Copy Cap Murder: A Hat Shop Mystery Part 8

"That is absurd. I was there and you didn't strangle him, you socked him in the eye. You were most definitely not apart from me long enough to choke someone and then hide their body," I said. I reached for my cell phone.

"What are you doing, Ginger?"

"I'm calling DI Simms," I said. "He needs to know that you were with me, that I am vouching for you, and that there is absolutely no way you could have done such a horrible thing."

Harrison put his hand on mine, keeping me from searching for Simms's number.

"I really appreciate the support," he said. "But having you call on my behalf like a worried mum is not going to help me. In fact, I fear it will just make me look more guilty."

I gave him a flat stare. "Is that even possible?"

"Ouch," he said.

"Listen, I'm not saying you are guilty, but if I was on the outside looking in, it would look bad for you," I said. "You and Win have been rivals since childhood; there is an ugly history there that you told me about yourself. It's not going to be difficult for the police to find the same information."

Harrison rubbed a hand over his eyes. I knew I was badgering but he needed to get a grasp of how serious the situation was and he needed to let me help him. d.a.m.n it.

"You got into a fistfight with Win in front of witnesses, just minutes before someone strangled him and now you've been suspended from your job. Harry, it doesn't look good. You have to let me advocate on your behalf," I said.

He shook his head. "No, I won't let you get dragged into this any more than you already have." He tapped the article in the newspaper to emphasize his point.

I would have argued but he started to pace around the shop, so I knew he was working through something. He was muttering to himself, another indicator of processing, so I waited.

"Suspended. How can they suspend me?" he asked no one. "I am their best a.n.a.lyst. I bring in millions in revenue. They've known me for years. How could they even think that I would do anything so vile, so horrible, so evil?"

He paused by the front window and stared out onto the street. I felt for him. I knew what it was like to have the entire world watching you, judging you, thinking things about you that were unflattering and untrue. In my case, I packed up and moved to another country. I didn't think he had that option.

The Metropolitan Police might not have arrested him yet but they definitely did not want him to leave the country either. DI Simms would listen to me. I knew he would and it was imperative that they not waste time trying to prove that it was Harrison, because the real killer was out there, and whether I liked Win or not, not, his killer must be brought to justice.

Harrison resumed pacing and muttering again. He was working his way back to the counter when his phone rang again.

Our gazes met. I felt my heart sink into my shoes. Would this be the police calling him in for questioning? I didn't care what he said; I was going with him.

He looked at the display and then at me. His eyebrows rose and he said, "Tyler."

"Take it!" I cried. If anyone knew what the heck was going on, it would be Tyler. I leaned across the counter to listen when he answered.

"h.e.l.lo, Tyler," he said. There was a pause and he added, "Yes, it was a bit of a shock."

It was obvious he was talking about his suspension and understating its napalm-like quality in his usual British fas.h.i.+on. As if my unwavering stare was beginning to burn him with its intensity, he turned slightly away.

"All right then," he said. "I'm glad it's been sorted. I'll see you tomorrow."

He ended the call and put his phone back in his pocket. He looked thoughtful, and as much as I didn't want to interrupt any great insights he was having, I needed to know what was going on.

"Well?" I demanded.

"Tyler lifted my suspension," he said. "He claims that Reese is quite distraught, and that she acted prematurely and all on her own. The offices will be open tomorrow and he would like me to be there."

"How do you feel about that?" I asked.

"Relieved," Harrison said. "It's bad enough the papers are looking at me, but my own people, too? It's a bitter pill."

"Maybe you should stop answering your phone now," I said.

"Good idea." He took his phone out of his pocket and shut it off. He ran his hands through his hair. "I feel as if the whole world has gone mad."

"Did Tyler say anything more about Reese?" I asked. "I mean don't you think it's odd that she suspended you without telling Tyler?"

"Reese has always been very protective of Win," Harrison said. "He was like the son she never had."

I thought about how she had flung herself across his body at the bonfire. She had definitely been wracked with grief, but I wasn't so sure I would have called it maternal, which made my thoughts dart to the other woman in Harrison's office, who was also not very maternal.

"What about Tuesday Blount?" I asked. "What was her relations.h.i.+p with Win?"

Harrison looked distinctly uncomfortable.

"What's the matter?" I heckled. "Don't you want to talk about your ex-girlfriend?"

"I'd rather have a tooth extraction," he said.

"Hang on, I'll call Nick," I offered.

He gave me a lopsided smile. "Why do you want to know about Tuesday?"

"Because she could be a suspect," I said.

"No," he said. "Strangling a man with his own tie is not her style."

"What is her style, bludgeoning, stabbing or zapping the poor b.a.s.t.a.r.d with a toaster in his bubble bath?"

He laughed. "No, she's more the sort to henpeck a bloke to death."

This should not have made me as happy as it did. Harrison leaned on the counter and picked up my coffee cup. He raised his eyebrows in silent question and I nodded. I watched him take a sip out of my mug and marveled at the intimacy of such a small casual thing.

