Murder Wears a Little Black Dress

by Debra Sennefelder

  “Mama, please, it’s not really Kelly’s fault.” Liv tugged on her mother’s arm. “Come on, let’s go home.”

  Mrs. Moretti batted at her daughter’s hand. “You should listen to your uncle, Kelly. You drag my daughter out in the middle of the night and you welcome a suspected killer into your business with my daughter present? How irresponsible can you be?”

  “Mama, please! You’re making a scene,” Liv pleaded.

  Mrs. Moretti threw her hands up in the air. “I’m making a scene? You get arrested and I’m the one making a scene. Wait until your nona hears about this. Maybe I should have sent you to St. Mary’s like your cousins. None of them have been arrested.”

  Liv dipped her head, and Kelly’s heart ached for her friend. Liv would be forever the Moretti who got arrested. Sure, she wasn’t being charged, but that little fact would be a minor footnote in the Moretti family history.

  “Let’s go tell your papa and break his heart. His baby girl arrested.” Mrs. Moretti turned and headed for the exit. Liv followed. She cast a quick glance over her shoulder, and her expression was unreadable. It was late, and they all were tired and rattled from the night’s events.

  “Maybe your mother should have sent you to Catholic school too. There you would’ve learned some discipline.” Ralph uncrossed his arms. “I’ll drive you home.”

  Kelly didn’t want to be indebted to her uncle for anything more than she already was. “Thanks for the offer, but I’ll walk home. I need some fresh air.”

  “You need to figure out your life. It’s becoming more clear that coming back to Lucky Cove wasn’t such a good idea. When you’re ready to accept that, let me know. I’m still willing to help you get settled back in New York City.”

  Kelly nodded. Even though her uncle never offered to help someone unless he benefited somehow, she had to admit he might have a point. Did she honestly believe she could settle back in Lucky Cove so easily? There was a reason why she left and barely came back to visit.

  Chapter 20

  “Just what did you think you were doing last night?”

  Gabe and his big mouth. He must’ve filled Pepper in on what happened last night first thing this morning. The sharp edge in Pepper’s voice had Kelly looking up from the almost-filled box of candlestick holders. She’d opened the boutique an hour earlier and then settled in the home accents room to pack up the remaining home accents for the flea market. She’d been listening for the bell over the front door to jingle. So far it hadn’t. It looked like it would be another slow day.

  “I don’t want to discuss last night.” Kelly wanted to forget about the whole disaster of an evening and the one bad decision that led to her and Liv being handcuffed and hauled to the police department. She should’ve called the police the moment Bernadette showed up at the cottage.

  “Is that all you’re going to say?” Pepper challenged.

  “I need to get all this merchandise ready for the flea market.” She’d set up a packing station on the oak table, where Valeria Leigh held a séance a few days ago. “I got a booth for Saturday.” She continued wrapping the candlestick holders in bubble wrap. She’d found a large roll tucked into a corner of the storage room. She’d only gotten approval for a booth last night. It wasn’t much notice, but she wasn’t going to pass it up and had immediately started packing the small items.

  Pepper marched over to Kelly and propped both hands on her waist. She wore a gray sheath dress with black tights and pumps with a kitten heel. Her blond hair was pushed back in a velvet headband. She was still rocking her makeover.

  “Not talking about last night isn’t an option. Do you know how close you were to having a mug shot taken and waking up in a cell this morning.”

  Kelly was very aware of how close she’d come to standing in front of a judge rather than opening up the boutique. She didn’t need Pepper or anyone else to remind her. “Please, there’s a lot to do today. Let’s focus on work, okay?”

  Pepper took a step forward. “No, it’s not okay. There is a lot of work to do here, and you running around Lucky Cove playing Nancy Drew isn’t helping your business. You have responsibilities here. You have no responsibility to Bernadette Rydell.”

