Faith circled an arm around Savannah’s waist. “Come on. We’re practically family. What’s the matter with Amanda?”
Savannah smiled down at these two absurd-looking elders and felt warmth spreading in her chest. They were right. They felt like family—her family.
“Ladies, I wish I knew. She seemed to be handling everything fairly well. I mean, the new class was a slam dunk. But then, after Martin was murdered, she was distant and distracted. I misunderstood and thought her mother was ill again. Unfortunately, the case is much more complicated. She was secretly engaged to Martin and is under investigation by our very own Detective Parker.”
Faith spoke. “Where is she now?”
“I don’t know. She ran out the back when Officer Williams came by to notify her that a search warrant had been issued. I haven’t heard from her. She’s too smart to be at her apartment. I’ve been leaving voice mails and text messages on her phone. She’s got to surface soon. Her mother needs her.”
The twins looked at each other and said in unison, “What can we do?”
“I don’t know, but I sincerely appreciate the offer.”
Rachel looked up into Savannah’s eyes. “We are serious about helping. We know you are consulting with Detective Parker and—”
“It looks like this is going to get serious for Amanda,” Faith said, finishing Rachel’s statement. “We want to help with the investigation.”
Rachel nodded. “We think this is much more serious than a simple ‘Amanda under stress’ problem.”
“We think Amanda is going to be arrested for Martin’s murder,” Faith said.
Savannah stepped back. “Ridiculous. Amanda wouldn’t hurt anyone.”
“That’s not what it looks like from Detective Parker’s point of view,” said Rachel.
“From their point of view”—Faith pointed a finger at Savannah—“she has fled to avoid a warrant. That must elevate her to the rank of their prime suspect.”
They gathered their bags and projects and made their way toward the front door. “Remember,” said Faith.
“Call us when she gets arrested,” said Rachel.
They left a huge silence behind when they left and closed the door.
Savannah had begun cleaning up, in preparation for closing the shop, when the bell jangled on the front door.
“Hey, love. I brought some iced tea and lemon cookies. Are you ready for a little break?” Edward set the tray on the sales counter and folded Savannah into his arms. “I heard from Jacob that you were finishing up the workshop today, because Amanda’s gone missing. He thought I should know.”
Her voice muffled by his embrace, she said, “I can’t understand why she ran away. She knows how bad that looks. She also knows we’re her friends and we would do anything to help her if she’s in trouble.”
Edward released her and grabbed her hand in both of his. “Pet, this is a serious situation. It’s quite possible the next thing that happens to Amanda will be her arrest.”
“What do you mean, my arrest?” Amanda walked in from the back office and stood with her hands on her hips. “I haven’t done anything.”
“Amanda!” Savannah nearly squashed her in a bear hug. “What is going on? You have to tell us.”
Amanda looked up with tear-filled eyes. “You’re right, of course.” She poured herself a glass of tea. “I need to tell you guys everything. Let’s go back to the classroom.” She walked over to the front door, locked it, then turned the hanging sign around from OPEN to CLOSED. She led them into the classroom, motioned for Edward to bring the iced tea tray, and settled herself on the nearest student work stool. “I don’t know how to start. It’s all been so horrible . . . keeping everything a secret from you guys.”
“Start from the beginning.” Savannah wiggled onto a stool next to Amanda. “You need help.”
“Okay. From the beginning, then.” Amanda took a huge drink of the iced tea. “Okay, like I told you guys before, I met Martin about four weeks ago on one of those dating sites.” She cupped her hands around the glass and looked down. “I don’t know why I signed up. I think it was because Mother was getting more and more distant and . . .”
Savannah reached over to rub Amanda’s arm. “It’s all right.” She looked over at Edward. “We know this is a difficult time. That’s one of the reasons I thought teaching the new workshop would be good for you.” She tilted her head and gave Edward a look that meant “Say something.”
