Love Can Be Murder

many other cars—she recognized Mona's Cadillac and Steve Chasen's white BMW, plus Sheena's yellow Miata. She looked for Liz's silver Mercedes but didn't see it. She had hoped to hear from her friend, but she realized people had other pressing issues in their lives.
    A police car sat next to the hearse, and next to the police car was a dark Ford Crown Victoria—Maynard's car, no doubt.
    She hadn't realized she was still sitting until the passenger door opened and Guy gallantly offered his hand. She took it, grateful to have someone to lean on, since her legs felt unreliable. On the way in the front door, they passed Tilton Means, who was walking out. He stopped and held open the door, keeping his gaze averted, as was his way.
    "Hello, Tilton," she said.
    "Hi," he said in a monotone, probably in deference to his severe underbite. He was a big man, with thick limbs and no neck. Penny's heart went out to him—his life, and Hazel's, couldn't have been easy.
    When they walked into the entry way, the strains of a hymn were playing over speakers. The sickening scent of preserved live flowers hit her, causing her stomach to roll. Greg Goddard, portly elder son of the family, stood next to the door to greet visitors. When he saw Penny, he blanched a bit under his tanning bed tan—not a good sign, she decided.
    "Penny," he said with false cheer. "We, um, wondered if you'd be coming."
    "Why wouldn't I come to my ex-husband's funeral?" she asked politely, taking Goddard's offered hand. Real or imagined, there always seemed to be an underlying metallic scent on the man.
    He chose to answer by coughing violently, then he said, "You didn't talk to the newspeople, did you?"
    "No," she said evenly.
    He looked almost disappointed, then said, "Right this way," and led her and Guy to a pew in the back of the crowded chapel. "The service will begin in five minutes."
    Her arrival caused a stir, she noticed. Heads turned and whispers ensued. She looked around and saw that Mona sat like a stone on the front pew, staring at the closed casket in the front of the room, with Steve Chasen sitting next to her. Curious. On the other side of the aisle, Sheena sat in the front pew, dressed outrageously in yellow—to match her car, no doubt. Next to her sat a few people whom Penny didn't recognize, but judging from the odd orange glow of their skin, she guessed that they worked for Sheena at the salon.
    Hazel lifted her hand to Penny from about midway, and Penny smiled back gratefully. She saw people she recognized as Deke's clients, or colleagues from New Orleans. Jules was there, sitting off to herself on the other side of the chapel. She looked at Penny, then shook her head mournfully and looked away, rubbing the head of her carved walking stick.
    Chief Allyson Davis and Detective Maynard sat on the same pew as Penny and Guy, but down a few feet. They both were watching her intently as she sat and seemed to observe how other people reacted to her presence.
    The wood seat of the pew was hard and cold—like Deke, she thought suddenly, unable to reconcile the warm, fun-loving man with the body lying beneath the spray of white roses over the lid of the deep purple and bright gold casket—the colors of LSU. It was so surreal that she could almost believe he wasn't dead, that he'd simply gone on a trip or moved away. Except she'd seen his stabbed body, rid of much of its blood, his cold, dead eyes staring at nothing...
    She shuddered, and next to her, Guy gripped her hand. Gloria Dalton appeared at the end of the pew and shimmied down to sit on the other side of Penny. And just before Greg Goddard closed the chapel door, Liz arrived, seeking out Penny with red-rimmed eyes. Gloria moved down so Liz could sit next to Penny. She smiled at the two women, feeling fortified by their presence.
    The service was heartbreaking...heartbreakingly short, that is. There was no minister, which was strange, considering how religious Mona propped herself up to be. Greg Goddard gave the eulogy, which mentioned Deke's college days, his law degree, his practice, his father, and his mother, even his "companion" Sheena Linder...but his eight-year marriage to Penny Francisco was noticeably omitted.
    She choked back tears to think their marriage hadn't even warranted a shout-out in his eulogy. Guy squeezed one hand, and Liz squeezed the other. She stared at the back of Mona's head, wishing for once that she had the ability to telepathically convey what she was thinking