That way, I’d gotten in timely notification even if they didn’t read it until morning.
Break-in at Tiffany’s. She sustained head injury. Carter on his way. That’s all I know.
A couple seconds later, I got a text back from both of them.
On my way.
Be there in a sec.
I turned off the alarm, unlocked the door, and headed to the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee, wondering if anyone in Sinful had regular sleeping hours. By the time the coffee was done, Ida Belle was already in her usual chair and we were just waiting on Gertie. She rolled in a couple minutes later, and one glance at her had me wishing she’d taken a few minutes more.
She was wearing neon-orange booty shorts with Hot to Trot stamped across the butt. Paired with that was a hot-pink tank but with weird straps under and on the sides of her boobs—like she was wrangling them like a calf at a rodeo. She hadn’t even bothered with shoes. Half the rollers were coming out of her hair and the remnants of whatever face mask she was trying this time was spotted across her face. Pink glitter twinkled on her scalp.
“Good God, give her a robe,” Ida Belle said.
“Fortune doesn’t own a robe,” Gertie said. “She’s too young for robes. And too fit. If I was built like her, I’d walk around naked all the time.”
“You’re already half naked and you’ve never been built like Fortune,” Ida Belle said.
I went into the laundry room and grabbed one of Carter’s T-shirts. “This will have to do,” I said, mentally adding robes to my list of things to buy since I was about to install a hot tub. I didn’t need the drama that might come with Gertie and the tub and the lack of a fenced yard. Plus, the point of the tub was decompressing, and seeing Gertie dressed like an MTV reality show wasn’t going to do it. Ida Belle’s shooting her wouldn’t be very relaxing either, except maybe for Ida Belle.
Gertie pulled on the T-shirt, which helped matters since it was fairly long on her, and then we all sat with our coffee.
“So, a break-in at Tiffany’s,” Ida Belle said. “That’s unexpected.”
I nodded. “And makes no sense.”
“Doesn’t seem like much about this case makes sense,” Gertie said. “Do you have any ideas?”
“Not without more information,” I said. “I mean, the usual reasons for a home invasion are to attack someone or steal. We don’t know if anything’s missing, but it sounds like they popped Tiffany hard enough that the paramedics were on their way.”
Ida Belle shook her head. “If they were there to hurt Tiffany, they’d be calling for the coroner, not paramedics. If they were there to steal, then what?”
“Maybe Gil had a collection of something valuable,” Gertie said. “Coins, stamps, art?”
“You saw his taste,” Ida Belle said. “And I can’t imagine him collecting anything else that a thief would zero in on. Besides, if Gil collected anything of value, he would have driven everyone crazy talking about it.”
“True,” Gertie agreed. “Maybe it was an opportunity thing. Someone figured Gil wasn’t there anymore and Tiffany would be easy to work around. Maybe he figured out he could pick up loose cash, jewelry, and electronics.”
“But Gil was out of town a lot with the acting troupe,” I said. “Someone could have tried that stunt before now, with a lot less risk since all eyes are on Tiffany now due to the murder investigation.”
Ida Belle nodded. “It does seem foolish. I don’t suppose we think this one is faked like the chicken might have been, do we?”
“For what purpose?” Gertie asked.
“Well, it probably gives her a valid reason to leave town,” I said. “Carter wouldn’t insist she remain in the house, and I can’t imagine Casey wants that liability, either. No law enforcement would. And even if there was an officer to leave with her, they still can’t force her to remain in an environment where she feels unsafe. If it turns out she’s innocent, there could be hell to pay.”
Ida Belle slowly nodded. “It’s rather extreme, assuming that crack on the head was hard enough to need medical attention, but it still wouldn’t be the craziest thing I’ve seen.”
“No,” Gertie said. “The craziest is chopping off a dead man’s head and sending him off through the park on a horse. Instead of figuring out reasons for the crazy, we’re just adding to the list of things we have no good explanation for.”