My Wicked Valentine

by Lotta Smith

  “Oh…” I fumbled with my words as I had a hard time coming up with an appropriate response.

  “We’ll be back later, Shannon,” Jackie interjected. “Let’s go.”

  * * *

  When we went to the reception area, Rick was coming out of the office.

  “Hey.” He came to us. “How was Shannon’s reaction?”

  “She didn’t recall or care about Kevin’s weight changes,” I replied. “She tried to sell me some kind of supplements.”

  “Seriously?” He shook her head. “You wanna be careful as some of those so-called supplements are toxic.”

  “I know.” I nodded.

  “Oh, did I mention you’re pretty enough without weird supplements and procedures?” He kissed my forehead.

  “Swoon!” Jackie placed her palms on her cheeks as she danced, and I caught Sophie offering her bunny to her—as if to say “If you want someone to kiss, you can kiss her.”

  Rick took us to the back, briefing us about the next interviewee, Denise Bennett, the chief esthetician. She was one of the people who found Shannon dead in the locker room.

  “Before finding the victim in the locker room, she was performing a hair removal procedure on her client Ken Blanchett,” Rick informed us.

  “Which means her alibi is solid, right?” I asked. If I recalled that right, the hair removal procedure wasn’t something where the machine did everything automatically. As for the client, I could easily imagine it to be almost impossible to leave the treatment room and whack Shannon in the locker room while being wired to the machine.

  “Almost. Except Denise left the treatment room for ten minutes.”

  “Why is that?” Jackie asked, and I relayed her words to him.

  “Well, according to her, it’s protocol to have ten minutes of a cooling-down phase after the hairs had been electrocuted. So, her client was having his hairless skin pampered with lotion pack. In the meanwhile, Denise went to check out the sauna room to see if everything was in perfect condition for her next client,” Rick explained. “She didn’t come across anyone on her way to and from the sauna room.”

  “I see. Nobody to solidify her alibi for the ten minutes lapse.” I nodded. “What time was this ten-minute lapse?”

  “About eleven thirty to forty. Interestingly, there’s a storage room adjacent to the sauna room where items such as the towels, lotions, and a smorgasbord of oils are kept.” Rick went on.

  “If that’s the case, she could have caught something like Shannon talking to her assailant or something like that. What about that?” I asked.

  “No, she didn’t. She didn’t hear anything like voices or other noises.” He shook his head. “But speaking of voices, she heard Brian talking about Super Bowl or something like that.”

  “Uh-huh. If Denise is telling the truth, Brian’s alibi becomes solid.”

  Jackie agreed with me. “Oh, yes. I have a hunch we’re getting close to the truth.”

  Sophie looked at us, offering a wide grin.

  “Wow, Sophie, darling. You think so, too?” Jackie asked, and Sophie nodded.

  “Hey, Sophie. Tell Daddy what’s making you so happy.” Rick scooped her up.

  “Jackie said she feels we’re getting close to the truth, and she’s smiling,” I informed him.

  “Wow, how cool is that?” When he was cooing at Sophie, the office door opened, and Detective Rogers came out, followed by Denise.

  “We’re visiting the locker room once again to help revive Ms. Bennett’s memory,” the detective announced.

  “Alrighty. We’re going back to the locker room again.” Jackie shrugged.

  Compared to Shannon, Denise was more soft spoken and seemed less aggressive. When we reached the locker room, she froze on the spot, unable to touch the door.

  “You came here with your client Mr. Blanchett, leading him to the locker room, am I correct?” Detective Rogers asked.

  “Yes. That’s correct.” Denise nodded, looking pale and traumatized. “His session had ended, and he was about to change into his street clothes and leave here.”

  “And, you found the victim,” Rick interjected.

  “Yes. When I opened the door, Shannon was lying on the floor…and it was like a blood bath…” She took a deep breath. Her hand twitched as if she was going to open the door but hesitated to touch the doorknob.

  “Okay.” Detective Rogers opened the door for her.

  “Thank you,” Denise mumbled and took a step inside.

  “Hi, Denise.” Shannon waved at her. You look pale. Is everything okay?”

  Denise didn’t wave back as she didn’t notice her deceased colleague’s presence in that room. Instead, Sophie waved at her from the stroller, prompting the ghost to smile.

