Assault and Beadery

by Mollie Cox Bryan

“If only, right?” Vicki said.

  “My kids would have the place unrecognizable in about two minutes,” Judy chimed in.

  They all laughed and agreed.

  “The town is lovely, too,” Vicki said. “So quaint and cozy. It’s hard to believe there was a murder here yesterday.”

  Jane clenched her jaw.

  “Murder happens everywhere,” Ruby spoke up. “Don’t judge our little town on what happened to Stan.”

  “You knew him, didn’t you?” Vera said.

  Jane attempted to focus on her beads.

  “Of course,” Ruby said. “I probably know everybody in this town. If I don’t, I know someone in their family.” She held up her beads. “Not bad.”

  “How awful for his family,” Vera said.

  “Oh, he didn’t have much of a family,” Ruby replied. “He has a brother, but he lives in Tennessee. His parents are long gone. No, he lived for the theater.”

  Jane squinted. Her hands were sweating so much that it was hard to handle the tiny beads.

  “The local theater?” Annie said, coming back into the room.

  “Yes, sad, isn’t it?” Ruby said, and frowned.

  “Odd then that’s where they found his body,” Vera said.

  “Was it?” Roni said. “Or was it a perfect ending for him?”

  Once again, Roni silenced the crafters.

  “I wouldn’t think murder is a perfect ending for anybody, would you?” Vera chirped nervously.

  “Certainly not,” Roni said. “But think about it. He’d spent most of his life there. Was someone making a statement?”

  “He wasn’t killed there,” Jane said, choking back a wave of nausea.

  The group’s attention turned to her.

  “His body was moved to the theater,” she said.

  The room went silent again, just as Cora walked back into it.

  Jane stood, feeling as if she needed some fresh air. All this talk of murder. She wanted to navigate the conversation away from it, but her head felt full of cotton.

  “Why is everybody so quiet?” Cora said. “Maybe I should put some music on?”

  “Wonderful,” Lena said.

  Jane left the room and headed out through the kitchen into the backyard. She found a garden bench and sat.

  Poor Stan. No family. He just lived his life around that theater. He seemed happy—most of the time, though he was a dramatic guy. Sometimes he could be a bit biting. Jane often found herself wondering what people thought of his direct way of delivering criticism. Especially some of the mothers of the kids in the play. Jane wouldn’t like London involved over there at all. Jane loved painting and designing the sets, but that was as far as she’d ever planned to take it. And mostly it was for Zee, who begged and pleaded with her.

  Jane drew in air. She was aware of Stan and Zee arguing and knew Stan wasn’t Zee’s favorite person. Jane didn’t know what the problem was between them. She didn’t ask, assuming it was not her business.

  Which begged the question: If Zee didn’t kill Stan, who did?

  Were the police looking at all the people engaged with the production?

  Jane mulled over all the people involved and couldn’t imagine them killing anyone, let alone Stan, their director.

  Cora would say, “Murder never makes sense.” And the other thing she always said is that you never know who is capable of it. Hell, Jane understood that, more than aware of that psychic breaking point and the drive to defend when backed into a corner.

  Is that what happened with Stan? Was someone defending themselves? His temper was legendary. Or, did someone just kill him, for no good reason at all? And was that someone lurking around Indigo Gap looking for their next victim?

  She dug out her phone from her pocket and dialed Susan Jacobs, Sally’s mom. Sally was one of London’s best friends. London was staying with them and Jane found herself needing to hear her daughter’s voice.

  “Hello,” Susan said.

  “Hey, Susan, it’s me, Jane. Is London around?”

  “Oh sorry, Jane. She’s in the pool. Do you want me to get her out?”

  Laughter and squeals of delight sounded in the background. Her daughter was safe, and sounded as if she was having the time of her life.

  “Oh no. It’s nothing. I’ll call back later,” she said.

  “Call anytime,” Susan replied.

  “Thanks,” Jane said, and clicked off.

  “There you are,” Cora said as she walked through the grass.

  “Sorry,” Jane said. “I just needed a moment.”