Yes, I'd let friends drink out of my cups before. But Harrison was more than a friend and watching his lips on the mug that had just been at mine was a connection that felt deeper than friends.h.i.+p; it felt like something a couple would do.

"You take it just the way I like it," he said.

Our gazes met and I felt that treacherous little thrill flutter in my chest like a bird's wings against its cage, longing to get out if only I would let it.

"Did you love her very much?" I asked.

"Yes," he said.

My little bird clutched his feathered chest with his wings and keeled over dead.

"Well, I should say I thought I did," he said.

My little bird gave a hopeful chirp.

"Thought?" I asked.

His gaze met mine and he gave me a rueful smile. "I don't think I really knew what love was back then. I was ready to spend my life with someone, but she would have been the wrong someone. I have discovered since then that some people can make you preposterously happy just by walking into the room and smiling at you. She never had that effect on me."

My little bird was now flying loop-the-loops and wingovers, but I refused to lose my head. I had the horrible thought that if Harrison had been that ga-ga over Tuesday, I could be the dreaded transition woman. Oh, horror!

Then again, if he was railroaded for Win's murder and sentenced to prison, it really wouldn't matter if I was his transition woman or not.

The bells on the front door jangled and in strode Tuesday Blount. I wondered if talking about her had conjured her, sort of like a witch, which was an unnerving thought to say the least because I thought it was entirely too accurate.

"Harrison!" She strode briskly, brandis.h.i.+ng her phone like a weapon. "I've been calling and calling. Why haven't you answered?"

Harrison tipped his head to the side. "Didn't you hear? The office is closed. We have the day off."

She waved her hand in the air like she was karate chopping his words. "There are no days off for us. You know that." She gave me a disgruntled look as if his lack of a work ethic were my fault. "Besides, I need to talk to you about other matters."

"Can it wait?" Harrison asked. "I've got some things to do here."

To my credit, I didn't even flicker an eyelash at his bald-faced lie.

"No, it can't," she said. "It's about the unfortunate incident."

"You mean where someone strangled our colleague with his own tie?" Harrison asked. He seemed to be enjoying goading her.

"Shh," she hissed as she looked around the empty shop. "There are ears everywhere."

"Well, that does sound like a problem," I said. Harrison laughed. I felt like pumping my fist. I'd finally gotten him to acknowledge one of my puns. Oh, why weren't the others here to witness this?

"I hear it's an epidemic," Harrison said and winked at me.

This time I laughed and Tuesday glanced between us as if we were crazy.

"Harrison!" She stomped her foot. Yes, she really did with all the flair and drama of an outraged three-year-old. "I need to talk to you in private right now."

Harrison heaved a sigh. It was clear there would be no getting rid of her. He looked at me as he stepped back from the counter.

"I'll call you later," he said.

"Okay," I said. "Remember I'm a really good listener."

He laughed again and I felt like everything was right in my world, even though he was leaving with her. I wondered what she wanted. I couldn't shake the feeling that she was not to be trusted and not just because they had a history together. She put off a devious vibe and I sincerely hoped Harrison picked up on it, too.

The thought of Harrison taking the fall for the real murderer was completely unacceptable. I turned and went back into the workroom to talk to Viv. We needed to figure out how we could help Harrison whether he wanted us to or not.

Chapter 10.

"Call Harrison and see if he is still with her," I said.

Viv looked at me with an annoyed glance. "How am I supposed to do that?"

"Just chat him up," I said. I waved her phone in front of her face. "But sound casual."

"Like he's not going to figure out that it's you putting her up to it, yeah?" Fee asked.

"He might not," I said.

The three of us were standing in the front of the shop. Harrison and Tuesday had left twenty minutes before, and as soon as Fee had arrived downstairs to start her s.h.i.+ft, I had begun to badger Viv about following Harrison and Tuesday.

Fee rolled her eyes and began hand-st.i.tching tiny seed pearls to the edge of a length of amethyst tulle that she was using to decorate a mother of the bride hat. It was going to be spectacular.

"Hi, Harrison, sorry to bother you," Viv said into her phone.

Fee and I both watched her as if we could figure out what Harrison was saying by her facial expressions.

"No, no emergency," she said. "We were just thinking we should remind you that we planned to meet up at Nick and Andre's tonight and wondered if you could still make it."

I raised my hands in a gesture of what are you doing? We needed his location now not later. She frowned at me and turned her back on me.

"Sounds great," she said. "So, are you still with her?"

I made an outraged noise. Seriously, the woman had zero skills in the art of covert information gathering.

"And where are you?" she asked.

Now I did a face palm. Why didn't she just say we were planning to stalk them?

She looked over her shoulder at me. "At your apartment?"

Now I gasped and so did Fee. Tuesday having Harrison alone in his apartment was not good, not good at all.

"All right, tonight then," Viv said and she hung up.

She tossed her phone onto the counter.

"Well, that was b.l.o.o.d.y uncomfortable," she said. "They're at his place."

I headed for the door. "Fee, watch the shop, come on, Viv."

"What?" Viv asked. "I have work to do and you're being an awful bossy boots."