Love Can Be Murder

did. He said he was tapping into his trust fund."
    "You don't think he was?"
    "Mona still controls the trust fund that was created for him when Deke's father passed away. And she didn't look favorably upon extravagant purchases. She wanted Deke to be classy… and under her thumb."
    "So what did his mother think about his new girlfriend?"
    "Not much, I'm sure, but Mona kept it to herself. When she stopped by the party, though, I was feeling vindictive."
    "And?"
    "And I broke the news to her that Deke and Sheena were engaged."
    He sucked in through his teeth. "I'll bet Mama wasn't too happy."
    "She tried not to react, but I could tell she was shocked—and angry."
    "Did he go out of his way to do things to annoy his mother?"
    "Not usually."
    "So were you surprised he was engaged to the Linder woman?"
    She rubbed the condensation on her water glass. "Frankly...yes. I thought they probably would live together for a while. Sheena just doesn't seem like Deke's type, not for the long run, anyway. The funny thing is, I don't think even Sheena thought she was Deke's type for the long run."
    "You mean considering the fact she suspected you and Deke of messing around behind her back?"
    "Right. And when I saw Deke outside the museum and congratulated him, he seemed surprised."
    "Surprised that you knew about the engagement?"
    Penny bit her lip, replaying his reaction in her mind. "I thought so, but now... now I'm wondering if maybe he was just surprised."
    "As in, he hadn't proposed?"
    She shrugged. "Maybe."
    "Well, it's possible that Sheena made it up out of desperation. Maybe we're back to the girlfriend after all."
    "There's more," Penny said. "The voodoo doll that someone brought to the party...apparently the clothes were made out of one of Deke's suits."
    He grimaced. "Wow, that's blunt. So whoever made the doll had access to his clothes."
    "Right. And since I didn't do it, the most obvious answer is Sheena."
    "Did she happen to drop by the party?"
    "No, but she was at Caskey's that night, and the gift table was next to the door. I guess it's possible she put it there without anyone seeing her."
    He sighed. "But then so could anyone else who was at the bar that night."
    "They would've had to know about the party," she pointed out.
    "Did Sheena?"
    "Not from me." Then she squinted. "But I did mention something to Deke about having the party, so he might have said something to her." Sheena's harsh words about how she and Deke had talked about Penny resounded in her mind.
    B.J. nodded. "So maybe they were having problems. She threatened him, he went looking for his gun and couldn't find it. He called you to see if you knew where it was."
    "And Sheena overheard him calling me," Penny added, her adrenaline pumping. "To set me up, she gets a stake from my garden. Deke is drunk, so she's able to stab him."
    "Then she panics," B.J. said. "She finds a voodoo doll at the festival, dresses it in one of Deke's suits that she cuts up, and puts it on the gift table."
    "Then she finds me at the bar," Penny said, "and tells me Deke is looking for me. She left the phone off the hook thinking that I'd walk to the house if I got a busy signal."
    "Then she conveniently arrives home to find you standing over the body and calls the police," B.J. said.
    Penny's jaw dropped. "We solved the case!"
    But he gave a little laugh. "Just because all the pieces fit doesn't mean they're in the right place. She has an alibi, remember?"
    "She was lying in a tanning bed—that alone should be a crime."
    He laughed. "What would she gain from killing him?"
    "The assets he supposedly put in her name and in the name of her company."
    He nodded. "Pretty good. But you also have something to gain from his death."
    "What?"
    "Revenge."
    She sipped from her water glass. "That's not the kind of person I am."
    "That's the kind of person everyone has the potential to be," he murmured. Then he removed a napkin from his pocket. "There were two names on the list of people at the party that you haven't mentioned: Liz Brockwell and Wendy Metzger."
    "Friends of mine from college," she said. "Liz lives in New Orleans, Wendy in Atlanta. They came to surprise me."
    "Did they know Deke?"
    Penny nodded. "We were all in college together, but they were primarily my friends. In fact, Liz didn't particularly like Deke, but I think she's kind of bitter toward men in general because of her two divorces."
    "She's the one who lives in New Orleans?"
    "Right."
    "Could she have brought the