Exposed Negative: A Small Town Cozy Mystery (Shot & Framed Book 2)

by Nancy McGovern

  “Superb, isn’t he?” Dante asked. “Oliver is a genius in the rough, if I may say so. If he spent a little more time on his craft and a little less time flirting, he’d be a real thespian.”

  On stage, Allie was giggling as Oliver goofed about, pretending to hang mistletoe above her head.

  “He is really good,” Dani said. “Will you excuse me? I have to use the ladies’ room.”

  Dante stepped aside and let her pass, too fascinated by the rehearsal to remember that Coco had still not reappeared.

  *****

  Chapter 12

  Coco’s Story

  Coco wasn’t in the women’s room. Nor was she in the basement. Dani was wondering whether she should search in the attic when she finally found her in a little alcove under the stairs. She had a hand pressed to her head and was smoking in deep, gasping breaths. Her entire body was quivering and her eyes were red-rimmed.

  “Are you alright?” Dani asked.

  Coco smiled weakly, and said, “I’m fine. I just need to be left alone.”

  “Maybe so,” Dani said. “I’m here if you need me, though.”

  “Why would I?” Coco asked. “As I said, I’m perfectly fine.”

  “It’s Paul, isn’t it?” Dani asked, and watched as Coco’s hands tightened for just a brief second. “So it is Paul. You hate him.”

  Coco shook her head. “I don’t hate anybody,” she said.

  “You ran off that stage as though you were trying to outrun bad memories,” Dani said. “Why?”

  “Why do you even care!” Allie exclaimed. “I’m telling you it’s none of your business!”

  “Of course, I care,” Dani said. “It isn’t my business, though. Except that someone I love was once in a bad relationship, so I know what it’s like to be emotionally affected by it long after it’s over.”

  “Of course.” Coco looked at her with dawning recognition, “Your father. Your mother was Angela Hedley.”

  Dani flushed. “That wasn’t who I was talking about, but nevermind.”

  “He must have been devastated when she left,” Coco said, almost to herself. “Yet I’ve longed to do that myself. Just uproot myself and run far away. If only I could...”

  “What’s stopping you?”

  “Love,” Coco said, with a bitter laugh. “Love, the most heavy chain of them all.”

  “Isn’t love supposed to set you free?”

  “In my case, it never has,” Coco sighed. “Every man I’ve been with has wanted nothing but to tie me down. Paul was the worst of them all. He was far older than me. I was young and hopelessly naive. He bullied me.” Her hands had begun to shake again.

  “Did he hit you?” Dani asked, concerned.

  Coco laughed. “Once. A light slap. But that was the day I finally walked out. Being hit wasn’t so bad, though. No, the emotional abuse was far worse, yet I can’t really tell anybody about it. Nobody understands what it feels like to be with a man like that. I was constantly walking on eggshells. I’d be desperate to please him every second of the day because I never knew when his temper might turn and rain down on me. He was such an angel when he was in a good mood. But then he’d get angry and his words were terrible. He was smart, too. Initially, it was his constant criticism that destroyed my confidence. He picked at me with an expert eye, perfectly targeting every insecurity I’ve ever had. He kept telling me nobody would ever be able to love me but him.” She exhaled sharply. “I was fool enough to believe him for two whole years!”

  “I’m sorry,” Dani said.

  Coco shrugged. “It’s a sob story, isn’t it? Wah, wah, he was bad to me, feel sorry for me. I hate women who do that!”

  “But he was bad to you, and I do feel sorry you had to go through that,” Dani pointed out. “It’s a legitimately horrible situation to be in.”

  Coco’s smile shone out again, weak, but with real emotion in it. “Thank you for saying that,” she said. “Some days I get so angry with myself for ever allowing him in my life. He’s always been a bad seed. I suppose it gives me some comfort to know that he’s slowly drinking himself to death!”

  “He’s an alcoholic?”

  “Borderline,” Coco said. “He always had problems controlling his drinking. I’ve heard it’s gotten worse as the years wore on. Good! I’m glad!” Her last words were filled with acidic hate. “Does that make me a bad person?”

