Deadly Accusations by Debra Purdy Kong Page B

a good cleaning.
    â€œAren’t there bylaws about the number of pets tenants can have?” Casey asked.
    â€œPaval bent the rules for Jasmine.” Marie sat next to a cat watching them. “Hey there, Muffin.”
    A furry creature darted past Casey, making her jump. “What was that?”
    â€œFagan. He’s a ferret who gets into absolutely everything.”
    â€œI’m surprised Jasmine could save for veterinary school after feeding this bunch.”
    â€œShe was good with money; bought her clothes from thrift stores.” Marie stood up. “Her ex works for Canada Post, but only paid child support when he felt like it.”
    Casey ran her hand over a footstool embroidered with sunflowers. “This is gorgeous.”
    â€œJasmine made it. She was terrific at needlework.”
    Casey shook her head. She really hadn’t known the woman at all. Marie headed down the hall and entered the first room on the left. Casey followed. When she saw the sky-blue comforter with yellow roses, a chill swept over her. The photo of Jasmine asleep had been taken in this room.
    Marie sat on the bed, tears sliding down her face as the cat leapt up beside her. Casey took another tentative step into the room. Oh geez, more cages. Two hamsters in each. She turned and saw sparkling, beaded clothes in the open closet. A red feather boa dangled from a hanger. The top shelf displayed yellow, blue, and pink wigs on Styrofoam heads.
    â€œI take it Jasmine liked to dress up for the Silver Groove?”
    â€œShe once said she felt like a different person when she was on the dance floor . . . Freer and happier.” Marie wiped her eyes. “She wanted to express that difference in her appearance. She wasn’t a whore, let’s get that straight.”
    â€œI never suggested she was,” Casey shot back. “I didn’t even know her that well.”
    â€œJasmine had lots of different feelings and needs. Mostly, she just wanted a family to love, which Hannah would have given her.”
    Yet Jasmine apparently left her son with the landlord on her many dates and nights at the Silver Groove. She hadn’t gone to Parksville to see her ailing mother. Had her desire for family been as strong as her desire to become someone else on the dance floor?
    Marie reached for a book on the night table. “This is Noel’s. I gave it to him for Christmas. He must have lent it to her.”
    Did she assume Noel hadn’t slept here because Jasmine had been seeing other guys?
    Muffin meowed and rubbed against Marie. “My brother loves to read.” She patted the cat. “He’s the funniest, sweetest man I know. A lot like Lou.”
    â€œDefinitely a winner then.”
    â€œNoel will be at the funeral. Are you going?”
    Casey hadn’t thought about it. Maybe a proper goodbye would offer some peace to their tumultuous relationship. “If Stan gives me the time off.” She watched the cat lick its paw. “Does your brother own a camera?”
    â€œEveryone owns a camera. Why?”
    â€œCorporal Lundy and I found a photo of Jasmine sleeping in that bed. I recognize the comforter.”
    â€œWhere did you find it?”
    â€œLundy wanted to look in her locker. Stan asked me to open it for him.”
    Marie’s red-rimmed eyes narrowed. “So, you decided to hang around and snoop?”
    â€œIt fell out of a magazine when I opened her locker. If she was intimate with someone, the cops will want to know.”
    Marie shook her head. “It’s all so sordid.”
    â€œEspecially when it could involve people at work, like David Eisler.”
    â€œI see the bloody grapevine’s flourishing even after she’s gone.” Marie got to her feet.
    â€œShe died violently, Marie, and people aren’t likely to forget that. Eisler’s fists were clenched through the whole staff meeting, as if he was fighting to keep his emotions in