My heart raced as Charlie hurried toward me, pulled me to him, and lifted me off the ground in a tight hug. He smelled a bit musty, but in that moment I didn’t care.
“What do you have?” I asked, finding my words.
“The prepaid phone registration,” Jill answered.
“Who owns the phone?” Lacy asked.
“We don’t have a full name, but we do have an initial,” Jill answered. “Does M. Swanson mean anything to you?”
“It could be Michael Swanson, but Charlie said the person on the other end of the line was a woman, so it’s more likely M as in Myrtis,” I suggested. “She seems very in-the-know. If she didn’t make the call herself, I could see her picking up a phone for someone.”
Jill turned to Charlie. “Any idea how she got your number?”
He lifted a shoulder. “A quick search of the station’s website would do it.”
Jill’s eyes were astounded. “Really? Is mine there too?”
“No, only the sheriff’s. It’s such a small community that it’s been common practice ever since the station put up a website back in 2000.”
“Probably needs to change now,” I said, a bit saddened by the reality that Aubergine wasn’t as safe as I’d once imagined. Apparently, trouble came to us even if we weren’t looking for it.
“First things first.” Charlie nodded slowly. “Dakota, we need you to do the heavy lifting. We can’t exactly walk into the ceremony looking like this.” He motioned to the deputy in her full uniform before pointing at himself. “And I’m supposed to be in jail. We’d be sure to spook the criminals.”
“Wait.” Lacy inserted herself into the conversation. “Are you planning to call this person during the ceremony?”
“That’s the idea,” Charlie admitted, though I could tell it pained him to interrupt her ceremony, especially after everything else this weekend. “Dakota will be our lookout from the front, and we’ll be watching from the back to see if anyone checks their pockets or their bags when it buzzes.”
“And if they threw out the phone already?” I asked, catching the confused expressions of Savilla, Jemma, and Aunt DeeDee, but also not having time to explain right then.
“They could’ve tossed the phone, yes,” Jill said, “but my guess is that they haven’t, especially since they don’t have all of the paintings in hand yet.” I knew this was true because I still had the Perry piece I’d taken from the lockbox hidden in my room.
Jill continued: “And the phone is obviously key in all the planning for this weekend.”
“You think they’ll only toss the phone after all this is done and dusted,” I said, my mind racing. Charlie had received a call about security at The Rose during the rehearsal dinner; Todd was then shot and fell from his fourth-floor balcony at The Rose; there had been a note appearing to blame Charlie in the man’s pocket…
Yes, everything about the murder started with that first call to Charlie.
As I thought about the phone, my eye fell on something pink peeking out from beneath the low couch, close to where I’d found the bag on Friday night when Bella had been in here slashing Lacy’s dress and presumably stealing the painting.
It was the same pink bag.
I glanced at Lacy and then at the others gathered there. “Has anyone else been in here today? Besides us?”
Savilla shook her head. “Definitely not. This room is off limits to regular guests.”
That didn’t stop Bella on Friday night, I thought, but didn’t say. “Then whose is this?”
Savilla’s eyes widened and she tilted her head. “That’s a Birkin bag,” she said. “They’re handmade by Hermès and worth twenty to thirty grand, easy. I noticed Bella carrying it on Friday night. Maybe she stopped by?”
No one answered Savilla’s question as I opened it, remembering the weapons that had been inside two nights earlier. I saw that the pricey bag still contained the same items. I removed the box cutter, one that had likely cut canvases out offrames. I pushed open the blade and could still see the fragments of the thick fabric.
“There’s also pepper spray, this short round telescope thing…” Jill wordlessly handed me gloves, and I removed the objects from the bag one at a time.
Charlie’s eyes widened as he shot a look at the deputy. “That’s a silencer.”
That caught my attention. “Could it have been used when Todd Anderson was shot?”
“It’s likely.” The deputy turned back to me. “You mentioned that Bella was carrying this bag. Do you know for sure that it’s hers?”