  “How did Mr. Blanchett react when you opened the door?”

  When Detective Rogers asked, Denise shook her head. “I couldn’t see him at all. He was standing behind me.”

  “Can you think of anyone who might have detested Shannon? Or someone who had grudges against her?” Detective Rogers asked.

  “Excuse me?” Shannon narrowed her eyes. “Don’t you think that’s a harsh question to ask in front of me? Getting murdered is bad enough. Dissing me in front of me takes the word offending to a whole new level! It’s… it’s…it’s like a second rape! Not that I was raped, but I’ve heard about somebody saying something like rape is equivalent to a murder of the soul!”

  “Oh, Shannon… It’s just a routine question the cops ask everyone, you know.” Jackie patted the newly dead woman on the back. “I know this sucks, but it’s an essential procedure to catch your killer and for justice to be served. Look, I’d been dead for years before, but Mandy and Rick found my killer. Also, we’ve worked with Detective Rogers before, and I guarantee she’s good. Seriously, you’re in good hands.”

  “Hmm, if you say so…” Looking not entirely convinced, Shannon nodded.

  “Ms. Bennett, we’d really appreciate your thoughts. Whatever you tell us in this room stays here forever,” Rick spoke up, and Denise nodded. He went on. “Did you know that the victim had been headhunted to start working for this high-end place named Spa de la Mer?”

  “Yes, I did. Kevin told me about her new gig.” There was something undeniably bitter in her tone. “I have no idea if she’d been actually headhunted. She could have sold herself to the new employer.”

  “You mean, she could have self-promoted herself to the new salon?” Rick tilted his head.

  “Yes,” Denise said coolly. “She was a total genius when it came to selling—including herself.”

  When I glanced at Shannon, she was listening in with a hint of a small smile on her lips.

  “Speaking of selling stuff, it seemed that some of the clients were in debt up to their eyeballs, no thanks to the victim’s genius in sales,” Rick said casually.

  “Oh, yes. That’s correct.” Denise nodded with a hint of disgust on her face. “Personally, I often felt she was going too far, but I kept that opinion to myself. As the head esthetician, I couldn’t just tell her to quit selling so much.”

  “Have you ever had disagreements with Ms. Kavanaugh regarding her aggressive sales style?” Rick asked, still keeping his tone calm.

  “Pardon me?” Denise’s face froze. “Are you implying that I could be the killer?”

  “As a matter of fact, we regard all of you as the potential killer,” Detective Rogers interjected.

  “Oh…okay.” Denise let out a small sigh and looked at the detective and then at Rick. “Just for the record, I didn’t kill her, okay? She was going to leave this spa for good in a matter of weeks. Why bother killing off someone who’s going to be out of my sight pretty soon?”

  “Hmm, that’s a good point, I guess,” Jackie commented by my side.

  “So true,” Shannon agreed. “My colleagues and I might have had differences, but it’s easier for them to just let me go, rather than killing me off. Especially considering that I was still at the spa, whoever
killed me had risked himself or herself to be caught. I mean, if someone really wanted to kill me, the person could have done that outside of the spa. Say, pushing me off the platform of the subway station or toward one of the trucks speeding through one of those busy intersections—if the killer had put on a good disguise and stayed out of the surveillance cameras, these seem like better options compared to killing me in the spa with limited suspects.”

  I tilted my head. Shannon’s theory was interesting.

  Detective Rogers, who couldn’t hear the victim’s voice, went on. “By the way, Ms. Bennett, Ms. Kavanaugh knew your biggest secret, right? How did you feel about it?”

  “Wh-what?” Denise stuttered, her face turning bright pink.

  “Secret? What secret?” Shannon wrinkled her forehead but shook her head. “I can’t recall that. Hopefully, Denise’s gonna blurt that out. She’s prone to doing that.” She chuckled.

  “Ms. Bennett?” Rick raised an eyebrow. “Your reaction’s speaking a lot more than words.”

  “Um…well…” Denise fumbled with her words, and Detective Rogers didn’t miss the opportunity to dig deeper.

  “Being in a managing position at this salon, you had the right to fire Ms. Kavanaugh. After all, her excessively aggressive sales style could have resulted in problems, which is a good reason to let her go. Except you didn’t. That’s because she had your secret, and you didn’t want to risk your dirty laundry being exposed, isn’t it?”

