Sweetheart In High Heels Part 3

He grinned wide, showing off a pair of gold teeth in front. "It's great. The economy tanks, and people are depressed and looking for cheap fun. Can't get any cheaper or more fun than s.e.x, right? Sales were up 10% this month."

I couldn't help being impressed. Sales had decreased 3% in the fas.h.i.+on industry.

"Did Peach have any enemies?" I asked, switching gears. "Anyone you can think of that might have wanted to hurt her?"

Gage shook his head. "Not really. Peach was the sweetest person ever. It's got to be some random weirdo. I mean, most of our clientele was your average Joe looking to spice things up with the missus, but once in a while we did get a crazy in here."

"Did Peach mention any crazies in particular? Anyone giving her trouble?"

He shook his head. "Not to me. Sorry."

"She was dating someone," Dana prompted. "Vic I think his name was. Do you know where we can find him?"

He shrugged. "Sorry, I didn't get into her personal life. But I'm sure her roommate would know."

"You have an address for her?" I asked.

Gage nodded, then grabbed a Post-it from behind the counter and wrote Peach's address down on it.

"Thanks," I said as he handed it over.

"Anything else?" Gage asked. "'Cause I've got a ton of work to do now getting orders filled on my own."

"Um, just one more question," I said slowly, trying to figure a way to word this that wouldn't be construed as an accusation. "Uha can you tell us where you were yesterday when she was killed?"

He barked out a laugh. "Really? You think I killed Peach? I mean, why on earth would I do that?"

"We're just covering all bases," I a.s.sured him.

He shook his head. "Look, without Peach, I'm sunk. I gotta deal with customers, which bites, you know? I need to find a new front person fast."

"And now that she's gone, who gets her 50% of the business?" Dana piped up.

Ooooa good question! I leaned in waiting to hear how he answered it.

Gage paused, then crossed his arms over his chest again in an unconsciously protective gesture. "I do."

Dana and I shot each other a look.

"What? What was that look?" Gage asked.

"Nothing."

"I didn't kill her. Look, the business was more of an a.s.set to me with her here. Owning 50% of a thriving business was a lot better than having to deal with the whole thing myself."

That made a certain sense, I supposed, but I wasn't totally convinced. And it must have shown on my face because he added, "Look, you want to know who had issues with Peach, talk to her roommate." He pointed to the Post-it he'd given me.

"Why?" I asked.

"She and Peach had a big fight just last week."

"Really?" I asked. "About what?'

"I don't know the details, but Peach came in here all p.i.s.sed off, ranting about how her roommate wouldn't leave."

"Leave?" Dana asked. "Peach was kicking her out?"

Gage nodded.

"Why?"

"Beats me. Ask the roommate."

Believe me, I intended to.

Ten minutes later we pulled up to Peach's house. It was a small bungalow on a street lined with palm trees, small front yards, and friendly looking garden gnomes. The homes weren't large, but were big on old Hollywood charm, and I knew the zip code carried a hefty price tag. Just blocks from prime shopping and restaurants, I could see why Peach's roommate wouldn't want to leave. But would she be willing to kill to stay, was the question.

I parked my Jeep at the curb and we walked up the paved pathway to Peach's front door. I gave a knock, and two beats later it was opened by a slim woman with jet black hair and a healthy smattering of tattoos down her sleeveless arms. Her eyes were rimmed in red like she'd been crying, and a tissue was clutched in her right hand.

"Celia?" I asked.

She frowned, her gaze going from Dana to me. "Who's asking?"

"Uh, my name is Maddie Springer, and this is Dana. She was a friend of Peach's," I said, stretching the truth just a little. "We were wondering if we could ask you a couple of questions about your roommate."

Celia bit her lip. "This isn't really a good time," she said. Then punctuated the statement with a loud sniff.

I nodded. "Right. I'm terribly sorry for your loss."

Celia turned to Dana. "You were a friend of Peach's?"

"Um, yeah. We met at the shop."

Celia nodded. "It's hard to believe she's really gone, you know? I mean, it's like some sort of bad dream or something."

"The police think Peach was killed deliberately," I said. "Do you know of anyone who might have wanted to hurt Peach?"

Celia shook her head. "No. Peach was a total sweetheart. Look, why don't you come inside."

"Thanks," I said, as Dana and I stepped over the threshold into the living room.

The bungalow was small but cozy, two big sofas taking up the bulk of the room. A fireplace sat on one wall, a bright stained-gla.s.s screen covering its dormant mouth, and the hardwood floor was covered in patterned rugs. The surfaces were free of clutter, and it looked as if someone had recently been on a cleaning binge, not a speck of dust was to be seen anywhere, and a lingering scent of Windex hung the air.

