by Laina Turner
“Has Willie figured out who might be responsible for killing Solange?”
“No. Or if he has a clue he hasn’t shared it with me. And I can’t begin to imagine who might have wanted to hurt her.”
Chapter 10
I hate funerals,” Anna whispered to me as we walked into the church. Since I’d spent the night with her, I had decided to drag her with me to Solange’s funeral for moral support. Even though I knew Steph and Lily would be coming, since I closed the store so we could all attend, I didn’t want to be all by myself until they got there. Normally, I wouldn’t mind being in a crowd by myself; I had a decent amount of extrovert in me, but a funeral was a whole different story.
“Who actually likes them?”
“You’d be surprised. My great aunt Sophie seems to enjoy each time she outlives one more family member.”
“Only because she’s winning in the great game of life”
“That’s funny. And I’m sure you’re right.”
“Let’s sit in the back,” I said to Anna. Not liking funerals either, because I hated crying in public, I also never knew the right thing to say to the family of the loved one and felt so awkward. My friend Katy from back home always knew what to say.
“You know, they say that the killer usually shows up at the funeral,” Anna said. “Maybe if we watch the crowd closely we might be able to spot him or her.”
“You watch entirely too much television. I would have no idea how to start looking at people to see if they were the murdering type or even the trashing-of-other-people’s-property type. I don’t even know anything about her family. She didn’t really talk about them much. And I have no idea what they might look like. She wasn’t one for posing for pictures, and she never showed me any. So any of these family members might look strange to me. I can’t just assume they might be a killer.”
“You’re overthinking this, Presley.”
“If you say so” My mind was not on finding a killer here at Solange’s funeral, but rather on this very uncomfortable black dress I was wearing. I wasn’t sure I would make it through the funeral without passing out. It was too tight, I needed to suck in all the fat to even come close to fitting in it, and the girdle was cutting off all oxygen to my brain. I wanted to pass out. I really needed to lose ten pounds. I could swear this dress wasn’t this tight last time I wore it.
“That must be her family up there,” Anna said, pointing to the first pew where several people sat crying.
“You’re probably right. Strange that none of them look that much like her. The older lady being comforted is her mom, I think. She came in the store a couple times, the only family member who has, besides James, but not since Solange’s dad died. I don’t think she gets out as much now. The few times I met her she seemed like a very nice lady.”
“Wonder where James is?”
“He has to be here somewhere.”
“Isn’t that him toward the back?” Anna asked.
“Where?”
“Over by the doors. He’s talking to a group of people. I just saw a glimpse, but I’m sure that’s him. Black suit, black shirt, black tie. Next to the tall brunette.” Anna pointed in the direction until I finally saw him. He was standing next to a few of Solange’s friends. I recognized them from when they’d come into the store.
But James wasn’t the only person I saw. The faux German guy, Peter Green, from the boutique and the bar, was there. Why would the guy be here at Solange’s funeral? If he knew her, why didn’t he mention that when he came into the store? I took my phone out and sent Willie a text.
“What are you doing?” Anna hissed. “Texting in church is not allowed, especially at a funeral. What are you thinking?”
“This is important. You see that guy over there? The one standing in the corner all alone”
“The one in the navy suit?”
“Yes.” Now that I looked closer he was wearing the same navy suit he had on when he came to the boutique. He definitely wasn’t a typical client for Silk if he only had the one suit.
“What about him?”
“That’s the guy from the boutique that was such an ass when he came into Silk and who we saw at Muldoon’s. Remember, the one Willie and I were talking about?”
“Vaguely”
“Well, that’s him.”
“Why would he be here?”
“I have no idea. That’s why I’m texting Willie.” I felt my phone vibrate. It was Willie with the response to not talk to the guy, thanks for the information, and call him when it was over. I put my phone back in my black clutch along with my car key (I had taken it off the ring to get it to fit), a lipstick, and compact.
I noticed a man, whom I presumed to be the pastor, speak quietly to James and motion toward the front of the church. It was a few minutes after two, and I wasn’t sure how prompt people usually felt funerals should start, but it looked like the pastor was rounding people up and herding them to the front so things could get underway. James walked to the front but sat on the opposite side as the rest of Solange’s family. There was palpable tension even with the space between them. I wondered what had happened. It looked as if none of them were on speaking terms. Solange and James hadn’t ever had kids, but sitting with James were people who looked liked his relatives. I could see some resemblance. So that was my assumption.
“There’s Steph and Lily.” I waved my hand in their direction to get their attention, hoping they would notice, as I didn’t feel that yelling across the church was probably appropriate etiquette for a funeral. Luckily, they saw me and made their way over.
“I’m glad we saw you, Pres,” said Steph. “There isn’t anyone here we know, but we wanted to pay our respects to Solange’s family.”
“I feel the same way; that’s why I dragged Anna with me. You both remember Anna, don’t you?”
“You walked in the fall fashion show last year right?” asked Lily.
“I sure did. Good to see you both again.”
