Dead Bolt
Page 27
“You’re welcome.” As I slipped the comb into my bag, I noticed a few strands of her hair were entangled in the teeth. Just then a stall opened up, so I grabbed it.
A few minutes later, as I washed my hands, I overheard women speaking in the outer lounge.
“Now that’s what I call using the restroom.”
“She’s lounging, all right. Too much champagne, maybe?”
“Hey, are you okay?”
I rushed out to the lounge.
Miriam lay upon the chaise longue, eyes closed, sea foam silk fanned out around her. She had the odd stillness of one who wasn’t merely sleeping.
“Wake up, sweetheart.” An elderly woman gently shook Miriam’s shoulder. “Are you okay? Want us to find your escort?”
They all stood back when I approached, as though I were a physician who would know what to do.
I knelt beside her. “Miriam?”
My heart caught in my throat. Bright red flags of color on her cheeks stood out against an unnatural ashen pallor. I placed a hand on her brow, and felt her neck for a pulse. It was weak, thready. But it was there.
“Call nine-one-one,” I said over my shoulder.
The orchid corsage pinned to Miriam’s collar caught my eye. Lovely pale pink flowers tinged in violet formed a perfect contrast to the sea green of her dress. A few trumpet-shaped flowers formed a pale background. But as I looked closer, I spied beneath the foliage a bit of black ribbon, the glint of needles, and an ugly tangle of black thread. And I smelled . . . cigarettes?
This was no normal corsage.
ALSO AVAILABLE
FROM
Juliet Blackwell
If Walls Could Talk
A Haunted Home Renovation Mystery
Melanie Turner has made quite a name for herself remodeling historic houses in the San Francisco Bay Area. But now her reputation may be on the line.
At her newest project, a run-down Pacific Heights mansion, Mel is visited by the ghost of a colleague who recently met a bad end with power tools. Mel hopes that by nailing the killer, she can rid herself of the ghostly presence of the murdered man—and not end up a construction casualty herself...
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