  “Not necessarily,” Dani said. “As long as you don’t actively harm him.”

  “At church, they say having hate in your thoughts is just as bad as having hate in your actions,” Coco said. “I don’t know. I can’t bring myself to feel pity for him. That smug face of his, I could just smash it into pieces!” She crushed her lit cigarrete in her hand and Dani gave a little yelp as she saw the red glow extinguished.

  “Careful!” Dani grabbed her hand and turned it over, checking to see if she’d harmed herself. “Coco, you shouldn’t do this to yourself. If you hate Paul so much, why are you in the play? Quit.”

  “I can’t quit,” Coco said. “I made a commitment. To Allie and Dante. But mostly to myself. I can’t go back on it now.”

  “That’s a lie,” Dani said, looking into her eyes. “You’re lying.”

  Coco blinked and looked away.

  “I don’t really know you but, from one woman to another, don’t put yourself through unnecessary pain.”

  “I have to!” Coco exclaimed. “Oh, you’d never understand. I have to be in this play because if I quit just because of Paul…”

  “What? What would happen?”

  “People would talk,” Coco said in a quiet whisper. “They’d talk about the mayor’s wife and her ex-boyfriend. All those rumors Paul spreads about me. They’d believe them to be true.”

  “He spreads rumors about you?” Dani asked.

  Coco nodded. “That was his punishment for me leaving him. The strange thing is, he didn’t really care when I left him because at the time he’d found another girl. It was afterwards, when I was happily married to Brad and he was miserably single again, that he decided to punish me. He tried to make me have an affair with him. When I told him ‘No’ in no uncertain terms, he tried his best to ruin my reputation. Sadly, there were too many people eager to believe him. Ask around town. A lot of people will tell you I’m nothing short of a scarlet woman!”

  “Coco!” Allie appeared. “There you are. Have you had your break? Are you ready to work again?”

  Coco hesitated and said, “I’ll be there in a minute.” Turning to Dani, she said, “Watch out for Paul. Believe me, he can be charming at first, but he’s twisted as an old tree root under it. I think he’s got his eye on you now.”

  Dani wanted to protest this startling proclamation but before she could get a word out, Coco was gone. Later that day, as she got ready to head back home, she had a chance to find out the truth of Coco’s statement.

  She was still using her crutch and so she couldn’t drive. She’d planned to call Caroline or her father to come pick her up when she was done but Paul caught her as she stood outside.

  “What are you doing here all alone?” he asked in a jovial voice. “Don’t you know a pretty, young thing like you isn’t safe after dark?”

  “Innocence has a very low crime rate,” Dani said. “I’ll be fine. Besides, I can take care of myself.”

  “I’m sure you can.” He was beaming, clearly pleased with his day’s work. Gone was the raging bull she’d sensed under his skin, replaced by a friendly giant again.

  “Come on,” he insisted. “Hop in, let me give you a ride.” He leaned over and popped open the door of his ‘67 Mustang. “I bet you’ve never sat in a car half as fine as my girl here!” He gave the steering wheel a friendly whack.

  Dani hesitated for just a second before getting in. There were questions she did want to ask him and a ride home couldn’t possibly be that bad.

  She tried giving him her address but he waved it off. “Of course I know where you live. Everyone knows where the Hedley
house is. Why it’s a local landmark, isn’t it? I don’t know how it isn’t on the town’s list of historical homes yet.”

  “Actually, it was put on the list last summer,” Dani said.

  “As it should be!” Paul smiled. “So, Dani, tell me, how did you like my performance today?”

  “It was very good,” she replied honestly.

  “It was, wasn’t it? You know, women have told me that there’s a certain raw power to Othello’s character that attracts them.” He looked sideways at her. “Don’t you agree?”

  Feeling a little disgusted, Dani replied, “Well, Coco doesn’t seem to think so.”

  Paul laughed. “Are you talking about her little snit this morning?” He shook his head. “Ah, Coco. Such an impetuous, darling little girl. Hasn’t changed in all the years I’ve known her.”

