“Where is she? Where is the bitch?” The woman’s voice came out almost as a shriek. She was clearly agitated, her expression wild, her arms jerking, but that was no excuse for her ill-bred language.
My temper flared red-hot. “If you ever refer to my daughter in that tasteless, vulgar manner in my hearing again, Miss Vane, I will slap you six ways from Sunday. Are we clear on that?” I loomed over her, despite the ridiculously high heels she wore, and glared right down into her eyes.
I had never slapped a woman in my life, and I didn’t plan to start, but Damitra Vane didn’t have to know that. Her manner toward Laura infuriated me, and I was not going to tolerate it.
I wasn’t done. “Furthermore, unless you want to be kicked out of this house immediately, you will apologize.”
Damitra Vane stared at me and shrank back a couple of steps as I continued to radiate fury over her complete breach of manners. When she spoke, her voice came out as little more than a whisper.
“I’m sorry, I’m just very upset. I’m not thinking very good right now.” She paused to lick her lips. “Uh, who are you?”
I doubted her ability to think well under any circumstances. I’d never seen such a vacuous expression on a person in all my life. She looked like she had to concentrate just to get her mouth to open, and after that effort, she had little mental energy left to control what came out of it. I couldn’t help but agree with Sean’s evaluation of her. My cat was far smarter than this poor woman.
“I am Laura’s father, remember?” Her retention was obviously poor, since I had mentioned my daughter moments before.
“Oh, yeah.” Ms. Vane nodded. “Mr., um, Harvey?”
“Harris.” I was rapidly losing patience with this woman. “I think you’d best be on your way, Ms. Vane. My daughter has nothing to say to you.”
“Oh, yes I do.” I turned to see Laura bearing down on us like the proverbial avenging angel. “You’ve got some nerve showing up here. I thought you’d be out of the country by now.”
Damitra frowned. “Why would I go anywhere? I went to Mexico a month ago.”
Laura rolled her eyes. “How do you get dressed by yourself? Good grief, Damitra, I’m talking about Connor. Aren’t you afraid you’re going to be arrested for his murder? If I were you I’d light out back to Mexico.”
This was a side of Laura I’d not seen before, and I couldn’t really blame her for being so acidulous. Damitra Vane was a huge irritant, and I couldn’t take much more of her myself.
“I didn’t kill Connor.” Damitra’s face had an obstinate set to it now. “If anybody killed him, you did. He was coming back to me, and you couldn’t stand it.”
Frank appeared behind Laura, and Diesel trotted around Frank to stand in front of her. If a cat could glare balefully, Diesel was doing it. He made a rumbling noise low in his throat, and I recognized that sound. He didn’t like Damitra Vane.
Laura, quick to seize again on the woman’s vacuity and fear of my large cat, said, “Attack, Diesel. Rip her leg off.”
Frank made a muffled sound I assumed was laughter, and I was hard put not to guffaw myself. Our behavior violated all rules of Southern hospitality, but with a “guest” like Damitra Vane, the rules flew out the door.
Like Damitra Vane, as it turned out. She gaped at Diesel for a couple of seconds, heard him growl and saw him take a step forward. Before I could open the door for her, she jerked it open and sprinted out of it and down the walk, narrowly missing Kanesha Berry, who moved out of the way with maybe a second to spare.
How the woman ran in those high heels I hadn’t a clue, but as long as she was out of my house and out of my sight, I didn’t care—for the moment, at least. I considered her a strong suspect in Connor Lawton’s death. Should it turn out to be murder, I added to myself.
Kanesha proceeded up the walk, an intense frown on her face. I waited in the doorway with Diesel, who started chirping when he spotted the deputy. Despite the thorny relationship between Kanesha and me, Diesel liked her. She was still a bit uneasy around him, but she had at least learned to appreciate him.
“What’s going on with Ms. Vane?” Kanesha stopped a couple of feet away from me on the walk. She smiled down at Diesel. “What did you do, sic the cat on her?”
I couldn’t help but laugh, and Kanesha’s startled gaze met my eyes. “Actually, yes, Laura threatened her with Diesel, and she apparently believes that my cat is some kind of exotic hunting feline that preys on humans. So off she went.”
Kanesha shook her head, while a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “If she goes to the police and wants to bring assault charges, I’ll volunteer to be a character witness for the cat.” Then her expression sobered. “She’s not in much of a position to bother you and your family. There are a number of questions for her to answer.”
“Please, come in,” I said, stepping back into the house and motioning with my right hand. Diesel scooted behind me. Frank and Laura had disappeared. “Questions like what her earring was doing in Lawton’s apartment? Was it under his body on the sofa?” I’d thought a lot about that earring since yesterday and concluded it must have been beneath the corpse.
Kanesha grimaced as she walked past me and Diesel. “No comment.”
I took that as a yes.
Ralph and Magda Johnston popped out of the kitchen, but they stopped short at the sight of Kanesha. They exchanged uneasy glances before they advanced toward us.
“Morning, Miz Berry.” Ralph’s nervous smile made me suspicious. Did he feel guilty about something?
Magda had a sickly yellow cast to her skin now, and she bobbed her head at Kanesha and muttered a few words I didn’t hear clearly.
“Morning, Mr. Johnston, Miz Johnston.” Kanesha nodded at the couple who were now inching themselves toward the front door, their eyes locked on the deputy.
“So glad Laura is okay,” Ralph Johnston said to me as he and Magda reached the door. Magda nodded. “We must be going, though.”
“Thanks for stopping by,” I said as I opened the door for them. Diesel warbled, but I didn’t think either one of them noticed. They couldn’t get out the door and down the walk fast enough.
I shut the door behind them and turned to Kanesha. “Strange behavior, wouldn’t you say? They acted like they were terrified of you.”
Kanesha stared at me for a moment, her expression deadpan. “I have that effect on some people.”
The woman did have a sense of humor after all. I sputtered with laughter, and Diesel meowed a couple of times. Kanesha maintained her demeanor, though I would have sworn I saw one corner of her mouth twitch slightly.
“Come on in the kitchen,” I said when I stopped laughing. “Laura’s in here with a visitor.” I motioned for her to precede me.
When we walked into the kitchen, Diesel ahead of us, Laura and Frank sat at the table, involved in an animated discussion. I worried that Laura was overdoing it, because to my eye she was beginning to look a bit flushed—a sure sign that she was tired and needed rest.
Sean was there as well. He nodded and gave me a thumbs-up to indicate he’d been successful in copying the files on the thumb drive.
The conversation broke off as Laura and Frank caught sight of Kanesha. Sean and Frank stood, as properly reared Southern men should do when a woman enters a room. It might be interpreted negatively in other parts of the country, but here in Mississippi it was just plain good manners, not chauvinism.
Kanesha nodded in response to Sean’s greeting. “Afternoon, Mr. Harris, Miss Harris.” She regarded Frank with her customary enigmatic expression.
“Frank Salisbury, ma’am.” Frank stepped forward and extended a hand. “Friend of Laura’s.”