“That’s right,” said Steph, you wore the eggplant-colored leather pantsuit with those rockin’ gold metallic platforms.”
Anna laughed. “Good memory. I thought I was going to look like Barney, but it turned out well.”
“Yeah, Solange could come up with the craziest outfits that you’d swear would look horrendous but were amazing.”
I said, “That’s so true, Steph. I’m going to miss her.” And that was the truth. Solange may have had her faults, but she was good- hearted and a great fashion talent. Besides, even if she wasn’t, no one deserved to die.
“Presley, do the police have any leads?” asked Lily. “I have half a mind to call up that cute detective. Detective Landon, was it? He is someone I wouldn’t mind going out with.”
Anna opened her mouth to say something, and I poked her in the ribs to shut her up. I normally wouldn’t hide from the girls that I was interested in someone, but this was different. I just felt weird with him investigating Solange’s murder and all. I just wanted to wait until all this messiness was behind us before I went public with liking him.
“We better take our seats. Looks like they’re getting ready to start.”
The service was nice. A few different people got up and spoke about how wonderful Solange was and about her life’s accomplishments. It was a typical funeral. Very emotional and draining even for me, so I couldn’t begin to imagine how hard it was for the family.
After the funeral, everyone headed downstairs to a large gathering room that had coffee, tea, and pastries so people could talk and reminisce. At least that was what I assumed the purpose was. I had no intention of going, but Anna said she wanted some coffee and said that we needed to keep an eye on people anyways. She was still of the mindset that the killer might be here, and we would be able to tell. Since I had already tried to dissuade her, and she just ignored me, I figured it was easier to go along and give her a few minutes to look around at the attendees before leaving.
“See, Presley, good coffee, good
donuts. And you wanted to ditch the reception.”
“This isn’t a reception. We aren’t at a wedding, Anna.”
“Receptions aren’t only for weddings. They’re pretty much for any type of gathering. You act like being here is wrong.”
“I agree with Anna,” Lily said with a mouthful of Krispy Kreme.
“Okay, fine, but I don’t know these people, and I’m not comfortable crashing a funeral reception.”
“Oh relax, we all know each other, and we will leave in a few minutes. Besides, this way people know you were here to pay respects. It’s the right thing to do. And we all know Solange, so we all have a right to be here.”
“If you say so”
We chatted with each other and drank our coffee, and Anna kept her eye on everyone, trying to decide if they looked like a murderer or not. She kept trying to point out people and ask my opinion, but I was trying to ignore her. Lily and Steph left, and Anna and I were about to, but there was something I wanted to do first.
I walked up to a group of women where Solange’s mother was talking. “Excuse me, Mrs. Barker.”
“Yes, dear.” She looked at me. I felt so bad. It must be horrible to lose a child. She looked so sad.
“I worked with Solange at Silk and just wanted to let you know how sorry we all are. Everyone there enjoyed working with her very much.”
“That’s sweet, dear. Thank you all so much for coming.” She grabbed my hand and squeezed it.
“It was the least we could do.” Walking away, I felt the urge to call my mother. We didn’t always get along, but I couldn’t imagine how I would feel if something happened to her and vice versa. We might argue, but we loved each other.
We were almost to the door when shouting stopped us in our tracks. We turned around to see what the commotion was about.
“See, I told you something good would happen here,” Anna whispered.
“I think you have a skewed definition of good.”
“I loved my sister, and you took her away from me!” a man hollered.
James shouted back at him. “I did not, Steven. It was her choice to stop enabling you. She did it because she loved you.”
The guy named Steven I knew from Solange talking about him. He was her brother, and from what Solange had said, he had a slight drinking problem. Though looking at the scene before me, “slight” may have been an understatement.
“She never would have stopped returning my calls if it weren’t for you. You took away my sister,” Steven said, stepping forward and taking a swing. His fist connected with James’s jaw, the force of the punch knocking James off balance. He took a step back, falling into a group of women.
“See, Steven? This is exactly why Solange stopped taking your phone calls,” James said. “You’re drunk. Too drunk to be rational and not cause a scene at your sister’s funeral. You’re sick, Steven; you need help.”
Mrs. Barker had come to Steven’s side. “Steven, honey, you need to stop this. James didn’t control Solange. She was her own woman.” She rubbed his back, trying to calm him down like one might a child. Though, if he was drunk as James claimed, he was probably thinking like a child. I again felt deeply sorry for Solange’s mom. This was the last thing anyone needed to deal with at the funeral of her daughter. I had to give her credit, though. She was a strong lady and seemed to be holding it together well.
Steven was breathing hard, and I could see he was trying as much as he could to calm down.
“Loraine, he needs help,” James said to Solange’s mom.
“James, dear, let’s not discuss this right now, please?”
“Out of respect for you, Loraine, of course, but I think I’ll be going now. I will call you tomorrow.”
“Okay.” She nodded. “The usual time?”
“Yes.” He walked over and pecked her on the cheek, watching Steven out of the corner of his eye as if he was waiting to be hit again.
“Well, that sure was interesting,” Anna said as we watched James walk out of the room.
