by Deb Baker
"I'll be talking in my sleep again tonight," Britt said laughing along. "Or barking."
"You really should see a hypnotist," Nina relied. "You have to be losing lots of sleep."
Nina, Gretchen decided, could benefit from a little hypnosis herself. Her aunt put all her attention and affection into animals. She needed a male companion to ground her. Although she certainly looked content enough at the moment. Tutu and Nimrod played at their feet. Enrico watched from the safety of Nina's leg, peeking out beside her painted toenails, snarling a warning whenever the other dogs came too close.
April swung through the door, carrying her usual bag of subs. "I lost another five pounds," she announced, setting the bag on the counter.
"Five pounds a day is incredible," Gretchen said, not really believing it was possible. But April did look thinner.
"Caroline can't come," Nina said. "She has a tip on a collection of antique dolls that's for sale. She's driving to Fountain Hills to look at them."
The piles on the card table were still as they had been yesterday. After Gretchen's encounter with Ryan, all work on the room boxes had ceased for the day. "Let's each take a room box," she said, "and see what we come up with. I think we can wrap this up in a few hours."
They settled in. Gretchen was continually amazed at Charlie's gift for interior design with the tiny, detailed pieces, the unity of her composition, and the precision of the scale. Gretchen paused from her work on the backyard scene to watch Britt and Nina. Britt had chosen the Victorian bedroom scene, carefully placing each item where she thought it might have gone. By the hint of a smile on her face, Gretchen could tell she truly enjoyed working with the miniatures.
"I'm finished," April called, proudly showing them the orchard and church scene. "I found a blue velvet hat in my pile. I'm going to add it to the leftovers, since I don't know where it goes. I think it was made from a cardboard pattern. Isn't it cute?"
"Charlie used simple household supplies for many of her projects," Britt said to April, who hung on every word.
"She was very creative."
"Making minis would be fun, especially making the little dolls," April said. "I'd love to try it."
"I'm starting a baby sculpting class soon. Why don't you sign up?"
"Count me in."
"Here comes someone I'd like you to meet," Britt called out, looking toward the door. "My daughter, Melany."
Britt's daughter was in her twenties, slightly overweight, and wore no makeup, not even mascara. She was frumpy next to her mother, who bustled over to give her daughter a kiss on the cheek. Gretchen couldn't see much resemblance-Britt with her tailored blouse and immaculate French twist, Melany in rumpled shorts and a top that was way too tight.
"Bernard's been taken to the hospital," Melany said to her mother, an almost hostile expression on her face. "I thought you'd want to know."
"What happened?" Britt clutched her throat.
"A jar of bug juice exploded."
Had Gretchen heard her correctly? Bug juice? It sounded like an insect killer, or a name for summer camp juice drinks.
"Bug juice is a concoction Bernard uses," Melany said when she noticed the other women's lost expressions. "It turns new wood a grayish brown. He uses it to age wood details for his dollhouses."
"I warned him several times about mixing chemicals,"
Britt said. "Is he going to be all right?"
"I think so, but his arm was injured." The coldness was back in her voice. "The bug juice hit like shrapnel from a bomb. I had stopped at his house to deliver the miniature orchid bouquet for a wedding display, and his neighbor told me what happened."
"How awful," Britt said.
"What is this bug juice made from," Gretchen asked,
"that it has the capacity to explode?"
"To get the effect he's looking for in the wood, he uses an old-timer's recipe," Britt explained. "He puts rusty nails in a glass jar, then pours vinegar over them. He's supposed to put the lid on loosely and leave it for a few weeks. If the lid is too tight, it can produce a gas, and the pressure builds."
"The poor old man," April said.
Britt picked up her purse and slung it over her shoulder.
"Melany and I will check on him," she said. "We'll let you know."
After Britt and Melany left, Gretchen told Nina and April about the visit to Ryan's house.
"Do the police think he murdered his mother?" Nina asked.
"I don't know. We'll have to wait and see what happens, but I assume he's a prime suspect, especially because he's an addict."
