door open so Red could enter.
He glanced around and, seeing that we were the only ones here, he walked inside. He turned to the screamer who was reapplying her lipstick. “Are you okay?”
She pursed her lips and then took a tissue and blotted the excess before responding. “Of course, it was just a shock.”
He took out a notepad. “I’m Dennis Olson with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations and I need to ask you a few questions.”
She turned. “Of course, but as I was telling your girlfriend, I didn’t know the man who was murdered.”
Red glanced at me and I gave a slight shake of my head. “Well, let’s start with your name.”
She paused long enough for me to suspect that the name was a fabrication. “Fiona Darling.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a business card, sauntered over to Red and handed it to him.
She stood so close that when she leaned back against the counter and flipped her thick red hair, it landed on Red’s shoulder. It took every ounce of my willpower to keep from flipping it off.
Red seemed oblivious as he read her card. “Darling Detective Agency?”
“Yes, I’m a private investigator, although I’m not here tonight in any type of professional capacity.” She flashed a smile which nearly blinded me.
I barely noticed her perfume when she was at the other side of the room, however, up close and personal, it was overpowering and caused my eyes to water.
“What did bring you here tonight?” Red asked.
She reached over and scratched Indulf behind the ear. Even though poodles are not known for being aggressive, I wouldn’t have minded if he’d tried to amputate a finger or two. To my dismay, the little traitor merely wiggled and licked her hand.
“Aren’t you cute.” She leaned down and cooed.
Indulf missed another opportunity to show his loyalty and merely wiggled more and licked her hand.
She chuckled. “I just love dogs.” She looked at me. “What kind is he?”
That set off mental alarms. “He’s a poodle.”
She colored, but tried to downplay her faux pas. “Well, of course he is.”
Indulf redeemed himself when he sneezed in her face.
She froze for a few seconds, then took a tissue and patted her skin.
I gave Indulf an extra pat. “Good boy,” I whispered.
“Miss Darling, can you tell me what you saw?” Red asked.
Fiona Darling related the same tale she’d told me, however this time she stressed that she hadn’t seen the actual murderer. She fluttered her eyelashes and leaned in, keeping a hand on Red’s arm much longer than I deemed necessary. I wasn’t a jealous person, but Fiona Darling was an attractive woman, endowed with a couple of attributes which made her stand out. And she was certainly trying to use them to her advantage.
Red asked a few other questions, but then allowed the redheaded gumshoe to leave with a promise to make herself available for further questioning.
Her hips swayed far more than necessary as she sashayed out of the women’s room. When she left, Red turned to me. “What do you think?”
“She wears too much perfume, she practically tossed herself at your feet and she wears way too much makeup. I don’t like her. More importantly, what did you think?” I glanced at him. “She’s an attractive woman.”
“I didn’t notice.”
I stared at him, hand on hip. “Really? You didn’t notice a tall, thin, redheaded bombshell with stunning blue eyes who flung her hair on your shoulder.” I demonstrated the fling.
“Not my type.”
“Really? What part exactly? Tall? Thin? Blue-eyed? Gorgeous? That’s not your type? Are you seriously going to tell me you prefer…what? Short, fat—”
He hovered his hand over my head. “I prefer about…yay tall, dark haired and dark-eyes.”
I suppressed a smiled. “Fat?”
He came even closer and put his arms around my waist. “I prefer curvaceous.” He leaned down close to my ear. “With a razor-sharp mind, a generous heart and…” His lips grazed my ear.
“And?” I breathed hard.
“And, I prefer a woman who is intelligent enough to recognize a poodle when she sees one.”
We kissed. After a few moments he repeated his question from earlier. “What did you think?”
“I think that was a good answer.”
His lips twitched. “I meant about her story.”
“She’s hiding something.”
He grinned. “Agreed.” He pulled me close. “Jealous?”
“Of course not,” I lied. “Should I be?”
He kissed me. “Absolutely not, but it would make me happy if you were.”
There was something in his eyes that told me he was telling the truth. He kissed me again and I forgot about Fiona Darling. When we separated, he said, “I’m going to be here for quite a while. I can get one of the patrol cars to take you home—”
“I’m sure Dixie and Beau will make sure I get back to my house safely.”
He nodded and started to speak, but the door opened. An older woman took a couple of steps inside but halted when she saw Red and I.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I—”
Red apologized and we both left.
He got stopped by one of the detectives, so I went in search of Dixie and Beau.
I spotted Jacob near one of the buffet tables with the other members of our dog class, B.J., Monica Jill and Dr. Morgan.
Bobbie Jean Thompson, B.J. to her friends, was a short, African American woman with dark skin and a big personality. “Girl, I knew you’d have the scoop. What’s that fine looking TBI man of yours got to say about this mess?”
“He said he’s going to be here awhile.”
“You know what I mean. Does he know who did it?” B.J. asked.
“Not yet, but he just found the poor man.”
B.J. shook her head. “Poor man my big toe. Archibald Lowry is one of the richest men in the state. They say when the government needs a loan, they call Archibald Lowry.”
“Did you know him?” I asked.
“Pshaw.”
