Aretha Moon and the Dead Hairdresser: Aretha Moon Book 2 (Aretha Moon Mysteries) by Linda Ross (reading books for 7 year olds .TXT) 📗

“It’s all right,” Jimmy said.  “Go on.”

“Serena saw the body, and I told her to go call the police.  Then the other woman saw it and started screaming.”

“Did she say anything?”

“I think she said, ‘It’s Kara,’ or something like that.  She was so upset that I told her to wait in her car until you got here.”

Jimmy looked at the car and nodded.  “I’ll go talk to her.  Wait here.”

It was warm for early November, and the windows were down on the car.  I inched closer to the car, pretending interest in a maple tree that was still clinging to a handful of red leaves.  Almost the red of the blood on the floor, I thought in a macabre moment.  But I guess thoughts like that are normal when you’ve just seen a dead body.

I could hear most of what Jimmy and the woman were saying.  He was leaning into the open window on the passenger side, and she had turned partially to face him.

“Do you know the deceased, ma’am?” he asked gently.

She nodded, her head down.  I almost couldn’t catch what she said.  “She’s my sister Kara.”

“And what is your name?” Jimmy asked, pulling out his notebook.

“Rose Sanderson.  I just moved to Hannibal a couple of weeks ago.  My husband died recently, and I wanted to connect with my sister.”

“I’m sorry.  This must be a shock.”  Jimmy cleared his throat.  “I need to ask if she had any enemies that you knew of.  A disgruntled boyfriend?  Anyone like that?”

“I can’t imagine anyone she knew could have done that to her,” she said with a shudder.  “She’s had her share of run-ins with people, but nothing serious.  And I guess you’ll find out sooner or later that she’s done some jail time.”

“When was that?”

“A long time ago.  She was wilder when she was young.  She wrote some bad checks and stole from her employer.”

“When did you see her last?” Jimmy asked.

“Last night.”

I saw Jimmy perk up at that.  “What time?”

“I guess it was around six or so.  She’d called and asked me to come by the salon.  She said she had a late client, but she wanted to talk to me.”

“And what did she say?”

Rose sighed.  “She wanted to make plans for Thanksgiving.  We were going to go to a restaurant and then back to my place for pie.”

“And what time did you leave?”

Rose rubbed a hand over her eyes.  “I think it was around seven.  I told her I would see her today.  She was going to give me a shampoo and trim when she had time.”

“And she seemed fine?” Jimmy asked.

Rose nodded.  “I think I called to her not to stay too late as I was leaving.  And that was the last time I saw her.”  Her lip began to tremble.  “Until today.”

“Thank you,” Jimmy said.  “That’s very helpful.”

Jimmy got Rose’s home address and came back to me as she started her car.  “I guess there’s no chance you won’t be involved in this?” he asked wryly.

“Not if I can help it,” I said.  “Lorenzo will want me all over this.  You know that.”

Jimmy sighed.  “Yeah, I was afraid of that.”  He glanced over his shoulder as Rose Sanderson pulled away from the curb.  “If you remember anything else, call me.”  He sighed and said, “I know this is useless, but try to let us handle this.”

“That’s my plan.”

“That said, if you want to hang around a bit longer, I’ll run you home when I’m done.”

My heart skipped a beat, but it could have been a hot flash.  “Thanks.”

“Just sit over there and stay out of the way.”

I hustled over to the bench and sat down with Serena, who was on her phone, apparently explaining to the bride’s mother why the bridal party couldn’t get their hair done.

“I’m so sorry,” Serena was saying.  “You might want to try the salon in the mall.  I know the owner, and I can call ahead.”  I could hear a loud, unhappy voice on the other end, and Serena held the phone out and grimaced.  “I’ll call her and call you right back,” she promised.

“Oh, man,” she said when she clicked off.  “You’d think this was a plot to ruin the wedding.”  She punched in another number and talked for a few minutes to someone, then called the brides mother back.  “They can do all of you if you can get there in an hour and a half.  She’s going to call in another employee who’s off today.”  She listened and made sympathetic sounds for a few minutes, then clicked off her phone.

“Were you and Kara going to do the bridal party by yourselves?” I asked.

Serena nodded.  “We had the styles all planned out, and we have a system.  We work well together.”  She swallowed and said, “I guess I mean we worked well together.”  She glanced at the open door and shook her head.  “This feels like a really bad dream.”

I agreed.  I watched as a uniformed cop started the house to house inquiries, beginning with the house next door.  At the same time, a tow truck pulled up and two guys jumped out and talked to Jimmy.  Then they started loading Kara’s car onto the back.  This was becoming more real by the moment.

“Were you friends with Kara very long?” I asked, more to keep my mind occupied than anything.  And I have to admit that I knew Lorenzo would want me to follow the murder investigation and write the stories.  I’d become the de facto crime reporter after I was closely involved in a murder investigation a couple of months earlier.  I was nearly one of the victims, and that thrilled Lorenzo no end.  He still gives me