  “Don’t you think I know that? It’s just that I don’t believe she’s guilty of the murders. The more I think about it, the more convinced I am she’s being set up.” Kelly placed the wrapped candlestick holder in the box and grabbed another length of bubble wrap and proceeded to wrap the matching candlestick holder. She didn’t know why someone would want to set Bernadette up for murder. She’d like to think the justice system would sort it out and discover the reason and the person behind the murders, but then again, she was being sued over a supposedly haunted chair. Understandably, her faith in the justice system wasn’t very strong at the moment.

  Pepper shook her head. “I don’t believe what I’m hearing. You’re not a police detective. You’re the owner of a consignment shop. Your grandmother, my best friend, left you her legacy, and you’ve done nothing but try to destroy it since coming back to Lucky Cove. This may not be as glamorous as the shops you’re used to in the city, but your grandmother made an honest living selling the merchandise, and she was beloved by this community.”

  Kelly inhaled a ragged breath. “I’m not trying to destroy this shop.”

  “Could’ve fooled me. The name change, the uppity decision to eliminate this section of the shop just because you think it’s beneath you to sell tchotchkes.”

  Kelly’s eyes widened. “I don’t think selling these items is beneath me.”

  “Well, let me tell you something, missy. People need tchotchkes.”

  Kelly’s temples began to throb. Anger pulsed through her body, and she struggled to keep her mouth shut so she wouldn’t say something she’d regret later.

  “You were given a second chance to start your life over again after you made a mess of it in the city. All these years, people have said a lot of bad things about you, and I can’t believe I’m about to right now. But I am.” She pointed her finger. “Kelly Marie Quinn, you’re an ungrateful young woman. And I can no longer work here. I quit.”

  Kelly’s mouth gaped open, but there were no words as a look of shock covered Pepper’s face. Kelly guessed Pepper hadn’t intended on quitting right then and there. The older woman spun around and dashed out of the room.

  Pepper’s harsh words replayed in Kelly’s mind. One of her few allies in Lucky Cove was gone. Her shoulders sagged, and hurt replaced anger. Everyone and their mother had an opinion of Kelly. It wasn’t something new to her. But she never believed Pepper would think so little of her.

  “Hey, everything okay? I just saw Pepper run out of the shop.” Liv appeared in the doorway, holding a tray of coffee and muffins from the bakery.

  “She quit.” Kelly dropped the candlestick holder into the box. “She told me I was ungrateful and she quit.”

  Liv walked into the room and set the tray on the table amongst the bubble wrap and knickknacks. She reached out and gently rubbed Kelly’s back in a comforting way. “She’s upset. Last night rattled us all.”

  “No, no. She unloaded on me full-force. Boy, she told me exactly what she’d been thinking all this time.” Kelly looked at the table and then back to her friend. Her friend who she got arrested last night. “I’m sorry. Last night was totally my fault. I should’ve never let you get involved.” She inhaled a deep breath and looked to Liv and dissolved into tears.

  Liv pulled her in close for a hug.

  “I’m sorry. Really, really, sorry.”

  “I could’ve left at any time,” Liv whispered.

  “I put you in danger and got you arrested.” Kelly pulled out of the hug and, with the back of her hand, wiped away the tears.

  “Yes, you did. You also got me into hot water with my mother. Which, by the way, is far worse than getting arrested.” Liv unbuttone
d her black wool-blend jacket and removed her gloves.

  Kelly grimaced. “Can you ever forgive me?” She waited on pins and needles for Liv’s reply. She couldn’t bear to lose her dearest and closest friend since grade school.

  “I’m here, aren’t I, with muffins? All’s forgiven. Besides, like I said, I could’ve left at any time.”

  Liv’s reassurance lifted a heavy weight off of Kelly’s shoulders, but there was still the matter of Pepper. Kelly didn’t want her friendship with Pepper to end, especially not the way they’d left it just a few moments ago.

  “Pepper will come around. You’ll see,” Liv said.

  Kelly looked around the room, scanning every nook and cranny. “Maybe she’s right. Maybe I’ve been ungrateful, but I never asked for this shop. I’m not my grandmother. This was her dream.”

  “You’re right. It isn’t fair for anyone to live someone else’s dream.”