  “You used to date her once, isn’t that right?”

  “Oh, yes,” Paul nodded. “She never got over me, either. I was rather a cad back then. I had women throwing themselves all over me and I couldn’t resist. She wanted to tie me down in holy matrimony. Well, when I broke up with her, I think it was the first time in her life she didn’t get what she wanted!”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Oh, you know Coco,” Paul said. “She was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, Daddy’s little princess. Had a chauffer drive her to school, had maids to clean up after her, had her very own Bentley at 16. Plus, with her looks, most men were willing to bend over backwards just for a smile.”

  “But not you?”

  “But not me!” Paul exclaimed. “That’s why we made a good pair, initially. The immovable object that is my masculinity met the unstoppable force of her feminine charms.”

  Dani looked at him, incredulous, surely nobody could describe themselves as generously as he just had. He had to be sarcastic, or joking. But he was very serious.

  “I was the only man who didn’t give in to her tantrums,and who pointed out that she wasn’t perfect,” Paul said. “I was the only one indifferent to her pouting and she loved it. I was a challenge! She did her best to tame me and, sadly, she didn’t succeed. So I suppose there will always be that little spark in her heart where I’m concerned. That little ‘what if?’. Now she’s married to boring, oh-so-stiff Brad and she longs for the days when she was with me.”

  “So you don’t think she’s happy with Brad?” Dani asked.

  Paul snorted. “Does anyone think they’re happy? They’re so obviously faking it. All Brad cares about is his seat on the council. He’s worked too hard to get where he is to let a little thing like “love” destroy his public image.”

  “Are you saying Brad doesn’t love her?”

  “I don’t think he’s capable of loving anyone but himself,” Paul said. “But, then again, it’s not like our Coco loves him, either. She’s still far too obsessed with me.”

  The only one who was obsessed with Paul was himself, in Dani’s opinion. However, she didn’t contradict him.

  “I’ve heard she’s always searching for what Brad can’t give her,” Paul said. “Rumor is, she had an affair with Arthur. It was about to get blown wide open when, luckily for her, he died!”

  Dani was startled. “I haven’t heard that rumor.”

  Paul winked. “Because you don’t know the people I do. Our costume designer told me she’d seen the two having a heated discussion the day before he died.”

  “Coco and Arthur?” Dani still couldn’t believe it.

  “Oh, yes,” Paul nodded. “Ask Maisie yourself if you don’t believe me. She’ll tell you all about it!”

  *****

  Chapter 13

  Poison

  Dinner that night saw Caroline, Martin, Harry and Dani gather at the table, joined by a rather depressed looking Margaret. Dani’s father had roasted a leg of lamb and served it with a side of green beans, carrots and garlic bread.

  Dani helped herself to a second helping of his homemade buns, marveling at how soft they were. Her father had his own twist on garlic bread. Instead of toasting a baguette, he’d create individual, ultra fluffy buns with a central stuffing of butter and garlic. Dani could have written an entire book praising the smell, feel and look of them. She refrained from giving too much praise, however, knowing he’d feel awkward in front of Margaret.

  “Isn’t Sharon joining us?” Caroline asked.

  “She’s late at work again,” Harry sighed. “That girl is married to her career. I wish she’d-”

  “Dad, if you keep lecturing her on getting married she’ll just stop coming around to dinner permanently,” Caroline said. “Let it happen at it’s own pace. There’s no hurry.”

  “Oh, but she should hurry,” Margaret said. “Otherwise she’ll end up like me. I spent my youth chasing my career and now I’m a spinster.”

  “Oh.” Caroline didn’t know what to say.

  “Most times, I’m very happy,” Margaret said. “I’m happy that I’m not divorced like some of my friends. I’m happy that I don’t have someone nagging me. I’m happy that I’m free to come and go as I like. But...”

  “But?”

  “But then, disaster strikes, and I realize that family is the most important thing in the world.” Margaret brushed a tear off her cheek. “I’ve lost my brother and I have no one to lean on, nobody who really cares. I hope Sharon never has to experience pain like that!”