Edward blurted, “Yep, we did. We thought it would be good for you.” He glanced at Savannah and gave his shoulders a tiny shrug.
“I know, but still I wanted something . . . someone. So I signed up, and there was a bunch of trolls, so I was convinced I had made a terrible mistake. But then there was Martin. We clicked right away.” She smiled and fell silent, with a faraway look.
Savannah reached over to touch Amanda’s shoulder. “Keep going.”
Startled, Amanda said, “Oh, right. We met for coffee at first. We chattered like chipmunks for three hours. Then we tried a lunch.” She looked at Savannah and Edward in turn. “Just to make sure. You know lots of guys survive the coffee but not the lunch. Martin was terrific at lunch, as well. We laughed so much, my jaw ached for hours.” Amanda fell silent again.
“Then what?” Savannah asked.
“Well, after that, things went pretty fast—too fast—so fast I was embarrassed to tell you.” She held up both hands. “I know. I know you would have been supportive, but I got it into my head that if anyone else knew about us, the magic would disappear and he would be gone.”
Edward shook his head. “That’s crazy. We would have been happy for you.”
“Crazy is exactly what I was afraid of. If I thought I was crazy, what would others think of me?”
“Your friends wouldn’t think such things. That’s why we’re your friends.” Savannah stood. “Even so, you should have told us everything you knew on the day Martin’s body was found.”
“When was the last time you saw Martin? Did you meet him on Monday after class?” Edward poured more iced tea all around.
“Amanda, we’ve been to Martin’s trailer. We’ve talked to Martin’s neighbors. The old guy next door saw his girlfriend that night. You have to stop keeping secrets. We know you were there,” Savannah revealed.
Amanda took a deep breath, and then her shoulders seemed to collapse. “You’re right. You deserve to know.” She cupped her iced tea for a long moment. “My last words with Martin were ugly. I’m so ashamed. I didn’t mean it.”
“What happened?” Savannah dropped her voice low.
“On our last night, I spent the evening at Martin’s trailer. After we made love, he got very quiet and serious. He said he had been thinking about us, our future.” She smiled a distant, dreamy smile. “Our future, he said, needed to be based on something more than a few art pieces sold online.” She fell silent.
“That was sweet,” Savannah said.
Amanda started and continued. “Yes, but he wouldn’t tell me what he thought should change. He said only that things had to change, and right now.”
Edward spread his hands. “So, not horrible, then.”
“That wasn’t the end of the argument. That was the start of the argument. I told him that I was working at Webb’s and that I expected a small inheritance from my mother’s estate. I mean, she’s pretty frail, and she’s already far exceeded the normal life span for someone with vascular dementia. He got mad. He said he wasn’t the kind of man who lived off his wife. He expected our family to be able to support itself without needing a lot of money.”
“Your family? That must have made you feel wonderful,” Savannah said.
“It did indeed. For a minute.” Amanda downed the rest of her iced tea. “Then, I suppose, my independent spirit kicked in. I told him I could support us very nicely. The next thing I knew, we were fighting like rabid dogs. He said he wouldn’t be a boy toy on the arm of a cougar. That really hurt. Then I told him that his art
alone wouldn’t support diddly-squat. He said that engagements were nothing. He said that he was also engaged to Vicki. I lost it completely, and I don’t know what I said, but it wasn’t nice. He said something more about the bottles, but I stomped my way out of the trailer and spun gravel as I drove away. It was our first fight—and our last fight.”
Silence.
After a few seconds, Savannah touched Amanda’s arm. “He was engaged to Vicki at the same time?”
Amanda nodded her head in misery.
“What time was it?” asked Savanah.
“I kinda, sorta lost track of time at that point. I think it was close to midnight, but I can’t be sure.”
“Where did you go?” asked Edward.
