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“No, we just finished eating. Then Jonathon and I went to Sam’s to drop off food.” Rarity closed her eyes.
“How is she?” Archer asked from the kitchen. She could hear how far away he was, and he probably had his face turned to the wall. His voice wasmuddy, distant.
“She’s good. Or I think she will be. She was being so strong for Marcus, she forgot to take care of herself. I’m hoping she’ll be at the shop tomorrow.” Rarity realized she still had that woman’s card in her tote. She started to stand, then sank back into the sofa. This could wait until tomorrow. “Jonathon’s going with me to talk to the hairdresser tomorrow. Maybe we’ll get some information that will contradict Janey’s sister’s statement. I just don’t want it to be Marcus. He gave an impassioned speech telling us he didn’t do it. I’d hate for Sam to find out he’s a killer and a liar.”
* * * *
Archer left as soon as Jonathon pulled in the driveway. Rarity knew she shouldn’t feel like she was being babysat, but the feeling was there, nonetheless. She wished Drew would figure out who sent her the finger so she could go back to her normal, boring life.
Jonathon came inside. “Do we have time for acup of coffee?”
Rarity poured him a cup and moved to the kitchen table. “So what’s going on? What do you need to tell me?”
“Why would you think there’s something going on? Maybe I just like coffee.” He sat at the table, then took a sip of his coffee. “Fine, you got me. I needed to ask you about Janey’s sister, Trish. Should we look into her while we’rein Flagstaff?”
“We are. We’re verifying her alibi.” Rarity wasn’t sure what Jonathon was thinking, but he was the ex-cop, not her.
“I’m thinking a bit more. I’d like to at least drive past her house. Maybe go in and introduce ourselves as Janey’s friends from Sedona. Seeing where a suspect lives sometimes gives you more information.” He stirred some sugar into his coffee. “Thoughts?”
“Does Drew know what you want to do?” Rarity studied Jonathon’s face, and from the blush she saw developing, she figured the answer was no. “You’re the cop. What will we learn from going to her house? I’m thinking we might jeopardize the case more than help Drew.”
“No, he’s all but removed her from the suspect list. I’m thinking there may be people that both Janey and Trish knew. That could be a link to the killer.” Jonathon sipped his coffee. “And I’m feeling a little useless since I don’t have my badge anymore. Being a civilian limits my reach so much. It’s frustrating.”
Now Rarity understood Jonathon’s motivation for coming up from Tucson. He wanted to be useful again. And having a murder case to work on had given him a purpose again. “I get that it’s hard not to be in control. But we appreciate your insightwith the club.”
“So you don’t think we should drop in on Trish?” Jonathon finished his coffee.
“I don’t know. I talked to her at the funeral, so it might be a little weird to just stop at her house. However, I think Cara Mantle, Janey’s roommate, might talk to us. She seemed willing to chat about Janey and what was going on.” Rarity held up her cup. “More coffee, or are you ready to go?”
“Let’s go. If I drink more coffee, I won’t sleep tonight.” He took his cup to the sink and rinsed it out. “Drew said this Cara said she wasJaney’s heir?”
“That’s what she told me.” Rarity turned off the coffeemaker and started turning off lights. She checked Killer’s dry food and water levels as she grabbed her purse. “Are you driving?”
He nodded and stood at the door. “Do you want me to bring you back here? Or straight to the shop?”
“I’ll need to come back here for my tote and Killer.” Rarity gave the little dog a kiss on the head and set him down in his bed.“Be good, sir.”
“Does that work?” Jonathon asked as they left the house. “Telling Killer to be good?”
Rarity shrugged. “Sometimes.”
When they got to Flagstaff, the salon wasn’t open yet, so they drove to Janey’s former home. A car was in the driveway, which was a good sign. Rarity climbed out of Jonathon’s car, and they headed to the front door. When she knocked, she heard a deep bark. She turned to Jonathon. “That’s probably Whiskey, Janey’s dog. Cara said she was keeping him.”
“It’s good when pets have a place to go. I’m surprised Drew hasn’t pulled the trigger on a dog yet. He talks about Killerall the time.”
Rarity grinned as they waited. “Well, he’s not getting my boy.”
“Whiskey, hush,” a female voice said, and then the door opened. “Can I help you?”
“Hi, Cara? I’m Rarity Cole. We spoke a few days ago. This is my friend, Jonathon. Can we ask you a few questions about Janey?”
“Sure, let me come outside. Whiskey doesn’t like new people very much, especially men. We think, I mean, Janey thought he might have been abused at his last home. He’s a rescue.” Cara came outside and pulled the door closed behind her. She wrapped a big cardigan sweater around her and then leaned on the doorway. “What can I help with?”
“We were just wondering if we could ask you about Janey’s last few days. Did she tell you anything about an old boyfriend or anyone bothering her?” Jonathon pulled out his notebook and pen.
“Are you with the cops?” Cara’seyes narrowed.
Rarity stepped in. “We’ve been asked to do some background work on Janey’s life. Jonathon’s a retired police officer who does work for the Sedona department at times. I told him we’d talked a few days ago, and he thought we might just review some things. I know you want to help in finding Janey’skiller, right?”
