Frosted Shadow - A Toni Diamond Mystery

by Nancy Warren

  “No, of course not, honey. I can’t tell you whether your marriage is working for you anymore. Though plenty of women have gone on to be a lot more successful once they became single. Like me, for instance.”

  Not to mention that no human being could live with her.

  “No. I’m going to suggest you separate your finances from your husband’s.”

  “But we’ve always pooled our money. And he pays all the bills. He always has.”

  “Ready to order ladies?” the waitress asked.

  “I never eat breakfast,” Nicole informed her. “Stacy?”

  “Um, I’m not hungry.”

  “Just the bill, thank you.”

  “For two coffees,” the woman said, with heavy sarcasm. “Right away.”

  “Your situation is exactly what I was afraid of. If you let Larry pay all your bills, then he’s got control of you. You can’t let that happen. You’re an independent business woman now. You’ve got to stand up and accept your own success.”

  “But I haven’t had any success,” Stacy wailed.

  “Of course you have. You approached forty-three women. You improved your friendly fishing skills. You’ll set even more aggressive goals for next month and you’ll meet them. I know you’re going to make a lot of money. I feel it here, right in my heart. Embrace your best self!”

  “But how would I do that?” She didn’t sound too sure.

  “Get your own credit card. I can help you apply for a company card. It’s easy and you’ll both be a lot happier if Larry isn’t too involved in your business. Later, when you’ve got a large bank balance, you can surprise him. Most men come around when they see our happiness -- and the new car parked in the new driveway.”

  “I could get my own credit card?”

  “Absolutely. We can get that done today, then you’ll be able to put in the kind of order that shows you are ready to go to the next level.”

  “I don’t know, what if –”

  “People want to be associated with winners, Stacy. That means you have to act like a winner. Positive attitude will bring positive results.”

  “But Larry –“

  “Is this your business or a little hobby on the side?” Nicole asked sharply.

  “It’s a business, of course.”

  “Then you’ve got to invest in yourself. Do you think Bill Gates or Steve Jobs -- God rest his soul -- worried about how much money they were spending on electronic parts when they started their businesses in their parents’ garages?”

  “No, but –”

  “Think about that every time you log onto your computer. And where would we be if Lady Bianca had stopped experimenting with cosmetics in her kitchen, given up and gone on welfare?”

  “Well, we’d be –”

  “We’d be nowhere. That’s where. We wouldn’t be having this conversation because there wouldn’t be a billion dollar Lady Bianca empire, and you wouldn’t be part of the top selling team in our division. For the third year in a row.”

  This was too much for Toni. She’d sat quiet as long as she could. She turned, caught the fleeting look of annoyance on Nicole’s face and let them both bask in the warmth of her smile. “You’re not quite there yet, Nicole. The end of year results won’t be tallied until tomorrow. Last time I looked our unit and your unit were so close in sales volume it’s still anybody’s game.”

  Nicole’s trilling laugh split her lips open like a hatchet to reveal teeth so perfect they could have come out of a Tiffany’s box. “Positive thinking, darling. See the vision, believe in the vision, achieve the vision.”

  “Oh, our team believes in positive thinking too. In fact, I’m positive this time we’ll beat you in sales volume.” She turned to Stacy. “A little friendly rivalry is always good, you know. Keeps us on our toes.”

  Nicole rose, probably so she could look down on Toni. “Looks like you were stood up for breakfast. Hope it wasn’t somebody on your team.”

  Stacy also rose. Two bright spots burned on her cheeks and she’d worn all her lipstick off, probably from nerves. “I better go. I’ve got to get to my first session.”

  “Of course.” Nicole said warmly. “Find me at lunch. We’ll get you signed up for your new card right after we eat.”

  “Okay. Thanks for everything.” After a quick hug, Stacy left, her Lady Bianca conference bag swinging from her arm.

  Nicole made to follow her. Toni tried to let the woman go, reminding herself that Stacy’s affairs were none of her business but, as usual, she couldn’t stop herself from butting in.

  “Nicole, do you have a minute? Let me buy you a cup of coffee.”

  “All right. I’ll move to join you. Your table is still so nice and fresh.”

  She moved over and sat down. “Look, don’t take what I said there too seriously. You know how it is. We have to keep the troops motivated. Your team has as good a chance of finishing first as mine does, but a little healthy competition never hurt anyone, right?”

  “Absolutely. I’m not worried about that.” She felt her face begin to crease in a frown, pictured Botox needles and smoothed out her forehead. “I wonder if you should encourage Stacy to take out another credit card if she’s already taking flak at home from her husband? I know it’s none of my business, but as an impartial observer I saw how uncomfortable she was at the thought of taking on more debt. I thought I should mention it to you. Sometimes these girls have to build confidence by selling more of the stock they have before ordering more.”

  Nicole made a show of examining her flawless manicure. She had beautiful hands, with long tapered fingers and, as both of them knew, the two biggest rings that sparkled on them were for heading the top selling team for the last two years. “I know you’re jealous of my success,” she finally said, still looking at her hands. “But even I wouldn’t have expected you to stoop so low as to try and sabotage me and my recruits.”