“I tore off down the road and drove down Gulf Boulevard for a while, until I calmed down. Then I parked at Pass-a-Grille Beach, just thinking things over. Then I tried calling Martin to apologize. When he didn’t answer, I got mad again. Then I drove over to see my mom. She was still at the Abbey. I still have my key from when I worked there, so I slipped in the back door and sat in the room with my mother. It calmed me down. Anyway, I texted Martin all night, asking him to explain.”
“But, Amanda, why didn’t you tell us what was going on after it was clear the unidentified diver was Martin? Help me understand,” Savannah said.
“I was afraid you wouldn’t want to help me. I mean, I had already been keeping our relationship a secret for several weeks.” She reached into her hobo bag and drew out an old-fashioned flower-printed cotton hankie. She blew her nose, ending with a small trumpet noise. “He was so much younger than me. It all seemed very wrong. He was ten years younger, and I could hear my mother in my head, telling me that I was robbing the cradle.”
“That’s ridiculous. You know how liberal this community is. It’s not quite as diverse as deliberately quirky Gulfport, but we’re a close second. None of that would have mattered.”
Amanda bit her lip and swallowed hard. “I know that now, but at the time I was so worried about what you all would think of me that I didn’t want to tell you. Then, after he admitted that he was also engaged to Vicki, it was clear that I meant nothing to him.”
“What was your reason for running out of here and away from the police?”
She held the hankie up to her nose and blew again. “I don’t have an alibi. They know about me and Martin. I didn’t want to be arrested. Sometimes they arrest the wrong person.”
“We’ve got to get on the right side of Detective Parker with this. You need to call Officer Williams and give her your apologies,” Savannah urged. “You didn’t actually come face-to-face with her and the warrant, but you need to make this right. Understand?”
Amanda sniffed noisily and nodded her understanding.
“Now, get yourself off to see your mother, and stay out of trouble until we get this figured out.”
Amanda nodded quietly and gathered her things to leave. “I’m sorry. I won’t keep secrets anymore.” With that said, she headed to the display room and walked out the front door. She left a large silence behind.
Chapter 25
Friday Afternoon
“I’ve decided we must continue running our investigation without Amanda,” Savannah announced to the rest of the group. “She’s too emotionally involved to help right now. There is also the distinct possibility that she may be picked up for questioning at any moment. I sent her to spend some time with her mother.”
After Amanda’s revealing confession, Savannah and Edward had left Webb’s and had driven over to the studio to bring Jacob up to speed. They now sat around the conference table, feeling Amanda’s absence.
Jacob pulled Suzy onto his lap and began to stroke her head. “We can investigate without her. It will not be as quick, because she is wicked fast on the computer.”
Edward grimaced. “True. None of us are as quick”—he smiled at the others—“but we are wicked persistent. Let’s get on with it.”
“Great lecture.” Savannah stood with her hands on her hips. “Let’s review and regroup. Wow!” Savannah ran a hand through her hair. “We’ve basically worked almost all these leads with not a lot to show for it. This is discouraging. One new element is that Vicki and Martin were also secretly engaged. That means we must find out where Vicki was on Monday night. Since Vicki was the social media partner in the craft business, Amanda would have been a great help. I can also ask Detective Parker not only about Amanda but about Vicki, too.”
“Another avenue is Captain Collins,” said Edward. “We didn’t get much from our first visit. We can follow up on that.”
“I can go to the main library and investigate where the bottles were found on the sea floor. Suzie is allowed in there. One of the librarians likes to help me with research,” said Jacob. “There’s a bus stop right in front of the library.”
“Good idea. I don’t know when I’m going to hear from the experts. It will be a big help to have information now rather than later. Edward and I have visited Martin’s trailer and talked to two of his neighbors. They didn’t mention anything about an argument between Martin and Amanda, but maybe they didn’t want to say anything to strangers.”
“Which means they might have reported it to the police,” said Edward.
“Another subject for Detective Parker. I can also tell him that we’ve talked to Captain Collins. That didn’t pan out, but he might not know about his connection to Martin.”
Jacob chimed in. “That Vicki person might also know. She worked with Martin on his art projects.”