  Kelly swallowed hard. Pepper’s words still stung because there was some truth to them. “It’s time to let go. I’ll sell to my uncle and go back to the city. It’s where I belong.”

  “Kell, are you sure you’re not giving up because it’s too hard?”

  Kelly wiped away a tear and pulled away from Liv. “You think that’s what I’m doing? I may be a little flighty and easily distracted by shiny objects, but I had a four-point-oh in college and, trust me, I studied more than just how to buy blouses. I also managed somehow to live through Ariel’s accident, when everyone blamed me for it. Do you have any idea of how many nights I wished it was me in the car instead of her? How many times I prayed God would take me so I wouldn’t have to live with the guilt? I’m not giving up because it’s too hard. I’m leaving because I don’t belong here.” She squared her shoulders and walked past Liv to the front of the shop where she turned over the sign on the door to closed.

  After closing the boutique, Kelly went upstairs to her apartment and plodded straight into her bedroom. She pulled off her saddle-brown ankle boots and threw herself on the bed and cried. Pepper’s harsh, but truthful, words continued to replay in her mind as if they were in a loop. The events of the night before flashed in her mind, too, along with all of the bad decisions she’d ever made, and the anger of feeling sorry for herself came out in deep sobs.

  In a nutshell—her life was a mess.

  When did I become so pathetic?

  She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and, through blurry eyes, she caught a glimpse of a streak of mascara on her hand. She could imagine how awful she looked. Crying as long as she had no doubt resulted in red, puffy eyes and creases alongside her face from how she was lying.

  Howard jumped on the bed and walked over her back to get to the other side.

  “Sorry…I’m…in…your way,” she said between sobs and sniffles.

  The cat butted his head against hers and purred.

  “Great. I’m a messed up, unemployed cat lady.” She reached out and scratched Howard’s head, and he purred louder. “At least someone doesn’t think I’m a walking disaster.”

  She struggled to sit up. The position she’d landed in on the mattress wasn’t the most comfortable position, and her head hurt from crying. Howard protested at being jostled but curled up on her lap after she pulled herself upright against her pillow. She stroked his head.

  “I’ll have to find an apartment in the city that allows cats. It’s not going to be easy. I may end up in one of the boroughs to find a place I can afford and takes animals.” She reached to the nightstand and grabbed a tissue from the box. She blew her nose, drawing a glare from Howard. “Sorry.”

  Great. I’m apologizing to the cat.

  Her cell phone dinged. She contorted to reach her jeans back pocket without disturbing Howard too much and slid out her phone. It was an appointment reminder for a meeting with the boutique’s insurance agent. It was going to be a short appointment because she didn’t need any insurance since she was selling the business.

  Selling was the sensible thing to do. She had no experience running a business. Owning a consignment shop wasn’t her dream, and Lucky Cove was her past, not her future. Selling and going back to the city was the smartest thing she could do.

  And it was about time she did something smart.

  She set the phone down on the bed and stared at Howard. “The bright side to this decision is no one will be surprised or any more disappointed in me for leaving again.”

  * * * *

  Kelly pushed open the door of the Lucky Cove Insurance Agency. There wasn’t a bell to greet her, rather a perky blonde barely out of high school. She stood, revealing a crisp, V-neck striped shirt half tucked into a pair of gray skinny ankle pants. Kelly couldn’t help but lean forward ever so slightly to catch a glimpse of the young woman’s ankle-strap block-heeled pumps in black suede. Or, more likely faux suede. Just an educated guess she had based on the girl’s probable income.

  “Welcome! I’m Mandy. How can I help you today?” She stretched out her hand and pumped a firm handshake.

  “I have an appointment with Anderson. I’m Kelly Quinn.”

  “Hi, Kelly.” Mandy’s bright smile turned downward into a frown. “I’m sorry. I was just about to call you. Anderson had a family emergency and had to leave. We apologize for the inconvenience. Let me reschedule you.” She sat down and tapped on her computer’s keyboard.

  “Maybe it’s for the best. I don’t think I need to review the store’s policy. I’m going to sell.” Saying the words out loud was harder than Kelly expected. A pang of guilt stabbed at her.

