A Dress to Die For

by Margaret Evans

  “She winked? That’s not in the file.”

  “I know. I emailed Nolan to make sure. Dante said he didn’t think of it at the time, but later remembered it and thought it odd. He said it was a conspiratorial wink. He also remembered looking around him to see if anybody else was nearby to whom the wink might have been directed besides him. Nobody. She winked at him.”

  “Okay. Who did you talk to next?”

  “We went to visit Dante’s sister, thinking it might be a bad idea to wait until later. She told us something very interesting. Remember the story about the girl who did not buy the red dress, and the song-and-dance act she put on at the boutique about how she had to have the dress and her boyfriend was going to ask her to marry him at the prom? Well, Dante’s sister, Lilian Lee and their last name, which I can’t put together with her first two names, said that the only girl Dante ever dated was Brittany. He was so devastated over her disappearance that he almost committed suicide. It took him years to come back to life and he never gave up on finding her. He hired a private detective, harassed the FBI and the Eagle Junction cops.”

  “Hmmm. Why do we think the ‘no-dress’ girl was interested in Dante? Popovich didn’t say the girl mentioned his name.”

  “I’m getting to that. Next person. Then I talked with the Eagle Junction High School principal, Leonard Seeds. Weird guy but seems okay. He didn’t remember Dante too well, except that he played football a couple of years for the school and was pretty good, but he did remember Brittany and couldn’t say enough bad things about her. He was sorry that she seemed to have been abducted, but he said she just wasn’t the nicest of people. She made other girls cry—there were complaints—and he was notified when Dante’s grades went downhill and he was close to being kicked off the team. Seeds suspected Brittany of giving him drugs, but neither of them was ever caught on school property with any.

  “Okay, next person. Vice principal and library aide Mary Poos. Mary is a sweet, older lady, and very wise. She knew Dante well, as she tutored him in several of his classes so he could graduate. She was the kind of person who moved throughout the student population by means of the library, helping each one as she saw the need. If someone was wronged and came to her in tears, she would offer them a tissue and tell them not to mind the mean people, that they were not important.

  “She also confirmed that Dante was firmly in Brittany’s grasp and that there was no other girl in his life but Brittany. Others tried, but he saw only Brittany. Mary Poos loved her job, said she loved reading, especially mysteries, and couldn’t get enough of them. She was sad that Brittany disappeared and was never found, and she hopes the girl will be found one day so her family can either be joyous or have closure. Oh yeah, and she keeps a cat in a cage in her office because she found it wandering around in the school parking lot and is looking for what she called ‘a good home’ for it.”

  Laura paused a moment as she considered her own cat problem, and then continued.

  “I saved the best for last. An older teacher named Martha Browne knew both Brittany and Dante, and also ran the Eagle Junction High School prom committee. She spent a lot of time with all of the juniors and seniors who helped decorate the gym two days before the prom that year. Brittany did a lot of talking about how the decorations had to be perfect and just so because she and Dante had a secret. She wouldn’t say what it was, but apparently, the decision to include red carnations and streamers in the decorations had been voted on at least two months earlier in the year. What does that tell you?”

  Connor took a moment then responded.

  “It sounds a little like Brittany thought she had something planned with Dante for that night and wanted her dress to match the decorations.”

  “So, her sudden decision to buy a red dress five days before the prom when she had already bought two dresses to choose between, several weeks earlier, becomes more significant.”

  “What am I missing?” Connor asked.

  “Because the red decorations were decided two months before the prom and guess who was paying for the red dress on lay-away at Marjeanne also two months before the prom?”

  He put it together but had another question.

  “How come he was surprised when she winked at him?”

  “Maybe he didn’t know anything about it? Perhaps a message that only went to her?”

  “Is that what you’re thinking…that someone lured her away pretending to be Dante?”

  Laura nodded and continued.

  “We have no proof, but Martha Browne did say that among the other teens, one of the juniors hung around Dante whenever she thought Brittany wasn’t there. One time, Brittany caught her and ripped her face off. Browne noticed that it didn’t seem to faze the girl who kept trying to get Dante to notice her in subtle ways. Unfortunately, Browne did not remember who it was, as she said the girl was rather quiet and not very noticeable.”

  “And, obviously, easily forgettable, too. Are you talking to anyone else?”

  “Not at this point. We have enough new stuff to send over to Nolan for his team to digest. I want to go after the modeling and talent agencies next to see if we can find any connection among the missing girls and any one or more of these agencies. Hopefully, Nolan’s team has had a chance to check their files for those connections.”

  “Okay. Probably the best way to go. Oh, I have a little news for you, from Nolan.”

  “Did he tell you to tell me to mind my own business and let his folks investigate on their own without my interference and suggestions?”

