shouted.
'Right out in the parking lot.'
Behind Gretchen, April gasped.
'I told you this would happen eventually,' Nina said with a slightly smug tone, although her complexion was several shades lighter than usual.
One of Nina's predictions, usually far off the mark, had come true, and she wasn't about to miss the opportunity to promote it.
'Was he shot?' Gretchen asked Bonnie, remembering the specifics of Nina's premonition that someone would eventually shoot Ronny.
'No. Stabbed with some kind of knife,' Bonnie continued. 'One with pink nail polish all over the handle.'
Gretchen's eyes slid to the floor, to her open toolbox and the assortment of repair tools, all painted Poodle Skirt Pink. Nina reached over with her foot and casually flipped the toolbox cover closed.
No one but Gretchen noticed.
Gretchen quickly gathered her unsold dolls and stored them under her table. The show had ended earlier than planned. The big attraction waited outdoors.
'Are you missing a knife?' Nina whispered, as they swung the puppies and purses onto their shoulders to join the throng of people moving outside. Tutu pranced lightly ahead, while Nina clutched her pink leash.
April, in spite of her bulk, had already outdistanced them in the race to the doors. The opportunity to view a murder was irresistible, and the hall was clearing out fast.
'Yes,' Gretchen answered, remembering her search through the workshop. 'But don't say anything yet. It can't possibly be mine.'
'What kind of knife was it?'
'My hobby knife. I noticed it missing yesterday when I packed up. But it's just a razor blade in a holder. I don't think it could kill anyone. Cut them up pretty bad, but, as a murder weapon…?' Gretchen shook her head. 'Impossible.'
Still, Gretchen had a sinking feeling that the knife was hers. How many other people paint their tools pink? She struggled to remember when she had last seen the knife. Did she paint the handle? Yes. She had painted it right before Nina left to have her hair done. Then Steve came in and ran his hands along the tools. He was the last person in the workshop aside from her. There was only one explanation. Steve must have taken it. But why?
'It can't be mine,' she said again, without confidence. Nina harrumphed and continued moving forward. Gretchen noticed an exit door off to the back of the hall.
'Let's get out of the crowd,' she said. 'The police are never going to let all these people get close to the… scene.' She couldn't bring herself to say
Nimrod and Sophie sensed the excitement around them, and both rode high in their purses for a better view. Nimrod panted heavily, his tiny eyes alert. Sophie's topknot bounced. Gretchen slammed through the exit door with Nina right behind her.
The Arizona sun temporarily blinded Gretchen. She quickly donned sunglasses and realized that they were standing at the rear of the parking lot. Even in early October, the heat struck her instantly. At least one hundred degrees. She moved to the side of the building and peeked around the corner.
A perfect view. Nina edged up next to her and shortened Tutu's leash to keep her close.
On the far side, about seventy yards away, police were trying to contain the swelling crowd. Ambulances and squad cars crept along, and Gretchen wondered how the authorities could preserve the crime scene and find potential witnesses with this mass of humanity.
A better question occurred to Gretchen. How did someone manage to murder Ronny in the middle of the afternoon in a full parking lot without being seen?
Uniformed police swarmed the lot. Several bent over something on the ground behind a car, but Gretchen couldn't make out a body. She felt weak around the knees and leaned heavily against the building for support.
Matt Albright rose from the huddle on the ground, looked over his shoulder, and spotted Gretchen. He did a double take, spoke briefly to another officer, and walked over.
'I think we can rule out premeditation,' he said, the strain showing on his face. 'This was definitely an expression of rage.' He shook his head. 'So much for a quiet day off. Why do I feel like I'm going to catch this case? Ronny wasn't on my list of favorite people, and I'm not particularly fond of dolls.'
'Ronny could piss off the pope,' Nina added. 'Excuse my expression.'
'You two should pack up for the day,' Matt advised.
'We're going to shut the show down until tomorrow. That's the only way to dispel the sightseers. We need to clear the parking lot. Our people can't even get their vehicles in.'
'What happened?' Gretchen asked.
'Looks like the killer attacked as Ronny approached his car. He must have been waiting for Ronny.'
'How awful,' Nina said, eyeing Gretchen. 'We heard he was stabbed. Glad that isn't true.'
Matt frowned. 'My mother was lurking around, soaking up as much information as she could pick up. That's classified information. We're withholding it for now, so you never heard it from me.'
'It is true then?' Gretchen looked away from the activity, up at Camelback Mountain rising in the distance over the city. Red, barren clay. Like someone had tried to fashion a camel from potter's clay and failed.
'Sort of. Whoever killed Ronny also stuck an X-Acto knife in his back as a finishing touch.' His frown deepened.
'I don't get it, though. The blade wasn't long enough to do any real damage. It's the tire iron we found nearby that will turn out to be the murder weapon.'
Nina stared at Gretchen, waiting for her response. Whatever she decided, she knew Nina would back her up. But Gretchen didn't know for certain whether Steve had taken the knife from the workshop, and she suddenly felt uncharacteristically protective of her former boyfriend. Gretchen couldn't share her suspicions with anyone, especially not with Matt, a cop. At least, not yet. Gretchen met Nina's gaze silently.
'I better get back,' Matt said.
He strode away.
11
Nina rammed through the Impala's gears. 'I really don't know why you insist on getting involved in Daisy's life,'
she said. 'She's perfectly happy where she is.'
Gretchen didn't know how anyone could be content to roam the Phoenix streets without a place to sleep or a guaranteed meal.
'I'm not convinced of that,' Gretchen said. 'This is a good time to check on her, since we have a few extra hours. And maybe she knows something about Ronny that will be helpful. The street people seem to be connected to the city's pulse.'
She gazed out the window. 'Like Native American drum signals. I don't know how they do it.'
Daisy, a homeless drama queen, and her alcoholic friend, Nacho, had entered Gretchen's life right after she'd arrived in Phoenix, and she felt a special fondness for them, even though their refusal to accept her offers of assistance frustrated her beyond words. Traffic on Central Avenue edged slowly forward, the perpetual gridlock an inescapable fact of life in Phoenix. For once, Gretchen didn't mind. It gave her an opportunity to think about Ronny's death and Steve's connection to her knife.
'Why didn't you tell Matt that you think the knife belongs to you?' Nina asked from the driver's seat of her red Impala.
'I don't know. I'd like to wait a little longer. I just have a bad feeling about the whole thing.'
'That's my girl. Your inherited psychic gifts are finally kicking in.'
'Because I have a bad feeling about a murder, and my repair tool was used as a weapon?'
'Exactly.' Nina punched the horn and slammed on the brakes when the car ahead of her stopped abruptly. 'My