  “Did you call London?” Cora said, and smiled.

  “Yes, but she was in the pool.”

  “Ah,” Cora said. “Listen, the energy in there is getting weird. Let’s try to keep it light and not talk about Stan.”

  Jane nodded. “I agree. Is Zee home yet?”

  “No,” Cora said. “I talked to Lulu. She’s going to stop by later and fill us in.”

  Jane’s worry burst into anger. “What the hell? How are they keeping her? I don’t get it.”

  Cora sat down next to her. “We’ll find out eventually. We need to calm down. I’m sure there’s been a horrible mix-up or something. Zee will be out in no time.”

  Chapter 18

  While the beading class dispersed and the crafters broke for lunch before Cora’s paper bead class, she slipped away to her apartment. Luna greeted her with a long, high-pitched meow.

  “Hello, sweetie,” she said, sitting down at the kitchen table. Luna jumped into her lap. While she was talking with Jane and Lulu, she had made a mental note to call Cashel, though now that she thought about it, he probably wouldn’t tell her a thing about Zee—attorney-client privilege and all that. Cora did have a friend on the police force—Brodsky. She surmised he was pretty busy right now with the case. So she texted him, instead of calling him. He preferred calls because he was a bit old-fashioned and had just figured out how to text last year.

  Hey, are you busy? I’m worried about Zee. Anything you can tell me? Cora keyed into her phone She hit SEND.

  In the meantime, Cora prepared a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and poured herself a glass of iced tea. In most cases, she’d be eating with the guests. However, most of them decided to go out for lunch, and she needed some time to get her head together before her paper beading class.

  I’m sorry. I’m not sure there’s anything else I can tell you, Brodsky texted back a moment later.

  Okay, Cora responded. Thanks anyway.

  A knock came at her door.

  “Cora?” It was Lulu.

  Cora opened the door, and Lulu fell into her arms. After their hug, Cora led her into her apartment.

  “What a delightful apartment,” Lulu said.

  “Thank you. Please have a seat. Can I get you something?” Cora led her into the living room section of her loftlike attic apartment.

  “No, thanks,” Lulu said. “I really can’t stay long. Oh my gosh, I’m trying to figure all of this out, and I just can’t wrap my head around it.”

  “Tell me everything you know,” Cora said, sitting down.

  Lulu lifted her chin. “I don’t know much. One thing I do know is that my sister is innocent.”

  “Sure she is, so why are they keeping her?”

  “Evidently, when they found her she was holding the murder weapon,” Lulu responded.

  So, Cashel’s gossip was true this time. “Who found her?”

  “I don’t remember the name ... someone from the theater group. Zee was passed out next to Stan with the blade in her hand,” Lulu said, stammering.

  “Have you talked to her about that?”

  Lulu sat straighter. “She said she found him lying there and she tried to save him by pulling out the knife. She doesn’t remember anything after that. She was hysterical, as you would expect.”

  “Makes sense to me.” So why didn’t it make sense to the police?

  Cora mulled things over a few minutes before speaking. “Was h
e still alive when she found him?”

  “I don’t know,” Lulu said.

  “I’m just trying to make sense of all this,” Cora said. “I mean, he was attacked in the alley and moved to the theater. He was too large of a man for Zee to move him. So, it stands to reason that she should be freed and off the suspect list.”

  Lulu moaned. “I know. I don’t understand. At first, I thought it was her ex-husband getting his revenge on her, but at this point, it’s gone beyond that. Maybe he’s trying to frame her. He’s the only one I know who despises her enough to do such a thing.”

  “Surely not. Surely a judge, even one who’s best friends with her ex-husband, would know better,” Cora said. “Keeping her in jail longer than necessary is one thing, but framing her for murder is another.”

  “Maybe you’re right,” Lulu said.

  “Speaking of her ex-husband. I had no idea she was ever married,” Cora said.

  Lulu’s hand gestured with a flourish. “Oh, it was a long time ago. She moved here to be close to him. Gave up her career so they could marry.”

