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garet s demonstration.
Uh-oh. This isn t good.
 There you are, Nina said, as though Gretchen and
the entire table had shifted to a new area and Nina had
been looking everywhere for her.  Take Tutu and wrap
the end of her leash around the chair leg for me, would
you?
 Good day, ladies, Milt said, moving along.  Let me
know about the doll, Ms. Birch.
Gretchen made a mental note to quiz Milt later about
Percy O Connor.
Nina had Sophie and Nimrod on tiny leashes, and they
ran wildly around each other until they were hopelessly
tangled. Gretchen secured Tutu and went to work untan-
gling the puppies.
126 Deb Baker
 There you go, Gretchen said, handing them back to
Nina.
 I ran into Bonnie on the way in, Nina said.  She said
to remind you that cocktails start at five at her house. We ll
finish up here at four o clock, pack up, and head right
over.
Nina hung the empty traveling purses on each side of
Gretchen s chair and scooped the puppies onto her table.
 I ve signed up enough clients to keep me busy for two
months, she announced.  This show has been great for my
business.
April leaned against Gretchen s table. The entire table
shifted.  It s wrecked my business, she grumbled.  I ve
never had so many customers, yet so little business, at the
same time. April lowered her voice while Nina fussed
with the dogs.  Next show I m going back to a solo enter-
prise. Either that or . . . she glanced at the dogs,  I m
changing careers.
 Nina, can you watch my table for a few minutes?
Gretchen asked, already making her way down the aisle.
 Sure, she heard Nina say.
She found Matt on the far side of the hall near the main
door, leaning against Shelley Mack s doll table and writing
in a notebook. He was dressed in shorts and T-shirt, sun-
glasses on top of his dark hair, the faint smell of Chrome
cologne hanging in the air.
Gretchen took a deep breath of the scent.  You re ask-
ing people about me? she said, trying but failing to keep
the concern out of her voice.
 Routine, he replied, looking at her with those deep,
piercing eyes.  Didn t your mother teach you any man-
ners? It s polite to greet me warmly to throw me off guard
before any type of verbal assault. It s a rule. Care to start
over?
 Keep my mother out of this. Gretchen crossed her
arms defiantly, then thought better of the defensive pose
Goodbye, Dolly 127
and swung her hands to her hips. Being around Matt al-
ways threw her timing off.  You re going about the entire
investigation all wrong, she said.
 Ah, so you came over to tell me how to do my job. He
tucked the notebook in a back pocket and pushed off from
the table.
Shelley Mack leaned across her doll table, squeezing
her arms together to expose as much cleavage as possible.
 Anything else I can do to help, Detective Albright? She
was obviously even more affected by the cologne than
Gretchen. Shelley batted goo-enhanced eyelashes.
 Thanks, Shelley. That pretty much wraps it up. You ve
been a big help.
 I ll be right here if you need me.
Matt stepped away from the doll table, and Gretchen
followed.
 Let s go outside, he said.  I can t breathe in here.
 Don t you want to hear my alibi? she said when they
found a slice of shade under a palm tree.
 Do you feel you need one?
 I think I do, since you ve been asking everyone else
about it.
 Shoot.
 Shoot?
 Tell me where you were when Ronny Beam was
killed.
Gretchen told him about Bonnie s offer to watch her
table and about the Boston group discussing Blunderboos.
 Milt remembered that I was there, and your mother can
tell you that she wanted me to see the club s Kewpies.
 I still see a gap in time where you aren t accounted
for, Matt said.  But I don t think it matters. I think we
have our man.
 Steve? You don t still think he did it?
 He argued with the deceased shortly before the mur-
der. His fingerprints are on the knife, and several witnesses
128 Deb Baker
saw him out in the parking lot before Ronny was killed.
How much more evidence would you like?
 But what about the real murder weapon?
 The tire iron didn t have any prints on it.
 Steve isn t capable of murder.
 Everyone has the potential.
Brett, Percy O Connor, and Ronny Beam were con-
nected through a trail of Kewpie dolls. So was she, for that
matter. The messages inside the Kewpies made her fear she
was involved more deeply than she wanted to be.
Should she tell him everything she knew?
If she told him about the deliveries, he might think she
was making a clumsy effort to shift suspicion away from
Steve. Would he look more closely at her?
Matt Albright was too full of himself to see the truth.
Arrogant, self-absorbed, stubborn. . . She searched for
more adjectives to describe him. Why did she even think
for one moment that she could confide in him?
The detective standing in front of her with the ridicu-
lous smirk would probably scoff at her concerns and dis-
miss them out of hand as sheer fantasy.
 Has Steve requested legal representation yet? Gretchen
asked instead.
 I offered, he refuses. Says he s waiting for you. That s
one of the reasons I circled your name in big bold red pen.
Any idea what he s talking about?
 None, Gretchen said. Was Steve trying to protect her?
How chivalrous of him to come through for her. Finally.
But too late.  Can I see him?
 No. He s still in a holding cell. Until he s charged, he
can t have any visitors.
 How long can you hold him without charging him?
 Not much longer.
His eyes locked onto hers. Gretchen squirmed under his
gaze. What was it about this man? He induced too many
conflicting emotions.
Goodbye, Dolly 129
 I wouldn t have pegged him as your type, Matt said.
 I thought you d go for someone . . . I don t know . . . more
sensitive, more artistic.
 Really?
 Anyway, I m sorry it happened to you. Your boy-
friend s in a heap of trouble.
 I don t know how many times I have to say this . . .
Gretchen didn t finish the sentence. Why bother?
She stomped back to her table, plopped into her chair, and
selected a five-piece toddler doll from the repair pile.
Before Gretchen could immerse herself in repair work
and temporarily forget all the peripheral intrigue going on,
Nina, canines in tow, walked the few steps from April s
table.  I kept an eye on your table, but nobody wanted to
buy anything. The place is starting to clear out. What s
wrong? You re so pale.
 Steve s still in jail. I guess witnesses saw him in the
parking lot. She leaned back in the chair.  Matt must think
I know what happened or that I m an accomplice of some
sort.
 Your knife and Steve s fingerprints? It doesn t look
good. Nina bent down to stroke the three dogs on the floor
around her feet. Tutu put her jealous little muzzle under
Nina s hand every time Nina gave Nimrod or Sophie atten-
tion.  I bet that s exactly what he thinks.
Nina straightened, and her face turned the color of
Elmer s glue. At first Gretchen thought it was because of
what she d just said, but Nina was staring at Gretchen s
arm.  Don t move, Nina said, jerking her hand out in front [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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