by Rose Pressey
After slipping into my outfit, I attempted to style my hair. When it wouldn’t cooperate I just pulled it back into a ponytail. My coffee-color brown cigarette pants looked like they were from the 1950s, but they were a reproduction from the 1990s. Since they were covered with an with atomic print, my cream-colored cotton tank from the 1990s worked well. I paired the outfit with ivory flats.
“You look like you’re going to high school in the fifties,” Charlotte said.
“She’s actually going on a dangerous mission,” Juliana said.
I hoped it wasn’t dangerous. I’d had enough of danger in the past few days. I grabbed my purse and keys. “Wind Song, I’ll come back for you,” I called as I opened the door.
She meowed loudly and ran out the door and over to the car.
“It looks as if she doesn’t want to stay,” Juliana said.
I glanced at my watch and back at the cat. “I suppose I have just enough time to drop you off before I meet Dylan.” Without thinking, I opened the car door.
She jumped right into the front seat. She didn’t wait to ride in her carrier.
“I’m not sure it’s a good idea to ride without your carrier, Wind Song.”
She meowed, but I went back inside for the carrier anyway. After getting her inside it,we took off for downtown.
I opened the boutique door, set the carrier on the floor, and let Wind Song out. I shut and locked the door behind me and ran to my car. I had ten minutes before it was time to meet Dylan.
I cruised through town to the lot where they kept the towed cars. Dylan was waiting in his car out front. He stepped out when I pulled up.
“This is exciting,” Charlotte said as I shoved the car into park and turned off the ignition. “Just remember that we may find nothing.”
“At least you can say you tried.” Juliana slipped out of the car.
“Yes, you would always have wondered if you didn’t give it a look.” Charlotte kept pace next to me.
I walked up to Dylan. He leaned down and kissed me.
“At least he realizes there is always time for romance.” Charlotte liked that.
Dylan peered around. “Remember, don’t tell anyone about this.”
It was a good thing Charlotte couldn’t talk to anyone else. The news would be all over town.
Dylan unlocked the gate and we walked to the back of the lot. The ghosts walked with us, but when we neared the car, Juliana stopped.
“What’s wrong?” Charlotte asked her.
She rubbed her arms. “It just brings back bad memories to see the car again.”
“Well, that’s understandable. How do you think I felt roaming around an empty mansion watching people drag all my belongings out? The Chanel . . . the Hermès. It was awful . . . but you move on and learn to deal with it.”
I wished I could say something to Juliana and make her feel better, but Dylan was waiting for me.
Charlotte motioned over her shoulder at the Buick. “We’ll wait in the car.”
I hoped she was gentle with Juliana in spite of her abrasive style.
“You know we’ve already processed this car. Every inch has been searched,” Dylan said with a wave of his hand.
“In other words, I’m wasting your time?”
“I didn’t say that.” Dylan opened the door. “I could tell by the look on your face that you wouldn’t take no for an answer until you looked for yourself. I just don’t want you to be disappointed when nothing turns up.”
What could I say? The cat suggested that I look in the car?
Dylan stood guard outside the car as I poked in. I looked over at the driver’s seat and a chill went down my spine. I didn’t blame Juliana for not wanting to see the scene of the crime. It was disturbing to look at.
He had put doubt in my head. Of course I wouldn’t find anything. I looked through the glove compartment, center console, and underneath the seats.
“Find anything?” Dylan asked.
“You know I haven’t,” I said over my shoulder.
I moved to the back seat and poked around, not finding anything. I hated to admit it, but this was a wasted trip. At least Dylan was nice enough to allow me to check out the car even though he knew I was wrong.
I was crawling across the seat when Dylan called out. “How’s it going back there?”
“Cookie, for heaven’s sake. That is some view.” Charlotte had returned to the lot.
I moved quickly in the small space, bumping my head on the ceiling and popping off part of the seat. As I rubbed my head, I noticed something sticking out from behind the seat. Was it in some kind of hidden compartment? Of course. It had to be.
“Are you okay in there?” Dylan asked.
“Uh, just fine. I’m coming out.” I reached in, grabbed the vintage black bag, and climbed out of the backseat.
“What’s that?” Dylan moved over to me.
“I found it in a secret compartment in the backseat.” I held up the bag.
“You’re kidding.”
I opened the bag, looked inside, then looked up at him. “If you were shocked that I found something, you’ll be even more shocked to see what’s in it.” I handed him the bag.
He sifted through the cash.
“How much do you think is in there?”
“There must be twenty thousand here.”
“That’s a pretty good guess,” I said.
“How did they miss this? How did the crime scene techs miss this?” Dylan said under his breath. He looked stunned.
Though I felt bad for their mistake, I was pretty proud of myself for the discovery. “Well, it was hidden. The purpose was obviously so no one would find it.”
Dylan ran his hand through his hair. “I wish I knew if Juliana had hidden the money. Since she had it I assume she hid it there.”
Even though it wasn’t fair to Dylan, I was about to find out. I had a source that he would never know about.