  “That doesn’t sound like Zee.”

  “It was a different time, dear. Randall Mancini wasn’t going to marry a woman who was never going to be home. Her music took her all over the world. But she was crazy about him,” Lulu said.

  “What happened? I hope you don’t mind my asking?”

  “Not at all. I couldn’t tell you if I wanted to. Zee never said.” However, Lulu would not meet Cora’s eyes.

  Oh yes, there is more to the story.

  “She’s very private. Always has been. I didn’t know she was involved with the man until after they married. They eloped. It was all so sudden and romantic,” Lulu said, and sighed. “And as far as I could tell, it ended as suddenly as it started.”

  Cora made a mental note to check this judge out. Could he be harboring such a strong grudge that he was allowing her husband to frame Zee for murder? Difficult to fathom. But stranger things had happened. Love could twist you into all kinds of heinous knots.

  “About this lawyer of hers, Cashel O’Malley?”

  “What about him?” Cora said.

  “Is he any good? It seems she should be out already.”

  “Yes,” Cora said. “He’s an excellent lawyer.”

  Ruby’s son, Cashel, was good at his job but bad at his life. He had admitted his feelings for Cora, but only after she had fallen in love with Adrian. Cashel was not a temptation. Not anymore. Though when she first moved to Indigo Gap, she found him handsome and intriguing. When she realized he was Ruby’s son, that was that.

  “I was thinking about getting another lawyer. But if you say he’s good, I’ll leave it alone,” Lulu said.

  A rapping came at the door, and it opened. Jane sauntered in.

  “Lulu, I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do?” she said.

  “Thank you,” Lulu said. “I don’t know that there’s anything any of us can do for her. We have to trust in this O’Malley guy, I suppose. Or find the real killer ourselves.”

  Cora’s heart jumped to attention. She’d helped the police enough to know her way around a murder investigation.

  “Wait,” Jane said. “Lulu, it’s best if you let the pros handle this.”

  “What are they doing?” she said angrily. “We need to get Zee out of jail.”

  “I agree, it’s best if we let the pros handle it. But it wouldn’t hurt if we helped the police any way we could,” Cora said.

  “How? Besides, we have a retreat to run.”

  “I know that. It seems to me the first thing to do is to make a list of people who’d want to kill Stan,” Cora said.

  Lulu rolled her eyes. “That’s about half the town, isn’t it?”

  “Why is that?”

  “He wields his power like a damn king, that’s why. Plays favorites at the theater. If you know what I mean. It’s all about money, you know. Everybody knows if you become a supporter, you can get any part you want. Especially with the kids over there. Their loudmouth rich parents buy their way onto the stage. It’s a sin, I tell you. It’s not at all what community theater should be.” Her voice trembled with anger.

  Based on her brief time working at the theater, Cora had suspected as much. Cora and Jane had both tried to not listen to the rumors about Stan’s pushing the kids too hard, along with his arguing with parents and with the crew.

  “Surely none of that is a motive to kill a man,” Cora said, after a few seconds.

  Lulu harrumphed. “Ever met a true-blue stage mother? Those women are a different breed. Now, let’s get busy on our list.”

  Chapter 19

  After Lulu left, Cora found her way to the craft room to prepare for her class. She mentally sorted through what Lulu said. Cora didn’t know half the people Lulu placed on their list of suspects, but she was still new to town and getting to know people.

  “Do you need help?” Jane poked her head into the craft room.

  “Sure,” Cora said.

  Jane placed stacks of colorful scrapbooking paper in the center of the table, as Cora sat pencils and straws at each place.

  “I think Lulu was hard on Stan,” Jane said.

  Cora straightened the piles of paper. “Maybe, but her sister is in jail, and she’s overwrought.”

  “People don’t understand the pressure these directors are under,” Jane said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, he has to raise money to put on good shows.”

  “Whatever happened to raising money from tickets? Or being creative with simple sets and costumes. I’m sorry, Jane. If what Lulu said was true, that’s just wrong. Awarding parts only to kids whose parents have money is wrong. What about a talented, but poor kid? If the arts doesn’t welcome those children, who will?”

