Crimped To Death Read online

  “Really?” Ginger tapped her temple with her finger. “I belong on that committee.”

  Which wasn’t a big revelation to me since her family did own half of Swanee.

  “Maybe me and you should go by the financial meeting tonight because Kevin Russell is the chairman of that particular committee on the Barn Dance Board.”

  “Great! I’ve been beating myself up all night for not accepting the invitation to join when they were asking all the businesses,” I said. “Even if we could just see his demeanor.”

  “Surely Noah Druck is checking him out,” Marlene said as she broke down the empty boxes. “I put the invoices on the counter over there.”

  “Just think about it.” Ginger stood up. Her long lean legs looked thinner in the dark skinny jeans. She wore a white blouse tucked in with the collar up and strands of pearls dripping down the front at all different lengths. “Henry Frisk comes to town. He has those massaging chairs in the cleaning rooms, a Keurig coffee maker in the lobby for clients to enjoy, and he gives away that amazing bag of swag.”

  “How do you know of this?” I asked. Marlene stopped dead in her tracks. The only ex we Divas associated with was Bennie. He had resources we needed.

  Her face reddened deeper than her tan. She swallowed hard.

  “Well,” she hesitated.

  “Ginger,” I coaxed her. “You didn’t,” I gasped and put my hand over my mouth.

  “It was his first week here before I left and I’m the chair of Swanee’s Welcoming Committee.” She put her hand up to her chest.

  “Since when did Swanee get a welcoming committee?” I looked at her suspiciously. “No one ever came to welcome me when I opened The Beaded Dragonfly.”

  “Since the revitalization of downtown, the City Council felt that we needed to make sure the new businesses feel welcome.” She ran her tongue across her extra shiny white teeth. “Anyway, he was way more charming than Bernadine gave him credit for and he is devilishly handsome and young up close.”

  My mouth dropped, my nose snarled.

  Marlene eased herself in the chair on the opposite side of the table.

  “Too bad he’s dead.” Marlene stuck her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her hands.

  Marlene loved them rich and hot. Two things that were lacking in the men who lived in Swanee.

  “Anyway,” Ginger ignored Marlene, “he asked me to come in to see the office. He showed me how the massage chair worked. When I sat down, I melted. He threw on a mask, whipped that light over my eyes and he illuminated like an angel staring down at me with those big puppy dog eyes.”

  We all gave a little sigh.

  “When he said he’d give me a complimentary cleaning that would keep me coming back, he was right.” She opened her lips real wide and showed her teeth. “He did a beautiful job. I couldn’t stop staring at his flawless skin and lovely eyes.”

  “But he’s Bernadine’s ex.” Everything Ginger said was mesmerizing, but the fact still remained that he was an ex-ass.

  “I know. That is why I never said anything.” Her jaw tensed. “Then he ordered surveillance equipment. Which reminds me, I need to check with Joni to see if it was installed.”

  “Surveillance equipment?” A spark ignited. “If he had some sort of camera and he was killed in the office, it would show it!”

  “Don’t be going and getting excited.” Ginger looked at her watch. “We are so far behind on installation and I took that trip which didn’t help move things quicker. The system for Henry’s office wasn’t even going to be installed until a couple weeks from right now. Though I did put him on the cancellation list.”

  “You need to check that out and we need to figure out if some of Kevin’s clients were being wooed away from his office like Henry obviously wooed you.” My wheels were turning.

  “Too bad he’s dead.” Ginger’s eyes lowered. “He really did a good job on my teeth. And he said that the next time I come back, they don’t take co-pays. He will bill your insurance for the full amount.”

  “No co-pay?” That almost sounded too good to be true. I stood up when the ten o’clock bridal appointment came in. “I have a business to run and you have to go talk to Joni. Be back here by six p.m. to meet up with the Divas.”

  Marlene got up and greeted the bride and the other girl with her. There was a full list of questions I had come up with so I could create the perfect jewelry for the wedding.

  “We have to be at the financial meeting by seven.” Ginger reminded me.