"Let's take a break and drive over to Joseph's Dream Dolls," April said. "I love that place, and Joseph could use some company. He was so distraught when he came by."
Gretchen picked up a miniature lamp. "Joseph was at the parade on Saturday, but he wasn't here at Charlie's. Mom said he had been invited, so why was he walking in the opposite direction when I saw him? I'd really like to ask him a few questions."
"Let's finish here first," Nina suggested.
Twenty minutes later, they had completed the room boxes. Gretchen looked at the finished scenes: a Victorian bedroom and sitting room, a man's dressing room and bedroom, an orchard near a church, and a dilapidated backyard. How did the tiny peanut butter jar found under Charlie's body fit in? Gretchen glanced over at the fifth room box, at its hasty construction. She wondered how it would have fit in with the others. If only Charlie had had time to finish it.
After taking pictures with her cell phone of the completed settings, Gretchen tucked Nimrod into her purse. Nina had her hands full with Tutu and her current client, Enrico. Enrico watched the action suspiciously from his Mexican tapestry purse, ready to defend himself from the entire world if necessary. Short-dog syndrome, Gretchen thought. Like short-man syndrome. A Napoleon complex. Not that Matt had that problem, although he wasn't very tall. Gretchen, at five eight, could look right into his dark and stormy eyes without tilting her head much at all. Why was she thinking about him? Geez. Get over it. Did every thought have to lead back to the detective? Did it?
"I'll drive," crash-prone April announced.
"I'll drive," Nina said immediately.
"Let's go with Nina," Gretchen said. No one in their right mind would drive with Fender Bender Mama. Nina darted through traffic in her red vintage Impala. She'd had the chrome polished recently, and it glistened in the warm Arizona sun.
Gretchen found herself wedged into the backseat with the canines. Between the three dogs, they'd managed to streak and smudge both back passenger windows. Gretchen's clothes were covered in dog hair.
She had given up on keeping the dogs from racing across her lap. Any minute now she expected Enrico to lunge for her throat. He stared at her with his beady little eyes, waiting for her to make a wrong move.
Why am I the one in the backseat?
April glanced back. "Sorry," she said to Gretchen. "But I really don't fit back there. Maybe in a day or two when I lose more weight."
"No problem," Gretchen said, not meaning it.
"I think we could solve this case," April said. "Break it wide open. Let's do a little digging and see what happens."
"We're the Mod Squad," Nina said, veering around a slow car ahead of them.
Gretchen slid sideways. Enrico snarled.
"Charlie's Angels," April said.
"Without Charlie," Gretchen joined in.
"Detective Matt Albright can be Charlie," Nina said.
"No," Gretchen said. "He can't." She saw Nina and April give each other a glance.
Nina checked her rearview mirror. "Oh, no," she said, slowing down.
"Yikes," April said, glancing in her side mirror. Nina changed to the right lane and came to a stop along the curb. Gretchen looked back and saw a Phoenix squad car pull in behind them. "Were you speeding?" she asked Nina. Nina shrugged. "I wasn't paying attention." She shuffled through her purse, rolled down her window, and stuck her driver's license out.
The cop be
nt down and studied each of them through Nina's window. All three dogs watched out the back driver's side window. Enrico growled. The cop shot him a nononsense look. "Do you know why I stopped you?" he said to Nina.
"I'm not sure, but I know I wasn't speeding," Nina said, smiling her widest and brightest. "I can see an orange aura surrounding you, Officer." Nina used a long, polished nail to draw a circle in the air around his torso. "That means you're confused. This is all a misunderstanding."
The officer frowned. "I need your identification, too."
He looked right at Gretchen.
"As you can see, I wasn't driving. I'm in the backseat. Why do you need mine?"
"Hand it over."
Gretchen did as he asked. He stared at her for a minute, then studied her license. "Yours, too," he said to April.
"I'm calling my attorney," April replied.
"Call whoever you want," he said. "After you show me some identification."