  “I hadn’t thought about it in that vein,” Jane said. “Still, I don’t think someone would kill the man because their kid didn’t get a part.”

  “I’d hope not,” Cora said, standing back from the table. “Oh, the Mod Podge. I figured I was missing something.” She dug around in her cabinet and found the bottles of Mod Podge, a glue-like substance used for craft projects. When it dried, it was invisible to the eye. “This is one of the simplest crafts,” she said.

  “I like the fact that we are recycling this paper,” Cora said. “We’re making pretty beads of pretty paper. What could be better?”

  “Seriously?” Jane said. “There’s a whole lot that could be better, starting with—”

  “Don’t go down that road,” Ruby said, entering the room from behind them. “Unless you’re going to go into details, that is.” She grinned and wiggled her eyebrows.

  Jane and Cora went about placing the bottles of Mod Podge at strategic places on the craft table.

  “Listen, did I see Lulu leaving here?” Ruby asked.

  “Yes, why?”

  “Just wondered what she was doing here,” Ruby said.

  “She’s upset about Zee.”

  “They haven’t let her go yet?”

  “No,” Jane said. “Isn’t it awful? These Indigo Gap police! I sometimes wonder if they know what they are doing.”

  “Ruby, is it a lost cause for you to get some information from Cashel?” Cora asked.

  “I don’t know; I can try. You know what a stuffed shirt he is,” Ruby said.

  “Anything you could find out would help with this case,” Cora said.

  “Case? You two aren’t launching your own investigation, are you?”

  “Well, not really,” Jane said. “We just helped Lulu come up with a list of people who might want to kill Stan.”

  “Long list, right?” Ruby said after a short pause.

  Jane nodded.

  “The killer would have to be a large, strong person,” Cora said. “Because he was killed in the alley and moved to the theater.”

  “We could start by eliminating many of those people on the list. Most of them are women.” Jane straightened a cork mat, wh
ich was on the table.

  “Mothers, I expect?” Ruby said.

  Jane and Cora looked at her. “How did you know?” Cora said.

  “I’ve lived here a long time. Hell hath no fury like mothers who think their kids have been treated unfairly. And Stan could be quite cruel about his rejections.”

  Cora spread more scrapbooking paper out on the table. “Yes, but to kill a man for that reason?”

  “I agree. It doesn’t feel right. Maybe there was another reason. Maybe he had other enemies,” Ruby said.

  One of the crafters stepped into the room just as they were talking. It was Vera. Cora wasn’t certain how long she’d been right outside the door. Odd. She was a bit too curious about this case. So curious that she was eavesdropping?

  “It didn’t have to be the mothers seeking revenge,” Vera said. “It could have been fathers. Or an ex-lover. Or maybe he owed someone money. Or maybe he was tangled in some underground drug activities.” Vera’s blue eyes lit with passion.

  “There you are!” Annie said, walking in.

  The room was silent with discomfort. Ruby, Jane, and Cora didn’t know what to think of Vera’s interest and apparent delight in the murder case.

  Vera stepped forward with the grace and elegance of a dancer. “Annie, we were just talking about the murder of that poor man.”

  “Stay out of it, Vera,” Annie said.

  “Oh, I was just coming up with possible scenarios. You know me and my overactive imagination.”

  “Sorry, ladies,” Annie said, wincing.

  “It’s quite all right,” Cora said. “We should not have been talking about this at all. It’s a retreat. We’re here to have fun and give mothers a craft break for a few days.”

  “It’s just that our friend is in jail for the murder,” Jane blurted out.

  “Oh dear,” Vera said. “We’ve had a similar situation in Cumberland Creek. I hope it works out for her.”

  “Did it work out for your friend?” Jane asked.

  “Eventually,” Annie said. “Cookie’s doing great now. It was touch and go for a while.”

  More crafters came into the room. It was getting to be close to the time for the class to start.

  “Let’s put some music on,” Ruby muttered. “The energy in here is a downer.”