Love Can Be Murder

screen erupted in static fuzz, then a grainy black-and-white picture appeared, unrecognizable. Trees? A section of a house?
    "What is this?" Gloria demanded.
    "You'll see," Allyson said, the tone of her voice bordering on gleeful.
    Suddenly something appeared on the screen—something moving. A person, walking, down a path. Wearing overalls, carrying a stick. "That's me," Penny murmured.
    "Where?" Gloria asked.
    "At the museum."
    "What museum?"
    "The voodoo museum next to Penny's store," Allyson offered. "She was trespassing."
    Penny scoffed. "Is that what this is all about? I squeezed through an opening in the fence to deliver some mail that wound up in my box by mistake."
    "Keep watching," Allyson said.
    Penny squirmed, her eyes glued on the television. It looked as if the camera had been mounted on the eave at the rear of the Archambault mansion, pointing up the side of the house where she'd walked yesterday morning. She watched herself turn, then Deke appeared on the screen.
    Her heart jerked sideways to see him alive and well, unaware that he had only a few hours to live. He stood still, and she walked closer to him. The body language wasn't lost on her—he would have walked away had she not engaged him in conversation. They exchanged words—she remembered having made a crack about Sheena, and he had accused her of being jealous. Then he turned away, and she raised the stick she held and shook it at his back.
    Her stomach plummeted as she watched herself stride after him, her mouth moving angrily—it was, she remembered, when she'd asked him why he'd painted the house pink. His body language, as opposed to hers, was calm and controlled. He turned toward her, the camera registering her face and his back. They talked for a few seconds, then her expression turned to one of pleading. It was when she had asked for his help with Mona, she recalled. But Deke shook his head, clearly dismissing her. They exchanged a few more words, then she leaned into him and said something, her body language aggressive before she turned and walked off camera. Deke spoke in her direction, then he turned and walked toward the camera until he disappeared from the screen.
    When Maynard stopped the tape, tears stung Penny's eyes. Without the audio, she saw what everyone else in the room must: She looked hostile and vindictive.
    Allyson put her hands on the table and narrowed her eyes. "What do you have to say for yourself, Penny?"
    "It wasn't the way it looks on tape."
    "You didn't know Mr. Black was at the museum?" Maynard asked.
    "No—the museum wasn't even open yet. I went to drop the mail in the door slot."
    "So why was Mr. Black there?"
    "He said he was there on business. He was holding a file folder. Deke's father handled all the museum's business, and Deke took it over when his father died. He has a key to the office."
    "On the tape, it looks like the two of you were arguing."
    She pressed her lips together to regain a measure of calm. "Deke chided me for slipping through the fence, I made a comment about him painting the house pink, then he told me that Mona was going to have the city council stop me from planting the garden I need to grow my business." She gestured toward the television screen. "We had words, then I asked for his help to sway Mona."
    "And what did Deke say?" Allyson asked.
    Penny's throat constricted. "He said no."
    "And you were furious?"
    "No. I was... hurt, I guess."
    "Because he chose yet another woman over you?"
    The woman was hitting below the belt. "Maybe. But I wasn't angry enough to kill him."
    "What about the club you threatened him with?"
    Penny pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "It was a stick I picked up in case I ran into a snake as I crossed my property." She looked at Maynard. "You were there this morning—you saw how wild the underbrush is. And I didn't threaten Deke. He'd made some crack about me being jealous, and I was... irritated."
    "Irritated?"
    "That's right," Penny said. "And that's all."
    "So you weren't jealous?"
    Penny shook her head. "Not jealous. Just... sad, I guess."
    "And you wanted to get even?"
    "No," she said with as much conviction as she had in her. "Like I said, I wanted us to be civil. I even congratulated him on his engagement."
    Allyson backed up, but her tongue was in her cheek. Penny could tell she didn't believe her.
    "And how did Mr. Black respond?" Maynard asked.
    "He seemed surprised."
    "Surprised that you knew of the engagement?"
    "I suppose."
    "The