Justine’s white skirt and cropped blouse showed off her tan. She’d woven her blonde hair into a French braid. She looked beautiful as usual, but she also looked grief stricken. Emily should have thought of that. She’d been out of the loop so long she’d forgotten how close all of these people still were.
“You just caught me.” Justine’s voice was raw with emotion.
Emily mentally scrambled for the proper response. “Maybe I should come back another time.” God, she didn’t want to wait. She wanted to do this now!
“No. No. I was just going shopping for funeral dresses.” Justine pressed a hand to her chest. “I can’t believe it.” With monumental effort, she drew in a breath, seemed to compose herself. “Please, come on in.”
Emily went inside, briefly admired the comfortable furnishings. She remembered then that Justine had more framed photographs than anyone she knew. They were everywhere. That was Justine’s hobby. She’d always said that her photographs were her way of keeping her memories close.
“Would you like something to drink?” Justine asked, then sniffed and pressed a tissue to her nose.
“No, thanks.” Where to start? Emily had planned this; stick with the plan. “I saw Violet this afternoon.”
Justine motioned for Emily to take a seat on the sofa while she curled up in a chair. “How is she?”
“She’s Violet,” Emily allowed. “She won’t let anyone see her pain.”
“I know she must be absolutely devastated.” Justine shook her head, anguish on her face. “I just can’t imagine who would do such a thing. Keith was such a great guy. And Ray. My God. Everyone loved him.”
Emily clasped her hands together to prevent their shaking. “It’s hard to believe they’re really gone.”
“Did Violet say when the funeral will be held? I’m sure it’s too early to know anything about Ray’s.”
How could Emily sit here and believe that this woman, a woman she’d known more than half her life, was a murderer?
“Depends upon the autopsy, I think.” No matter what Emily wanted to believe, she had to see this through. “You know,” she began, her voice sounding too chipper even to her, “while I was there Violet showed me her senior necklace. Can you believe she still has it? After all this time?” She shook her head. “I don’t know what happened to mine. I guess I lost it.”
Justine folded her hands in her lap, stared straight into Emily’s eyes, but her gaze was blank, distant. “That’s a shame.”
Do it!Emily braced. “Do you still have yours?”
A tiny line formed between Justine’s eyebrows. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
“The necklace,” Emily prompted, feeling horrible for pursuing the subject.
“Oh.” Justine blinked. “The necklace. I haven’t worn mine since Heather passed away. I didn’t want to risk damaging it or losing it. It’s been right there in my jewelry box ever since.” Regret clouded her eyes. “You girls were the first to get the necklaces. It didn’t seem right to give them to anyone else after what happened. I went back to the charm bracelets after that year.”
“I feel terrible about losing mine.” God, she hated lying.
“Would you like me to get you another, Em?” Justine offered. “I don’t mind trying. It might not be exactly the same, but it would probably be close.”
This was the woman she wanted to accuse of murder? “That ...” Nothing in her plan about this. “That would be wonderful.”
“Consider it done.” Justine managed a faint smile, the effort visible. “Just give me your address in Birmingham before you go and I’ll take care of it.”
Banging on her front door drew Justine’s attention there. She frowned as she pushed to her feet. “Excuse me, Em.”
Deviation from plan. What did she do now? Emily pushed to her feet. “Could I use your bathroom?”
Justine hesitated before opening the door. “Sure. Down the hall and on the left.”
Her heart thudding in warning, Emily forced her legs to move at a normal pace as she went from the living room to the hall. Three doors. One on the left, two on the right.
Shouting stopped her dead in her tracks. Both voices female. Her heart felt as if it had stopped as well. The voices turned hushed. Emily started moving again. First room on the right was a home office. The second, Justine’s bedroom. The span of floor space between the bathroom and the bedroom was only about six feet. Hardly anything at all. She could do it.
Emily went into the bedroom. She glanced around, took stock of where things were. The jewelry box sat atop the dresser. She went there. Listened to ensure Justine was still engaged in conversation.
Her hands shaking, Emily opened the jewelry box. Didn’t even consider that it might be one that played music until she’d opened it. She held her breath. No sound came from the box.
