It was dark when I came back into the bookstore. CeeCee had just arrived and was wearing a long black dress with a sequined jacket. She’d gone heavy on her makeup to resemble the character in the movie. Elise followed her in and had one of the finished scarves from the kits wound around her neck. She had brought along a stack of business cards for her real estate endeavor. Daisy was dressed in her trademark slacks, a sweater, shirt with a popped collar and a colorful scarf. Despite her insistence on having the backstage area, I’d seen her mixing with some of the early arrivals.

  Mrs. Shedd was definitely right for getting extra chairs. Her idea of mixing up the Hollywood stories with Crochet Month was drawing a crowd and the seats were filling up. I had arranged and rearranged the front with a table of samples of merchandise adjacent to where the speakers would be sitting. Mr. Royal had come up with the idea of CeeCee signing the DVDs of the crocheting vampire movie and the set of DVDs from her old TV show. Elise had decided on her own to sign the kits for the crochet projects connected to the movie. There were signing tables for each of them set up for after the program.

  I was sorry that Dinah was not going to be there, but I understood she wanted to help Commander with his happy hour party. I was glad that Adele had left, though with great drama, going on that she was not staying because she wasn’t part of the event.

  “You better get Daisy’s drink,” Leslie Bittner said, coming up behind me. I swallowed my annoyance at Daisy’s assistant telling me what to do and went to the juice place a few doors down to get the drink. I looked at the menu on an overhanging board and noted the two strawberry drinks and ordered the one that Leslie had told me to get.

  When I came back with it, Daisy was standing outside the enclosed area looking over the crowd. I went to hand her the drink, and she saw the label stuck to the cup.

  “Are you trying to kill me!” she shrieked. “You were supposed to get the strawberry fiesta. Go and get me the right drink,” she demanded.

  I chalked up her behavior to nerves before she had to face a crowd and apologized without mentioning that it was her assistant who had told me to get the strawberry splash. When I returned with the right drink, the seats were all taken and there were people standing in the back. Daisy had retreated to the green room setup. Not wanting another confrontation with her, I set the tall covered cup next to Daisy’s name placard and then moved away. I had a sudden worry that if CeeCee or Elise saw that I’d gotten a drink for Daisy, they’d feel left out. I found two bottles of water and set them out for them.

  I always felt a tingle of nerves just before an event. I went to check on the three of them and tell them I was going to warm up the crowd before I introduced them. Elise begged me to wait to start until she made a bathroom stop. When she returned, I went to the center microphone and got everyone to quiet before doing my welcome followed by the introductions. Daisy had written hers for me. She was determined to generate interest in her upcoming podcast and had gotten it into the introduction with the promise that she was going to disclose a tidbit of inside information. I had created the intros for the other two. It was easy with CeeCee, particularly since Adele wasn’t there to object when I referred to the actress as being the leader of the Tarzana Hookers. I’d had to be more creative with Elise and made her out to be a yarn craft designer along with being a real estate super agent. When I did the Tarzana Hooker line I looked over the crowd for their reaction, since it always got a laugh. I was surprised to see Taylor standing in the back. I got to the end of the introductions and there was a nice round of applause as the three of them came out and took their spots. There were mics on the table for CeeCee and Elise, but one of Daisy’s requirements had been to have a mic she could move around with and I’d gotten her a headset.

  She slipped it on and glanced out at the crowd with a smile. “I like to move when I talk.” Since the event had started out only being her, she was going to speak first. She seemed comfortable addressing the crowd and began to zigzag in front of the table. She grabbed the smoothie. “I need to get juiced,” she said as a joke before she sipped from the big cup.

  “Why did she get a fancy drink and we didn’t?” Elise wailed in her birdlike voice, not realizing the mic was in front of her. CeeCee stepped in, intending to speak just to Elise, but it was picked up on her mic and everyone heard the actress say that they should have been as demanding as Daisy. Daisy gave them both a look telling them to shush and tried to continue.

  “I got my start writing for my high school student newspaper. We had a very strict advisor who sanitized my ‘News Around the School’ column and took out anything even faintly negative. All the years I wrote the entertainment column, it focused on movies being made, parties given and things like my dinner with Elvis. There was never anything about dark stuff. But I still know what I know.” She stopped to take another sip. “And I’m ready to tell all in the podcast I’m putting together. There will be stories, like was . . .” Her voice trailed off as an odd look came over her face and she grimaced. She began to stagger. She went to put the cup down, but it fell from her hand just as she collapsed on the ground. It was an understatement to say that something was wrong.

  For a moment everyone froze and then a commotion broke out as people seemed to be going everywhere, and I pulled out my phone and called nine-one-one.

  Chapter Ten

  The paramedics had come and left quickly with Daisy packed up on a gurney. A couple of cops had come as well to check out what happened. I heard Mrs. Shedd tell one of the officers that it appeared Daisy had a seizure. CeeCee and Elise were still at the table, not sure what to do.

  “Molly, this is a disaster,” Mrs. Shedd said, stopping next to me. She looked around the area we had set up for the event. Most of the seats were empty and there were a lot of books, DVDs, and such that had been abandoned.