"I don't have any," April said.
"Wait here," he said.
"Auras don't lie," Nina called out the window. "You'll see."
"What are you doing?" April said to Nina. "Stop with that mumbo jumbo, or he'll lock us away."
"Or worse," Gretchen said. "He'll think you're drunk."
"Should we tell him we're undercover?" April said.
"Charlie's Angels don't get tickets."
Nina tittered, and that started April off. Hee-hee. Hawhaw.
"This isn't funny," Gretchen said. "Why did he want my license?"
"And what's this attorney thing?" Nina said to April.
"You don't have a lawyer."
"I wanted to intimidate him."
"Shhh, here he comes."
"Your brake light isn't working," he said. "Step out of the car, please. You, too." He looked at Gretchen.
"How about me?" April said. "Should I come?"
"Yes, ma'am. And take the dogs with you, especially that one." He looked at Enrico. "Leave your purses where they are."
Another squad car with lights flashing and siren wailing pulled in ahead of Nina's Impala. The women stepped out, Gretchen carrying Nimrod and Nina clutching Tutu and Enrico. April had her cell phone pressed to her ear before the car doors slammed shut. Another squad car arrived.
"This isn't good," Gretchen said. "Something's seriously wrong."
April gave someone on the phone their location.
"Hurry," she said before hanging up.
"Come with me," the first Phoenix police officer said. He walked them to his car and opened the back door.
"You can wait in here."
They crawled in, first Gretchen, then April. Nina squeezed in. The cop slammed the door and walked away. Gretchen tried to open the door on her side. "It's locked," she said, although she already knew that.
"We're trapped," Nina said, holding Tutu and Enrico on her lap.
"We weren't going to make a run for it, anyway," April said. "This is unnecessary brutality. Look! They've left the windows open an inch. How nice. They're treating us like animals."
"Who did you call?" Gretchen asked.
"You'll see."
Gretchen fought against a wave of claustrophobia. The women looked through the cage separating the front from the back of the squad car and watched what was happening. Two officers were searching Nina's car. They opened the trunk, moved seats, checked the glove compartment, the engine. Another went through their purses, examining each item. Nina's bag interested the officer the most. He pulled out several wee-wee pads that she carried for doggy potty stops and began ripping them apart, studying the contents.
"What in the world. .," Nina said from the far side of April.
One of them slid under the Chevy.
"What on earth are they doing?" Nina said, no longer kidding around.
"Searching for something," Gretchen said. "They aren't going to find anything, are they, Nina?"
"Other than a lot of dog paraphernalia? No."
"I don't think that's the kind of paraphernalia they're looking for," Gretchen said.
"Well, mumbo jumbo queen," April said to Nina. "You tell us what's going on."
"The police officers' auras are all orange. I'm pretty sure that means they don't know what they're doing."
"You're pretty sure?" April groaned. "You don't even know what the different colors mean."
"Sure I do. Most of the time. These are unusual circumstances."
"How long can this take?" Gretchen said, careful not to whine. She wasn't a Charlie's Angel. The Angels would have found a way out of this situation before they were locked up inside a squad car.
Being stuffed in a backseat with April, Nina, and three dogs wasn't her idea of a fun time. She watched the officers continue to search the Chevy. A blue car pulled up on the other side of the street, made a U-turn, and parked in front of the growing line of vehicles. Gretchen groaned.
"What's he doing here?"
"I called him," April said with a big grin. "Would you look at those biceps? He can be my Charlie any day."
Gretchen tried to slink down in the seat. Matt strolled to the front of the squad car where they were imprisoned. Hands on hips, he shook his head. April gave him a wave and a giggle.
"I thought we needed help," she said.
"Do we ever," Nina agreed.
One of the officers approached Matt, and they went into a huddle. Matt looked surprised when he turned and stared at them. Then he made a phone call and paced back and forth in front of the Impala.
"What's he doing?" Nina asked.
"Arranging for jail cells?" Gretchen suggested.
"Oh, get outta here," April said. "He's our protector. They can't arrest us."