  Toni should have kept her nose out of Stacy’s affairs. She’d known it. Nicole was never going to listen to her or see reason. She was the kind of sales director who got lambasted on Internet websites.

  “I’m only suggesting that maybe Stacy would be happier if she spent more time selling her current product and held a few more skincare and makeup classes to build her customer base before she orders a lot more product.”

  “Those orders will earn me another diamond ring and keep your fingers empty,” Nicole snapped. With that she stood so abruptly that the waitress nearly spilled the fresh pot of coffee she was carrying down the front of her uniform.

  Nicole glared at them both. “Have a nice day.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Mirrors should think longer before they reflect. —Jean Cocteau

  Charlene Throckmorton arrived slightly out of breath. “I’m so sorry, Toni. I slept in.”

  “It’s obvious to everyone you slept in. Your hair’s all over the place, you slapped that makeup on in record time and your skirt is around the wrong way.”

  “Oh, geez.” The girl giggled nervously and spun the skirt on her skinny waist. “There. Sorry. I haven’t been sleeping well.” She dropped her voice. “That murder kind of freaked me out being right here in the hotel and all.”

  “All right. No point fretting about a tragedy that’s nothing to do with us.” She relented. The murder was on her mind, too. “Luckily for you I’m not a client or I might not have waited. Now, have some coffee and let’s order breakfast. We can eat while we talk.”

  They made small talk until their breakfast was before them. Charlene was a bright, pretty flight attendant who was trying to build a second income so she could stay home and have a baby. She was big on enthusiasm but Toni was beginning to suspect she wasn’t great at follow-through.

  They both ordered yogurt and fruit and when it was before them, Toni said, “All right. Tell me about your goals for the next year.”

  “Well, I want to sell a lot more product, and I’m going to recruit some more girls onto my team and of course, I want to m
ake more money.”

  “That’s wonderful. Those are fun daydreams, aren’t they?”

  Charlene nodded but she looked a little wary. As well she should. Had she not read any of the training material?

  “Goals are quantifiable, Charlene. For instance, book and hold ten facial home parties next month. Friendly Fish fifty people by the end of the month. Daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, you have to be able to say, how much will I accomplish and by when? Then it’s measurable.” She stopped to sip her ice water. She felt like she was regurgitating the same words she’d repeated in exactly that way a thousand times before. Probably because she had.

  “Success starts with positive thinking, conceive it so you can achieve it. But then you have to get out there and do the work.”

  “I know my goal is to stay home and have a family,” Charlene said sounding a little like the kid who got caught out for not doing her homework.

  “Then let’s make it possible. Now, take out your training binder and let’s set you some concrete, achievable goals. And then I want you to get out there and have a great conference.”

  Her phone was making the chirping sound it made when she had received a text message. It was from Tiffany.

  Hey Mom, I replaced all Grandma’s crappy country CDs with some sick tunes! ☺

  She texted back.

  What did you replace them with???

  The answer came back so fast she knew her daughter had been waiting to hear from her.

  Just some Metallica, Iron Maiden, Rammestein. Looking for Nirvana rt now.

  She smiled, sitting there in the coffee shop. It was her daughter’s way of saying, I miss you. Of course, Tiffany would never replace her grandmother’s beloved Dolly Parton CDs with heavy metal. Toni was 35 percent sure.

  She got busy with her thumbs once more.

  Miss you. Be good!

  “What do you think?” Henderson asked Marciano as they sat at their desks, with their chairs swiveled so they could see each other. Luke drank bad office-brewed coffee, Henderson sipped green tea he brought from home in a thermos. “You think Neuman killed his wife?”

  “Not after I watched him ID her this morning. He was a truly broken man. Then he puked.”

  “With his hangover, you’d have puked too.”

  “That smell in there is enough to make me sick.”

  “His story was the same when he was drunk as it was when he was sober. He didn’t hesitate about voluntary consent to a search of his hotel room and belongings. But he had motive, opportunity, he calls her four times and next thing she’s dead.”

  Luke gulped more coffee. As though it might help clear his mind. “My money’s on Mandeville.”

  “We’ve got no evidence. Nothing to hold him.” Henderson sipped his tea. “He lied to us about the fight. Stupid thing to do when he must have known we’d check out the restaurant.”

  “Maybe he hoped nobody would remember them.”

  “So, he also had means, he had opportunity. But where’s the motive?”

  “Because he could. His book’s got a section about using what’s at hand to do the deed. Like a knife out of the hotel kitchen.”

  “Pretty weak.”

  “Yeah. Did the husband do it to stop her going to the boyfriend? Did the boyfriend do it to stop her going back to the husband? Or because he wanted a new chapter for his next book? It feels like we’re missing something the size of an asteroid.”

  “Maybe the knife will turn up something.”

  “Yeah. I put a rush on it, so if we’re lucky we’ll get DNA results by Monday. I’m going to get caught up on the paperwork.” Keeping up what they termed the murder book was an important part of the investigation. So far it contained photographs, transcripts of interviews and the initial crime scene report. By the time the case went to trial, there would be thousands of pages of documents and hours of video.

