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“Welcome to our annual Romancing the Gravestone Valentine’s party,” Madeline said with a monotone voice, offering each of them a chocolate.
Oh. Right. Valentine’s Day kicked off in only three days. Jane had successfully forgotten it again. What was she going to give Conrad? What, what? Seriously. What did you get the man who gave you everything and made you weak in the knees?
“What kind of title is Romancing the Gravestone?” Jane asked with a grimace.
“This is a joke, right?” Tiffany demanded. “You’re kidding?”
As someone came from the other direction and opened a door in the back, Jane twisted and turned, attempting to catch a glimpse of the party. Was that–she recoiled in distaste. Strobe lights flashed. Wait staff served finger foods from inside the coffins and guests played what looked to be pinning the toe-tag on the “corpse.”
“The owner heard about parties at another cemetery.” Madeline hiked her shoulders. “He’s trying something new.”
Chest puffing with pride–he’d heard about Jane’s parties!–she accepted the candy, but only to be polite. The moment she left, the little heart would go straight in the trash where it belonged, along with the rest of Aurelian Hills Cemetery’s gimmicks. Such as buy one plot, get the second half off. Or the Don’t Move In Too Soon stress ball they once handed out at local businesses.
“I’m investigating the death of your father,” Jane said, employing the same respectful tone she used when speaking to mourning families.
Other than a slight shrug, the woman showed zero reaction. “Yeah. So?”
“So. Who is the Forbidden Fruit?” A very mob-like name, now that she thought about it. Very fitting for someone also known as the Gentleman.
“Tom Bennett. Why? You believe he killed my father?”
“Do you?” And why had Madeline offered the name so easily, when she refused to post it?
“As much as I hate him, no. I think he liked the deputy. Even when my father arrested him, Tom hated when I bad-mouthed Dad. He said the guy was kind to him once and an arrest could never stick anyway.”
Never stick, huh? Because of the blackmail thing?
“I ache for your loss, by the way,” Tiffany piped up softly, as if remembering her manners. “I recently lost my husband.”
Madeline scoffed. “I didn’t lose anyone. Dad and I had no contact, much less a relationship.”
So… Why did a man who seemed to not care about his daughter suddenly start to interfere in her romantic entanglements?
“Are you sure you had no contact?” Jane took a gamble, saying, “Didn’t the two of you get together recently and argue about Tom?”
“Yeah. We argued, so what?” the mortician snapped, then neutralized her features.
And the gamble paid off!
Madeline released a heavy breath. “He was never a father to me and suddenly he shows up expecting to tell me who not to date? Not happening. Especially since he was just as bad. A user.”
Strong statement. “How did Deputy Gunn use you?”
“He wanted me to warn my online followers about some wannabe kingpin trying to destroy our town or whatever.”
Jane’s heart leaped. Finally! She was getting somewhere. And yet Madeline’s attitude confused her. “But wouldn't giving everyone a warning be a good thing?”
“For all I knew, he hoped to entrap my friends in some kind of sting operation. He’d done it before. As soon as I became a teenager, he hired someone to offer me drugs to see if I’d cave.”
Hmm. “Did he give you a name for the kingpin? Or any details at all?” Jane asked.
Madeline looked past her, holding out the bowl to offer a candy to the new arrivals. “Welcome to our annual Romancing the Gravestone Valentine’s party.” As the pair strutted by them, dressed as Beetlejuice characters, the mortician continued, “No, but if I was reading BOSS correctly, he suspected Tom and his brother, or some dark-haired man.”
“Boss?” Jane asked. Tom had a brother?
“His Board of Suspects and Shame. It’s big and white with wheels.”
Like a murder board. Had GBH found it? And who was this dark-haired man? “Any idea where would Tom go to hide if he were in trouble?”
“To whoever is currently paying his bills. A.k.a. his current girlfriend. Who isn’t me.”
Okay. “Who’s his current girlfriend?” Ms. Jessica?
“I have no clue. Ask him.”
Tiffany pfted. “As if he’d tell the truth.”
“Look, I’ve told you everything, same as I did with the cops.” Madeline placed the bowl on the reception desk. “I’ve gotta go. I’m the life of the party.”
No problem. Jane had things to do, anyway. Like getting ready for dinner at Fiona’s and making sense of the thoughts swirling inside her head. “Be sure to vote Conrad Ryan for sheriff,” she called as she and Tiffany walked away.
“That didn’t go well,” her companion muttered once they were secured inside the hearse.
“Something you’ll learn as you delve into murder. You have to deep dive through a lot of lies, opinions, and misdirections to reach the truth.”