  “No. He sends his thanks. They found all of the stolen items in a room on the second floor of the Harmington Hotel, just as you suggested, and Jenna was down there most of today validating everything with their provenances. It’s all back in the hotel vault, with an FBI agent sitting with the security guard, and the silent auction is on again for Sunday, as planned.”

  “This is a little news?” she asked, her eyes big. “How did you keep this in? Omigosh, this is awesome! Jenna must be so happy.”

  “I’m sure. I haven’t talked to her yet.”

  “Do they know what happened?”

  “The security company is claiming that someone from the Buckley residence called and cancelled the transfer around dinner time. But they did note that one of their security people took a truck home that night. He claims it was stolen from his driveway. Not found yet. The guy is clean, no record. The feds are circling and will find out who did what.”

  “Wow.”

  “And every Fauntleroy Security truck keeps extra, clean uniforms in a small cabinet inside the trucks in case someone spills juice or ketchup on their shirts.”

  “So that’s where they got the uniforms.”

  “It all started with the red dress, Laura.”

  “You think I’m the connection? I didn’t know the girl who went missing and never saw the red dress.”

  “Coincidental, though, don’t you think?”

  “Crimes can happen at the same time, and they are not necessarily connected.”

  “Just keep it in your mind map.”

  • • •

  Lights were on late in the talent agency, but the drapes and blinds were closed. Fireworks were exploding inside the windowless back office.

  “You promised me nobody could connect us with this!”

  “I warned you that woman was working with the cops and the feds.”

  She stomped around the room.

  “It was a stupid idea to throw out that dress.”

  “Look, how was I to know that someone would recognize it? Tell me that. That woman hasn’t been in this town for more than eleven years!”

  “Well, somebody saw it and recognized it. That’s what started this whole brouhaha. We should have burned it, as I originally suggested. And you made it wors
e by throwing all the rest of them in her face, too! Now she’s gone to the cops and who knows what will happen.”

  “It’s all silly. They can’t connect us to any of it.”

  “Oh, yeah? I’ve already gotten one call from the FBI.”

  “What did they want?”

  “Just asking a few questions, they said. Not related to any of this business, but I don’t trust that we’re safe. So much for all your promises,” she hissed. “I don’t believe you anymore. I’m not even sure my disguises are worth the effort or cost!”

  He turned away but had disturbing thoughts as he glanced at her over his shoulder.

  “I have an idea,” he said before leaving the room. “It will fix everything. The woman will be out of our hair and we can still keep to our other plans.”

  “You mean?” she asked, her eyes widening. “Yes, do it.”

  thirty-three

  Security guards and police officers swarmed the Harmington Hotel. No one could turn a corner anywhere without running into at least two, and possibly a big, mean FBI agent.

  Jenna was busy beyond belief. She was fortunate the hotel would let her set things up two days early, instead of on Saturday. It helped a lot because she had lost the time she needed to test the video equipment, the screen mechanics, the microphone and speaker system. She watched all day as Reynolds managed the arrangement of the auction tables and their drapes in the bidding room, as well as the eating tables in the greeting room where the video fashion show would take place.

  She had spent half of Thursday night getting out the last minute emails and social media announcements that should have gone out earlier in the week. Makeup covered what her friends knew must be dark circles under her eyes. It was very early, but Erica, Kelly, and Laura followed her around and placed sticky notes on tables where she told them each item was to be placed, as well as the bid sheets.

  Tomorrow night, they would place the less expensive items out, and the more valuable pieces would go out on Sunday morning.

  • • •

  When Laura got back to the shop, Alison met her there just as the sun rose beyond the treetops. She planned to watch the store for another day while Laura and Corporal Brianna Broadmoor went out to talk with the young girls of Mapleton High School regarding their career plans. Today, Brianna showed up looking more like a professional banker or lawyer than a cop. Her “baby bump” was barely noticeable.

  They were scarcely on the road when Brianna asked, “So what’s the name of this group I just joined? The Ladies’ Aid Society?”

  When Laura stopped laughing, she told her. “Women Launching Careers.”

  “And why are we going to Mapleton first?”

  “Because I think we might find a connection between the wealthier young women from Mapleton and our talent agencies.”

  The single-person seminars they conducted lasted until early afternoon when the students were dismissed for the day, but Brianna was delighted to be away from her desk and out of the police station for a change. They found a number of things in common along the lines of the differing grade point averages. Almost every girl they interviewed with a 2.5 or lower GPA wanted to go into modeling, singing, dancing, or acting. All of them looked down their noses at Laura and Brianna as if they were commoners, prompting Brianna, who had grown tired of the attitude, to toss a quiet, side comment to Laura about their summer home in the Hamptons. Which prompted Laura to whisper a question of whether Chris Evans was planning a premier event there this year and how she would love to attend if he did. That caught the girls’ attention, so the interviewers tried variations of it with a couple of the others.