  “Seven?” Inwardly I groaned. That was the time for self-defense class. There was no way I could go there and the meeting. The meeting was definitely more important. “We can go together.”

  “See you at six. Or I’ll call you before if I find anything else out about you-know-what.” She gave the spirit wave over her shoulder before she walked out.

  The you-know-what was video of a murderer stabbing Henry to death. Even if there was something like that there, Noah would have already seen it. But you never know.

  I found that a woman on a mission to find out something was far better than an FBI agent. I didn’t know who had stolen my crimpers, but I did know one thing, Bernadine Frisk was too tidy and neat to get blood on her hands.

  Chapter Nine

  “Welcome to The Beaded Dragonfly.” I held my hand out to shake the girls’ hands. I wasn’t sure which one was the bride. “I see you have met my assistant Marlene.”

  Marlene nodded.

  “This is Autumn,” Marlene gestured toward the petite blonde. I should’ve known she was the bride because they always look so gaunt and thin from starving themselves for their big day.

  “This is Jenna, my maid of honor,” Autumn introduced the meat-on-the-bones, average-size young woman next to her.

  They couldn’t be any more than twenty-five. Sometimes the lovestruck look on the happy brides-to-be faces made me sick. If they only knew what was in store for them. A life of cheating, long nights alone, and chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate.

  I kept my mouth shut and planted a big ole happy smile on my face.

  “There isn’t anything better than a wonderful wedding and happy marriage.” I glanced over at Marlene. “Isn’t that right?”

  Huh. Marlene wasn’t good at faking it.

  “Right, Marlene?”

  “Whatever you say, Holly.” Marlene disappeared into the back and brought out the chocolate-covered strawberries and two flutes of champagne to give to the girls.

  It was something I had seen on the Wedding Channel. I knew that after Margaret McGee’s wedding every girl in Swanee and surrounding counties would be coming here to see exactly what I had to offer. A little bit of expense to show them The Beaded Dragonfly was a classy place was just the icing on the cake for a big sale.

  “I’ll let you two help yourself to the treats while you fill out your forms.” I guided them to the bridal table that was specifically set up for such appointments.

  The sunlight beamed through the large floor-to-ceiling windows. The beads glistened throughout the shop. I had several pieces displayed on the table and the sun’s rays hit the jewelry perfectly, making them shine to the brilliance that would almost hurt your eyes if you stared at the beauty too long. That was another little trick I learned on the Wedding Channel.

  The girls smiled and took their place at the bride’s table and I pulled Marlene to the side.

  “Do you think you could finish the first meeting with Autumn?” The phone rang. I put my hand on it and finished my sentence. “I’m going to see Bobbi Hart and see if I can get on that Barn Dance Committee.”

  I plucked the phone receiver off the wall.

  “The Beaded Dragonfly,” I answered in a chirpy voice.

  “Holly, it’s Carol from Dr. Russell’s office. I wanted to follow up on our conversation from last night and I have a couple openings for your cleaning,” she said. I could hear a page crinkling in the background like she was flipping a schedule book. “We have
to get you in here to keep those beautiful teeth white and I also wanted to say that I can tell you have lost some weight.”

  “Oh, Carol. That is so kind.” Compliments always made me melt. . .even if it did come from the dental receptionist. I looked down into the glass counter, opened my lips with my teeth clinched. They could stand a scrub. “What are your openings?”

  “We have a cancellation today.”

  Damn.

  “Can you be here in about ten minutes?” she asked.

  “Umm. . .” My eyes bugged out of my head and I glanced over at Marlene. “Can you hold on?”

  “Sure,” Carol agreed.

  I covered the mouth of the phone with my hand.

  “Marlene, this is Carol from Dr. Russell’s office and they have a dental cleaning opening in ten minutes. Do you think you could stay here longer than the time it would take me to talk to Bobbi?”

  Marlene danced on her toes. She clasped her hands together in delight. “You work fast.” She winked. “Skipping the committee gossip and going straight to the source.”

  “What?” My face contorted in confusion.