  Muttering to herself, my boss went off and started to retrieve the unsold merchandise. She seemed to be operating on nerve and was in shock like everyone else.

  But then everything changed when one of the cops got a call that she had been DOA when she reached the ER. They started rolling yellow tape across the front of the bookstore and told the small crowd that was left that they would need statements.

  It wasn’t the first time I’d been through something like this and I knew I was going to be there for a long time. I realized I better call home and alert them I was not coming home to take over Marlowe’s care and I couldn’t say when I would be back.

  Peter answered and he wanted to know all the details of why I was delayed, somehow thinking I had gone out on a date. When he heard about Daisy, I heard him let out a groan. “Don’t even think about it. You can’t get involved with playing detective to find out what happened to her. You’re supposed to be working for me. I need you to stay focused on Miles Langford. I want to have yea or nay soon—hopefully yea, so I can take his money and start putting all the pieces together.”

  I hung up, shaking my head in disbelief at my son’s reaction. Someone had just died and still his mind was all on his business. Just like his father had been.

  CeeCee and Elise both still seemed stunned and I went to talk to them. They were both upset and wanted to leave.

  The two cops had been joined by four more and they circulated among the people still there and began separating everyone, ordering us not to talk among ourselves.

  “Too late for that,” Elise said, looking at the other people who had been clumped together and clearly were talking.

  She had barely gotten the words out when the cops came to separate us.

  “She works for the bookstore,” one of the cops said and I was singled out. They didn’t say it, but I knew it was for more advanced questioning.

  I skipped to the head of the line as the cop took down my basic information and then led me to the enclosed area I had called the green room, explaining that the bookstore owner had given them permission to use it.

  The three chairs I had set out were still there. Two were empty and the third was filled with Detective Barry Greenberg. “I didn’t see you come in,” I said while I tried to collect myself. It was the first time I’d seen him since our breakup and I had a flood of confused feelings.

  “We have our stealthy ways,” he said. If he felt as uncomfortable as I did, it didn’t show. He was dressed in a suit that was impervious to wrinkles. The white shirt and tie appeared fresh, too. There was just a hint of a five o’clock shadow on his chin to hint that it had probably been a long day.

  “Maybe you should have someone else question me,” I said.

  He shook his head. “I can handle it,” he said. “But if it’s too uncomfortable for you, I can get somebody else.”

  “I’m okay,” I said.

  “Good,” he said with a nod. “We’re adults. We realized we’d made a mistake and moved on,” he said in his benign cop tone. He looked around the enclosure for a long time, which seemed like a way to stall before he continued. “I’m back with Carol.” He was quiet for a moment. “It’s not like it was with you, but it works.” Our eyes met and a spark of heat passed between us and I knew he was thinking back to those nights in Hawaii, as I was. He looked down at his clipboard, trying to get back in professional mode. “She’s okay with my lifestyle and the hours I keep. And Jeffrey is good at watching her kids when both of us are working.” Carol was an ER nurse who probably worked all kinds of crazy shifts herself. Jeffrey was his son and was nothing like Barry. He was into theater and had always seemed mature for his age. I had a soft spot for the kid and wondered how he felt about the situation. But I didn’t feel comfortable about asking.

  “About Cosmo,” Barry said, referring to the black mutt who was technically his and Jeffrey’s dog but was residing at my house. I crossed my fingers that he wasn’t going to ask to take the dog now that he was back with Carol. “He’s better off staying with you.” He glanced at me and then away. “No guarantee he’d be taken care of with us.” I felt a twinge at the way he said “us.” Could he really move on so easily after saying that I was “the one”?

  “What about you?” he said. “Are you doing okay?”

  The feeling of discomfort was going away and I’d even forgotten that I was there to be questioned about a death. I told him about Marlowe being dropped off, but didn’t mention what Peter had asked me to do. It was none of his business and I knew he would not approve. Not that it really mattered what he thought, I was going to do what I was going to do regardless.

  Then he got to what he really meant and asked if I was back with Mason.

  I choked on a laugh. “Are you kidding? I’m sure he hates me.” I gave Barry a hard look. “What was I thinking? I should have known it wouldn’t work with us. That nothing had changed.”

  A cloud passed over his face before he turned away. When he turned back to face me, he was back to Barry the detective. “So then, why don’t you tell me what happened,” he said in his cop voice.

  I straightened and began to describe the evening. “This is probably a waste of your time. It looked like she had a seizure. So no crime, no murder, no suspects.”

  “That’s for me to determine,” he said. He was trying to stay in cop mode, but he finally shook his head with a hopeless smile. “Some things don’t change—like you trying to tell me my business.”

  • • •

  When I finally left the bookstore, the Channel 3 news van was parked out front. The doors opened and the reporter and camera person hopped out and managed to turn everything on in the time it took me to walk to the corner. They rushed up behind me and Kimberly Diaz Wang stuck a microphone in front of my face.

  “Hello, Molly. Can you tell us what happened?” she asked. I’d made the mistake of talking to her in the past and she’d given me the moniker of murder groupie because somehow I had been at a number of crime scenes. Not going to happen to me this time.

