If You've Got It, Haunt It Page 18

  I didn’t know Winona well, but we’d talked a few times since we both owned businesses in Sugar Creek. I was nervous about asking her about the handkerchiefs. It had to sound suspicious that I would be asking. I mean, what business was it of mine, anyway? I rehearsed what I was going to say in my mind.

  A couple women were in the shop and Winona was helping them. They looked to be a mother and a college-age daughter who was holding up a cute lavender-colored strapless sundress. I hoped the women would soon find their way to my shop, too.

  Winona’s ash-blond hair was styled in a shoulder-length bob. Her outfit consisted of a silver sequin-covered tank top paired with white capri pants. Rhinestones adorned the tops of her white sandals. She hadn’t noticed that I’d slipped in. I picked up a size four midnight blue dress with a full skirt and cap sleeves and help it up to my waist.

  “You should try it on,” Charlotte said. “It’s a nice color on you.”

  “You think?” I asked.

  “Absolutely.” She motioned for me to move to the dressing rooms.

  Winona still hadn’t noticed that I was there. Either that, or she was ignoring me, but I didn’t think that was the case. She was kind of quiet, but she’d never been rude to me.

  I headed to a dressing room, hurried out of my clothing, and slipped on the dress. It felt a little weird to wear new clothing. Most of the new clothing I owned was pajamas, pants, or workout gear. The exercise clothing didn’t get nearly as much use as it should have, though.

  “How’s it going in here?” Charlotte asked, sticking her head through the curtain and not bothering to let me know before she entered.

  “I don’t know,” I whispered. “It’s hard to tell in this little room.”

  I stepped out of the confined space and faced the mirror that lined the outside of the dressing room wall. As I studied my reflection, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. Detective Valentine was walking down the sidewalk in front of the store.

  “The detective just walked past,” I whispered.

  “I’ll go see what he’s doing.” Charlotte floated away.

  I peered across the store, waiting to see the detective again, but he didn’t show up.

  Charlotte popped up beside me. “I didn’t see him.”

  “Maybe I just thought I saw him.”

  “You’re too stressed.” Charlotte stepped over to the display case. “You should take your mind off this mess for a couple minutes—just for a couple minutes—and then you can think of it again. Look at this bracelet. That will distract you. I had one just like it,” she said, tapping the glass front of a display unit.

  “Charlotte Meadows had a bracelet with peach-colored roses? I didn’t think you liked peach,” I said.

  “How did you know Charlotte had that bracelet?”

  I whipped around. Winona was right behind me. Suddenly, I was very aware that I was still wearing the blue dress. It was beyond awkward.

  “How did you know? Are you spying on me?” Winona frowned.

  “What? No way. I wouldn’t do anything like that.” Why was she even asking me such a question?

  “Tell her you saw it at the estate sale,” Charlotte said.

  “I saw it at the estate sale,” I muttered. It sounded like a plausible explanation, other than the fact that I’d blurted it out and looked as if I was talking to myself. “I’ll just change out of this dress.” I gestured over my shoulder toward the dressing room and hurried inside.

  Winona stared at me, probably at a loss for words.

  “Well, congratulations,” Charlotte said. “You left her speechless.”

  Yeah, thanks to Charlotte I’d made the woman wonder about my sanity.

  I slipped out of the dress and back into my clothing faster than ever. After what had happened I had no choice but to purchase the dress. It was a good thing that I liked it. I closed my eyes and took the price tags in my hands. I quickly opened them and looked at the price, then released a breath of relief. At least I had the money to pay for it. As much as I wanted to hide in that room for the rest of the day, I knew I had to go out.

  I placed the dress on the counter and waited for Winona to ring up my purchase.

  “Would you like the bracelet, too?” She pointed. “It’s the only one like it, other than the one that Charlotte had.”

  “I told you that I like unique things,” Charlotte said.

  I regarded Charlotte with a scowl before realizing that Winona would think I was making the face at her. I needed to stop doing that. “No, thank-you. The dress will be all.”

  She wrapped the dress in tissue paper, slipped it into a bag, and handed it to me. Thank goodness she didn’t ask any questions. I noted with satisfaction that her generic white store sacks were nothing compared to my elegantly designed bags.

  “Don’t forget to ask her about the handkerchief. You can’t leave without asking her,” Charlotte urged.

  It looked as if I had put it off as long as I could.

  Winona said, “Is there something else you need?”

  Just then the door opened and two women I recognized from the library entered. Their names slipped my mind, but I knew the brunette was the children’s librarian and the gray-haired woman was the library director.

  Charlotte stood by the door as if she was keeping count of how many people entered. “Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle. This woman’s store is too busy. Too bad you don’t have this many customers.”

  Okay. That comment was totally uncalled for. I would have to hang around until they left or wait and come back at another time. I knew Charlotte wouldn’t be happy with the last option.

  She closed the distance between us. “This is taking forever. I’ll get rid of them.”

  Oh no. What was she going to do?

