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Theodosia wondered if Helene or one of her staff had left in a hurry, maybe trying to catch the last FedEx pickup, and had forgotten to lock the front door. But that seemed awfully far-fetched. Who’d be so rushed and absent-minded to leave a shop like this unlocked, especially since it contained so many valuable items?
Moving quietly through the small maze of cases and displays, Theodosia and Earl Grey headed for the back of the shop, where a door stood half open. Helene’s office, perhaps?
Maybe Helene was on the phone dealing with a client in another time zone.
But as Theodosia approached what had to be an office, she didn’t hear anyone talking. Just the music, which had now switched to “The Girl from Ipanema.”
“Helene,” Theodosia called as she approached the office with some trepidation. “Helene, it’s Theodosia. Are you in there?”
Again there was no answer, no sound, save the insistent ticking of two antique brass clocks that sat on a nearby counter. One clock was a split second slower, so the ticks sounded like echoes.
Theodosia pressed the flat of her hand against the office door and gave a gentle push. The door opened slowly and loudly, like the creak of a coffin lid. And revealed…
Helene’s body lay crumpled on the office floor. Next to an overturned desk chair and surrounded by a sea of papers. A bright red pool of blood had soaked the carpet next to her head.
Oh, dear Lord what happened? And on the heels of that, Is she dead?
“Sit. Stay,” Theodosia told Earl Grey. Once her dog complied, she took three steps in, mindful not to get too close and step in the spill of blood. She crouched down and carefully stretched a hand out to gently touch the side of Helene’s neck. She prayed there was still a spark of life within her.
But no. There was nothing. No breath sounds, no warm throb of a pulse. Helene was tragically and catastrophically dead.
Theodosia retreated into the shop, where, with shaking hands, she pulled out her phone and dialed 911.
“I’m at the Sea Witch on King Street,” Theodosia told the dispatcher when she came on the line. “And the owner appears to be dead. Shot, I think.” Her words tumbled out thick and fast. “There must have been a break-in. Or robbery. Although I’m not sure anything’s…” Theodosia wanted to be succinct and to the point, but knew she was tripping over her words. “We need help. The police, I guess. Maybe an ambulance?”
“Is anyone else there now?” the dispatcher asked.
Theodosia looked around the shop, suddenly fearful that she’d walked in and surprised Helene’s killer. That he might still be lurking close by.
“I don’t think so. At least I don’t see anyone else.”
“Go outside and wait on the sidewalk,” the dispatcher instructed. “There’s a car already on its way.”
By the time Theodosia and Earl Grey threaded their way back through the shop and stepped outside, they could hear a siren screaming from a few blocks away. Then it grew louder and Earl Grey pushed his shoulder up against her hip. Now he was frightened.
“It’s okay,” she told her dog. “It’s gonna be okay.”
But when a cruiser pulled up, lights blazing and siren still blatting loudly, Theodosia knew it wasn’t going to be okay.
The officers charged toward her, guns drawn but held at their sides. She gave them a quick rundown of what she’d found and they ran inside. They returned a few minutes later, looking grim, talking on their radios. And five minutes after that, a black Suburban bumped up to the curb, subtle red and blue lights flashing from above its front bumper. The rear door flew open and Detective Tidwell climbed out.
“You,” he said upon spotting Theodosia. Tidwell was dressed in a baggy green jacket and dark brown slacks. His tie had been pulled down and his shirt looked halfway untucked.
“Me,” she said back.
“What are you doing here?” Tidwell demanded.
“I stopped by to talk to Helene Deveroux, the owner of the shop.”
“But I’m guessing you didn’t talk to her?”
“I’m afraid she was dead when I arrived.”
“Nobody else around?” Tidwell squinted up and down the dark street as if culprits might still be lurking.
“Not that I saw.” Theodosia glanced at Earl Grey, who was watching her carefully. “Not that we saw.”
The two officers huddled with Tidwell for a few minutes. Then Tidwell went in to look at the body. He came back out a few minutes later just as a shiny black van pulled to the curb.
