Page 71 of In the Line of Ire

"I meantthe purses. Has anyone called you?"

"No, butI don't really know that crowd. I can't see why they would call meor even ask for my number. Why?"

"Iwondered if anyone else got a crappy purse like mine. Can you keepa lookout in case you recognize any of the women if they come intothe bar?"

"Sure.Should I make some calls too? I can ask around to see if anyone'sunhappy."

"Only ifyou can do it really discreetly. I don't want to tip her off thatthere's an issue. I’m not sure any of her guests would even admitto buying a fake. They might be too embarrassed to say."

"Do youthink she's the evil mastermind?"

"Unlikely, but she might know who is."

Lilygasped. "Do you think she's the Heavenly Handbagsmurderer?"

"I doubtit but that's also something to consider. If I find a connection,I'll look into it."

"I can'tbelieve she conned you into buying that piece of crap. She alwayssneers at anyone who doesn't have money and now she's takingadvantage in so many ways."

"What I'd like to know iswhy. I'm checking into her now," Itold her.

"Let meknow what you find out. This will be the juiciest morsel of gossipfor the year in her circle."

Withthat information in mind, I decided not to say a word until theinvestigation was complete. Lily was right; it was gossip, andgossip like that travels fast. I didn't want Charlaine jumping on aplane to join her husband in Dubai before I had a chance to confirmher involvement in the counterfeiting ring.

By thetime the laptop pinged my results, I was eager to comb herhistory.

Istarted with her finances and my jaw dropped. Charlaine Beck wasn'twealthy. She wasn't even super wealthy.

She wasflat broke.

Stone,cold broke.

Thehouse was mortgaged to almost its full value and the brand new carI saw in the driveway was over three months in arrears in repaymentcosts. Her husband's car was sold recently and not inside thegarage as she intimated during one conversation I overheard at theparty. Three of her credit cards were maxed out. The only thingsthat were paid in full were her kids' school fees and the countryclub membership. However, I couldn't see how she could possibly payfor next year.

Iexpected some income must have been arriving monthly in her jointchecking account but no payments had been made in eight months.Where did her husband's wages go? The only income she had came froma dress shop. The name seemed familiar but I couldn't imagine heractually working there.

Aftersearching for the shop online, I dialed the number on the website."Collins' Consignment," answered the chirpy woman.

"Oh, hi.Uh, this is Charlaine Beck," I said, adlibbing on thespot.

"Hi,Mrs. Beck. Let me check your account for you. Let's see. We soldthe two dresses you brought in last week and also a pair of shoes.That's good news."

"Yes, itis," I said. "What else is left? I forgot."

"Twosuits, three cocktail dresses and the cashmere coat. I'm sure we'llhave those sold by the end of the month if you want to pick up yourcheck then."

"Yes,that's great, thanks." I hung up. Having shopped in consignmentstores a few times, I never really considered why the clothes werethere. I just assumed that wealthier women than I became bored withtheir last season purchases and wanted to clear out their closetsto buy the latest fashions. Never did I imagine that the sellersran into the kind of money issues Charlaine clearly suffered from.Selling the car and several thousand dollars’ worth of clothes andaccessories were the only income in their bank account. What abouther husband's salary? Did they split up? Was she too ashamed toadmit it? No, his car was sold so that didn't seem right. Where washe?

Icontinued digging and after thirty minutes, I had it. Eight monthsago, Danny Beck was convicted of a crime and sent to prison forfour years. He wasn't in Dubai but serving out a sentence. The onlyway Charlaine managed to hide that information from becoming publicin Montgomery was because the charges were filed in Detroit wherethe case was subsequently tried and the sentencepronounced.

"Guesswhat?" I said to Delgado.

"Serenalikes that game too. I never win. What?"

"My newlead's husband is serving four years in Michigan for fraud. Shecouldn't be more broke than she is right now."

"Youmean the rich purse lady?"

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