“She tried to seduce you?” Jayne was clearly shocked.
“You don’t have to look so surprised, Jayne. For an aging broad, I’m not so bad.”
“I didn’t mean it that way.” Jayne’s face turned red. “I just didn’t realize that Vanessa swung both ways.”
“I doubt she did. She just ran out of men, and it was desperation time. If she’d had any brains at all, she’d have known that I’d never look at anyone except Grace.”
Grace reached out to squeeze Moira’s hand under the table, feeling pleasurably foolish and insanely relieved. Moira had known exactly what was going on.
“Well, I’m going to make another pizza.” Laureen reached for the last can of pizza dough. “If I recommend this stuff, I have to test it myself, and nobody made a pizza with anchovies.”
Jayne laughed. “That’s because nobody but you goes to the gourmet shelf in the grocery store. How about anchovies and Cheese Whiz? I’ve got a couple of jars you can borrow.”
“No, thanks.” Laureen laughed. “That sounds almost as bad as your husband’s sardines and cream cheese. And I don’t buy my anchovies in cans at the grocery store. I get them flash-frozen direct from the distributor.”
“I just love anchovies, but Moira hates them so we always have to make our pizzas half-and-half, and if one little piece of my anchovy gets over on Moira’s side, she threatens me with . . . okay, I’ll stop.” Grace grinned at Moira. “Tell me where you keep your anchovies, Laureen.”
“In the walk-in freezer, right side, second shelf. I can get them, Grace.”
“Stay there and make the pizza. I have to get more coffee, anyway.”
Jayne whistled as Laureen threw the dough in the air to shape it. “Lordy! Look at that!”
“All it takes is a flick of the wrist, hours of practice, and someone to clean up the kitchen if you miss.” Laureen laughed. “I spent the whole day at Papa Luigi’s before I did my gourmet pizza show.”
“Well, you won’t catch me trying it. I went to flip a flapjack once and it ended up sticking to the ceiling. Poor Paul had to climb up on a ladder and . . . what’s the matter, Grace?”
Grace stood motionless before the open door to Laureen’s huge freezer. When she turned to face them, no words came out, only a terrible scream.
They all rushed over to see. Vanessa was crumpled on the floor of the freezer, her eyes staring up at the ceiling. For a moment they just stood there in shock, but then Ellen moved Grace aside. “Let me through.”
Ellen knelt down next to Vanessa and took her wrist. After a moment she looked up and shook her head. “She’s dead. I think she must have hit her head on something.”
“Go for the men, Grace.” Moira took Grace’s shoulders and turned her around. “The fresh air’ll do you good.”
When Grace had left, Moira pointed to the metal table in the center of the freezer. “I didn’t want to say anything in front of Grace, she’s always been squeamish, but there’s a lot of blood down there. Vanessa must have hit her head on that table. But what was she doing in Laureen’s freezer ? And why was the door closed?”
It took Laureen a moment, but then she caught the unspoken accusation. “You don’t think I shut her up in there, do you? Just because I said I wished she’d rot in hell . . .”
“Hush up, Moira,” Jayne scolded, putting her arm around Laureen. “You’re going to make this poor girl feel like a treed ’possum. We all know Laureen didn’t mean it, isn’t that right, Laureen, honey?”
“No, I meant every word,” Laureen admitted with difficulty. “But I didn’t trap her in my freezer. And I certainly didn’t shove her against that table. Think about it for a minute. I hated Vanessa enough to kill her, but do you actually think I’d let her bleed all over those wonderful lobster tails I just got in from Maine?”
FOURTEEN
An hour later, they were gathered in Grace and Moira’s living room again. They’d decided to hold the body in Laureen’s freezer until the police could be notified. Naturally, Laureen had put up some resistance. She’d waited years for her walk-in freezer and there was no way she wanted it turned into a morgue! It had taken some persuading, but she’d finally yielded.
Walker and Marc had volunteered for the unpleasant task of wrapping Vanessa in a sheet and laying her out on the floor of the freezer, while Alan and Paul kept Hal company. When Walker and Marc rejoined the rest of the group in Moira and Grace’s living room, they were grim faced and solemn.
“Brandy?” Moira passed the bottle that Alan had brought. “I think we could all use a drink.”
Hal held out his glass for a refill.
“Careful, Hal.” Moira poured just a bit more in his glass. “That stuff is pretty potent.”
“It’s just what I need. I still can’t believe that Vanessa’s dead. And even worse, I don’t know whether I should drown my sorrows or celebrate. Vanessa was a real piece of work, but at least she was interesting. I think I’m going to miss her.”
Laureen clamped her mouth shut and avoided Hal’s eyes. It was apparent that she wanted to say something, but she managed to remain silent.
“I am sorry, Hal.” Paul patted Hal’s shoulder. “I wish to offer condolence, but I do not know which words to say.”
Hal nodded and took another sip of his brandy. “Well, I do. I say there’s something rotten in Denmark, and don’t take that personally, Paul.”
“I am Norwegian. You may say what you wish about Danes.”
“Right.” Hal gave a lopsided grin and turned to Marc. “You said her skull was smashed?”
“Hal, please,” Moira soothed, reaching for his hand. “Don’t dwell on it.”
“I’m not dwelling. I’m just trying to make some sense out of it.” He turned to Marc again. “You think she hit her head on that metal table in Laureen’s freezer?”
Marc nodded. “That’s what it looked like, Hal. Of course I’m no expert, but . . .”
“What was she doing in there in the first place?” Hal interrupted. “The first time she saw Laureen’s freezer she said she thought it was scary. She told me that it reminded her of a television show where a guy was impaled on a meat hook. I just can’t picture her going in there for no reason.”
“We think she went after the brownies. There was an open package on the floor and everyone heard Laureen say she had a batch in the freezer.”
“Well . . . maybe.” Hal looked dubious. “Vanessa was crazy about those brownies. But that doesn’t explain how she got into your unit.”
Alan responded immediately to Laureen’s questioning look. “I know what you’re thinking, but you’re wrong! I never gave her a key, and I have no idea how she got in. Are you sure you locked the door when you ran down to get the pizza dough?”
Laureen frowned. “I think I did. But I could’ve left it open. I do that sometimes, when I’m just going somewhere in the building.”
“That explains it, then.” Hal nodded. “But why did Vanessa hit her head on that table? There wasn’t anything on the floor to trip over, was there, Laureen?”
“Only a case of lobster tails, but that was in plain sight. I’m sure she would have seen it.”
“Not if the light went off.” Alan hurried to explain. “The freezer has two switches for the lights. The first one goes on and off with the door, the same as a refrigerator. But there’s a wall switch that overrides it. That’s on a ten-minute timer.”
“That’s too complicated for me right now.”
Alan patted Hal on the shoulder. “That’s all right. You’re entitled to get a little smashed. You see, there are times when you want to spend more than a couple of minutes in the freezer, rearranging the shelves or whatever, and you don’t want to leave the door open that long. That’s when you use the wall switch, and if you forget to turn it off when you leave, it shuts off automatically after ten minutes.”