your purses when you did that, do you remember?”
“We left them on our chairs to save our places. It was crowded, and it wasn’t as if anybody there was a criminal who was going to steal them or anything.”
“As it happened, you were mistaken. Someone there was the worst kind of criminal,” Armando couldn’t resist pointing out.
I shook my head at him, but fortunately, Joanie’s mind was still on evening bags.
“You’re right, we walked away from our purses, and they were sitting there in the open where anybody could have slipped that note inside.” She grinned at her cleverness in having deduced the opportunity for herself. I kind of hated to burst her bubble.
“The thing is , the two handbags were identical and easy to confuse, so we still don’t know which one of you was the note’s intended target, you or Ariel. And there’s one more thing.”
Her smile faltered. “What?”
I looked at my husband and arched a brow. Let’s see just how good you are at this stuff, I challenged him silently.
“At that time all three of you ladies were alive and well. Mindy was not yet a victim, so the writer may have intended his message for any one of you. Confusion about the identical purses may not have been an issue, since we do not know if he or she planned to murder Mindy or you or Ariel that night. Perhaps Mindy simply presented the first opportunity when she went to the restroom by herself during the last dance.”
I nodded. “ Which means we’re really no closer to knowing who the next intended victim is. As Armando says, it may be that all three of you have been targeted. Or none of you, and Mindy’s death was just a weird coincidence followed by a poison pen prankster,” I added as Joanie’s face fell.
“Coincidence, right, and disco music is making a comeback.” She fiddled absently with her wedding band, turning it around and around on her finger. “I can’t seem to make myself take the damned thing off.” Abruptly, she drained her cold coffee and got to her feet. “I don’t know why I thought you could help me or even that you’d want to. I’m sorry I bothered you, both of you,” she nodded at Armando. “I’ll be running along now.” She headed for the kitchen with her empty mug, and we scrambled after her.
“I’d help you if I could, honestly,” I told her. “There’s just not enough to go on. We don’t even know the cause of Mindy’s death yet. Maybe it was an accidental overdose of something she was addicted to without your knowing about it.”
Joanie placed her mug in the sink, and Armando helped her rewrap herself in her cape. To our assessing eyes, she now looked stone cold sober and thus safe to drive. I guess being threatened will do that. She fished for her car keys in her pocket.
“You seriously think she was shooting up in the ladies room at her high school reunion? Not even Mindy is that twisted. Was,” she corrected herself.
I exchanged helpless looks with Armando. “If you think of anything else, give me a call, and if I learn anything more, I’ll do the same. Write down your number for me.” I tore a sheet of paper from the grocery pad I kept on the counter. As she scribbled I considered and rejected mentioning that my best friend’s husband was a police officer who might have access to a little inside information about the cause of Mindy’s death.
As Armando saw her out to her car, I shivered in the doorway. My notion of a peaceful and productive new year had shifted in some way. I was no longer as optimistic as I had been about what the days ahead might hold, but I couldn’t put my finger on why.
Six
I was keeping Gracie company the next morning, watching the birds at our feeder out the back window while Armando snoozed a while longer. I had a lot to mull over, but I wasn’t getting very far. My mind kept running in circles from Mindy to Joanie to Ari and back again, and the identical evening bag thing made the situation even
“We left them on our chairs to save our places. It was crowded, and it wasn’t as if anybody there was a criminal who was going to steal them or anything.”
“As it happened, you were mistaken. Someone there was the worst kind of criminal,” Armando couldn’t resist pointing out.
I shook my head at him, but fortunately, Joanie’s mind was still on evening bags.
“You’re right, we walked away from our purses, and they were sitting there in the open where anybody could have slipped that note inside.” She grinned at her cleverness in having deduced the opportunity for herself. I kind of hated to burst her bubble.
“The thing is , the two handbags were identical and easy to confuse, so we still don’t know which one of you was the note’s intended target, you or Ariel. And there’s one more thing.”
Her smile faltered. “What?”
I looked at my husband and arched a brow. Let’s see just how good you are at this stuff, I challenged him silently.
“At that time all three of you ladies were alive and well. Mindy was not yet a victim, so the writer may have intended his message for any one of you. Confusion about the identical purses may not have been an issue, since we do not know if he or she planned to murder Mindy or you or Ariel that night. Perhaps Mindy simply presented the first opportunity when she went to the restroom by herself during the last dance.”
I nodded. “ Which means we’re really no closer to knowing who the next intended victim is. As Armando says, it may be that all three of you have been targeted. Or none of you, and Mindy’s death was just a weird coincidence followed by a poison pen prankster,” I added as Joanie’s face fell.
“Coincidence, right, and disco music is making a comeback.” She fiddled absently with her wedding band, turning it around and around on her finger. “I can’t seem to make myself take the damned thing off.” Abruptly, she drained her cold coffee and got to her feet. “I don’t know why I thought you could help me or even that you’d want to. I’m sorry I bothered you, both of you,” she nodded at Armando. “I’ll be running along now.” She headed for the kitchen with her empty mug, and we scrambled after her.
“I’d help you if I could, honestly,” I told her. “There’s just not enough to go on. We don’t even know the cause of Mindy’s death yet. Maybe it was an accidental overdose of something she was addicted to without your knowing about it.”
Joanie placed her mug in the sink, and Armando helped her rewrap herself in her cape. To our assessing eyes, she now looked stone cold sober and thus safe to drive. I guess being threatened will do that. She fished for her car keys in her pocket.
“You seriously think she was shooting up in the ladies room at her high school reunion? Not even Mindy is that twisted. Was,” she corrected herself.
I exchanged helpless looks with Armando. “If you think of anything else, give me a call, and if I learn anything more, I’ll do the same. Write down your number for me.” I tore a sheet of paper from the grocery pad I kept on the counter. As she scribbled I considered and rejected mentioning that my best friend’s husband was a police officer who might have access to a little inside information about the cause of Mindy’s death.
As Armando saw her out to her car, I shivered in the doorway. My notion of a peaceful and productive new year had shifted in some way. I was no longer as optimistic as I had been about what the days ahead might hold, but I couldn’t put my finger on why.
Six
I was keeping Gracie company the next morning, watching the birds at our feeder out the back window while Armando snoozed a while longer. I had a lot to mull over, but I wasn’t getting very far. My mind kept running in circles from Mindy to Joanie to Ari and back again, and the identical evening bag thing made the situation even
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