Free Died with a Bow by Grace Carroll Page A

I’d told Jack, that it was possible she’d been brought there from wherever she’d been killed. But if not, the question was still unanswered. What
was
she doing there? Why go to the shop in your fancy dress on a Sunday morning? Was she meeting someone? Possibly, but why hadn’t she changed clothes? Because she hadn’t gone home? But where had she gone? And with whom?
    “So do we have a date?” he asked.
    I blinked rapidly. I shouldn’t have been surprised that Jonathan would take Vienna’s death in stride and move on to the next event. It was part of his nature and why he was so good at his job. ER doctors probably had to be that wayor they’d fall apart after one night on call. I liked that about him and resolved to be more like that myself.
    “Sure,” I said. I’d have to be certifiably crazy to turn down a date to the Starlight Room at one of the big hotels with one of the city’s most eligible bachelors even though it was courtesy of a dead girl’s generosity.
    “What about next Saturday night? I’ll trade off with one of my colleagues. He owes me and I need a night off.”
    “Sounds good,” I said. “I’ve never been there. I hear it’s very posh.”
    “Dinner and dancing. It beats a beef stick and stale coffee followed by a broken tibia, bronchitis and pneumonia. Save the date and I’ll let you know more later.”
    So it’s true what they say. It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good. An ill wind killed Vienna but brought two men back into my life. The only one still missing was Nick the gymnast, but he was laid up and out of the picture. Of course, it would be better if Detective Jack Wall didn’t suspect me of murdering Vienna. On the bright side of the coin, it gave him a reason to seek me out. As for me, I wanted to help him solve the murder. Not just to save myself from a long messy trial, but also to see justice done. If my status as suspect number one threw us together again, so be it. I was confident he’d find the real guilty party sooner or later. With my help, of course.
    I worked on my suspect list until I couldn’t see straight. The problem wasn’t that I didn’t have enough suspects—I had too many. The problem was how to contact them and interrogate them without them realizing what I was doing. I also didn’t want Jack to know what I was up to or he’d put a stop to it and tell me I was out of line.
    I finally fell into bed. No top-of-the-line three-hundred-count all-Egyptian-cotton sheets for me, still I slept like a baby until my alarm went off. Sensing there would be a crowd at the shop, I dressed carefully.
    First off, I went with bold bright lips and kept the rest of my makeup subtle. I didn’t want to come off as totally retro. I did iron my hair, though, to give it a sleek, swingy, sexy but still low-key look. My work brings me in contact with women mostly, since we sell only women’s clothes and accessories, but these days you never know who’s going to turn up when there’s been a murder on the premises. So why not try for sexy hair, I asked myself.
    From my closet I pulled out a rather stark black cashmere dress that landed above the knee, paired it with black tights and wedge booties that I’d unpacked the first day I moved in, knowing there would be a day like this when I’d have to look my best. Then to contrast the low-key look, I tied a splashy red cotton necktie around my neck that exactly matched my lipstick. I wanted to say, “Look at me! I’m not guilty of anything but looking as good as I possibly can.”
    I knew I looked as good as I could, but my stomach was doing flip-flops. I also knew I should eat something like whole grains, fruits and vegetables, but I was in a hurry, and, frankly, nothing good for me sounded good. When I got off the bus near Dolce’s, I stopped at a coffee shop for a soothing cup of chamomile tea to go. That ought to get me through the morning, depending…
    I was relieved to find the front door devoid of any