, and she should be able to adopt my Fluffy. I can’t let her go to the animal shelter with a potentially grim future of being euthanized. No way. I’ve spent a fortune to keep her fur coat shiny and beautiful, I can never rest in peace if something bad is bound to happen to my Fluffy.”
“Rest assured, Shannon. I’ll make sure Kevin notified your sister Avery,” I told her, deciding not to invest in getting thin. I wasn’t stick thin, and I’d never been so. Then again, even if I’d managed to shed a lot of weight—not a ton of weight, as I wasn’t as heavy as a U-Haul truck—that wouldn’t make me a supermodel. Besides that, I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of my body fat turning into a super luxe lifestyle for Fluffy the doggy. Oh, no. No, thank you.
Jackie was floating behind Shannon, and she shook her head as if she was saying “Some people are really impossible to understand.”
“Thank you so much,” Shannon said earnestly.
“No problem,” I assured her. “So, you’re sure your death has nothing to do with personal conflicts or financial issues, am I correct?”
“Yes.” She nodded. “Look, valuables are stored in the locker room, so I must have bumped into a petty thief who’d snuck in or something like that. Yes, I must have been in the wrong place at the wrong time. That must be it.”
“Hmm…” I furrowed my eyebrows. “According to the detective, nothing seems to have been stolen. Were any of your belongings you had on yourself stolen? Say, your wallet or accessories?”
“Well, I wasn’t carrying my wallet as I usually store it in my locker in the back. As for the accessories, all I had on were pierced earrings,” she replied.
“Okay, let me check about that.” I went out into the corridor, where Detective Rogers was listening in. As for Rick, he was busy rocking Sophie’s stroller. I asked the detective about the earrings.
“Were they stolen?” Shannon asked me when I went back inside.
“No.” I shook my head. “The police found the earrings intact and attached to you.”
“Oh, were they?” She furrowed her eyebrows skeptically. “If that’s the case, maybe my theory about a robbery gone bad could be wrong.”
“At least, the police seem to believe so,” I said. “Shannon, can you think about your potential killer, please?”
“Oh, yes,” Jackie chimed in. “You could have had something like a tangled romantic relationship.”
Shannon shook her head. “Oh, no. Not at—” Stopping in midsentence, she widened her eyes dramatically. “Oh my goodness…”
“Did you recall something?” I leaned in, excited.
“Well, kind of…” She lowered her voice—even though only Jackie and I could hear her. Brian was in the spa, but he was kept far out of an ordinary person’s earshot.
“What’s that?” Jackie went closer to her.
“Whoever killed me could have done that to silence me for good,” Shannon said with a serious face.
“You mean, you happened to have come across someone’
s secret? That’s why you were killed?” I asked, trying to figure out if she was joking or serious. Oh, yes. She was serious. After all, I’d never seen her cracking a joke.
“That’s highly likely, I guess,” Jackie agreed earnestly. “Say, the hairdressers are the people who have access to ninety-nine percent of the world’s biggest secrets. I believe it’s about the same with the estheticians.”
“Yes.” Shannon nodded. “I happened to have come across someone’s secret.”
“Seriously?” Jackie, the ghost who never missed a piece of juicy gossip, perked up. “Whose secret did you stumble on? And what was the secret which was so important to kill you?”
“I can’t disclose this information, I’m afraid,” Shannon told Jackie, and she seemed to be enjoying keeping whatever secret all to herself.
CHAPTER 6
Jackie and I excused ourselves and went out of the locker room. When we went out into the corridor, Rick and Sophie were no longer there.
“Look over there, Mandy. Rick’s on that cushy sofa with Sophie. Hey!” Jackie waved at them, even though Rick couldn’t see or hear her. Still, Sophie responded by waving her arms, saying, “Mo-mmy! Jackie!” prompting him to look in our direction and stand up.
“Hi, Mandy. You look exhausted. Have a seat.” He took my hand, escorting me to the sofa. “Want something to drink?”
“Thanks.” I squeezed his hand. “A cup of tea will be nice.”
“Sure. I’ll be back in a minute.”
“Mo-mmy! Cookie!” Sophie, who was munching on a piece of cookie, broke it into two and offered me one.
“Wow, darling! Are you giving me this? Thank you so very much!” Patting her cheek and thanking her, I gladly accepted this special piece of cookie I’d previously baked. I was hungry and thirsty, so I immediately popped that into my mouth.
“Ooh, Sophie, darling. You’re such a sweet girl to share your cookie with Mommy.” Jackie cooed, prompting Sophie to giggle.
“Yummy?” Sophie looked me expectantly.
