and stood up abruptly. I was relieved when her hands fell away.
With my shirt still pulled down from my shoulders, I quickly took a step toward the door, but then I felt somethingcold and metallic against the base of my neck.
'I don't think you want to leave just yet,' Meredith said in a menacing tone. She pushed me back into the chair and came around to the front. A small blue steel handgun was now pointed at my face. She explained that it was a gift from her boyfriend and small enough to keep in her pocket. He was concerned for her safety, with so many people showing up dead. I swallowed hard when she said his name. 'Lawrence.'
I looked toward the door. It was maybe fifteen feet away. Outside, the fair was in full swing. If I could just get to the door.
'You think you know something, don't you? You have been trouble since day one. I thought once you were off the hook, you'd back off.'
I'd always thought Meredith was pretty, but seeing how hard her blue eyes were, I changed my mind. Her mouth was set in a grim, straight line.
'It was all Ellen's fault, you know,' she said. 'I just wanted her to shut up. She was going on and on about Lawrence and his women, and how he always promised he was going to get a divorce and marry them. Like I'd believe I was like the others. She kept saying it over and over. . . .'
This wasn't good, I thought, getting a sinking feeling. Meredith was spilling her guts, confessing. I considered making a run for it. She'd have to be crazy to shoot me here. She would never get away with it. But the more she talked, the clearer it became that she was crazy and I had no doubt if I moved, she'd shoot.
'It was Ellen's way of telling me she knew about Lawrence and me. Then she started saying how terrible it was when someone you'd helped betrayed you. She'd set me up massaging Lawrence. It was supposed to help relieveall his stress.' Meredith got a sly smile and continued. 'I found a better way to relieve his stress. And Lawrence meant it when he told me he wanted to marry me. Best proof, we're together now.' She grimaced in annoyance. 'I just wish he'd stop talking about her.'
Was I supposed to say something here? Did Meredith want me to tell her to hang in there, that Lawrence was sure to come around and make all her dreams come true?
'Ellen just kept going on and on. Crocheting and talkingas I was giving her a massage. I just wanted her to shut up, and I did this thing called the sleep maneuver. They actuallydemonstrated it in massage school and said never to hold a client that way.
'I reached around her neck with the crook of my arm. She thought it was part of the massage, like I was steadying her while I did her back. Then I squeezed. In a few seconds she passed out, and the yacking stopped. I wanted to let go, but I knew she'd just start up again. And then she stopped breathing.'
Meredith rambled on about setting it up to look like a burglary, but since she had no experience, she'd bungled it. Now I understood why the smell of the massage oil botheredme. It must have been lingering on Ellen when I'd found her. And it had been in the air when I'd gone to Pink Sheridan that night. For a moment I thought I was going to throw up at the strong scent of lavender and eucalyptus, but the wave of nausea passed.
Now that Meredith had started, she was letting it all go. There was a certain look of relief on her face as she started talking about Natalie. Not telling anyone must have been hard.
'I came in from setting up my massage chair, and Nataliewas talking to you on the phone. She didn't realize I heard her tell you about finding Ellen's appointment book. Everybody had bought my story that I left Ellen's early becauseEllen said she had an important lunch meeting. Even that blond detective.' Meredith glared at me hard. 'It was all working out very nicely when the detective thought you were Ellen's lunch date, but once I knew about Ellen's appointmentbook, I realized it was only a matter of time beforeNatalie figured out Ellen had no lunch meeting. I couldn't afford to be caught in a lie. Natalie was getting too cozy with Lawrence, anyway. I had to protect my interests. And setting it up so it looked like she killed Ellen and then herself over the guilt made the date book irrelevant.'
I finally understood Natalie's cryptic comment about not what was there, but what wasn't. Not that it was any help to me now.