  Mandy’s frown deepened as she nodded and looked up from her computer. “Most new businesses, especially retail clothing stores, don’t survive. The market is challenging.”

  In more ways than one.

  Kelly forced her smile, which came nowhere close to the one Mandy flashed a couple of minutes ago. “When the sale is finalized, I’ll touch base with Anderson.”

  “Of course. But before you go, would you like to chat about life insurance?” Mandy perked up again, and she gestured to the seat in front of her desk. “I’m studying to be an agent. I like to take the opportunity to chat with clients about their insurance needs. I don’t actually sell the policies. Yet. Anderson takes care of that aspect. A woman your age could get a nice policy at a good price. Please have a seat.”

  Kelly wasn’t in the market for life insurance, or any insurance, for that matter, but Mandy looked so eager to practice her sales pitch, so how could she refuse? “I don’t think I need life insurance.” Kelly settled on the chair with her tote bag square on her lap.

  “Nice bag,” Mandy cooed, her professional persona slipping, but she quickly got back into character. “A lot of people don’t think they need life insurance, but we never know what could happen. Life changes at the drop of a hat. One day we’re all healthy and living life to its fullest, and then we’re gone.” She snapped her fingers for emphasis. “Just like that.”

  Kelly was very aware of that fact since she’d found two dead bodies in a matter of days. “Life is unpredictable.”

  “But insurance isn’t. It’s a comfort to have it, knowing your loved ones won’t have to bear the financial burden we ultimately leave in the wake of our death.”

  Interesting sales pitch.

  Mandy leaned forward. “I’m not one to gossip, but we recently witnessed a similar scenario. A local business owner died unexpectedly in a car accident way up in Maine, and his wife is now a widow. She didn’t wake up that morning a widow. She had no idea it was coming her way. One phone call changed her life completely.”

  Kelly’s ears perked up. The wannabe insurance agent was talking about the Singers. “You don’t say?”

  “Now, could you imagine what it would have been like for the widow if her husband didn’t have a life insurance policy?”

  “I imagine it would have been difficult for I
rene.”

  Mandy’s eyes clouded, and she chewed on her lips. “I really can’t divulge client names.”

  “I understand. But we both know he’s the only local business owner to die up in Maine.” Kelly leaned forward. “I don’t mean to be nosey, but how big was Eddie’s policy? I mean, I’m only asking to get a rough idea of how much I should have.”

  “I’m sorry. I can’t divulge that information. It’s confidential. You understand? Besides, your policy would be significantly different than Eddie’s. It’s all very individual. We pride ourselves in bringing that often-overlooked aspect to each one of our clients. It allows us to provide the best possible policy at the most affordable price.”

  Kelly had to hand it to Mandy. The girl had her buzzwords down pat. “I do understand. If I did have a policy and I died, how long would it take to pay out?”

  Mandy didn’t miss a beat, nor did she attempt to assure her would-be client death wouldn’t come for a long time. Maybe not true, since no one really knew, but it would’ve been a nice thing to add. “Not very long. After the death certificate is submitted to the insurance company, payment happens rather quickly. Eddie’s policy has already paid out.” Mandy’s hand flew up to cover her lips, and her eyes bulged. “Oops. I shouldn’t have shared that. My bad.”

  “No worries. I won’t tell anyone.” Kelly couldn’t help but wonder how big of an insurance policy Eddie Singer had. Was it enough for Irene to murder her husband? “I’m sure you’ve heard about the murder dress in my boutique.”

  Mandy’s head bobbed up and down. “Who hasn’t?”

  Good question.

  “Can I tell you something in confidence?” Kelly asked.

  “Of course you can.”

  “The infamous dress belonged to Irene Singer.” A little bit of guilt worked its way through Kelly. She hated using Mandy’s young age and inexperience to pump her for information. Information Kelly wasn’t sure would lead anywhere.

  Mandy gasped. “You don’t say? Do you think she killed her husband? If she did, she’s not entitled to the insurance money.”