Dressed to Confess

by Diane Vallere

  “Sure, let me get the paperwork started. I know these things take time.” I stepped back and let her pass in front of me. She went behind the counter to the file cabinet next to the hanging plant, opened the top drawer, and pulled out a sheet of paper. When she shut the cabinet, one of the long tendrils of the hanging plant got caught in the drawer. The woman behind the desk jumped up, opened the drawer, and freed it immediately. At least now I knew who tended to the plants.

  I took the piece of paper. “I’ll fill this out at home and bring it back tomorrow.”

  Tak stood away from the wall. “I’ll walk you out,” he said. Once we were on the other side of the door, he asked, “Tell me again how you lost your phone?”

  “I dropped it in a sewer grate under Ronnie’s trailer,” I said.

  “And why does Nancy think it’s evidence?”

  “Because it landed on top of a teddy bear.”

  “In the grate.”

  “Yes.”

  “How’d a teddy bear get into the grate?”

  “Somebody put it there.” At his expression, I held both hands up and stepped back. “Hey, don’t look at me. I’m as curious as you.”

  “Come back inside,” he said. He turned around and I followed him back into the station. “Hey, Nance. Can you show me this evidence?”

  “Why?”

  “You know as well as I do that the DA is going to release her phone the second that sheet of paper hits his desk unless you can prove that whatever was in that sewer grate had to do with Ronnie’s murder. Now that Margo has told me what was in the grate, I’m not convinced it’s related.”

  “You’re not investigating the murder,” she said.

  “Humor me. For old time’s sake.”

  I told myself that he said it for the greater good.

  Nancy went to a door with a padlock on it. She pulled a ring of keys from her jacket pocket and flipped through them until she found the one she needed. She unlocked the door and disappeared inside. A few seconds later, she came back with a large clear plastic bag that held the teddy bear and my cell phone. She handed Tak the bag and he turned it over in his hands.

  “I get how the phone got into the grate, but not the bear. How do you know it wasn’t a geocache or a practical joke?”

  “What’s a geocache?” I asked.

  “It’s a game. The world’s biggest treasure hunt. A cache is usually a container that holds a notepad and pencil. Coordinates are loaded onto a website and people have to find them. You can keep what you find, but you have to leave the container with the notepad and pencil for the next person who comes along. It’s pretty cool. We should look for a cache sometime,” he said to me.

  I snuck a glance at the detective. She didn’t look happy. “How would we know if the bear is a cache?” I asked. “He was right there in the grate. No container, no pencil or notepad.”

  “Look inside him. Maybe he is the container,” Tak said.

  We both looked up at Nancy. She pulled a pair of light blue rubber gloves—not unlike the ones I’d swiped from Chet Lemming’s office—out of a box from the end of the front counter, pulled them over each hand, and grabbed the bag from Tak. She opened the bag carefully and reached inside for the bear.

  “Looks like a regular teddy bear to me,” I said.

  She squeezed it a couple of times and then turned it over in her hands. She squeezed it again, and a hole along the seam on its back that ran down from head to bottom split open.

  Detective Nichols poked her fingers inside the hole. “There’s something in here,” she said. She pulled a pair of scissors out of the cup holder on the desk and pressed the small bear facedown on the table.

  “You can’t just cut him open!” I said.

  “He’s a teddy bear,” she said. “He won’t feel a thing.”

  “Be nice, Nancy,” Tak said.

  The detective snipped a few stitches and plunged two fingers back into the bear. This time she wiggled her fingers around a few times. A few more stitches popped. Slowly, she pulled out a small gold engagement ring. I felt sick to my stomach, like I’d eaten undercooked fish.

  “Is it engraved?” I asked.

  “Yes. ‘To R, my favorite enigma. Love, D.’” She set the bear on the table and held the ring in her left hand. “Looks like I owe you a thank-you, Margo,” she said.