“Not the kind of interesting one wants at a funeral. Come to think of it, I don’t think funerals need to have any excitement. I just feel so bad for Solange’s mom.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean, but wow, she sure is a tough old broad. I admire that.”
“No kidding. I can’t imagine having to deal with this. Doesn’t it seem odd that there appears to be so much tension between James and Solange’s family, yet her mother seems perfectly cordial to him?”
“Yeah, did you hear him say he would call her tomorrow and her say the usual time? That must mean they talk often.”
“Wonder what that’s all about.”
“Ask her.”
“Who?”
“Ask Mrs. Barker. Why not?”
“Well, for one, it just seems rude, and what should I say? I know your daughter was just murdered, but why do you have regular phone conversations with her estranged husband?”
“Sure. Why not?”
“Right.”
“Seriously though, she seems nice. Maybe if you did just ask her, she would be receptive to talking to you?”
“Maybe you’re right. It just seems so callous.”
“I don’t think so. After all, you’re doing it for a good reason. Or maybe have Willie ask her.”
“Now there’s an idea.”
“I’m going to run home and change, and then I’ll be over.”
“Okay, see you in a bit.” We had stopped to pick up my car that morning so we could each run some errands after the funeral, and then we were going to meet back at my condo, if it was cleared for re-entry. Willie had said hopefully by late afternoon or so, and I was counting on it. I was upset my home had been violated, and I just wanted to get back in there and put it behind me.
“Seriously Anna, I can’t believe you are trying to break into his Facebook account. If you don’t trust him, then you shouldn’t be with him.” I had finally been let into my condo after the crime techs had finished, and Anna had offered to help me clean. At least this time I knew what to expect. It was a big sacrifice for her, as she didn’t like cleaning anymore than I did, and I thoroughly appreciated her help. But she took pity on me since all I seemed to be doing lately was cleaning up messes. After we had finished to my satisfaction and opened a bottle of muscato to relax, she sat on the couch with my laptop.
“I want to trust him, but I can’t. It seems like when I do, something else happens.”
“Then I repeat…why are you with him?” She ignored me as she kept trying to figure out his password. I knew she was doing it on purpose. She didn’t want to answer me, because she knew I had a point. “What makes you think you can figure out his password? It’s not like you’re some computer hack.”
“Puhlease. Guys are simple when it comes to passwords. I know what a couple of his are, and I’m sure that I can figure it out. I just need a few more minutes and some luck that it doesn’t lock me out.”
“This is stupid, Anna.”
“Why?”
“Because you are wasting time on someone who—”
“I’m in,” she said, pushing herself away from the desk like she had just done something monumental, though in her eyes she had. I just hated to think about what she would find. She stood up, walked over to the muscato bottle, and refilled her glass. Leaning against the counter, she took a sip.
“Really, wow, I didn’t think you had it in you. Guess if the marketing thing doesn’t work, you have a good backup career for untrusting girlfriends everywhere.”
“Funny, but probably true. It could be a good side business.”
“So, may I ask what you are hoping to find? If he’s cheating, do you really want the dirty details?”
“Uh, yeah, I would rather know than wonder. You know this makes me think of something. You should try to see what dirt you can find on James. You said he’s a jerk at times. Maybe he did kill her for the money.”
“You think I should hack into his Facebook account?
You think that he has been posting he murdered his soon to be ex wife? I hardly think he’s going to be talking about that on Facebook.”
“No, I don’t mean hack into Facebook. How would you ever do that? You wouldn’t even know where to start with figuring out the password. That’s the trick. Knowing where to start—and when you know someone well, like I do Jeff, it’s easy.”
“Then what are you suggesting I do?” I had no idea where Anna was going with this. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
“You know where he works, right?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Then we should wait outside his work and follow him. See what he does. Maybe he has a secret lover, and he killed Solange to get her money and have his lover, too. We could always Google him. You can find anything on Google.”
“I’m not sure you can solve murders on Google, Anna.”
Anna was really getting dramatic about this. James was a jerk, but a killer? I still didn’t feel in my gut that James killed her. It just didn’t seem right. I had no proof, just a feeling, and that was the problem. No one cared about a feeling, in the legal realm that is, it needed to be concrete. I realized this, but it still didn’t change how I felt.
“You really think following him is the answer?” I said.
“It couldn’t hurt. I mean, you said yourself there was no love lost between them, and her parents didn’t even seem to want him to be a part of the funeral.”
“I think that’s what the police should be doing.”
“Presley, do you really want to just wait on the police?”
“That is their job, you know.”
“That bastard!”
“Who, Jeff?”
“Yes. I knew it. When a guy says they are just friends you can never believe him.”
“Maybe Jeff, but don’t classify all guys like that. What did he do?” I walked over to where Anna was at my computer on the couch and sat down so I could see what she was looking at.
“Read this!” Anna said. “This Sarah chick says she wants to get to know him better and is willing to try a long distance thing. I guess she lives in Iowa. How the hell did he meet a girl from Iowa?”
