Corpse Suzette

didn’t,
but I’ve been hanging out with you. It’s contagious and you’re a carrier.”
    “That’s true. If liars’
pants really did catch on fire, I’d be buying new drawers five times a week.”

Chapter

14
     
     
     
    T he ride to Emerge with
Abigail was a bit more pleasant than usual for Savannah. Abigail had brightened
considerably at the prospect of spending time with Jeremy Lawrence. She was
somewhat less morose, and considering it was Abigail, “less morose” qualified
as “darned near giddy” in Savannah’s book.
    And the moment they arrived
and entered the building, a swarm of friendly Emerge employees, including
Jeremy Lawrence, descended on Abigail and rushed her away into the luxurious
and mysterious recesses of the spa.
    In less than two minutes,
they disappeared and Savannah found herself alone in the lobby with only Myrna
for company.
    And Myrna wasn’t all that
sociable. In fact, she was downright standoffish.
    She returned to her desk
and busied herself there, shuffling papers, sticking them into a folder, and
ignoring Savannah entirely.
    Savannah followed her and
sat, unbidden, on one of the chairs next to her desk. “That was so sweet of you
guys, arranging this whole day of beauty for Abigail. I think it’ll do her a
world of good.”
    Myrna didn’t reply, just
continued to mess with her papers, a look of anger mixed with hurt on her face.
    Savannah wondered what
might have happened to change the climate so quickly. When they had spoken on
the phone less than an hour ago, Myrna had been her usual warm and friendly
self. Now things had gone from warm to frosty and Savannah had to find out why.
    “Is everything okay,
Myrna?” she asked. “Have I upset or offended you in some way?”
    “You mean, by lying to me,
telling me you’re a reporter when you’re really a private investigator?”
    Oh, that. Savannah cursed herself
for not telling Myrna herself. It was always worse if they heard it from
someone else.
    “I’m sorry, Myrna.
Sometimes in my line of work, I’m not always honest with people. It’s a part of
the job that I’m uncomfortable with. Especially when I’m dealing with someone I
like, I’d rather be forthcoming.”
    Myrna stared down at a
folder on her desk. “You could have told me. If you could tell somebody like
Devon, you could have told me. I thought you and I were girlfriends.”
    “I didn’t confide in Devon
as a buddy,” Savannah said. “I had to tell her because I was with Sergeant
Coulter when he went out to inform her of Sergio’s death. And I’d still like to
be friends with you, if you can forgive me for that deception.”
    Myrna looked up at her, the
anger in her eyes softening. “Is there anything else you need to tell me?
Anything else you might have lied... or been deceptive about?”
    “No. That’s it. Really.”
    “Okay.” She took a deep
breath. “Then let’s start over.”
    “Done!” Savannah glanced
down at Myrna’s desk, at the one and only folder there. It had Abigail’s name
on it. “Not a lot going on, I guess,” she said.
    “Next to nothing. We’re
going to close the doors for good tomorrow. With Suzette gone and Sergio dead,
there doesn’t seem to be any reason to go through the motions anymore. That’s
why we figured we’d go all out for Abigail today. Might as well start and
finish Emerge with panache.”
    “And how about Mystic
Twilight? What’s going to happen to that spa?”
    “Same thing. It was about
to fold anyway. Closing will just be a formality at this point. It’s all very
sad.”
    “Do you have any leads on
another job?”
    “No,” Myrna said sadly.
“Everybody wants nineteen-year-olds at the front desk at these clinics. Maybe
I’ll retire. Move to Florida and spend my time lying in the sun.”
    “There are worse ways to
spend the rest of your life, that’s for sure.”
    Myrna reached beneath her
desk and took out a small box. “I just need to pack up a few things here,” she
said, “and then I’m off to... well... the rest of my life, as you say.”
    She opened a drawer and
began to load personal items into the box: nail polish, makeup, sugarless gum
and mints, some costume jewelry, and a few pictures.
    Savannah reached for one of
the snapshots. “May I?”
    “Sure.”
    It was a picture of a white
poodle, holding a small black teddy bear in his teeth. The teddy bear was
wearing a bright red and green plaid vest and looked a bit ragged around the
edges. Savannah could swear