  “Um… I mean… Okay, so I might be in a managing position, but I’m not as perfect as Shannon was… Occasionally, I used to commit small faux pas, but with Shannon, everything was so impeccable and…”

  The detective offered Denise a small smile as she attempted to get away with making excuses. “It’s okay, Denise.” She used the head esthetician’s first name to put her more at ease. “Your secret is safe with us.”

  Denise looked up at the ceiling, and then she lowered her head, covering her face with her hands. Taking a deep breath, she opened her mouth. “I… I… I happened to have a huge crush on Kevin—”

  “What?” Detective Rogers’s eyes widened.

  “I know I’m not his type. After all, he’s not quite interested in women, but I couldn’t just kill my feelings about him. Sometimes, I couldn’t resist the urge to…well, you know, pick up small things such as a used paper napkin he’d wiped his lips with and a piece of paper he’d scribbled something on and threw in the trash can. One day, she saw me sneaking some used tissues out of the trash can, and…”

  “Oh, yes. Now I remember.” Shannon chuckled. “I told her to thoroughly wash her hands.”

  “Eww, that’s gross!” Jackie did a full-body shiver. Sophie giggled and tried to imitate her by shaking her arms and neck—which was truly adorable.

  “Perhaps, she blackmailed you to tell Kevin about what you did to his garbage,” Rick said. He managed to keep a straight face, but a corner of his lips was slightly trembling. Apparently, he was trying his best not to blurt out laughing.

  “No way!” Shannon protested. “I have better things to do than playing with her.”

  Denise shook her head. “No. She did nothing like blackmailing me. Shannon had no interest in workplace dramas and such. In retrospect, I have a feeling that all she cared about was her sweet, sweet self and nothing else.”

  “Did you hear that?” Shannon indicated her former superior with her palm. Flashing a proud grin, she said, “I’m glad she understood me somewhat well.”

  “At the same time, she didn’t offer to help you achieve your romance, did she?” Detective Rogers asked.

  “Of course not, and it was fine with me.” Denise shrugged, letting out a small sigh. “After all, his passion and love were focused on beautiful flowers, chocolates, and alpha males.”

  “Okay,” Rick muttered. Next to him, Detective Rogers looked at her skeptically.

  “Anything else?” Denise wrinkled her forehead.

  Detective Rogers said, “You can go back to the reception area for now. Thank you for your cooperation,” and Denise scurried out of the locker room.

  “She didn’t seem to be lying, I guess,” Jackie commented, and I passed on her words to Rick and the detective.

  “That’s tricky.” Detective Rogers crossed her arms. “I agree with her about the part that killing off someone who was moving out of her life for good pretty soon would be unnecessary, but at the same time, Denise was caught by her in the middle of stealing the spa owner’s used tissues. I’ve dealt with people who’d resorted to killing to cover up something less humiliating.”

  “That’s a good point.” Rick nodded and turned to me. “What did Shannon say about this theory?”

  “She’s completely forgotten about Denise’s behavior, and she was pretty much offended with the blackmailing theory. Shannon’s adamant that she had way better things to do than bothering with Denise,” I said, looking at the ghost. “Did I summarize your opinion?”

  Following my gaze, the detective and Rick looked at the space where Shannon stood. For a moment, she seemed taken aback but soon nodded. “Yes. Thank you for relaying my words.”

  “She says fine,” I said.

  “Did Denise really have an opportunity to kill her?” Jackie tilted her head, and I relayed her words.

  “Concerning the time frame, I think it’s possible.” Rick crossed his arms. “Except, the facial machine used as the murder weapon is usually stored in the facial treatment room, right? Suppose she went there to pick the machine up, either Brian or his attendant esthetician Robin should have noticed.”

  CHAPTER 8

  “Nobody came in while I was there with Robin having my face done,” Brian declared when asked about the possibility of having an intruder in the facial treatment room.

  “Are you sure?” Rick raised an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you were dozing off and didn’t notice the killer coming in to snatch the machine.”

  “Considering that the crime scene is the locker room, the killer might have hidden the weapon there before the strike—if one of the salon staff were the killer,” the detective interjected.