  While Winona helped the children’s librarian, Charlotte walked over to the library director and shoved the blouse out of the woman’s hand. The customer gasped, but didn’t run away. She picked up the blouse from the floor, and Charlotte again knocked it from her hands. Charlotte was learning to use energy to touch items and this was her way of practicing.

  That did it. The woman had had enough and marched right out the door. Her friend glanced up and hurried after her. Winona glanced over at me as if to ask what had happened. I shrugged innocently.

  Winona came back over to the counter. “You still here, Cookie? Did you need something else?”

  I smiled. “Oh yes, I’m fine. Everything’s fine.” Once I’d made sure there weren’t any other customers, I added, “I have one thing I wanted to ask you.”

  She set the blouse she’d been holding down and focused on my face. “Yes?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

  I knew I’d piqued her interest. “I’m looking for a specific item and I think you sell it here.”

  She moved the blouse to the side of the counter. “What is it? I’ll try to help.”

  “I’m looking for a handkerchief like this.” I pulled the white square of fabric I’d found at Charlotte’s house out of my purse. “Do you sell them? I was told you had them in your shop.”

  She glanced at the object. “I believe we carried them, yes.”

  “Ask her if she remembers who she sold them to,” Charlotte pushed.

  I knew it was a long shot, but I had to try. “Do you remember who purchased the handkerchiefs?”

  Winona shuffled through a stack of receipts. “I’ve sold so many items that I can’t possibly remember who bought them.”

  I wouldn’t leave it at that. I pulled out the scarf. “Do you recognize this?”

  She held the scarf and then handed it back to me. “Yes, it’s lovely. I sold them here.”

  “Do you remember selling one to Charlotte Meadows?” I asked.

  She set the receipts aside. “I guess I do remember selling one to her. I only had two of that kind.”

  Why hadn’t she said that in the first place? She had acted as if she had lots of scarves and wouldn’t possibly be able to tell me
who bought it.

  “You say there were only two?” I asked.

  “Yes, they are limited edition. One was sold to Charlotte and the other to Cindy Johnson.”

  Another twist.

  “So Cindy had a scarf just like mine?” Charlotte asked.

  Winona tapped her fingers against the counter. “You know, that’s strange. I remember seeing Marie Vance wearing the same kind of scarf one day while she was here in the shop.”

  “Does she come in here often?” I asked.

  Winona replied, “No, not often.”

  Was the scarf somehow connected to the murder?

  “I don’t care what she says, even if Cindy had one like mine, “ Charlotte said.

  Winona said she had only two, and one went to Cindy and the other to Charlotte. So how did Marie have one, too?

  “Thank you for your help,” I said and headed for the door.

  “Enjoy the dress,” she called after me. “Come again.”

  Chapter 29

  Cookie’s Savvy Vintage Fashion Shopping Tip

  Remember vintage items are one of a kind.

  So if you see something you like, buy it.

  Later that day, I was back in my shop trying to focus on work. Charlotte was standing on the sidewalk outside the store. I guess she was contemplating all that had happened.

  When I was anxious or needed to think things through, I always worked with the clothing. I was rearranging the store window again, changing it to all white. I dressed one of the mannequins into a darling cotton white cut-out front flare dress from the eighties. It had a flattering empire waistline, a zipper at the back, and the skirt hit just above the knees. It was in practically new condition. I changed the next mannequin into white linen pants and a white silk blouse and accessorized each with white clutch purses and flat white sandals.

  Wind Song lay beside me watching and wagging her tail.

  “Don’t you have anything else to say?” I asked her.

  She looked at me, then closed her eyes.

  “I take that as no comment,” I said as I stepped away from the window.

  The bell over the door chimed and I looked back. Heather had a sheepish smile on her face. She gave a peek of the deck of tarot cards she had hidden in her burlap tote bag and approached the counter. “I couldn’t handle it any longer. I have to know if she’ll pick more cards.”

  “If it’s more bad news, I don’t want to know.” I turned back to the window and inserted a couple straight pins to make the white dress look slimmer.

  Heather placed the cards on the counter. Before I had a chance to object, Wind Song jumped up and sat beside them.

  “See. She is ready. She knows what she’s doing. I think she likes it.” Heather turned to the cat. “You like it, don’t you, Wind Song?”

  The cat yawned as if she was bored and just wanted to get on with the task.

  I gathered the items I’d been using for my window display and walked to the counter. “Okay. Let’s see what she has to say.”

  Heather spread the cards across the counter. Wind Song stretched her paw forward and placed it down on one of the cards. Slowly, she moved her paw back, taking the card with it.

  We waited for her to pick another card, but she jumped down and went back to her favorite spot in the sun. She stretched out and closed her eyes, signaling that she was done with our game.

  “What is the card?” I asked.

  Heather turned it over. “It’s the Death card,” she said in a small voice, holding it up for me to examine. The cat was dressed in black and was surrounded by black roses. It was an ominous sign.

  “What?” My voice came out a lot more panicked than I’d intended.

  Heather grabbed my arms. “Don’t panic. This card just means that mourning is natural. It doesn’t mean that you’re going to die today.”