  No. No, no, no, no, no, no. I shook my head from side to side, knowing what she was going to say before she spoke.

  “You weren’t even going to look at that bear,” I said.

  “It was stuffed in a sewer grate underneath the trailer where Ronnie was found dead, and now I find out it’s been holding solid evidence that connects back to Don Digby. That should be enough to get me a warrant.” She smiled at me sweetly, and then turned to Tak. “I wouldn’t waste your time calling in a favor from the DA’s office now. Pretty sure they’re going to side with me on this one.”

  Chapter 29

  I GAVE A quick mental callout to St. Christopher, the patron saint of lost causes and bachelors. Considering Don was both, I figured it wouldn’t hurt. “You still don’t know how the teddy bear got into the grate,” I said to the detective. “Don’t you think that’s suspicious? And why was the trailer moved from where it had been parked? You don’t even know how long the bear was in the grate. You can’t convict a man because of a teddy bear!” My voice rose to a near-hysterical level. Tak stepped closer from behind me and put his hands on my upper arms.

  “Margo,” he said, “Calm down.” He leaned closer to my ear. “You won’t do Don any favors by fighting her right now.”

  “Whose side are you on?”

  “I’m not on anybody’s side.”

  “But Don’s innocent,” I said. “You haven’t heard his side of the story.”

  “He’ll have plenty of chances to tell his story to his lawyer,” Detective Nichols said. “Sorry, Margo, that means I can’t release your phone either.”

  It was a hard pill to swallow, especially coming from her. For appearance’s sake, I kept my cool until I was outside in the parking lot. I hadn’t expected Tak to follow me, but he did. The detective stayed inside.

  “She didn’t do that on purpose,” Tak said.

  “I know, I just, grrrr!” I said. I raised my arms and splayed my fingers out in an I-want-to-strangle-something gesture. If I’d been in the Frankenstein’s monster costume, it would have made more sense. “Somebody’s working really hard to implicate Don.”

  “Maybe he’s hiding something,” Tak said. He put his hand on my arm and I flung it off.

  “He’s not! Don Digby is not a murderer. He’s not a bank robber either. The only thing he’s guilty of is being in love with the victim a long time ago.”

  “Tell me something. How do you think that ring got into that teddy bear? How do you think the teddy bear got into the grate?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t know any of it. Stop asking me questions that I don’t have answers to.”

  Tak put his hands on both of my arms. “I have another question that has to be asked. Do you know where Don is right now?”

  “He went on an out-of-state scouting trip with my dad,” I said.

  “Are you sure? I saw the Minnie Winnie parked by Eggcetera this morning.”

  “Must have been a different Minnie Winnie,” I said. By now it was clear Don and my dad had lied to me about going out of town.

  I drove back to Disguise DeLimit. The store was closed, but Kirby was still inside. He stood next to two buckets of water, one clear and one full of suds. In front of him was the wall of plastic clown shoes. The bottom shelf of shoes were shiny and wet. The top were dry and dusty.

  “Hey, Margo, I was hoping you’d come back soon.” He dunked a giant yellow, red, and blue plastic shoe into the clear bucket of water, pulled it out, and shook it a few times before putting it bac
k on the shelf. “I asked Varla out for Saturday night,” he said.

  “That’s great! Does she suspect anything?”

  “I don’t think so. Coach said you and Ebony can get in Saturday morning to set things up. Otherwise the secret will leak.”

  “I’ll let Ebony know. Any luck with Dig?” I doubted Dig had a DeLorean on the lot, but with Dig, you never knew what to expect.

  “Yeah, he said he’ll see what he can do for me, but I’m not all that confident. He’s a little backed up with the Zip lines.”

  “That’s right. He was working on the Zip-Three the other day. Did another one break down?”

  “Not sure. He said the mayor’s on him to get them back into rotation as fast as possible.” He laughed. “Mayor Young must have made it worth Dig’s while, if you know what I mean.” He held his hand up and ran his thumb back and forth over his fingertips. “Fat city budgets. I wish I could find a way to earn some of that bank.”