I took the bag and looked inside again. “Do you think this is what the killer was looking for? It had to be, right? But why didn’t he take it when he or she shot Juliana?”
Dylan shoved his hands into his pockets. “Likely it was because he couldn’t find it.”
Charlotte peered into the bag. “I could buy several nice handbags with that cash.”
I ignored her and asked, “What happens now?”
Dylan grabbed the bag. “I’ll take this to the station with me. We need to find out where the money came from. And we need to go over this car again.”
“Will the persons who went through the car get in trouble?” I asked.
“Since it was hidden, no, I guess not.”
“Whew. I’m glad. I don’t want to be responsible for getting someone fired.”
Dylan smiled at that then shook his head. “I still can’t believe you found it.”
“She has a natural knack for sleuthing,” Charlotte said.
Juliana had obviously stayed in the Buick. I couldn’t wait to ask her about it. Dylan and I walked back to the front.
He unlocked the gate. We stepped through, he relocked it, then placed the bag in his car. “I’ll call you as soon as I find out anything.” He stood by the door, waiting until I was safely in my car.
It was nice that he was finally including me. After all, I had helped the case a lot. I should be included. I climbed into my car and Charlotte immediately started talking about what I found.
My thoughts were jumbled as I started the car and drove off. It would make sense that Victor would have had cash since he liked to rob people. Did he give it to Hunter to hide? Hunter’s grandmother had said he was looking for something that he’d hidden.
“Were Hunter and Victor working together?” Charlotte asked suddenly.
She was right. That had to be it.
“I still don’t think Hunter is capable of doing anything like that,” Juliana said.
I looked at her in the rearview mirror. “Maybe he didn’t know. Maybe Victor was just using him.”
She agreed. “That makes a lot more sense to me.”
“So you don’t know when they could have hidden the money or how the secret section got there?” I pulled up in front of It’s Vintage Y’all and cut the engine.
“Hunter did take my car one week to have it worked on.”
“Aha. That had to be it,” Charlotte said.
We needed to talk with Hunter.
Once inside, I flipped the sign to OPEN. Wind Song jumped down and followed us across the room.
“Good job, Wind Song. Because of you we found stolen money in the car.” I stroked her head, wishing I knew how she knew that.
She jumped up on the counter and looked in the direction of where I kept the treats.
“Yes, you definitely deserve a treat for that.” I grabbed one from the bag and gave it to her.
I began my morning routine all the while trying to figure out how I would get the information from Hunter.
“You should have Ken help you,” Charlotte piped up.
I hated to admit it. She was right, but Dylan wouldn’t like me teaming up with Ken to solve the case. That seemed kind of like a betrayal.
The door opened and the UPS delivery man walked into the room. “I have a package for you.”
I signed for it and set the box on the counter. I wasn’t expecting anything.
“Is it a surprise?” Charlotte asked.
“It’s from my mother. She hadn’t mentioned anything.” I grabbed the scissors and opened the box. “I guess we’ll find out.”
I took a black hat out of the box, then an envelope. I pulled the card from the envelope and read it. “The hat was my grandmother’s. My mother just found it.”
“It’s beautiful.”
Wind Song kept pawing at the box.
“What is it?” I moved the box so she couldn’t reach it.
She jumped across the counter and knocked the box onto the floor.
“Look. Something else fell out.” Juliana pointed to the floor.
I rushed around the corner of the counter and picked up a brooch.
“It’s beautiful,” Juliana said.
“I think it was on the hat,” Charlotte said.
I placed the pin on the hat. “You’re right.”
Wind Song meowed and pawed at the hat. Then she touched my hand.
“I think she wants you to try it on,” Charlotte said.
Everyone followed me over to the mirror and watched as I placed the hat on my head.
Juliana flashed her gorgeous smile. “It looks fabulous on you.”
Wind Song meowed.
I realized then how much I looked like my grandmother when she was my age. No way I would offer this hat for sale. It would be part of my collection. Maybe someday I’d have a daughter to give it to. I hoped she’d love vintage as much as I did.
Chapter 28
Charlotte’s Tips for a Fashionable Afterlife
Closet space is no longer an issue.
Tonight, I was working extra late. I was in the back room of the shop, sorting through some items.
“Are you finished yet?” Charlotte said. “I’m all about hard work, but this is a little too much, Cookie.”
“You’re one to talk, Charlotte. You were a workaholic.”
“Yes, and look where that got me.” She placed her hands on her hips.
“Well, a little hard work never hurt anyone. Plus, it’s just me. I don’t have help so I have to do this.”
“Just don’t work too much longer, okay?” she said.
“I promise,” I said.
I finished hanging the items and then started out the door toward the front. When I heard a noise, I stopped in my tracks. I looked to the front and saw a man in my shop. He was wearing all black, even a mask, and looked like the man I’d seen at Regina’s. Just like then, I could see only the back of him.
I didn’t move. If he was a burglar, I didn’t want to be shot. Along with Charlotte and Juliana, I was speechless. My mind raced. One wrong move and he would look over and see me. What was he looking for? I didn’t have any cash in the place. Was he the same person who had broken in before? That person hadn’t taken anything. Maybe this man wouldn’t either. But why was he there?