  I was in full freak-out mode. Who could blame me? There had been two murders in Sugar Creek and I was smack dab in the middle of both of them.

  Heather grabbed the cards from the counter and stacked them neatly into a pile. “Cookie, you need to learn to deal with death before you can accept anything new.” She rubber-banded the pack. “I don’t think this card has anything to do with the murders. I think the cat was trying to tell you something else.”

  “How did she know?”

  “That I can’t answer,” Heather said.

  I rubbed my temples. “I understand, but it’s kind of hard to take advice from a cat.”

  Heather tucked the deck of cards into her tote bag. “Maybe she knows more than we do about this stuff.”

  I looked at Wind Song still lying in the sunshine with her eyes closed and tail swaying slowly. “I think she knows we’re talking about her.”

  Heather draped the tote bag on her shoulder. “Listen, I have to get back to work. Call me if you need anything, okay?”

  I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “Yeah, I think it’s time to go home for the evening and collapse into bed.”

  “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Wind Song opened her eyes briefly as Heather walked past, but then closed them again and went back to her nap.

  As I posted on my blog that evening about what to look for when shopping at estate sales, I kept checking the comments. I’d deleted the threatening ones, but still had the e-mails with the messages. After clicking POST, I wondered if another message would soon show up or if the killer would take the bait and leave a message. I didn’t want another threat, but another message might be one more clue that would point me in the right direction.

  Charlotte was lying next to me in the bed, staring up at the ceiling. As always, her hair was styled to perfection, her sunshine yellow sundress was immaculate, and she wore the perfect gold jewelry for her outfit. I considered chiding her for putting her shoes on my bedspread, then realized it didn’t matter.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, not ready to wake up fully yet.

  “Just thinking about our next move.”

  I groaned. “Oh great. I’d hoped that when I woke this all would have been a dream.”

  Charlotte sat on the foot of the bed. “No dream.”

  “Well, while you think about the next move, I’m going to shower and have breakfast.” I slid out of bed, but coffee was calling to me first. I slipped into my robe and left Charlotte contemplating her strategy.

  I started the coffee, showered, and then went to my closet. I picked out a sleeveless navy blue dress with a red and white leaf pattern. It had a beautiful V-neck fold-down collar detail at the front and side zip. White buttons lined down the front to the waist, and a white braid trim on the shoulders and flared skirt ultimately finished with a red braided belt. Red and white spectator pumps and a red leather bag completed the outfit. After dressing and finishing my coffee, I tiptoed through the foyer, stealthily moving toward the door with Wind Song in her case.

  Charlotte met me just as I thought I was going to slip out of the house without her.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” She stood in front of the door. Technically, I could have walked through her, but I was too squeamish.

  I set Wind Song’s carrier on the floor. “I was just putting Wind Song in the car,” I said innocently.

  Thinking I had forgotten to lock the back door, I walked toward the kitchen.

  “You were going to leave without me, weren’t you?” Charlotte followed me.

  “Of course not. What makes you say that?” I smiled.

  “You skipped breakfast just because you thought I was in there waiting for you.” Charlotte walked beside me as I crossed the living room back toward the front door.

  I grabbed my keys. “Oh, don’t be ridiculous.”

  She stood in front of me. “You need red lipstick.” She pointed at my lips. “You’re too pale without it. You need to add some color to your face.”

  I picked up the cat’s carrier and opened the door. “I’ll put it on when I get to the store.”

  “You never
know who you might see. You should put it on now.”

  “What does that mean? Is there something I’m forgetting?” I checked my purse.

  The doorbell rang. I looked at Charlotte.

  She shrugged. “I tried to warn you.”

  I peeked out the window and saw Detective Valentine standing on my front porch dressed in khaki pants and a navy blue polo shirt. He removed his sunglasses while he waited for me to answer the door. I could see his gorgeous blue eyes. His athletic body made me wonder how often he worked out.

  “How did you know he was coming?” I asked.

  She held her hands up. “I saw his car pull up when I walked past the window a second ago.”

  Oh, how I wished I’d followed her advice and put on the lipstick. Charlotte had an I-told-you-so look on her face.

  I straightened my dress, stood a little taller, and opened the door. “Detective Valentine. This is a surprise. What are you doing here?”

  A little smile spread across his face. “Wow. You’re gorgeous.”

  Heat rushed to my cheeks. “Thank-you.” I willed my heart to be still, then asked, “What can I do for you?”

  “I just wanted you to know that we are investigating the messages left on your blog.” He shoved his hands in his pockets.

  “He came all the way to your house to tell you that? He couldn’t have called?” Charlotte asked.

  His attention was locked on my face. “I was in the area and thought I would let you know.”

  “I appreciate that.”

  “You are being careful, right?” he asked. “Did you get the alarm system set up? And do you have your container of mace in your purse?”

  Wind Song meowed as if she was trying to rat me out.

  “Of course.” I indicated the blinking green light on the alarm indicator on the wall. “Well, okay, I’d better go.”

  “I’ll call you as soon as I find out anything.” The sides of his mouth curved into a soft smile.