  “Dr. Russell and Henry’s fight?” Marlene reminded me about the information I could probably get out of Dr. Russell if I was sitting in his chair.

  “Carol, I’ll see you in ten,” I confirmed and hung up the phone. “Marlene, I was so nervous about the cleaning that I completely forgot about the fight.” I placed my hands on her shoulders. “You are a genius!”

  I grabbed my bag and left Marlene in charge of the shop. She’d be fine and she could certainly handle the bride’s first appointment since it was only a fact gathering session on what Autumn had in mind and the colors.

  It didn’t take me long to drive over to Dr. Russell’s. The lot was empty. The brown, square, brick, stand-alone boring building had minimal landscape with the small bushes going around the entire office. There were two long and wide windows on each side of the door with the old metal horizontal blinds that had yellowed over the years from the sun.

  I pushed the door open and immediately the sterile stale smell of rubber and band-aids made my stomach curl. The old wood paneling hung from the waiting room walls. Carol’s sliding glass window was cracked. There was a clipboard teetering off the edge where clients checked in.

  Ahem. I cleared my throat when I didn’t see Carol behind the glass. I took the pen that was tied to the clip on the clipboard with a string of yarn and wrote my name down on the page that had the date printed very large on the top.

  I flipped through the week’s worth of pages. I inwardly groaned when I saw Charlie’s name. She’d been here a couple of days ago. But the most disturbing thing was not seeing a lot of names on each page. I was used to signing the paper and seeing members of the community on there.

  I put the board back on the edge and took a seat in one of the old plastic vinyl chairs that had cracks in all of them. I picked the one with the fewest cracks and didn’t expose the padding underneath.

  “Hi, Holly.” Carol flung the window open and grabbed the clipboard. “Anything change on your insurance?” she asked and crossed off my name.

  “All the same.” I smiled and picked up an Oprah magazine from two years ago. I put it back when I realized I looked at it the last time I was here.

  Ginger’s description of Henry Frisk’s dental office played in my head. I’d kill to have a Keurig cup of coffee right now. There definitely wasn’t a complimentary Keurig machine in Kevin’s office, and I would bet the same grey plastic pod dental chairs were in the back too.

  “How has business been?” I asked Carol, trying to get some information out of her.

  “Meh,” she curled her nose. “It had slowed down a lot since Henry Frisk opened a couple months ago. But since the,” she ran her finger along her neck, “clients have called to schedule.”

  “Yeah, that was terrible.” I let out a long sigh and eyed her reaction.

  “It was. I have been looking over my back and catching myself checking the locks on my windows and doors at home several times before I go to bed.” She shook her head. Her lips dipped. “I just don’t know why someone would go around killing someone. Dr. Frisk always seemed nice when he stopped by.”

  “He would come by here?” I asked.

  That seemed odd. Why would Henry want to come see his competition? There were plenty of teeth to clean and dentures to fix from all the good citizens of Swanee to go around.

  “Between me and you.” Carol stood up. She glanced behind her as if she was checking to see if the coast was clear. “I don’t think he and Dr. Russell liked each other. Dr. Frisk came in before he opened his shop and told Dr. Russell out of courtesy that he was going to open an office. I didn’t see a problem with it, but Dr. Russell was spitting mad all day after that.”

  “What did he say about it?” I stood up and walked over.

  “He didn’t say anything.” Her eyes grew as big as the sun. “He slammed his door, cussed, threw things and made clients bleed.”

  “Bleed?” My heart pumped. I held my hand to my chest hoping that blood wasn’t going to come out of my gums after this cleaning.

  “Clients called to tell me he had done a deep cleaning and made them bleed more than normal.” She rolled her eyes. “I couldn’t tell them he was mad and was probably taking it out on them.”

  I clenched my teeth together. They were already hurting.

  “Oh don’t worry.” Carol smiled. “He’s been in a great mood the last couple of days. You will be fine.”

  “Do you mean he’s been in a good mood since?” I ran my finger along my neck.

  Slowly she nodded.

