Deadly Notions - By Elizabeth Lynn Casey Page 0,87
the actual drawings with her when we met, just photocopies. She said she’d get them to me the next day.” Beth slouched against the Fairy Godmother. “Wow. I can’t believe Fredrique Mootally wants my designs. I had no idea.”
She studied Beth closely. “He’s really that big?”
Beth snorted. “Big? Big doesn’t even do him justice. Try top in the business. And by top I mean T-O-P.” Pushing off the wall, Beth headed toward the door. “Maybe I shouldn’t have cried wolf so many times after all, huh?”
“What are you talking about?”
“People in my position would kill to have that kind of connection.”
Chapter 32
She was still sitting in the children’s room, staring at the door, when her cell phone rang. With a quick glance at the unfamiliar number, she flipped the phone open and held it to her ear.
“Hello?”
“Victoria? This is Samantha. Samantha Smith. Mr. Wentworth over at the elementary school asked me to give you a call. He said you had a few questions for me?”
She wandered out of the room and into her office, her mind sifting through the mental list of questions she’d crafted when she still considered Beth Samuelson a suspect.
But that was no longer the case. Not anymore, anyway.
“I—I was wanting to check in and make sure that Kayla’s experiences at the library have improved.”
“Kayla’s experiences?”
“Um, yes. Ms. Dunn, one of our volunteers, told me about the—the incident in the children’s room a few weeks ago. And I want to assure you that we are taking steps to help minimize such an occurrence again.” She knew she sounded lame but it was the least she could do on such short notice. Especially after Milo held up his end of the bargain by asking the woman to call. “In fact, one of our upcoming kindergarten story time sessions is about bullying.”
“That’s wonderful. Though it’s not as needed as it once was. Rumor has it that the little girl who took great pride in being a bully might be moving out of state soon. But even if that doesn’t happen, she’s no longer being encouraged in the way she once was.”
She stood at the window overlooking the library grounds, her mouth traveling down a path completely independent of her conscious thought. “You really believe Ashley Lawson encouraged Penelope to be mean?”
“I do. Though I don’t think Ashley believed that’s what she was doing. I think she just wanted to elevate that little girl above all the rest. But by doing so, she was teaching the child that she was more important.”
It made sense. How many other kids had their name on a parking sign? How many kids had playgrounds renamed in their honor?
“Ashley just didn’t know when to stop. No party could ever be big enough, no outfit could ever be fancy enough, no friend could ever be good enough for her precious little Penelope.” Although Samantha continued speaking, it was a different voice and a different set of words that began playing in Tori’s mind, a similar yet juxtaposed sentiment that had her sharing her days’ old question aloud once again.
“What did she want? To have her daughter’s name in lights?”
Samantha laughed. “It sure seemed that way, didn’t it? First the parking spot where she worked, then the park, then who knows what was next.”
“Penelope’s Closet, that’s what.” Realizing her mistake, she started to recall her words only to swallow them again as Samantha’s voice filtered through her thoughts.
“It’s like I told Regina at Sally’s party that night. She’s better off without a woman like that working for her. I mean, really, do you think six designs are worth being affiliated with someone who doesn’t know the meaning of the word loyalty?”
Six designs.
A chill shot down her spine as the enormity of what she was hearing hit her with a one-two punch. “Regina knew that Ashley was taking her designs elsewhere?”
“Of course she did. I told her myself.”
“You—” She slapped a hand over her mouth as the pieces of the puzzle finally began to take shape. Regina knew Ashley had betrayed her. She knew the deal with Fredrique Mootally hinged on having all twelve designs.
But why kill her?
Because she could.
The moms at Sally’s party made that easy.
“Oh my God,” she whispered as she slammed the phone shut in her hand. It all made perfect sense. Regina had been at the party. She’d heard what Melissa and Beatrice and all the other moms had said, allowing her to point her bloody fingers in their direction.