  I looked at her with a smile. “No.”

  Chapter Eleven

  There was still yellow tape across the door to the bookstore when I arrived the next morning. There were people in white suits and booties moving around the chairs and tables that had been set up for the event. While I was standing outside watching, Mr. Royal and Mrs. Shedd stopped next to me, holding cups of coffee.

  “The CSI people should be done soon. We’re going to sit in the car and listen to music,” Mr. Royal said. He looked back at the bookstore. “The café isn’t part of their investigation and the outside door is open if you want someplace to wait until they finish.”

  I watched the two of them walk to their electric car. They were about the same age, but Joshua Royal wore it better. He had a wiry build and shaggy salt-and-pepper hair. When I’d first started working at the bookstore, he’d been off on adventures. I’d wondered if he really even existed until one day he showed up and started coming into the bookstore as if he’d never been away.

  I didn’t know the whole history of his romance with Mrs. Shedd, but one day they’d announced that they’d gotten married, assuring us nothing would change—not even their names. The only change was that they were absent from the bookstore quite often. It was mostly his doing. Mrs. Shedd was still very concerned about keeping the bookstore going, though she did seem to be enjoying their fun adventures.

  Sitting with a red-eye did seem more appealing than standing around the front. Bob, our main barista, looked up and smiled when I came in. He didn’t even ask, but poured a shot of espresso in a cup of the brew of the day and set the cup on the counter. “It’s been pretty slow this morning,” he said, indicating the yellow tape blocking the inside door to the bookstore. “How about some more of the Eggy Squares?” Bob was known for making cookie bars of all types, but this was his first attempt at a treat that wasn’t sweet.

  I hadn’t gotten home until after midnight and for obvious reasons hadn’t slept well. I’d rushed out without breakfast and was glad to accept his offer.

  He put two squares combining eggs, spinach and cheese on a small plate with a fork. He added a generous dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of scallion slices.

  I had thought the place was empty, but when I went to sit at a table I saw Barry sitting with a bland-looking man with sandy hair dressed in an outfit similar to Barry’s. They waved me over and invited me to join them. It didn’t seem social and it became clear that I was right after Barry introduced his associate as Detective Rick Carlson. “He’s going to be the lead on this case,” Barry said and gave him the floor.

  Rick acknowledged me with a nod and then started to ask about the previous night. He had his notebook and pen out. It started with the basics, asking what I knew about Daisy before getting more specific about the setup for the event.

  “Did she request anything special?” he asked. His tone made it seem that he was just gathering information.

  I explained the green room setup, the mic so she could walk around and the drinks.

  “What exactly were the drinks?” he asked, not looking up from his notes.

  “There was bottled water and a strawberry smoothie,” I said. He glanced up from his notes and looked at me directly.

  “Tell me about the smoothie?” His tone had not changed, but his demeanor had. It was as if he wasn’t just listening to what I said, but also checking my body language.

  His question seemed a little vague to me. “What do you want to know?” Out of the corner of my eye I saw Barry’s eyes close for a second, and there was the slightest disapproving shake of his head because I had just answered the question with a question.

  “Who got the drink?” he asked.

  There was nothing vague about that and I said it was me.

  “And what did you do with it?”

  “I put it on the table Daisy and the other speakers were using for home base,” I said.

  “And what was in the smoothie?” he asked.

  “Strawberries, almond milk and a banana,” I said, remembering that I had read the ingredients on the label stuck on the cup.

  “Did you notice anything about how it smelled? Like an almond scent?”

  “There was a lid on it, so I didn’t really smell anything.” This was starting to get kind of weird. “Why all the questions about the drink? Was there something wrong with it?” I looked from one man to the other.

  Rick wasn’t going to say any more, but Barry took over. “She might have been poisoned.”

  I wanted to ask why he thought that, but just then the people in white suits pulled down the yellow tape on the entrance to the bookstore and announced they were finished. The two detectives took their coffees and went to leave. Rick Carlson glanced back at me with a piercing stare. “We’ll talk again,” he said and went on into the bookstore. What did that mean? I wondered as I stayed behind at the table trying to process that whole thing.

  Mr. Royal was busy clearing everything up when I finally went in. The chairs were already stacked and he was unrolling an area rug over a place where the carpeting had been cut out.

  “The CSI people did that,” he said before I could ask. “This will have to do in the meantime.”

  Even with the detectives and CSI people gone, the whole day felt off and I was relieved when the Hookers started to arrive for our happy hour session. At last, there was something that felt normal and routine. They were already around the table with yarn and sheets of paper spread out between them.

  “It would have been different if I’d been there,” Adele said, taking her seat at one end of the table. “For one thing, Eric would have been in the audience and been able to offer first aid,” she said, reminding everyone that as a motor officer for the LAPD he was a first responder. She looked at CeeCee and Elise. “But there was no way I could be a mere observer to an evening that had a crochet theme.” She tossed her head in a haughty manner that sent her beanie flying. She let out a loud sigh and went to retrieve it.