  Moved, Dani placed a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Margaret.”

  “Oh, it’s nothing.” Margaret dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief. “It’s just that seeing his body today, it made me realize how horribly alone he was when he died. No children, no wife…just me.”

  “Did you talk to the sheriff about releasing his belongings?” Caroline asked. “Or releasing his body for the funeral?”

  Margaret shook her head. “The case is still under investigation so I won’t get the body for now. What I did find out today was that Arthur was definitely poisoned!”

  Caroline and Martin exchanged looks. “So it’s confirmed then? The rumors are true?”

  Margaret nodded. “Sheriff Darwin’s probably arresting Dante even as we speak,” she said.

  “Dante!” Dani exclaimed. “So they believe it was him?”

  “They suspect it,” Margaret said. “The murder happened because of a poison present in Dante’s special imported beer.”

  “I remember him boasting about it,” Dani said. “I thought he was being a little pretentious at the time. Erdinger Kristall, that was the name.”

  “Whatever it was, they found poison in every bottle in that particular case. One or two beers wouldn’t have been enough to kill, but Dante insisted that Arthur have more and more. By the time he’d had his sixth beer, my brother’s toxicity levels were off the charts.” Margaret’s face was red with anger. “I hope that skunk rots in prison forever! He murdered my brother for no good reason!”

  “That was my next question,” Dani said. “What motive could he possibly have had? It wasn’t in his interest for the play to fail.”

  “Oh, but it was,” Margaret said. “It was very much in his interest for the play to fail.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Margaret leaned over, her eyes narrowing. “The insurance, of course!” she said.

  Dani was baffled. “I didn’t even know plays could get insurance.”

  “Oh, not for the play itself. But he had insurance in case there was any damage to the set or delay in the schedule. And the beneficiary would have been his own company. Since Arthur was somewhat famous, he’d taken out a really large policy on him.” Margaret’s hands clenched into fists. “That’s what makes me want to strangle him. My brother was a vital, lively, soul. He was an artist. Someone whose worth cannot be measured in gold! This…Dante…killed him just for the sake of money! If I could get my hands around his throat, there would be two dead men in this town!”

  “Now, Margaret,” Dani’s father said, “you need to calm down.”

  �
��I can’t calm down! Arthur was the only family I had left!” She gripped her glass so hard that it cracked. Looking down, she stared at her hand, befuddled. Her breath was coming in hard.

  “Let me take that for you.” Harry held her hand gently and led her to the sink, giving Dani a disapproving look. “No more questions tonight, Dani.”

  “No more questions,” Dani agreed. She gave a helpless look to Caroline and Martin, who were looking down determinedly into their plates.

  “He’s right, you know,” Caroline said, as their father left the room with Margaret in tow. “You need to leave this to the sheriff.”

  “I know,” Dani agreed.

  “You need to stop asking questions and putting your nose where it doesn’t belong,” Martin said.

  “Absolutely,” Dani nodded.

  “You need to rest, and get well. That should be all you’re focussed on.”

  “You’re one hundred percent correct,” Dani answered.

  Martin sighed, looked at Caroline and then back at Dani. “You’re not going to do any of that, are you?”

  “Not a chance,” Dani grinned.

  “I wish I could understand you, sometimes,” Caroline sighed. “Hey, look…”

  From the window, they could see into the street outside. A police car with its lights flashing drove past them. Martin and Caroline immediately rushed to the door, peeking out with some curiosity. Dani hobbled after them, catching up just as the car disappeared.

  “Is that the sheriff? Where do you think he’s going?” Caroline asked.

  “Probably to arrest Dante, like Margaret was saying.” Martin looked at his watch. “9pm. Does the sheriff ever stop working?”

  “Not when he’s got a murder, he doesn’t,” Caroline replied.

  Dani was biting her lip hard, staring down the street. With sudden determination, she shot past Martin and Caroline, her crutch slipping slightly on the wet ground.

  “Whoa, hold on, you’re not going up there, are you?” Martin asked.

  “Innocence is a small town, Martin. Neighbors care about each other here.”