Meredith smiled again at her own cleverness as she describedhow she'd begun the massage in the outer office. 'I had to leave off the massage oil--the residue on her skin would have been a giveaway. She was easy to fool. When she wasn't looking, I dumped a little on the carpet, then showed her the spot, claiming I'd spilled the whole bottle. When I excused myself to use the restroom, I wrote the suicide note on Natalie's computer. I was wearing gloves, of carse. Then I suggested we finish on the balcony. Natalie fell for all the nonsense about ions and the special propertiesof a fresh-air massage. Everybody in the building was gone. Even the cleaning crew wasn't there. I did the same move on her. Once she passed out, I just pushed her over the edge.' Meredith's expression changed to concern. 'They really should consider a higher railing.'
I looked longingly toward the door. Meredith followed my gaze and gave me a shake of her head.
'Sorry, but it looks like you'll be missing the auction.' She took a step closer, and I could smell the metal of the gun. 'I don't like killing people. And I'm sure you'll be my last. I'll just say you had some kind of seizure while I was giving you a massage.' She rambled on about how she'd say she tried CPR, but it didn't work. I was feeling light-headednow. Time was definitely running out.
I felt my throat catch when she pulled a dispenser of duct tape off the shelving unit and positioned it with the gun under her arm. With her free hand, she pulled out a length and tore it against the cutting edge. She slapped it across my mouth, and I felt an instant sense of panic, as if I couldn't breathe. I sucked air hard through my nose and fought the dizzying feeling. She pulled off a longer piece of the metallic tape and went behind me. I felt it stick to one ankle and then go around the other before they were pulled together. With my feet bound together behind the chair, any thought of escaping on foot went out the window.
Meredith came back in front of me. She pulled off anotherlong piece, and I knew it was meant for my hands. Once she secured them, I would be totally helpless. I looked around for something, anything that could help me. There was nothing near me except for a small table with the bottle of massage oil.
She stepped toward my right arm, but the tape caught a bit of air and blew against itself, sticking together. As she shook her hand to free it, I made my move. She was lookingdown at the tape, which now had flipped up, the end sticking to her hand.
I grabbed the bottle and squeezed hard. The stream of strong-scented oil hit the floor and made an ever- enlarging puddle on the smooth tile. Meredith picked up on the movement and turned toward me.
'What are you doing?' she said, making a lunge to get the bottle. Big mistake. The oil made the slick floor impossible.Meredith lost her footing and fell with a large
I tore the tape off my mouth, not something I'd like to repeat. I could taste blood on my lip. I took a deep breath and tried to call for help, but my voice wouldn't work. Desperately,I leaned down to get the tape off my legs. It was not an easy proposition. I couldn't tear it or find the end to pull it, and I had no scissors to cut it.
Meredith had made it to her hands and knees and was trying to crawl out of the puddle, but her legs kept slipping from under her. Eventually she was going to figure out a way to get up, so I had to work fast. I rolled the tape into a band and pulled my legs against it, eventually getting it slack enough that I pulled out one foot at a time.
Being careful to avoid the oil, I jumped off the chair. I needed to restrain Meredith, but she was so oily, the tape wouldn't stick to her. Then I remembered the nervous crochetingI'd done, and pulled it out of my pocket. It had been just aimless work, and instead of making a coaster, I had just made a long foundation chain with several rows of single crochet. I took it and wrapped it around Meredith's feet. She was wiggling on the ground now, trying to get across the room to find the gun.
Suddenly the door flew open, and Adele marched in. 'Pink, what's taking so long? It's my turn.' Then she looked down and saw Meredith writhing in the oil on the floor with her feet tied together.
'She killed Ellen and Natalie, and she was trying to kill me.' I called out a number and told Adele to use her cell. For once, Adele didn't ask any questions.
A few moments later Barry sprinted in, gun drawn. I held up my hand to stop him before he hit the oil. He gave me an odd look, and I realized my shirt was still pulled down around my shoulders and unbuttoned in the front.
After that it seemed as though half the fair was crowded outside. Barry kept Meredith handcuffed until some
