A Dyeing Shame--Myrtle Clover #3

Chapter Sixteen

Myrtle continued, "And it's not just the suitcases. Remember I told you that Red said the killer had worn gloves, even though it seemed like a heat-of-the-moment crime? It always struck me as sort of an anomaly. If it was a spontaneous crime of passion, why would the killer be wearing gloves? Then Kat told me that Dina was supposed to have dyed Kat's hair the night Tammy was murdered—as a practice run. Dina was all ready to start dyeing and then was too flustered to go through with it. We know how forgetful Dina is—Red mentioned that he saw her walking down the street holding hair shears and she nearly walked out with Jack's Dirty Doggy before I stopped her. When I was sitting with the Davenports at the diner, Dina came in with pink curlers in her hair. What if she still had the gloves on when Tammy returned from her meal with Connor? It all fits perfectly."

"Maybe it fits, but where's the why in all of this? Dina loved Tammy. For all intents and purposes, she's seemed totally devastated by her death." Miles took a restorative swig from his wine glass.

"Here's what I think happened. And I'll tell you what made me think of it...my soap opera. There's this character on Tomorrow's Promise who continues to get involved with these completely inappropriate men. They're these sort of brooding, ominous types. But finally, as sometimes happens in real life, the character snapped. She was put down one time too many, and she ended up killing the man she was involved with."

"And this reminds you of Dina and Tammy how?" asked Miles.

"We know Tammy's behavior was getting worse. What if Tammy upset Dina by dissing her? Dina had a lot of respect and appreciation for Tammy. But Tammy seemed totally scornful of Dina most of the time. What if Dina were afraid of being on her own again, and she lashed out at Tammy?"

Miles took his glasses off and rubbed them with a pressed handkerchief from his pants pocket. This usually meant he was about to suggest something that Myrtle wouldn't like. "If it all fits so perfectly, why don't we call up Red and Lieutenant Perkins and let them know? That way they can check it out and maybe even pressure a confession out of Dina."

Myrtle gave a scornful snort. "Do you really think Red is going to do anything about it?"

"Of course I do! It's his duty to check out that kind of thing, Myrtle. Didn't he take some sort of oath or something?"

"So what am I going to say to him? 'By the way, Red, Dina the manicurist is the killer. She gave away her identity with suitcases, latex gloves, a crystal ball clue, and a soap opera."

"Okay. Well, let me in on your plan. I can't wait to hear this one."

Myrtle leaned forward a little on the sofa. "Here's what I'm thinking. I'll lure Dina over to the house by letting her think that I know something. Which I do. You'll be skulking around and will take pictures or video when she starts coming after me."

"After which," interjected Miles in a dry voice, "she'll come after both of us. Since she's obviously not really in her right mind."

"So you'll be armed."

"With what?" Miles said cautiously. "I don't carry guns."

"Just a knife or a baseball bat or a hammer—something to smack her with."

Miles drained his wine and reached for the bottle to get a refill. "I don't like this idea, Myrtle. I'm filming Dina trying to kill you? I'm hitting a woman?"

"A murderer. You're hitting a murderer."

"Still."

"Here's the plan. Sloan Jones, over at the paper, has been sending me reminder emails about my investigative news story. He apparently desperately needs more content for the next issue. So I thought I'd do a recap story of what I've learned so far. But at the end, I'll explain that I'm hot on the trail of the killer and have found out something very interesting following the death of my friend, Agnes." Myrtle was dismayed at the lump in her throat. She cleared it with a cough. "Maybe I'll write a sort of tribute to Agnes, too. If it seems insensitive that I'm using Agnes' death to catch a murderer, just remember that Agnes would want her behind bars, too."