Charlotte held out the printout for inspection and Mina looked at it.
“That’s a poodle face,” she said, her shoulders seeming to unbunch.
“Yes, they were wearing a mask. But I thought maybe you’d recognize the clothing or the mask itself?”
Mina shook her head. “No.”
“We think it’s a woman, if that helps?”
“Why do you think it’s a woman?”
“This is a still-shot from a video. When you see her move, this person moves like a woman.”
Mina clutched the dog closer to her chest and shrugged. “No. Sorry.”
“Do you mind if I ask the others? Are the girls around or Lyndsey?”
“I don’t think—”
Mina didn’t finish her sentence before one of the girls entered the hallway eating an apple. From the supercilious look on her face, Charlotte guessed it was Payne.
“I’m around,” she said, walking toward the image in Charlotte’s outstretched hand without actually acknowledging Charlotte’s presence on the doorstep. “What’s this?”
“This is the person I think took the puppies. Or at least the person I think dropped them off.”
Payne looked at the photo and then at Mina, who seemed genuinely afraid of the girl.
“What is it?” asked Charlotte, worried the moment might be lost.
“It’s Lyndsey,” said Payne.
“Nooo—” began Mina and Payne looked at her as if she’d just said apples are square.
“Yes, it is. That’s her Halloween Hoedown costume from last year. Remember? She went as sexy poodle with that ridiculous pink bodysuit. So thirsty. You remember. I think you even said something to her about how it didn’t leave much to the imagination.”
Mina’s hand fluttered to her chest. “No, I don’t think so—”
“She had pink cotton balls glued to her butt, remember?” Payne rolled her eyes and put her hand next to her mouth to effect a stage whisper in Charlotte’s direction. “Me thinks she was hoping to fetch a man.”
Mina screwed her eyes shut tight and bowed her head as if she were trying to wish everyone away. “She couldn’t have taken the puppies. She isn’t allowed upstairs.”
Charlotte cocked her head. “She isn’t allowed upstairs?”
“No one is,” muttered Payne.
“Those were Mr. Miller’s rules?”
Mina nodded. “He’s very particular about his room and his personal areas.”
“He was a freak,” added Payne, her gaze already on her phone.
“Do you know where Lyndsey is now?”
Payne motioned behind her towards the barn. “I was just at the barn. The barn Jeep is missing. I think she went to her mother’s. Something’s up. I could hear her old lady screaming at her on the other end of the phone earlier.”
“Do you know where her mother lives?” Charlotte was ready to go anywhere to talk to Lyndsey. First the earring, now the mask. Everything pointed to her.
“No. Some old folks’ place.”
Charlotte grimaced. “We’re in Florida. Can you narrow it down a bit?”
Payne huffed and looked up from her phone to tilt back her head so fast and far Charlotte feared she’d flip over backwards.
“Let me think. She stopped there once with me in the car, coming back from a show.”
“A show?”
Charlotte got the look from Payne, and realized now she, not Mina, was the dumbest person on the planet.
“A horse show.”
“Gotcha.”
“The place was across from a Publix.”
“There’s a Publix every twelve feet.”
Payne snickered. “Yeah, true. I remember the neighborhood had something to do with fruit. Like mango, banana place—”
Charlotte perked. “Pineapple Port?”
“Yeah. That sounds right. I remember the pineapple sign now. Her mother was in there in some dinky trailer house. It was depressing.”
Charlotte glowered at her.
“I live in Pineapple Port.”
Payne sucked in a breath and returned her attention to her phone. “Yikes. Sucks to be you.”
“Payne!” said Mina, her cheeks coloring.
Payne gave Mina a sidelong glance but didn’t look up.
“Sorry,” she mumbled.
Charlotte turned her attention to Mina. “What’s Lyndsey’s last name?”
“Griffin.”
“Griffin,” echoed Charlotte. There was a Tracy Griffin in the new section. She’d seen the name in the newsletter and noted it because it was a homonym for gryphon and she’d read a lot of fantasy books as a kid. A gryphon was a lion with an eagle’s head and wings. It was a little like meeting someone named Joe Dragen.
“Thank you for your help.” Charlotte said the words to Payne but the girl had already started to wander away, somehow navigating to the doorway between the great hall and the next room without taking her focus from her phone.
Charlotte got the impression she’d worn out her welcome. With a nod and a thank you, she turned to leave.
Mina touched her arm to stop her.
“She’s a nice girl. She would never have killed Kimber.”
Charlotte stopped. “We were talking about her stealing the puppies.”
Mina’s face colored again. “Or that. She wouldn’t do that either.”
“Mina, is there something you’re not telling me?”
The woman opened her mouth and then shut it. She shook her head. “I just mean if she took the puppies I’m sure there’s a good reason.”
Charlotte wanted to stay and coerce Mina into coughing up the secrets she obviously had ready to burst from her lips, but she also wanted to catch Lyndsey before she left her mother’s. If her mother lived in Pineapple Port, there was a fairly good chance the woman with the sixth puppy had been her mother. She was probably freaking out that she’d been spotted at the vet’s and Lyndsey had gone to calm her down.
Once Lyndsey knew her mother might have been identified, Charlotte couldn’t be sure if she’d play it cool or try to run. There was a half-decent chance she’d never return to the farm if she was involved in the murder. Now was the time to find her.
“I’ve got to go,” she said to Mina, patting her hand. Mina released her and
