She smiled, her dark red lipstick penciled in perfectly. “Hello ladies, is there something I can help you with?”
“Oh, we just stopped in to take a look at what you might have for the fall. Summer has been fun, but we’re more than ready for fall,” I told her.
“I just wish the weather would cool off so I could wear sweaters,” Christy added.
Betty looked us up and down and smiled again. “I’m with you on that. I love fall and winter. Actually, I just really love sweaters and boots and coats. How come warm weather clothes aren’t as cute as fall weather clothes?”
I smiled. “I feel the same way about it. There’s just something about cold weather clothing that makes me happy.”
“What do you think about this sweater?” Christy asked, holding up the hot pink sweater again. “Do you think it looks good on me?”
She nodded. “It complements your skin tone. You should definitely get it.”
“I told you it was perfect for your skin tone,” I said.
Christy nodded and folded the sweater up carefully, put it back on the shelf, and turned back to Betty. “I’m absolutely going to come back and get it, but I have to wait until I get paid. And until there’s a sale.”
She nodded, tucking a lock of her short red hair back behind her ear. “I always wait for sales myself. There’s no sense in spending money if you don’t have to.”
I nodded. “Betty, I heard about your employee, Hailey Strong. She still worked for you, didn’t she?”
Betty folded her arms in front of herself and nodded. “Yes, she still worked here. Although between the three of us, I have to tell you if she hadn’t died, she probably wouldn’t have been working here much longer.”
I wasn’t sure if I was more surprised by what she said or the tone in which she’d said it. It was clear Betty didn’t think much of Hailey.
“What do you mean by that?” I asked.
“The girl was lazy. I regretted the day I hired her. Of course, it took me a while to catch on to her, because when I was here at the store, she ran around like a little busy bee. But word from the other girls got back to me. She was lazy, and as soon as I walked out the door, she would slack off and the other girls would have to do her job for her.” She rolled her eyes. “Some people.”
“Oh, that’s a shame,” I said carefully. “I hate having to work with people like that.”
She nodded. “We all do. But here I was paying her good money to hang around the store and do practically nothing. I tell you, I need to check the security cameras more often.”
Christy nodded. “That would be one way to catch someone like that.”
“Still, it’s a shame that she died the way she did.” I tilted my head, looking at her, hoping she had some information that might be helpful.
She nodded. “Yes, it is a shame. I certainly would never have wished anything bad on her. Does Ethan have any idea what happened?”
I shook my head. “No, it’s kind of early yet. But he’s investigating, and I know he will figure out what happened before we know it.”
She ran the tip of her tongue along her lower lip as she thought. “Honestly, the girl just seemed to find trouble. It was like she was a magnet for it. The other girls always talked about the way she would run around with different men, and twice I had customers come in here screaming at her because she had been fooling around with their boyfriends. I should have gotten rid of her months ago.”
I was stunned by this. “They came into the store and started yelling at her?”
“Yes, I was so embarrassed. I had a talk with her. A long one. But did it help? No. Honestly, I know what kind of family she comes from and I should have known better than to hire her, but stupid me. I did.”
She knew what kind of family she came from? Betty Mays had a reputation for being a snob. And that statement certainly said it all.
“So do you know anything in particular? Something that might lead to finding out what happened with her? Do you know if either of those women that came in accusing her may have still been holding a grudge?” I ran my hand across a sweater on the display.
She shrugged. “No, I have no idea. Although, I have my eye on her boyfriend, Joey Harper. There’s something about that boy that I don’t like. I was in the shoe store about a month ago and he started smooth-talking me. I couldn’t understand it, complimenting me on my clothes and the shoes I was wearing. But in the end, he hit me up for a job. Can you believe it? Why would I hire a man to work in a woman’s clothing store? I mean, I guess it wouldn’t be terribly unusual, but I just can’t see it. All that complimenting and all he wanted was a job.” She rolled her eyes.
She seemed miffed about Joey being nice to her just so he could ask for a job. I couldn’t imagine anybody not being nice to a potential employer. Had she read something else into it up until the point that he asked about the job? Odd.
“Was Hailey a full-time employee here?” Christy asked.
Betty snorted. “Goodness, no. I can’t imagine having to put up with that girl for forty hours a week. She only worked about twenty hours a week. She went to college during the day and worked here in the afternoons and evenings.”
“I suppose working part-time is the most a lot of college students
