Buzz Off - By Hannah Reed Page 0,80
Faye,” I said. “And I’m convinced that Manny was murdered, too.”
“Why do you think that?”
“I just do.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“I think whoever killed Faye probably killed Manny, since the odds of two murders by two separate killers in two days would be so low as to be almost nonexistent. And that person is after me for some reason. The store was robbed, and Carrie Ann was hurt. Then I found Faye’s missing earring on my desk in the back room.”
“What missing earring?”
“Don’t they tell you anything in here?”
“Nobody tells me anything. My lawyer hasn’t even been in since I hired him.”
So I told Clay about the one earring Faye had been wearing when Hunter and I’d found her, and how the police hadn’t been able to locate it until it showed up on my desk. And how Clay had to talk to me, tell me the truth, if I was going to be able to help him.
When I finished, Clay said, “Sounds like you want to help yourself, not me. In fact, I’m not sure why I’m in here and you’re out there.”
“You’ll benefit from anything I find. Why do you care why I’m doing it, as long as it helps you get out of jail?”
“What do you want from me?”
“The whole truth and nothing but the truth. Let’s start with why you and Faye were fighting and why she left your house that night?”
“We were fighting about stupid stuff, and I got mad and said the only reason I was going with her was because she reminded me of you. She didn’t like that and stomped off. We would have made up if she hadn’t been killed.”
“Tell me the rest. What’s going on with you and Grace Chapman? I want confirmation one way or the other.”
What I heard left me without any forward steam. My stack of theory cards had fallen. The scoop I got was that:• Grace had called Clay last Thursday night, sounding desperate and upset, and had said she needed to meet with him, but didn’t want anyone to know.
• He invited her over to his house, thinking maybe in her weakened state they’d get it on (his own words).
• Instead, Grace had wanted information on Manny and me, all the sordid details, as she called them, and she thought Clay would be honest and direct with her.
• She obviously didn’t know Clay at all.
“I was surprised that you’d want to be with another man,” Clay said. “But I let her think I knew something about it, in case she needed a shoulder to cry on.”
Ugh. I was so glad I’d dumped this slime ball! “You weren’t having an affair with Grace Chapman?”
“Not that I wouldn’t have given it a go, once or twice.”
“That’s the rumor going around. That you two were an item, sneaking around behind Manny’s back.”
Clay smiled like he was proud of himself.
“What about you and Manny?” he asked. “She seemed to think something was up with you and him.”
“Never happened,” I said. “Who told Grace that tall tale?”
“Probably Patti,” Clay said.
“No one should ever believe Patti,” I said. “Ever. She’s the one who started the rumor about you and Grace, after she saw Grace go into your house. That’s all the so-called proof she needed to start circulating lies. Did you know she has a telescope and spies on us inside our homes?”
“Sure, I know. That’s why I strut in front of the window naked.”
“I thought you were trying to impress me.”
“It is impressive, isn’t it?”
“Very funny, but get serious for a change. I need a promise from you if I’m going to traipse around the countryside, risking my life.”
“Anything, honey.”
“Don’t call me that ever again.”
“That’s it? That’s all I have to do for you?”
“No. When you get out, you have to move away, out of Moraine, even out of Waukesha County.”
“You’re breaking my heart with your coldness.”
“Is it a deal?”
“Deal,” Clay said. “I don’t especially like it here anyway, and if you’re not coming back to me—”
With that, I made a hasty exit.
Thirty-three
Friday morning, my sister did not arrive in time to help open The Wild Clover per Mom’s orders, which wasn’t much of a surprise. Between working the cash register and giving everybody updates on Carrie Ann’s health, the robbery, and the dead woman’s earring found on my desk, I had a hectic few hours without her.
Not to mention all the effort of trying to reverse certain reputation-damaging rumors. Holly would be proud of me. Not