“Knowing Adele, that’s what she could be thinking,” Dinah said. “But now that she’s so busy playing detective, maybe she’s forgotten.” Dinah sat forward in the chair. “You know any day she’s going to show up in a deerstalker hat a la Sherlock Holmes and start carrying a magnifying glass.”
“And she’ll probably crochet herself a badge. Maybe a big gold star with her name embroidered on it,” I said and we both laughed. And we both knew Adele might really do it.
“I was already going to go to the funeral,” Dinah said. “Kelly is a neighbor or was a neighbor.” Dinah’s good humor faded. “I hate to bring up scary things again, but do you really think Dan killed her?”
I stopped for a moment and straightened. It was a pleasure to be able to discuss it without Adele jumping in every second with something motor officer/security detail Eric had told her. Then I caught my friend’s concerned expression and realized why she was asking.
Dinah lived down the street from Dan. And she lived alone.
“I’m sure even if he did it, he’s not a serial killer. It had to be something between them. From what we’ve heard, they were kind of a mismatched pair. He with his boxes of Rice-A-Randy and she with her high-end English soap. Maybe he got mad that she was spending all their money. And remember, they were both married before. Maybe he got creamed on his last divorce and decided never again.” I went back to combing the bins for the balls of thread. “And despite what Detective Adele said, it might be someone else entirely. There were lots of people coming and going since they were setting up the backyard for a scene.” I told Dinah about the conversation I’d overheard between the prop guys and North Adams. “Fred and Zeke both knew Kelly from before. Think about it, they’re prop guys on a cop show. They probably know all about weapons. And don’t forget her neighbor. Miss PTA prez was very angry at Kelly. She seemed to think Kelly was ruining the neighborhood.”
My best friend looked at me. “You’re going to get involved in this aren’t you?”
“Don’t tell Adele. I’m already on it. I asked Mason to see what he could find out.”
Dinah nodded and looked relieved. “I was hoping you’d say something like that.”
I loaded up a tote bag with a bunch of orbs of thread in jewel-like colors along with several black ones. Then I searched through the box of hooks and found a selection of steel ones.
“Now how about we stop by the dollar store tomorrow and pick up some information along with the prize Dan promised you,” I said as we stepped back into the walkway and I pulled down the door.
CHAPTER 12
“Look,” Dinah said, pointing at a white banner reading “More Bang for Your Buck” that hung across the storefront. “Dan really did take my suggestion about the name.” Dinah shook her head in disbelief. “I thought he was just being polite when we saw him in Le Grande Fromage. And it makes me have serious doubts whether he killed Kelly. If you were planning to kill your wife, would you really be worried about a new name for your store? But English teachers everywhere must be offering up a prayer of thanks.”
I looked at the sign again and shuddered. “Yes, but if you were devastated because someone else killed your wife, would your store not only be open, but sporting a new name?”
We had waited until the next morning to make the trek to the store and were wearing the bracelets we’d made during the prior evening. The dollar store was located in one of the older storefronts in Tarzana and had previously housed an indoor play lot for kids.
“It looks like he made good use of the old decorations,” I said looking through the large windows. The owners of the kids’ place had decorated the walls with murals of stylized trees and hills with big flowers on them and a train full of animals chugging by. Dan had painted over the animals and replaced them with giant jars of Sucker’s jam, Jerkmans hand cream and Tried detergent.
“And it looks like life has gone on,” I said as we went inside. The store seemed to be bustling with aggressive shoppers and I almost got sideswiped by a woman racing her cart toward a display of cans of “krab” meat. We decided we should try to blend