  “That’s a good point,” Rick agreed with her and turned to Brian. “By the way, what about the part about you chatting about the Super Bowl? Were you really talking about that between eleven thirty to forty?”

  “The thing is, I wasn’t wearing my watch, and I’m not sure about the time.” Brian knitted his eyebrows. “I think I’d talked about that but sometime earlier than eleven thirty.”

  “So, what were you talking about between eleven thirty and forty?” Rick plied on.

  “Well…” The exorcist tilted his head.

  “Seriously, Brian? You’ve got to recall that pronto. Otherwise, your alibi’s gonna be screwed.” Rick made tsk-tsk sounds.

  “Shut up.” Brian snapped. “Do you clearly recall what you were talking about during that time period?”

  “I was doing my paperwork, alone in my office.” Rick snorted. “I don’t talk to myself, which means I wasn’t talking at all. Impressed, huh?”

  “That’s not fair!” Brian clenched his fists.

  “So, Denise’s alibi hasn’t checked out,” Detective Rogers concluded.

  “Oh, yes. She had the motive and opportunity for the murder,” Rick agreed. “So, Brian’s memory isn’t as clear as desirable, but suppose Denise had lied about the part with the Super Bowl. If she did, I’m curious about why she did so.”

  “They’re totally suspecting Denise, I guess,” Jackie commented.

  “Right.” I nodded, but a part of me was skeptical about their doubt. I found myself strongly agreeing with Denise’s words “Why bother killing someone who’s going out of your life for good?”

  * * *

  Ken Blanchett, a history teacher at a prestigious junior high school, was summoned to the office as the next interviewee. Sophie needed some fresh air followed by another potty break, so again, Jackie went into the office to listen to the questioning.

&n
bsp; According to Jackie, Ken was a pudgy guy in his early forties of average height. On this day, he took a day off to visit the spa, and instead of taking his regular slimming course, he took a hair removal course. Jackie shook her head. “He was trying to look relaxed and nonchalant, but he was miserably failing to look cool, you know.”

  “So, his alibi is good then?”

  “Technically, he had a ten-minute lapse in his alibi when Denise went out of the treatment room, but his answer regarding the alibi was a solid no.”

  “He could have snuck out with the cooling cottons attached to his right leg during the ten minutes Denise was gone,” I mused.

  “Oh no, he was adamant that he never walked around while cooling down.” Jackie rolled her eyes. “His skin runs on the sensitive side, and he’d never have done anything that could have jeopardized his delicate skin.”

  “Did Detective Rogers uncover anything that might be helpful?”

  “Well, Shannon sold a ton of stuff to him. Ken had purchased a ton of beauty products like lotions with slimming, toning, and moisturizing effects and lots and lots of machines. He owned a smorgasbord of beauty machines and skin care products that could have enabled him to open a salon of his own.” Jackie spread her arms wide and shook her head. “He was living from paycheck to paycheck. Indeed, he went so far as to sell his car to pay his beauty debt.”

  “Unbelievable.” My eyes widened. I couldn’t believe so many people would go so far into debt for their looks. “But being pushed that far into debt might be a motive.”

  “When the detective asked him if he regretted buying so much stuff from Shannon, he admitted having felt slightly resentful toward her, but, of course, he denied killing her,” Jackie informed me as we went back to the reception area. “And, believe me, his logic to prove his innocence was epic.”

  “What was that?” I looked her expectantly. Jackie was looking like she’d just witnessed something utterly hilarious, and when she was like that, she never stopped to amuse me.

  “He said ‘If I wanted her dead so badly, I’d have waited until my sessions are done. At least, until the other leg’s perfectly done with the hair removal procedure! Look at my left leg, Detective. It’s…it’s much hairier than the right one! I’m going on a school trip to Honolulu next week, and I was going to have my left leg’s hair removed tomorrow!’ and he was sniffling. When Rick suggested shaving the hair off both legs so that he didn’t need to worry about having hairy legs, he literally started to cry, saying ‘Imagine my students, all of them teenage boys, pointing at my hairless legs, laughing their behinds off… I’d be the laughingstock of the year at my school! The beauty of hair removal at the salon is you get to have partial hair removal, and the effect lasts for months!’ And the look on the detective’s face. She was looking daggers at Rick. Also, Brian was so understanding about Ken, and he managed to console him.”