  “Good morning, Holly.” Dr. Russell appeared at the waiting room door. “Are you ready?” he asked. His rubbery lips sat below his beaklike nose on his thin long face. His scraggly brows dipped. “Holly?”

  “Um. . .” I hesitated. “Ready as I’ll ever be.” I stood up and walked through the door.

  The stinky smell of the office almost made me faint. The seventies orange wall-to-wall carpet was in desperate need of an overhaul. The wallpaper had the fuzzy textured look, but most of the fuzzy had long been rubbed off.

  “How is your shop?” he asked and pointed for me to sit.

  “Great. I have been doing a lot of brides since Margaret’s wedding.” That was probably the last time I had seen Dr. Russell. He and his wife had sat in the corner the entire night.

  I was right. The old dental chair was there. I sat down. He took the old blue plastic, paper bib combination and used the silver clips to hold it in place around my neck.

  He snapped on latex gloves and ran his finger from each hand down the other for a snug fit.

  I took several deep breaths to try to help slow down my racing heart. I kept my eyes ahead. The air from the pleather cushion of the rolling dental chair swooshed as he sat down on it. The wheels squeaked across the floor as he got closer.

  “That’s great. My wife had mentioned she wanted to try that Wine and Bead class or something like that.” He flipped the big spotlight above my head on and pulled it over top of me. He lowered my chair.

  “She should. Tell her to come on by for a free class.” Nervously I opened my mouth as his fingers came closer.

  Patsy Russell had to be a good fifteen years younger than Dr. Russell. She was a born and bred southern woman through and through. She never left her house without her pearls: the strand draped down her neck, wrapped around her wrist and stuck in her ears. She was always dressed like she was going to the Kentucky Derby. A one-piece, one-color dress, heels to match and a hat to complete the outfits.

  Once I had overheard her say that she was a doctor’s wife and she would rather be caught dead than in sweatpants. I just so happened to be wearing sweatpants that day.

  “How has your business been?” I asked, not thinking that a killer’s hands could be in my mouth.

  “It’s picking up,” he said. His stale coffee breath nearly knocked me out. “Since D
r. Frisk was found violently killed.” He shook his head. His grey eyes were busy looking around my mouth as he took his fingers and spread my lips away from my gums in all sorts of directions.

  “I ‘eard ‘bout ‘hat.” My speech slurred as I tried to talk back to him.

  “It’s a shame too.” His fingers left my mouth and he picked a tool from the small platter just to his left. “Just a few days ago we were at the Barn Dance Committee meeting and he had some great ideas, but they couldn’t be implemented this year since the Barn Dance is coming up. He didn’t understand that and said he would put it together.”

  “Like what?” I asked before he put that scraping tool in my mouth.

  “He wanted to bring a famous country band to play, but the cost was just too much for the financial committee to come up with.” The tool scraped up and down my teeth. He used the suction tool to suck up my saliva. “When I told him it wasn’t in the budget, he went crazy. He said that he was coming into some extra money and would be more than happy to pay for it. When I asked him when he was going to get the money, he said something about after he won some court case.” Dr. Russell shook his head. “If some client was suing him, it could take years to get that money. It wasn’t a gamble I was going to take with the Barn Dance budget.”

  Was a client suing him? Was that why he was taking Bernadine back to court? Was that why he moved back to Swanee?

  “Oh, I’m sorry Dr. Russell.” A lively female voice came from the right side of me near the door. I couldn’t see her since I was practically on my back, scraping tool in my mouth and eyes blinded by the old spotlight. “I didn’t see Carol out there and I didn’t know you had a client.”

  I recognized the voice, but couldn’t place it.

  “Don’t worry.” Dr. Russell picked up the little metal mirror tool and rotated it all over my mouth and ran it along my gum lines, causing the sides of lips to open wider. Spit dribbled out of the corners of my mouth. “I’ll be with you in a few minutes if you want to hang out in my office.”

  “Sounds great.” The woman’s voice was happy. “You are going to love the new designs I have put together.”