Aretha Moon and the Dead Hairdresser: Aretha Moon Book 2 (Aretha Moon Mysteries) Linda Ross (books for students to read TXT) 📖

Back in the bathroom, I dropped my clothes in a pile, got in the shower and washed, then shampooed my hair.  I applied the mayo liberally, the combed through my hair to get as many seeds out as possible.  Then I shampooed again and rinsed.

I felt better when I toweled off, but I had a red rash on my face and neck, and I was still itching.

When I came back to the kitchen in clean clothes, Jimmy was gone, but he’d left a note.

Don’t know when I’ll be back.  J

Cryptic.  I was feeling hungry again, so I ordered a pizza and then called Thelma while I was eating.

“I’m itching all over,” she complained as soon as she answered.  “And I can’t get those little seeds out of my hair.”

“Mayo,” I said.  “I put it all over my hair and then combed them out.”

“I don’t think there’s enough mayo in the world to get all of these out.  And I’ve got a rash.”

“Me too.  You might have been right about the poison ivy.”

“You know, turns out being your friend is a dangerous job.”

“Someone has to do it.  I’m glad it’s someone with a direct line to God.”

“I seem to get a busy signal when I’ m with you.  What did Jimmy say about what you found?”

“Not much.  He listened and then he made a phone call.  When I got out of the shower he was gone.”

“Well, let’s hope this is all about over.  I don’t think I can take much more excitement.”

“Me too.”

Jimmy finally rolled in at 10.  I had fallen asleep on the couch with Nancy, and I woke up when he came through the door.

“What happened?” I asked.

“We’ve detained Loren Haskell.  A search of his property turned up what you said you found.  It does look like blood on the hammer handle.  We’ll test the rope for any DNA.  Looks like the cell phone is the one he used to text you.”

“What did he say?”

“Claims he hasn’t used the burn barrel for three weeks and he never saw that stuff before.  Says the animal trap isn’t his.  Has no idea how many of the iron bricks he has and if one is missing.  He says he was working in the barn the night Kara was killed.”

“Do you think you can charge him?” I asked.

“Probably.  There’s a lot of circumstantial evidence, and he doesn’t have an alibi.  We’ll have to see if there’s any DNA on the hammer that links him with Kara.”

I let out a long sigh.  “What a relief.  It’s finally over.”

Jimmy sat down next to me on the couch and scratched Nancy behind the ears.  “Do you want to go home?”

Now there was a loaded question.  “Not just yet, if you don’t mind,” I said.  “I guess I still have a case of anxiety.”

“Understandable.  I had the garage take your rental car, but your own car will be ready Monday.”

“Then maybe things will get back to normal,” I said.

“Speaking of normal, is that a rash on your neck?”

“Yeah.  There might have been some poison ivy where Thelma and I were hiding in the orchard.”

Jimmy shook his head and left the couch.  He returned with a bottle of calamine lotion and spread some on his hand.  Then he carefully and slowly dabbed it on my neck.  It was cold, and I shivered involuntarily.

“Almost done,” he said.  But I wished he would go on forever.

“Rash anywhere else?” he asked.

I was tempted to invent a rash in a few places, but I shook my head.

“All right.  Let’s get some sleep.  I’ll have to get back to the station tomorrow and start interviewing Haskell.”

“I’ll call Eileen, and she can pick me up tomorrow to go downtown for the Christmas tree lighting.  We always take Tiffany and Desi.”

“Sounds good.  I’ll check in with you tomorrow evening.’

I let Nancy out for a last pee, and then we went to bed.  I lay on my back and listened to Jimmy moving around, getting ready for bed.  After he’d been in bed an hour I was still awake.  I got up and took a Tums, then looked in on him.  He was sleeping peacefully, and I wished I could do the same.  I don’t know why I was still unsettled.  Maybe it was the scary trip to Loren Haskell’s place today.  And maybe it was the itchy rash on my neck.  Or maybe it was just menopausal hormones or the lack thereof.  But something didn’t feel right.

* * * * *

I slept fitfully, but I still didn’t hear Jimmy leave in the morning.  When I got up, there was another note.

See you sometime tonight.  Donuts on the table.  Nancy’s been out.

I puttered around Jimmy’s house while trying not to be nosy, and I finally called Eileen to come get me early.  I fed Nancy and let her out again before Eileen picked me up.

“I heard the good news,” she said.  “They’ve arrested someone for Kara Koch’s murder.”

“I think they’re just detaining him at the moment,” I said.  “But all of the evidence points to him.”

“Well, we’ll all sleep better now.  I knew Jimmy would get the guy.”

Yeah, right.  It was all Jimmy.  Much as I liked Jimmy, I also liked a little credit now and then.

“You know, Thelma and I found the evidence.”

“You and Thelma?”  She sounded incredulous.

“We scouted around Haskell’s place yesterday.  I spotted the iron bricks in the barn and then the rope, hammer and cell phone in a burn barrel.”

Eileen cut her eyes to me, and I could tell she didn’t believe me.

Eileen suggested we get some lunch downtown, so we went to the Mark Twain Dinette.  Eileen got a salad with grilled chicken,