  When they got to the higher GPAs, that’s where they found the scientists, teaching, business, and literary career plans.

  Since there were no IQ tests linked with the GPAs, there was no way to tell if the girls with the lower GPAs were less intelligent than the girls with higher GPAs, or if they just weren’t interested in high academic achievement.

  What they did learn from the girls with the lower GPAs, however, was that many of them had already reached out to modeling and talent agencies, among them, the three that Laura had under scrutiny: Luxe Talent, Class Divide, and Regal Airs. And they had all received very positive responses that led to face-to-face interviews. Three of them had been offered a contract to sign that stated if they worked hard enough, they would likely be offered the opportunity to sign with an acting talent agent.

  “You know,” Brianna said, “when they talked about the hard work in learning to be a successful model, what went through my mind was that none of these girls had ever worked hard in their entire lives. They don’t make their beds in the morning or do their own laundry. They’ve never dusted a shelf or vacuumed a carpet. They have no clue what any of this so-called ‘hard work’ would mean.”

  Laura nodded.

  “I was thinking the same thing. I’m just happy to hear that there were connections with the agencies the FBI is looking into. Interesting that the one girl—I forget her name but it’s in my notebook—said that she had a friend who was under eighteen so her parents signed the contract with Regal Airs. And I learned one other important thing today.”

  “Just one?”

  “There is a heck of a lot more networking and friendships among the three high schools than when I was here.”

  Brianna nodded.

  “You’re remembering that we used to just run into people at sporting events or parties. It’s definitely different now, with all the social media outlets. Everybody knows everybody at all three schools. Eleven years makes a big difference.”

  “Yes, the referrals to these three talent agencies went back and forth among the girls at all three schools, even some to middle schools, if you can believe that. That is the connection I was hoping to find, and because of the networking among the three schools, I don’t think there is any benefit for us to visit the other two, do you?”

  • • •

  Back at Second Treasures, Laura gave Alison a big thank-you hug. She scrubbed and mopped the orange jelly beans off the floors and checked sales for the day. They had been good, so Laura concluded that the small town of Raging Ford didn’t really mind that someone had donated a huge amount of cast-offs in front of her shop, even if it meant the police and the FBI had to stop by and take a look at it.

  Laura keyed all her notes from the day with Brianna at Mapleton High School into her digital notebook and emailed them off to both Connor and Nolan. They would know more about what to make of the information and how to use it.

  Her next step was to do what she knew Jenna had not had time to do: Look up the Eagle Junction High School yearbooks online and try to find someone from what would have been her own junior year whose picture matched the FBI sketch of the girl who did not buy the red dress at Marjeanne nine years ago.

  She focused on the distance between the inner corners of the eyes, not their color. She looked closely at the triangle from the center top of the head out to the shoulders, understanding the FBI’s difficulty in matching the sketch to a photograph. While the Duluth FBI office likely had good facial recognition software now, they probably didn’t nine years ago, or software that was so top-notch that virtually any drawing could be matched.

  Then she studied the distance between the lower edge of the nostrils and the top edge of the upper lip. The class that year didn’t number more than fifty girls. She went to the fifty and began the eyes and triangle matching and got it down to four girls.

  Ideas were her gift, and she copied the four pictures into an email and sent them to Jenna. Then she called Jenna and asked her to take a minute to look at the four girls in the email and let her know if she recognized any of them as the lady they had seen in the hotel lobby two days after the auction item theft when they performed their “detecting.”

  Th
ey were still on the phone when Jenna opened her email and shrieked.

  “That’s her! Mary Wilson! I’d know her anywhere. She was such an annoying person.”

  “Why was she annoying?”

  “She kept going after the boys on both football teams, especially Dante Lelanley. Hey, is this related to Brittany’s disappearance?”

  “I don’t know, but you can’t share what we talked about with anyone.”

  And then Laura sent a second email to Connor and Nolan giving them the high school picture, the FBI sketch from the store manager, and the name of the girl who did not buy the red dress nine years ago.

  thirty-four

  With one week to go before Easter, the burst of sales activity on Saturday was gratifying. Laura’s stock of bunny and spring items was getting low but looked sufficient to last a few more days. And she felt relaxed enough at this point in her investigation and with the information that she had discovered and forwarded to the proper authorities so she could actually enjoy her time in the shop. She didn’t even mind the scraping and mopping up the sticky, orange spots on the floor after she closed at the end of the day.

  Bunnies were everywhere throughout the town of Raging Ford, hopping up and down the sidewalks and drooling orange from all the jelly beans. Everyone was ready for Easter.

  And she looked forward to spending her evening with Connor.

  ___

  Justin Carlson could not believe his luck at the county records office the day before. He had located a woman with the exact same birthday as his! Now he didn’t know how to feel because it was a relief to really find her, but he was also torn with how, when, or even if he should approach her.