“This is a lot harder than I thought. It seems like all our investigations are leading us around in circles.” Savannah sat at the end of the table and folded her arms across her chest.
Edward reached over and tapped her on the elbow. “You’re forgetting about what happened in our prior investigations. We got to a point like this, when everything seemed to be mired in tail chasing. Then we got a break, and things worked out very quickly afterward.”
“I remember. So we’re in the middle muddle?”
“I prefer to believe we’re about to get the resolving lead.”
“You’re such an optimist.”
Jacob frowned and held Suzy a little tighter. “I’m going to the library before they close.” Rather than make an exit, Jacob lingered, concern etched on his face.
“Let’s meet back here in the morning and see what we’ve got. Thanks, Jacob.”
Edward pulled the conference room telephone toward him after Jacob left the room. “Let’s call the captain first. He’ll be the most difficult.”
Savannah pulled a card out of her backpack. “Here’s the number.” She sat in the chair next to Edward, letting their thighs touch for a moment.
He smiled at her as he dialed the number. “I’ll put it on speaker.”
After seven rings, the call rolled over to voice mail. Edward left a message, asking the captain to call him back at the studio number, and hung up.
“I’m confused,” Savannah said. “Why didn’t you leave your cell number?”
“I don’t know. It didn’t feel right to give him so much information about me. I bottled out.”
“What?”
“Oh, sorry. It’s an expression we use in England when someone chickens out.”
“Weirdly appropriate.” She reached for the telephone. “Let’s try Vicki. Be ready to cover your ears. She curses like a sailor.” She dialed Vicki’s number.
“Vicki’s Treasures. How can I help you?”
“Hi, Vicki. This is Savannah Webb. You’re on speakerphone. Remember me? My friend Amanda Blake and I asked you some questions about Martin.”
“Are you really such an idiot? I told you not to harass me.”
“I merely want to ask if you know where Martin got his bottles.”
“If you call me again, I’m going to file a formal complaint and get you thrown in jail. Don’t call me again.” The dial tone followed immediately.
Edward frowned. “She can�
�t do that, can she?”
“She can certainly call Detective Parker and complicate my life by complaining to him. That could jeopardize my consulting status.”
“He’ll ignore her.”
“I hope so. But it still doesn’t give us anything to go on for finding the buried treasure location of the bottles.” Savannah jotted a few lines in the notebook she had placed on the table at the beginning of the meeting.
A sharp knock on the conference-room door made both Savannah and Edward turn their heads. Arthur poked his head in the room.
“Sorry, Savannah, but can you show me where you keep your supplies?” His neck turned pink, and the color raced up to his hairline. “The bathroom needs more . . . supplies.”
Savannah pressed her lips into a tight line. “I’ll be right back.”
Arthur backed away from the door. “Sorry to interrupt your meeting.”
“It’s no trouble. I should have shown you where everything was kept on your first day,” she said as she headed in the direction of the bathroom.
“Are you guys investigating another murder?”
“Well, yes, in a minor way. I’m helping Detective Parker as a consultant with a glass bottle that was found with a murder victim. How are you doing with your studio space? Is it helping you at all?”
She opened a small metal cabinet next to the bathroom. It was stocked with paper towels, tissue boxes, and toilet paper, along with an assortment of cleaning supplies and rags.
“Wow. G-good.” Arthur stared. “This is great.”
Savannah sensed his hesitation. “Just find what you need. I’m going back to my meeting.”
When she returned to the conference room, Jacob had also returned. He and Edward were discussing the logistics of going to the library. She stood in the doorway and let them come to the inevitable conclusion when Jacob was involved. He was not going to get on Edward’s motorcycle and leave Suzy in the shop.
“I am not allowed to be without Suzy. There is no room on your motorcycle, and it would not be safe for me to hold her.” His voice was strong and it had the low range of a teenager transitioning to adulthood.
Cracked to Death Page 16
