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Melanie probably would have gotten away with it…if I hadn’t used that one card to pay for the wedding party’s appointment at the nail salon.
Because, after she was arrested and Henry and his deputies searched the Airbnb to see if they could find any more evidence to use in the case against her, they’d found Melanie’s bags packed and ready to go. It seemed pretty obvious to everyone involved that she’d planned to clear out as soon as she was done covering my shift at the store on Saturday. Because we were closed on Sundays and I wouldn’t have had any reason to be in touch with her until Monday morning, she would have been long gone.
And although she had probably been itching to get out of here sooner rather than later, leaving before the end of the day on Saturday would have been too obvious. All it would have taken was for one person to call me and ask why the store was closed on a day when it should have been open, and the jig would have been up for sure.
“Oh, I’m pretty sure Henry will let me talk to Melanie,” I said as I leaned forward to brush on some mascara. “After all, I know he wouldn’t have even considered her a suspect if it weren’t for me.”
Calvin made a noncommittal sound, but at least he didn’t offer any further protests…just as he hadn’t protested when I’d instructed my accountant to send NancyAnne Nielsen a cashier’s check for fifty thousand dollars. No, I didn’t have any obligation to take care of her, and yet I couldn’t get her pinched, worried expression out of my mind, or the cracked screen of an iPhone that was way past its expiration date.
I hoped the money would give her a chance at a much better life than the one Jeffrey Sellers had promised her.
Calvin and I both left the house at around the same time that Monday morning, even though he had to be at the station at nine and I didn’t need to open the doors to Once in a Blue Moon until an hour later. I drove past the shop and pulled into the parking lot at Globe’s police station, a place I’d gotten way more familiar with over the past couple of years than I’d ever thought I would.
In fact, Henry was at the front desk when I came in, a cup of coffee in one hand while he chatted with Loretta Stillman, who occupied her usual post behind that desk. As soon as he caught sight of me, his lip curled slightly.
“I assume this isn’t a social visit?”
“Not really,” I said. “I was hoping I could talk to Melanie.”
“You’re not going to get anything out of her,” he replied, now looking annoyed — not at me, but at his recalcitrant prisoner. “She’s lawyered up and isn’t talking. Her prerogative, but I doubt she’s going to suddenly open up just because you’re there.”
“Maybe not,” I allowed. “Still, I’d like the chance. I won’t take too long — I need to get over to the shop after this.”
A shop I’d have to go back to running on my own, since my new hire had turned out to be a murderer.
Henry hesitated for a moment…but only a moment. Then he said, “If you want to waste your time, go right ahead. Let me take you back there.”
He set his cup of coffee on Loretta’s desk, then gestured at me to follow him toward the rear of the station, where the holding cells were located. This wasn’t my first time back here, but they hadn’t improved with age, were still dark and gray and definitely not intended for comfort. A couple of those cells were occupied by people I guessed had been pulled over for traffic violations and then discovered to have a little more alcohol in their systems than the State of Arizona allowed a person behind the wheel.
The cell at the very end — with several empty ones in between hers and the ones that contained people who obviously hadn’t been able to make bail — held Melanie Knowles. She wore an orange prison jumpsuit and had her hair pulled back in a plain ponytail, but otherwise, it didn’t seem as if her experience had affected her too much. One eyebrow went up as I approached, and that was the only reaction I got.
“I’ll be back in fifteen minutes,” Henry said, ignoring her and facing me. “But if you get done before then, I assume you can find your way back to the front desk.”
“Yes, I know the way,” I said with a grin.
His mouth tightened in disapproval, but he didn’t say anything, just nodded and headed toward the front of the station, leaving me alone with Melanie.
To my surprise, she spoke as soon as he was gone. “I suppose you’ve been patting yourself on the back all weekend.”
“Not really,” I replied, gazing back at her. There didn’t seem to be much evidence of guilt or even worry in her expression. Instead, she looked more amused than anything else. “I mean, I was stupid enough to hire you in the first place, right?”
Her shoulders lifted. “Oh, I made sure you would, once I realized what a perfect opening you’d given me. That was a great resume, wasn’t it?”
“It was,” I admitted, even as I inwardly gritted my teeth. Judging by the faint smile she wore, it seemed pretty obvious to me that she was extremely amused by the way I’d walked right into her trap. “And the references? Friends of yours?”
“Yes,” she said. “It was way too easy to set up. I mean, I was pretty sure I didn’t have to worry about you doing a background check like I was applying for a security clearance or something.”
I definitely hadn’t done anything like that. No, I’d assumed she was on the up and up, and that calling a couple of her references was all I had to do.
Big mistake.
“So…why?” I asked then. “Why kill Jeffrey Sellers?”
At once, her expression shut down. “I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to discuss the details of my case.”
That definitely sounded like something her lawyer had told her to say. “Was it because you found out about Sara Tilden, or maybe Jeffrey’s ex-wife?”
Melanie’s mouth flattened. “I’m not saying anything. Don’t you have a store you need to open up? I mean, now that you have to handle the whole thing by yourself, I’d think you would need extra time.”
