Page 60 of K-9 in Pursuit

“Chloe, I need you to talk to the sheriff there and tell him he needs to release Sharee’s body so we can hold her service.” Darinda launched straight into the reason for the call. “Doesn’t he realize he’s adding to my pain by not allowing me to bury my dear girl?”

She sniffed, and Chloe’s heart squeezed in sympathy. “I didn’t realize he wasn’t releasing the body,” she said.

“He says he can’t let me have her until he’s finished his investigation. Not that I can tell he’s doing anything. I called to talk to him yet again this morning and instead of talking about Sharee, he asked me all these questions about a break-in at your apartment and one at your beauty shop. What is going on out there? I thought SkyCrest was a ski resort, not a crime den.”

“Someone did break into my apartment,” Chloe said. “And someone tried to break into my shop last night.”

She waited for Darinda to ask for details, or to express concern for Chloe’s well-being. After all, the woman had largely raised her, too. Instead, Darinda said, “I think the murder of a beautiful young woman in the prime of life warrants more attention than a break-in.”

Chloe pressed her lips together and pushed down the hurt. This was how Darinda always acted; why did she expect more? “Darinda, you don’t think Sharee was involved with drugs or anything back in Richmond, do you?” she asked.

“Drugs!” Darinda’s voice crescendoed. “Where did you get such an idea? How could you even think such a thing? I can’t believe you’d suggest dear Sharee would do anything of the kind.” Then she began to cry.

Were the tears real, or a performance? With Darinda, Chloe couldn’t always tell. “I didn’t say she was involved with drugs,” Chloe said. “I asked if you thought it was a possibility.”

“Of course I don’t think that. Why did you even bring it up?”

“After the break-in at my place, someone suggested the burglar might have been looking for something. Maybe drugs.”

“Then they’re your drugs, not Sharee’s. She wasn’t involved in anything like that. And if you dare suggest such a thing to anyone, I swear I’ll never speak to you again.”

“I’m not involved in drugs,” Chloe said, though she doubted if Darinda heard her over her sobbing, which had grown louder. She raised her own voice. “I never meant to imply Sharee was either. I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on.”

“What’s going on is that I can’t get my daughter’s body to lay her to rest. I don’t understand why the sheriff doesn’t arrest that ski patroller and be done with it. He keeps saying he needs more evidence, but they know he was out to get Sharee and they found his glove by her body. What more do they need?”

Chloe wanted to tell Darinda she didn’t believe Brian had killed Sharee but that would only provoke another outburst. “I’m sorry you’re having to go through this,” she said instead. “I don’t think the sheriff will listen to me, either, and I have no idea why the investigation isn’t progressing. Maybe they’re looking at other suspects.”

“Who else could have wanted Sharee dead? Everyone loved her.”

“What about Cameron Douglas?”

Darinda blew her nose, loudly. “He was the first person I asked about,” she finally said. “But I was assured he was a thousand miles away from Colorado when Sharee died.”

“Did you ever meet him?” Chloe asked. “What about him captivated Chloe so much?”

“Everyone has it all wrong about him and Sharee,” Darinda said. “I’m positive he came on to her, not the other way around. She was this gorgeous, outgoing, friendly young woman and he was a good-looking, still-young man saddled with a dumpy wife and two children. Of course he was attracted to Sharee.”

Chloe might have believed this if Sharee hadn’t behaved the way she had with Brian. But she didn’t waste her breath contradicting Darinda. “I’m wondering if Sharee met someone here,” she said. “Someone like Cameron Douglas who, um, misinterpreted her behavior. Maybe instead of filing a restraining order, they decided to take care of Sharee themselves.”

“That’s exactly what I’ve been saying,” Darinda said. “That ski patroller fellow—Sharee probably smiled and chatted him up, being friendly. Maybe he got in trouble with his bosses and tried to cast the blame on her. When she objected, he killed her.”

That’s not what happened, Chloe thought. Sharee had given Brian a pair of her underwear—that wasn’t an innocent flirtation. And she didn’t believe Brian had been faking his horror at her sister’s little gift.

“Back to Cameron Douglas,” Chloe said. “What in particular about him do you think attracted her to him?”

“I told you, he led her on. And he looks like a movie star—I’ll give him that. I really think he only filed the restraining order to appease his wife. Now she is a real piece of work.”

“You know her? How?”

“I met her exactly once—three years ago. She showed up to audition for the role of Helga in my theater group’s production of Deathtrap.” She laughed, a scornful sound. “Everyone already knew the role was mine, but since we are technically a community theater, I guess we have to hold auditions. She overacted terribly and, of course, she’s not really an attractive person. I really wonder what Cameron sees in her. But that’s neither here nor there. Call the sheriff, will you? Now I have to go or I’ll be late for my nail appointment.”

She ended the call and Chloe stared blankly at the empty phone screen. All her thoughts about the murder kept leading her back to Cameron Douglas. Was there something in the photographs of him and his family that had put Sharee in danger?

She looked back through her call history until she found Douglas’s number. He answered on the second ring. “If you keep contacting me, I’ll file a complaint for harassment,” he said.

“Mr. Cameron, I don’t want to bother you,” she said. “I’m only trying to find out what happened to my sister. I know you were in New York when she died and I’m not blaming you. I want to know if anything about those photographs Sharee took of you and your family might have put her in danger.”

“How should I know? I never saw the photographs. I never even heard of the photographs until you emailed me a few days ago.”