Cordelia bit her tongue to keep from saying that being the only person under the age of sixty didn’t automatically make her a tech guru. But Belinda Sue didn’t mean to be so thorny, that was just her rosebush way, and Cordelia accepted it.
“We could take a picture of Honey and whoever else to Bramble Park and see if the store owners recognize her,” Daisy said.
“That sounds like a fine plan,” Belinda Sue said. “We’ll take a picture of Corbin and Edna too. I think there was one in the local paper a few months back. Those two stand out like crows in a cornfield. Anyone should be able to recognize the murder on them.”
“About that.” Cordelia stopped pacing and faced the chicks, who sat on her couch in a row, Arline and Belinda Sue on the ends, and Daisy—the peacemaker—between them. “I was trying to think of a gentler way to say this, but I should probably just say it.”
“Go on, then.” Belinda Sue flicked her wrist like she already knew she wasn’t going to like whatever Cordelia was about to say.
“I don’t think y’all should get so wrapped up in your personal grudges that you’re not willing to look at other suspects.” Cordelia looked Belinda Sue and Daisy square in the eye to ensure they both understood she meant business. “The most important thing we need to do is clear Daisy’s name. Would it be great if we could hang our personal grudges out to dry? Sure. But that’s not the objective here.”
“We know that.” Belinda Sue’s lip curled. “I think Corbin and Edna did it because they’ve got the best motive. Am I wrong about that?”
“You’re not wrong, but Honey’s got motive too,” Daisy piped up, bouncing slightly on the couch cushion. “She’s real territorial, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she slipped him a little palytoxinthinking it would just make him sick enough to go to the hospital, not knowing it would kill him.”
“Honey’s a nurse,” Belinda Sue said. “She can’t be that stupid about poison.”
“And Corbin and Edna are regular CSIs?” Daisy fired back, her pert nose scrunching as if readied for battle. “What makes you think they even know what palytoxin is?”
Cordelia rubbed her brow. “This is what I was talking about.”
Managing the chicks was like herding cats. The infighting wasn’t going to help keep Daisy out of jail, but they were as stubborn as mules with a mouthful of cockleburs. They didn’t know how to let things go, even if it was to their own detriment.
If they didn’t solve this soon, the authorities would close in on Daisy, and they would all be put away for being accessories.
“The only way we’re going to get answers is if we go to Bramble Park and find out who bought the wine,” Arline said. “Until then, all the two of you are going to accomplish is raising hell and annoying me.”
Belinda Sue and Daisy fell quiet, and Cordelia shot her a grateful look.
And in the silence, while Daisy and Belinda Sue stewed, Cordelia started coming up with ideas of what to do next if Bramble Park turned out to be another dead end.
Chapter Twelve
“I DON’T KNOW WHY YOU’VE ALWAYS GOT TO RIDE SHOTGUN,”DAISYgrumbled from the back seat. She had the window down and her hair protected by a sheer scarf.
“Because I’m an old soul and you’re young at heart,” Belinda Sue said.
Arline grunted, and Daisy shot her a dirty look. “Don’t tell me you like it back here any more than I do.”
“I don’t care where I sit, so long as we get where we’re going,” Arline said.
Daisy was in a right foul mood, and Cordelia had no doubt it was due to none of them taking Honey Stevens as a suspect seriously. And while Belinda Sue’s narrow focus on the Abernathys was also based on a grudge, Cordelia had to admit they were the most likely suspects. They had the best motive, and it was suspicious as all get-out how they happened to be on that near-empty stretch of prairie at just the right time to watch them drive the pastor’s car and body back to the church. But so far, no one had the means or opportunity. Except Daisy. Which made it that much more imperative that they link the wine to someone else.
Bramble Park was an hour and a half from Sarsaparilla Falls, but it might as well have been another world away. Nestled close enough to the Gulf of Mexico to be a beach town, it was all high-endhomes and boutique shops. A charming facade. The kind of place that would have no tolerance for aging sex workers and a reluctant madam.
“Ooh, look, they have an ice cream shop.” Daisy pressed her face against the glass, her eyes big and full of wonder. “I bet they sell fudge. Can we get some fudge while we’re here?”
It amazed Cordelia how fast Daisy could flip from crotchety old granny to a child trapped in a senior body, but if a little fudge was all it took to cheer up her, she’d buy a trunk full.
“Sure.” Cordelia gave her a patient smile, even though all she wanted to do was nail down their suspect and head back to Sarsaparilla Falls, where things felt familiar.
Funny how quickly the town had become a part of her again, and how uneasy she felt being anywhere else. Like she’d never really left, just stepped away for a while before she could go back home. Even her more unpleasant childhood memories were beginning to fade, the edges growing dull and soft, like a photo left in the sun.
Cordelia parked her car in front of a fancy brass meter with a green patina. She dug a few quarters from her purse and fed the machine while the chicks got out of the car and stared, slack-jawed and stupefied, like they’d never been to a tourist town before.
The buildings all came in candy colors like pink, peach, and baby blue. Iron lamplights with electric bulbs lit the sidewalks at night. The cobblestone streets were kept clean with sections roped off for plastic tables with striped umbrellas, and big pots spilling flowers of every hue were spread along the walkway.
“You could eat off this sidewalk,” Daisy said.
