Vera was hiding from someone and that someone killed her to shut her up.”
Josie’s cell phone rang. Hoping it was Colbert PD, she hit answer without looking at the number.
“Detective Quinn?” said a female voice. “This is Sara Venuto. We spoke yesterday. I’ve got a few things for you.”
“That’s great news,” Josie told her. “I’ve got my colleague with me today. We can come over now if that’s convenient.”
Gretchen drove to Envy. Sara waited inside at the reception. The styling area was packed with clients and stylists working. No one gave them so much as a passing glance. Sara beckoned them to her office. On her desk, several photographs were spread out, along with a piece of copy paper with a handwritten list of names on it.
Sara said, “I talked to a couple of the girls who worked here with Vera. Among the three of us, we came up with a handful of names. I’m not sure it’s helpful, but we did find pictures in our old salon photo albums.”
Gretchen slipped on her reading glasses and leaned over the list. To Josie she said, “Our lovely mayor is on this list.”
Sara said, “Oh yes, she was quite young then. None of us would have expected her to go into politics.”
Josie studied the photographs. There were about a half dozen showing Vera beaming proudly beside a client in a chair, showing off their freshly cut or dyed and styled hair. Josie recognized a young Tara Charleston in one of them.
Sara said. “If you look on the back, we tried to identify each client by name.”
Josie turned one of them over. It read: Marisol. Another read: Connie P? She used her phone to take a photo of the front of each picture and then the back where the client’s name had been written. Once she finished with those photos, she moved on to another stack. She fingered a photograph of Vera Urban standing in what looked like the reception area of the salon—although decorated quite differently—surrounded by other women, some of them the clients in the other pictures. Vera was smiling widely and held a paper plate overflowing with bows and ribbons onto her head. She wore a black, shapeless dress and with her other hand, she splayed her fingers across her belly. Not cradling it, Josie thought, as most pregnant women seemed to do. This was more of a protective gesture.
“That was the baby shower I told you about,” Sara said. “I was only able to find a few of those.”
Josie riffled through them. Vera in a cushioned chair, surrounded by pink balloons and large gifts, gazing at a stroller that had been pushed in front of her. Vera, holding up various gifts. In one photo, she held up a baby monitor in one hand and a card in the other. The card was spread open. Josie leaned in and saw that it said, Sorry I couldn’t be there. Love, Marisol. More photos followed. Vera in her chair of honor, surrounded by several smiling women, each of them holding up onesies that said Cutie. One of them was Tara Charleston. Clearly, Tara had lied about not attending the baby shower. Josie had the distinct feeling that Tara and Vera had been much closer than Tara let on.
“Sara,” Josie said, as she snapped pictures of the baby shower photographs. “Was there ever any indication that Vera might be into drugs?”
Sara laughed, “Oh no. Not Vera.”
Gretchen said, “Maybe she wasn’t doing any drugs, but did you ever notice whether or not she gave out or sold drugs to any of the clients?”
Sara looked stunned. She put a hand to her chest. “Do you think I would ever allow something like that?”
“We have to ask,” Josie said. “The women who helped you with the list, do you think we could speak with them? Are they here?”
Sara’s face had gone from smiling and helpful to stricken and pale. Quickly, Gretchen said, “We’re only asking because of the way that Beverly was killed. It had some markings of a drug-related homicide. Beverly was a minor. To our knowledge, the only significant adult in her life was Vera. We have to explore all possibilities.”
Silently, Sara nodded, some of the color returning to her face. “I’ll go get them,” she mumbled.
Josie and Gretchen waited till all three women were in the room before breaking the news that Vera had been killed the day before. All of them were visibly upset. Gretchen fielded their questions expertly with what scant