  I cringed. If there was a way for me to give Kirby a raise, I would, but sales had dropped off recently. Seeing an opportunity, I’d spent an unbudgeted amount of money on the supplies for the Domino costumes that I’d planned to sell at the festival, but now, nobody wanted them. In terms of publicity, our involvement in the festival had been a big fat bust and it was all my fault.

  “Do you want me to finish up washing the shoes so you can leave?” I asked Kirby.

  “I can finish. I’m almost done.”

  “Make sure you count this on your time sheet,” I said. The least I could do was pay him for the additional effort of maintaining the inventory.

  “Thanks,” he said. “Any news on Don?”

  “Nothing good, I’m afraid. Detective Nichols just found evidence that links him to the scene of the crime.”

  “Weird. Dig didn’t mention anything new about the trailer.”

  I was confused. “What does Dig have to do with it? I’m talking about the Airstream trailer Ronnie had parked on Rapunzel Road. She was killed inside.”

  “I know. The mayor had it towed. He didn’t want it sitting there on Rapunzel, reminding people what happened.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I was on the sidewalk when the tow truck showed up.”

  “So it’s at Dig’s tow yard? I thought he was busy working on the Zip line.”

  “The Airstream is parked around back.”

  I thought back to the night that I’d taken Bobbie back to the sewer grate to help me get my phone. The trailer that had been parked along the curb for days had been moved the day after the murder. When Dig had mentioned the tow job, I’d assumed it was the Zip. I’d been so distracted by the loss of my phone and the presence of the teddy bear in the grate that I hadn’t stopped to wonder about where the trailer had gone.

  I thanked Kirby for the info and ran upstairs. Soot was on the floor staring at his bowl. I emptied his water dish and refilled it, and then measured a cup of crunchy morsels and poured them on top of the fish skeleton that was painted on the bottom of his bowl. He meowed.

  “You’re looking a little chubby these days, so that’s all you get.” I scooped him up, planted a kiss between his ears, and set him back down. He buried his nose in the bowl while I called Dig. His machine picked up after four rings.

  “Dig, it’s Margo. Are you still there? I need to talk to you about the trailer the mayor had you tow. Call me back when you get this.” I was in the middle of leaving my cell number out of habit when I remembered it was still at the police station. I hung up and called back. “Dig, it’s Margo again. I gave you the wrong number. Call me back at the store—”

  “Yo, Dig here. Whazzup?” he asked.

  “Dig—hi—it’s Margo.”

  “Yeah, I got that much. Whatcha need?”

  “I, um, did you hear my message?”

  “I was in the Zip, heard the phone keep ringing. When you called back, I figured it was some kind of emergency. You okay?”

  “I’m fine. I wanted to ask you about the trailer you towed.”

  “Listen, I know you got all kinds of questions about how these things work, but I don’t have time right now. Don’t even have time to stop for dinner. Maybe next week, once I get these things back up and running. Got it?”

  “Got it.”

  As soon as he hung up, I called Ebony.

  “I need help,” I said. “The kind of help only you can provide. I need you to pick up dinner for two.”

  “Sure. What are you hungry for?”

  “It’s not for me. It’s for you and Dig. I need you to create a distraction while I snoop around his tow yard.”

  “Girl, one of these days you are going to max out my generous nature.”

  * * *

  AN hour and a half later, Ebony and I pulled into the back lot of Dig’s Towing. Kirby hadn’t been exaggerating. Two large school buses were parked in front of the tow yard, and a silver trailer sat on the curb out front. I got out of Ebony’s gas-guzzling Cadillac and slammed the door. She pointed her finger at me and pursed her lips. I held my hands up in surrender, and then led the way to Dig’s office. Ebony grabbed a couple of takeout bags from Catch-22 and followed me.