Shaking with fear, I inched over to my right and hid behind a rack of clothing. I would just hang out there until he was gone. I didn’t care what he took as long as he didn’t hurt me. I peeked out and saw him grab a handful of the hats. Actually, he had all of them and took off for the door. I watched from between a bunch of dresses as he ran out the door.
I hoped it was safe for me to come out of hiding and hurried over to the front windows. When I peeked out, he was nowhere in sight.
“Cookie, you have to call the police right away,” Charlotte said.
I pulled my cell phone from my pocket.
“What are you waiting on? Dial Dylan’s number,” she said.
“My phone is dead.”
Charlotte groaned. “I told you that you should have a landline in the shop.”
I shrugged. “No one has landlines anymore.”
“They most certainly do and this is the prime example of why you should.” She put her hands on her hips.
“Okay, this is no time for arguing,” Juliana said.
“I’ll just have to call from someplace else.”
“He might be out there waiting for you,” Juliana said.
“I don’t think he knew I was here.” I opened the door and peeked out. Looking to my left and then to the right, I realized the sidewalks were empty. I inched out, fearful that he may actually be hiding just as Juliana had said.
“I want to know who that was.” Charlotte whispered as if someone might actually hear her.
Both ghosts were tiptoeing behind me as if the burglar might actually see them. Now that I was outside, I wished that I was back inside. Actually, I wished that I was home, locked behind the door and safe.
“Apparently, the guy took off,” Charlotte said.
“I guess so.” I turned around to go back into the shop and saw someone walk quickly around the corner and into the alleyway. “Do you think that was him?” I whispered. “Did he come back for me?”
“I think he did.” Worry was evident on Juliana’s face.
“I’m not going to let him get away with this,” Charlotte said.
The next thing I knew, she was stomping down the sidewalk.
“Charlotte,” I whispered. “Don’t go.” Then I realized it was fine for her to go. She was a ghost. What could he do to her? It wasn’t like he would even know she was there.
I had to find out what was going on and made my way over to the alleyway. Juliana followed me. Charlotte had made her way down the alley and was in front of the guy.
Somehow she managed to get the lid off the trash can and tossed it in front of him. He almost tripped to avoid it. Unfortunately, he got away with the armful of the hats. Fortunately, for me, I had come out of this with my life and wasn’t hurt. Charlotte started walking back toward me, but within seconds she popped up beside me.
I jumped. “Don’t do that. You scared me.”
“You should be used to it by now,” she said.
I glared at her. “I should be, but I’m not. So stop. How did you move the big trash can lid?”
“I’m just getting good with my ghostly skills.” She wiggled her eyebrows.
“Do you think I should follow him down the alleyway?”
“At the speed he was running, you couldn’t catch up with him. It’s just pointless.”
I blew the hair out of my eyes and stared down the alleyway anyway. I spotted one of my hats on the ground. “Hey, he dropped one.”
At least he didn’t get that one. I picked it up and brushed off the dirt. It made me sad to know that I had lost the hats. What would he do with them? Just toss them away when he realized they weren’t the ones he was looking for.
“It had to be Victor, right?” I asked.
“You would t
hink so,” Charlotte said, “but this guy was taller.”
“He was definitely taller than Victor,” Juliana said.
I’d hoped her murder would be a quick case to solve. I was way wrong on that. The burglar was gone and I would never figure out who it was. We headed back to the shop.
“Are you going to report this?” Charlotte asked.
“You have to,” Juliana said.
“I’ll report it, but I don’t think the police are going to be interested in finding hats for me. They have a murder case to solve. Plus, I don’t know how many other things they have going on, so it won’t be a priority for them.”
“Don’t be so negative. Maybe they will want to find the hats quickly. This has to be related to the murder,” Charlotte said.
Once again the police would be at my shop. It was beginning to be a regular occurrence.
A couple minutes after I called Dylan he arrived with the sirens blaring and lights flashing. I opened the door, knowing he would ask if I was okay. It was beginning to be all he ever said to me. I was always getting myself into some kind of trouble.
“He took all my hats and ran down the alleyway. It can’t be a coincidence that he wanted hats,” I said, placing my hands on my hips. “I think this has something to do with the murder. I just have to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. Instead of telling me I shouldn’t be involved maybe you should be asking me for help.”
“But by being involved people are breaking into your shop. You’re in danger. I can’t let that happen, Cookie.”
“He cares for you, Cookie, but don’t listen to him. We’ll solve this murder,” Charlotte said.
Maybe if I just got a good night’s sleep I would be able to figure this out. Yeah, I’d already tried that.
* * *
The next morning I tried once again to keep things normal and had dressed in a 1950s winter white taffeta circle skirt that was so full I didn’t even need a crinoline. My cardigan was winter white with rhinestone buttons down the front. My kitten heels were the same color.
I was in the shop going through my normal routine. . . although nothing seemed normal anymore. I had an empty display where the hats had been. I wasn’t even going to bother to replace them until after the murder was solved and everything was over. Would it ever be over?
