Free Bodice of Evidence by Nancy J. Parra Page B

mother.”
    â€œI’m as sure as a person can be.” I studied him as I thought. “Yes, I’m positive there was no one else in the shop.” I blew out a long breath and relaxed. “You know, for a moment I was afraid we could have been caught up in the crime.”
    â€œYou and your family were very lucky,” he said. “Is there anything else you can remember?”
    â€œNot really. Isn’t it odd that no other salespeople were there when we got there?” I pressed. “I mean, a place like that should have a receptionist or something, right? What about the other girl who came in late? Is she okay?”
    â€œI can’t share details with you, Pepper, you know that.” He sat back. “It’s an ongoing investigation.”
    I bit my bottom lip. “But the woman was so distraught. I heard her call out Mom when she saw us in the alley. Was the victim her mother? Can you at least tell me if she’s okay? Is there anything I can do for her?”
    â€œFine, I can confirm that the victim was her mother.”
    I gasped and covered my mouth. “How horrible.” I couldn’t imagine walking in and discovering my mother had been murdered. “But the paper said that the identity of the woman was being held until the family was notified. If the other woman—what was her name?”
    â€œVidalia.”
    â€œIf Vidalia was the victim’s daughter, why didn’t the paper identify her?”
    â€œVidalia said her mother came over to America from Russia as a teen. Most of her family is still in Russia or scattered around Europe. She asked that she be able to tell her father and the rest of her family before her mother’s name is splashed all over the Internet.”
    â€œOh, of course, that makes sense.”
    â€œListen, Pepper, are you absolutely certain you didn’t see anyone else at the shop? Would you be comfortable swearing to that in a court of law?”
    â€œYes, I’m certain there was no one else there. It’s why I went outside. It was so strange not to have anyone in an open shop. Especially one where appointments are made. I thought maybe whoever was waiting for us had gone outside for a smoke. It sort of made sense since the door slammed behind us when we went inside.” I remembered the scene as clearly as possible. “Wait, that doesn’t make any sense.”
    â€œWhat doesn’t make sense?”
    â€œIf only the victim and her daughter were working, then why did her daughter have three beverages?”
    â€œWhat? What beverages?”
    â€œWhen she came through the door, Vidalia was carrying a beverage tray like the ones I saw at the coffee shop. I could have sworn there were three drinks in the paper tray. I mean, why else would you need a tray? Usually if you are carrying two drinks, they don’t give you a tray.”
    â€œGood point,” Detective Murphy said, and made another note. “Was she bringing drinks for your sister?”
    â€œNo.” I shook my head and drew my eyebrows together. “Unless . . . since there were three of us she might have thought she’d get us coffee if they do that for customers . . . Wait, no, we didn’t order anything. How would she know what to bring?”
    â€œGood question,” he said. “Anything else come to mind?”
    I scrunched my face. “No, that’s it.”
    â€œGreat.” He paused and studied me for a moment. “Look, I didn’t ask you here only because of the investigation.”
    â€œYou didn’t?”
    â€œNo.” He stood and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Can I get you some coffee or something?”
    I could tell he was feeling awkward and out of his element. “Water would be good, thanks.”
    â€œGreat, I’ll be right back.” He practically ran out of the room. His nervousness caught more than my attention. The people sitting near