  “Dig?” I called out. “Are you in there?” I knocked on the side of the school bus. I heard a clunk and a curse.

  “What did I tell you?” he asked. He appeared in one of the small windows toward the back of the bus. His expression changed when he realized I wasn’t alone. “Ebony, what are you doing here?”

  She held up the takeout bags. “Margo told me you didn’t have time for dinner, and Ebony says that’s unacceptable. It’s shrimp day at Catch-22. I brought fried and Cajun.” She dropped the bags to her side. “Unless you’re too busy to join me, and then I’ll have to go back home. Alone.”

  I was going to owe her big-time for this.

  The light turned off inside the bus and Dig came out. He wiped his hands on his jeans and tucked a rag into his back pocket. “Dig always has time for his Ebony,” he said. “Give me a sec to clean up.” He went inside his office.

  I turned to Ebony. “That was a little over the top, don’t you think?”

  “You want to help Don or what?” she asked. “Small miracle that today was shrimp day. Nothing speaks to Dig like the fried shrimp from Catch-22. It’s his favorite.”

  “How do you know?”

  “You’re not the only one around Proper who notices things about people. Besides, it’s good for a woman to pay attention to things like that. What’s Tak Hoshiyama’s favorite food?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “You’ve got a lot to learn,” she said, shaking her head. “Good thing I’m here to teach you.” She unlocked the trunk and pulled out a large tiger-striped blanket and a couple of pillows.

  “How far are you planning on taking this?” I asked.

  “Ambiance, baby girl. I might be in a tow yard, but I’m not gonna eat my shrimp off the manifold of one of these cars.”

  When Dig returned, he was in a different shirt and smelled vaguely of Acqua di Gio. I hid my smile. One of these days, he was going to wear Ebony down.

  “Must be nice collecting a check from the mayor’s office,” I said. “How do you negotiate a job like that?”

  “Same as any other job. Cost of towing, cost of parts, and cost of labor. Once you compromise your standards and let the man know you’re available to the highest bidder, things get complicated. People start to think they can buy you. Dig Allen doesn’t have a price.” He looked at Ebony and smiled. “How about we get at that shrimp before it gets cold? I got a bottle of champagne on ice in the office. Been saving it for a special occasion.” He looked at me again, and I gave him points for keeping any possible disappointment from showing. “You coming with, Margo?”

  “You two go ahead. I’d rather have a look inside the trailer by the c
urb,” I said.

  “Sorry, no can do.”

  Ebony put her hands on her hips. “How come?”

  “That was part of the job. Get the trailer away from the festival and leave it locked. Somebody’s supposed to come by in the morning and move it to the graveyard.”

  “You mean it’s broken down? You can’t fix it?”

  “I could fix it if that’s what they wanted, but it’s not. No point wasting any time on that trailer now. It’s getting compacted in the morning.”

  Chapter 30

  “WHO’S GOING TO impound the trailer?” Ebony asked.

  Dig shrugged. “Tow job came from that guy who wears the flowered shirts. What’s the big deal? One of the Zips dies and it gets replaced. Happens all the time.”

  “Dig, that’s not a Zip bus,” I said. “That’s the trailer that Ronnie Cass was in when she was murdered.”

  We all looked at each other. I didn’t know what either one of them was thinking, but it seemed pretty significant to me that Joel V. had given instructions to tow the trailer the day after the murder, and even more significant that he’d made arrangements to destroy it. I wasn’t sure how that fit into his job responsibilities as festival publicist. More likely than not, it didn’t and he’d found a way to take advantage of the foot he had in the door of the mayor’s office.

  “Can I use your phone?” I asked.

  Dig nodded. “Inside, on the counter. You okay?”

  I looked back and forth between Ebony and Dig’s faces. “Don’t let that shrimp get cold on my account,” I said. I left them standing by the Zip-Three and went inside. By the time I reached the phone, I knew there was only one person I could call.