Celia sat on one of the sofas, pulling her legs up under her. Dana and I perched on the opposite seat.

"How long had you and Peach been roommates?" I started.

Celia pursed her lips together. "About two years. We met through a mutual friend just after I moved to L.A. She had a spare room, and I was looking. It worked out perfectly." She paused, then looked down at her hands. "At least it did."

"So, Peach owned the house?"

Celia nodded. "She inherited it from her grandmother a few years ago."

"It's a nice neighborhood," Dana said, dropping a subtle hint and leaning into gauge Celia's reaction.

But Celia just nodded again. "Yeah. I like it."

"It would be a shame to have to leave a neighborhood like this," Dana said.

Celia paused. She looked from me to Dana. "It would," she hedged. "What are you getting at?"

So much for our subtlety skills.

"We heard that you and Peach had an argument last week," I said. "That she was kicking you out and you didn't want to go. Is that true?"

"Yes and no," she said.

"That's pretty vague," I pointed out.

"Okay, yes. Peach was talking about me moving out, but it's not what you think."

"What do we think?" Dana asked.

"We were getting along fine, there were no problems between Peach and I."

"But she wanted you out."

"Peach thought her boyfriend was about to propose. If he did, she said they'd want some privacy here. That's all."

"So, why did you two argue."

Celia pursed her lips together. "Look, I didn't mean to upset Peach, but I told her I thought that was a big if."

"Why is that?" I asked.

"They'd only been dating a couple months."

I raised an eyebrow. "That's fast," I said, remembering the two years it took Ramirez to pop the question to me.

Dana must have had the same thought as she leaned in and whispered, "Ricky and I have been dating for eighteen months!"

I ignored her, turning to Celia again. "If they'd just started dating, why did Peach think he was going to propose?"

"I guess she'd been dropping hints about settling down, and two weeks ago she saw a ring box hidden in his sock drawer. She said she didn't open it, because she didn't want to totally spoil the surprise, but she was sure he was going to pop the question soon."

"And she didn't like hearing that you weren't," I said, imagining how that conversation played out.

Celia shook her head. "Like I said, I didn't mean to upset her, but I didn't want her to be disappointed either, you know?"

"So you weren't worried about moving out?' Dana asked.

Celia shrugged. "If a ring was in the box, if he popped the question, and if he wanted to move in here. That's a lot of ifs."

She had a good point. And, while a nice rental in L.A. was hard to come by, I had a tough time picturing the woman before me killing to stay in this one. But, just in case, I asked, "Where were you yesterday morning?"

Celia blinked at me. "Here. Why?"

"Alone?" Dana asked.

"Yeah. Alone. I'd had a late night and was sleeping in."

Not exactly an airtight alibi, I noted.

"This guy that Peach was seeing," I asked, "Know where we can find him?"

Celia nodded, then dug into her back pocket and came out with a cell. "Peach was staying there a couple nights a week, so she gave me the number for emergencies." She rattled it off, and Dana punched it into her own cell.

We thanked Celia for her time, then as soon as we got back in the Jeep, Dana dialed the boyfriend on speaker phone.

Four rings in, he finally picked up.

"h.e.l.lo?" came a gravelly voice.

"Vic? Hi, my name is Dana. I was a friend of Peach's."

The guy on the other end sniffed loudly. "Oh," he said. Then did another sniff. "It's terrible, huh?"

Dana nodded in the car. "Terrible. Look, I was wondering if maybe we could meet. I have a few questions I'd love to ask you about Peach."

"Yeah," he said, his voice low. "Sure. I guess so. For Peach." I wasn't sure, but I thought I heard his voice crack on that last statement. If it wasn't actual grief consuming him, he was doing a h.e.l.l of an acting job.

We agreed to meet up at a coffee place near his house, and twenty minutes later Dana and I had our second round of lattes for the day. We settled into a table near the back and a couple minutes later a tall, dark haired man walked in. His eyes were rimmed in red, and his s.h.i.+rt was miss-b.u.t.toned, leaving an extra hole on one side. Taking a wild guess, I hailed him over to our table.

"Vic?" I asked as he approached.

He nodded, then said, "Hi," in a somber voice, shaking hands first with Dana then me.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," I said, feeling like a broken record.

He nodded again. "Yeah. Thanks," he said. His voice came out as a cross between Ross from Friends and Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh. Then again, considering the circ.u.mstances, I hardly expected peppy.

"You were friends of hers?" he asked us.

"Dana was," I said gesturing to her.

"I can't believe she's really gone," he said.