Love Can Be Murder

nodded. "At the party he told my employee Marie that Deke hid assets during our property settlement."
    "So he wasn't completely loyal to your ex."
    "Plus he could have been gossiping to cozy up to Marie. I asked him this morning if Deke had any enemies, and he said Diane Davidson had threatened him."
    "Her name was on the party list, too."
    "Right. She's a customer of mine, but I don't know her very well. Apparently, she was fired from teaching at the high school because she's Wiccan."
    "What's her connection to Deke?"
    Penny told him about the lawsuit Diane Davidson had wanted to file.
    He put the car into gear. "I say we pay Diane Davidson a visit. Do you know where she lives?"
    Penny squinted, trying to remember. "In a new subdivision—all their names sound the same to me. Something Heights, maybe."
    "Where?"
    She stopped, then the realization hit her. "On Hairpin Hill, where I was running this morning."
    "Okay, let's get that phone, then we'll start asking questions. Where can we find Steve Chasen?"
    "He said he was going to open Deke's office today. It's just a few doors down from the cell phone place."
    B.J. smiled. "I love small towns."
    But Penny was having different thoughts, since another group of women bearing voodoo dolls was descending on The Charm Farm. She sank lower in the seat. "Get me out of here."
    He obliged, and she told him which way to turn.
    Deke's office was on the far end of the city limits, away from the square, past the new high school and the Bi-Lo grocery and the car wash, close to the interstate. Deke's parents had constructed a small strip mall with brick fronts and elegant entrances, primarily to house his father's law practice. The structure, which they had dubbed Charmed Village, had turned out to be a cash cow, however, when the other spaces had quickly filled up with Primo Dry Cleaners, Tarn's Electronics, Lewis Taxidermy, S&C Upholstery, Quinto's sub sandwiches, and the Looky-Loo bookstore.
    "Tarn's Electronics sells phones," she said, pointing. They parked and walked in, armed with the notes Guy had given her. The clerk appeared to still be in high school. He stared at her, and his Adam's apple bobbed as he answered her questions. He'd obviously seen the article on Deke's murder in the newspaper.
    "This is the one you want," B.J. cut in, setting a phone on the counter.
    She looked up at the matter-of-fact certainty in his eyes and was struck by his self-assurance. It was nice to have someone who made her life... easier. Deke had always been full of promises and good intentions, but in truth, he'd rarely made good on them. He'd bought the Victorian with assurances that he would help with the restoration, but when the time had come, he'd always been working late or too tired, or he'd needed to spend time with his mother. Meanwhile, Penny had worked at his office full-time, restored the house, and taken care of the details of their life, allowing him to concentrate on his career.
    She frowned. And on his philandering.
    "It's just a suggestion," B.J. said mildly. "I've had almost every model on the market."
    "Thanks. I'll take it."
    While she filled out paperwork to activate the phone, B.J. withdrew the flyer of the missing Reynolds girl and asked the young man if he'd seen her. The clerk squinted at the picture, then scratched his head. "Maybe."
    "Maybe?" B.J. pressed. "Where?"
    "I can't be sure, but I think she was in the sub shop one day."
    "When?"
    The young man shrugged. "Maybe a month ago." He flushed. "I remember a girl with long blond hair. It was almost white."
    "Did you get a look at her face?"
    More blushing ensued. "I wasn't looking at her face "
    B.J.'s mouth quirked. "Did she have a good figure?"
    "Yeah, she was stacked."
    Penny kept her eyes on the form she was filling out. Missing persons flyers might be more effective if they showed the subject from the neck down.
    B.J. grunted. "Did you notice her clothes? Did she have a backpack?"
    The boy shook his head. "I don't remember, man."
    "Was she with anyone?"
    He shrugged again. "It might not even have been her, you know?" He handed the flyer back to B.J.
    B.J. nodded. "Do you mind if I put this on your bulletin board?"
    "Knock yourself out."
    "There's a number to call if you remember anything else," B.J. said. "It could be very important."
    Penny's heart squeezed at the intensity in B.J.'s voice. He desperately wanted to find Jodi Reynolds alive. He tacked the flyer and two others with much older dates—both women,