Free Dior or Die (Joanna Hayworth Vintage Clothing Mysteries Book 2) by Angela M. Sanders

warning over a loudspeaker. "If I have to tell you again, you're out."  
    Poppy was oblivious to whatever dog trauma plagued Goldie. "She might have said ‘voyeurs.’ But I’m not sure."
    Voyeurs. Someone looking in. The police had said there were two glasses. "You told all this to the detective, right?"
    "Of course." The musculature of Poppy's face tensed under her skin. "Vivienne's call scared me. I made the call on their anonymous tip line." She looked up, her eyes full of guilt. "At first I didn't want to mess up the auction, you know? I was afraid her son would find out about the call and think I was meddling. So I waited before I called the police. Probably an hour." She put her face in her hands. "They'd found the body by then. The police must think somehow Vivienne found out about the diamonds, and I killed her to shut her up. Oh Joanna, it's all so—unbelievable."
    "But the police should be able to find out easily enough that a call was placed between Vivienne’s and the auction house. That would prove you weren't at her house, that you couldn't have done it."
    "Or that I knew she was home alone." She took a deep breath that seemed to rattle as she inhaled. "I've had nothing else to think of all night."
    "I'm so sorry." Joanna clenched her hands in her lap. There had to be a way out of this somehow.  
    "Goldie Goldie Goldie. That's all you want to talk about." A guard lifted the young woman from her seat. The room quieted as the woman shrugged off the guard's grasp and marched toward the exit on her own. Hand on the doorknob, she swiveled her head toward the room. "Well, Goldie can go to hell."  
    Joanna turned back to Poppy and bit her lip. A few people tittered, and conversation resumed around them. "We’ll figure this out. We will."
    "I don’t know."
    "I wonder if the diamonds were hidden after something sold? The buyer would have paid whatever it took to make sure he got the item," Joanna thought aloud.  
    "So the item probably wouldn't be anything very popular."
    "And the lamp the police said they found the diamonds in?"
    "Nice, but nothing special."
    Joanna tapped the table. "Or, the diamonds arrived at the warehouse already hidden." So many possibilities.  
    Poppy shook her head. "How could that happen? We get things from all over."
    "I'll do a little digging around. See what the police know. I'm sure you won't be here for long, Poppy. You're innocent. At some point they'll figure that out." Joanna's heart sank. She tried to sound convincing, but the evidence against Poppy didn't look good.
    Poppy leaned back. Despite the room's stuffiness, the skin on Joanna's arms prickled as if she were cold. "I hope you're right," Poppy said. "I think I'm being framed and I don't know why. Oh Joanna, you've got to help me. Please."
    "I’ll do whatever I can." This was awful. Too awful, too wrong. "I promise."

CHAPTER ELEVEN

    When Joanna arrived home, Paul was sitting in his truck in front of her house. He stepped down from the cab. "What's this about you going to visit Poppy in jail?"
    He followed her into the house. Weak sun filtered through the rhododendron into the living room. Paul sat on the sofa, his jeans and work shirt rough against the velvet upholstery. Pepper jumped in his lap and began to knead his paws on Paul's leg.  
    "You should have seen her. It's horrible in there—" She remembered Paul had a firsthand familiarity with jail thanks to visiting his uncle.  
    "I know. But it's just the detention center. Much better than state prison," he said. "So. Poppy. What's going on?"
    "She says they're accusing her of selling stolen diamonds—"
    "Diamonds?" He tensed.
    "Obviously she didn't. It had to be someone else at the auction house. She looks terrible. She's totally out of it."
    "Wouldn’t the police have thought of that? I'm sure they'll investigate everyone who works there." He patted the couch next to him. "Sit down. Relax for a second."
    "They might have missed something important." The