  He opened the binder and gazed down at the first picture of Amy, taken at the scene. “Who killed you?” he asked silently. “And why?”

  Stacy Krump was standing outside the conference meeting room Toni was about to enter for the session titled: Creative Marketing Strategies Using Social Media. It was such an uncreative title she had doubts about the workshop.

  “Hi, Stacy,” she said, preparing to go around the woman standing there like a stone statue.

  The sessions were changing over so there was plenty of coming and going, women chattering, giggling and hugging. There was always plenty of hugging going on at a Lady Bianca convention and right now Stacy looked as though she needed one badly.

  “Stacy, is everything all right?”

  She started and blushed. “Oh, Toni. I –” She glanced nervously behind Toni’s shoulder, no doubt terrified Nicole would see them together and she’d get in trouble.

  Toni knew it was partly her fault poor Stacy was acting this way, so she pulled herself up to her full height, as she always did when called upon to do something unpleasant and said, “I need to apologize to you about this morning. I was out of line. I never should have interrupted you and Nicole.”

  “Oh, well, that’s okay. You were there. You heard her say I should get a company credit card and she’d help me. So then I wouldn’t have to let my husband know about my finances.”

  “Yes. And it’s a personal decision. If you think that would be good for your business, you should go ahead and get one, but there’s nothing wrong with thinking it over for a night or two.”

  Stacy rubbed her conference agenda between her fingers leaving a damp mark. “Well,” she giggled nervously. “The thing is I already have a card.” She glanced up and back down at the agenda. “I got one today.”

  “Oh.” Toni didn’t know what else to say.

  “Nicole helped me. And then we did some shopping.” She was rubbing the agenda faster and faster, soon the paper would tear. Then, in a rush she blurted, “I put five thousand dollars on that card.”

  And she burst out crying.

  Now, Toni had been with Lady Bianca for more than fifteen years and she’d been cried on a time or two, so she took the gush of tears in her stride.

  “Come on,” she said, “let’s get away from this crowd and find somewhere to sit down. Then I’ll get you some water.”

  “I didn’t mean to spend that much, but it seemed like it was the best thing to do and I’ll make twice that back when I sell all the product.” She hiccupped. “But I’m not real good at selling yet. And if my husband finds out, he’ll –”

  “Toni!” Nicole’s angry voice cut through the giggling, chatting and hugging crowd like machine gun fire. “What are you doing making one of my girls cry?”

  She grabbed Stacy’s shoulders and physically yanked her away from Toni.

  Women around them stopped and stunned silence surrounded them.

  Toni had a temper and unfortunately, when it flared it tended to run hot and rash. Right now she was so angry with Nicole that even if the woman had acted as angelic as the Virgin Mary she’d have wanted to smack her.

  “Me?” she shouted back. “I didn’t make this poor woman cry. You did. You forced a credit card on her she doesn’t want or need and put a big balance on it. Why? So you can win yourself another diamond ring. That’s cheap, Nicole. It’s cheap and sleazy.”

  “Get off your high horse. That order alone will be enough to make sure we beat your asses again this year.” Nicole rubbed Stacy’s arm in what was probably supposed to be a soothing gesture, but she was so mad her arm jerked up and down, looking like a dog humping a chair leg.

  “You should be so proud, Stacy. Your order got us to the top. For the third year in a row.”

  “That’s going to be cold comfort when she can’t pay the bills she’s racked up. Why aren’t you helping her sell what she already has?”

  “If you weren’t spying on us at breakfast you wouldn’t know anything about Stacy’s business. It’s private.”

  The object of the fight was alternating between bright red blushes and pale
shades. “Please. Stop shouting,” she pleaded. “I’m getting a migraine.”

  But the two were in it now and this fight had been brewing for a decade. One little migraine wasn’t going to stop them.

  “Spying?” The word shrieked out, with Toni hitting a high note she hadn’t known was in her vocal range. “I would never stoop to spy on you. I overheard you encouraging Stacy to get a divorce.”

  Nicole shoved herself right into Toni’s personal space and jabbed her in the chest with a talon-like fingernail. “Keep your big nose out of my business. Or you’ll be sorry.”

  “Are you threatening me?”

  Nicole jumped back so fast she landed on Stacy’s instep causing the younger woman to howl. But her eyes stayed on Toni’s, hard and bright. For a second there was absolute silence. Toni could see her thin chest rising up and down like she was panting. Finally she pointed and said, “My God. It’s you,” in the same voice Macbeth uses when he sees Banquo’s ghost.

  “Me what? What are you talking about?”

  “You’ve been sending me those notes.” Her breath huffed in and out.

  Nicole was staring at her with such hatred in her eyes that Toni felt physically stung by it. She had no idea what the woman was raving about.

  “What notes?”

  She glanced around and her gaze landed on Melody Feckler, who looked as though she’d been slapped with a dead fish.

  Toni knew exactly how she felt.

  The silence was as thick as the morning the dead woman was found. She heard her own harsh breathing, and that of Nicole’s.

  “I always knew you were jealous of me, but now I see that you truly hate me.”

  “Nicole, I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”