Page 52 of Skin and Bones

Vanessa’s eyes widened fractionally before she controlled her expression. “What murder? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Elizabeth Calvert,” Dottie said. “The two of you would’ve been the same age.”

“She was a year older,” Vanessa said. “But I knew her. Thought she was smarter than everyone because she was going off to a fancy college. But she liked to party and she liked men. Discarded them like tissues all through high school.”

“Doesn’t mean she deserved to die,” Dottie clapped back. “If it did you’d be six feet under.”

“Well, I never?—”

“Yes, you have,” Dottie cut in.

“Sheriff Beckett is reopening the case,” I said, wondering if Vanessa was the kind of woman who’d punch a senior citizen. I decided she probably was.

Vanessa laughed, but it held no humor. “And he sent you two as his emissaries? That’s the most pathetic thing I’ve ever seen. What a loser. He won’t last long around here. Though he is fine to look at.”

“Whore,” Dottie coughed.

I pushed Dottie behind me in case things got physical and said, “I’ll let him know your opinion on the matter. But we’ve been deputized. Officially.” I had to say I enjoyed the flicker of disbelief that crossed her perfect features.

“Like I said, pathetic. Now if y’all aren’t going to buy anything, maybe you can go harass someone else.”

“We came to ask questions about your good-for-nothing husband,” Dottie said. “And we’re not leaving until we find out what you knew about Elizabeth’s death.”

I winced, thinking Dottie had seen way too many episodes of Law and Order. Her bedside manner with the dead was probably much better than with the living.

“Well, Deputies,” Vanessa said, voice dripping with sarcasm, “I’m afraid I can’t help you. Roy and I didn’t get married until a year after Elizabeth was dumb enough to go swimming in the harbor at night. I didn’t even know him while he was investigating that case.”

Dottie’s eyebrow shot up. “You lie like a rug, Vanessa. You were working in the county clerk’s office the year Elizabeth died. Everyone knew you and Roy were already boinking. If I remember right there’s video to prove it.”

Vanessa’s face flushed with anger. “You vicious?—”

“Uh, uh, uh,” Dottie said, wagging her finger. “Mabel and I don’t tolerate that gutter language.”

Vanessa straightened her shoulders and channeled the ice queen. “This is a place of business, not an interrogation room. Get out of my shop.”

Dottie put her hands on her hips and stepped closer—her head only coming up to Vanessa’s ample bosom. Her voice lowered and she half hissed, “We can continue this conversation here, or we can have a deputy pick you up for formal questioning. I’m sure your customers would love to see you escorted out in handcuffs.”

I decided the best course of action was to stand perfectly still and hope no one remembered I was still in the room. I had no idea if we could follow through on that threat, and I didn’t particularly want to find out. Vanessa looked like she’d be comfortable with resisting arrest.

“You wouldn’t dare,” Vanessa spat out.

“Try me,” Dottie replied, reminding me of an old gunslinger. “I spent forty years cutting open dead bodies to find the truth. You think I’m squeamish about making a scene?”

For a moment, they stared each other down like two cats on a fence.

“Fine,” Vanessa hissed, moving behind the counter. “What do you want to know?”

“Roy Milton is in prison,” Dottie pointed out. “His power is gone. The men who protected him for years are either dead or desperately distancing themselves. He can’t hurt you if you tell his secrets.”

“You think I need protection from Roy?” Vanessa laughed, but there was an edge to it. “Roy was child’s play. You think I got where I am today because I’m stupid? In the end I got more than half of everything Roy had, and he was happy to give it to me.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Let’s just say I learned early on to keep insurance policies,” she replied.

“What do you know about Elizabeth Calvert’s murder?” I asked.

“All I know is the night Elizabeth was supposedly killed Roy was with me,” she said. “He got a call about ten o’clock and pulled on his pants faster than if his wife was standing in the room. Told me there was an emergency and he had to go. The next morning it was all over the news that Elizabeth’s body had been found.”

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