BM03 - Crazy Little Thing Called Dead by Kate George Page A

overdrive.
     

 
    Chapter Five
     
    On the way home I considered my list of suspects. Jim, Ronnie and Lori. Not a huge list, and none of them seemed a likely murderer. I didn’t think either Ronnie or Lori was strong enough to drag a body up the stairs into the salon. Jim probably had plenty of easier options for disposing of a dead body. Dumping the body at Planet Hair stank of desperation and hurry. But even then. Why not the river?
    It was hard for me to keep my feelings from clouding the facts. I’d never written an article when it was more important to keep emotion out of it. I didn’t want to think that Claire would hire a murderer to clean her shop. I trusted her instincts, but the facts might not justify my trust. Or maybe it wasn’t Ronnie, maybe it was someone who knew where she kept the key. Ronnie might not even know if someone had taken the key. I didn’t know. I had to stick to the facts, damn it anyway.
    Lori? I wanted to say no. I just couldn’t see it. She’d never put those babies at risk. They could be mother and fatherless if daddy was in Afghanistan and Mommy was in the clink. But still, not fact. I hadn’t really been able to rule anyone out, only that if guilt and innocence rested on easy access to disposable ducky diapers, then Lori was out of the picture.
    Then it occurred to me, Claire was a suspect too, which gave me a stomach ache. An unlikely suspect, but she had access to the shop if not a handy supply of diapers. What would it take for Claire to kill someone? I didn’t know. She’d be demented to dump a dead body in her own shop, though.
    Instead of turning right on Route 14 I drove over the bridge into South Royalton and on to Meg’s house. I found Claire still in the kitchen snipping away at a tiny blond girl. The girl’s mother was hovering, getting in Claire’s way and pointing out all the stray hairs that Claire hadn’t gotten to yet but the mother felt she’d missed. Claire kept a tight smile on her face and her voice was pleasant, but I thought that deep inside she probably wanted to pop the mother one.
    I know I did.
    “I have got to get out of here,” Claire said after the woman closed the door behind them. “I love that Meg is lending me her kitchen, but I need my stuff. And it doesn’t hurt that there are two bars within walking distance of my shop. I need a beer.”
    “Did she at least leave you a big tip?”
    Claire snorted.
    “One dollar over the cost of the cut. And I think she would have asked for the change back if she’d dared. I’ve got to call Tom and see if I can get my space back.” She zipped around gathering up the tools of her trade. “Then I have to see if Ronnie will clean it, or if I have to get some kind of crime scene professionals. Thank God there’s no blood.” She hiked her bag onto her shoulder. “Are you waiting for Meg? Or did you need me for something? Your cut looks good.”
    “Yeah, great job. I was wondering how you felt about Ronnie as a suspect? Could she commit murder?”
    “I think anyone can kill in the right circumstances, but Ronnie? I don’t think so. She’s really just a child, emotionally and mentally. But other than her? If someone was going to kill Meg and you had the chance to stop that from happening, what would you do?”
    “Good point. I just can’t get my head around someone bringing a dead person to Planet Hair. Why would anyone do that? If I had a dead body I’d dump it in the woods or the river, I wouldn’t drag it into Planet Hair.”
    “Didn’t Tom tell you? They dug a bullet out of the wall. He was killed at the salon.” Claire was packing up her tools as we talked.
    “But there wasn’t any blood!” I’d been there. Not a drop of blood anywhere. And Tom was officially on my shit list.
    “I know. Weird huh? And the door to the thrift shop next door was jimmied open. But they can’t tell if anything was taken.” She slung her bag over her shoulder and looked at me expectantly. She wanted