"Here he comes," Nina said.
The back door swung open. "I have to search all of you," Matt said, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "Then you're free to go."
"Me first," April said. "You're so naughty." Nina practically fell out of the car as April scooted toward her. Gretchen rose from the squad car last. "Is this your idea of a joke?"
"What?" He grinned. "You think I did this?"
The officer who had stopped Nina's car walked over with their driver's licenses. "I'm letting you go this time,"
he said to Nina. "You're not getting a ticket, but get that brake light fixed." He nodded to Matt. "We'll be going."
Matt nodded back.
The cop's eyes shifted to Gretchen. "I'd watch this one,"
he said. "Yesterday we had a formal complaint filed against her. She had an altercation with a passerby not too far from here."
"Makes it hard for her to have been in Mexico, doesn't it?" Matt commented.
"We'll be going," the cop managed to say after mulling over the timeline.
Nobody said anything until the squad cars edged back into traffic.
"They can't stop us and search Nina's car without reasonable cause," Gretchen said.
"Yah," April said
"They had a tip," Matt said. "A car matching this description with three women inside was suspected of being on a drug run from the Mexican border."
"What?" Gretchen couldn't believe it.
"Rocky Point, to be exact," he said. "Did you snorkel in the Sea of Cortez while you were there? That's my favorite thing to do."
Gretchen stared. "Very funny." What was he, the class clown? She'd been smashed in the back of a squad car while all her personal belongings were searched. And he was making jokes.
"There aren't that many red vintage Impalas running around the city," Matt explained. "You weren't hard to find. The broken brake light gave them a legal reason to stop you and search the car."
"That's outrageous," Nina chimed in. "Where did this supposed tip come from?"
Matt shrugged, and from the firm set to the detective's jaw and his penchant for secrecy, Gretchen knew he wouldn't tell them if he knew. "You're free to go." He held the front passenger door of the Impala open for April. But his eyes never left Gretchen.
"Did you se
e him checking you out?" April said when they were back on the road. "He has the hots for you bad."
"Who knew all three of us were together?" Gretchen said, ignoring her friend's comment. "We didn't know until the last minute which car we were taking from the shop."
"The cops picked the wrong car," Nina said smugly. "I told you they were confused."
Gretchen shook her head. "I don't think it was a case of mistaken identity. Someone's been watching us," she said. It was the only logical conclusion.
By the silence in the car, Gretchen knew her friends were thinking over her last comment. They rode the rest of the way to Joseph's without speaking. All Gretchen could hear was the sound of dogs panting.
She wiped gooey drool from her leg.
16
Instead of the pink shirt and yellow shorts he had been wearing at the parade, today Joseph wore a purple polo shirt and khaki shorts. A pair of pink Crocs adorned his feet, and diamond studs glistened from both ears. Nina and her canine entourage disappeared down the street under the guise of doggy exercise. Gretchen knew Nina really wanted to partake in her favorite pastime: window shopping.
"Miniature dolls are against the back wall," Joseph called to April when he saw her wandering around. With a backward wave, she hustled off in search of tantalizing little gems to lust over. Gretchen couldn't believe the two Charlie's Angels investigators had abandoned her in pursuit of pleasure. She sighed. "Can we talk privately?" she asked Joseph.
"Follow me." He led her through the busy shop, offered her a seat in his office, and sat down beside her. "Wasn't it awful about Charlie?" he said. "I heard you were at Mini Maize when it happened, and I'd hoped to talk to you when I stopped by. Please tell me what you know."
Gretchen told him how the group of partygoers had discovered Charlie's body on the shop floor and the ensuing rush inside.
"Your mother told me your family is reorganizing her last room boxes," he said when she finished.
"The room boxes are ready."
She pulled out her camera phone. "There are four of them."
"The doll community has lost some real talent," he said wistfully. Joseph reached in his shirt pocket, pulled out a piece of square plastic, peeled the plastic apart, popped something into his mouth, and chewed.
