Aretha Moon and the Dead Hairdresser: Aretha Moon Book 2 (Aretha Moon Mysteries) by Linda Ross (pdf to ebook reader txt) 📕

I think Thelma was praying all the way home.

“Why don’t you come with me to the party?” I said finally.  “With two of us, they’d surely let us in.”

“Are you kidding me?  Who knows what goes on at those kind of parties?”

“Well, an ex-nun probably wouldn’t.  I’m sure it’s just a little naughty fun.  Nothing serious.”

“You’re going to end up chained to the wall in some maniac’s basement,” Thelma said darkly.

“I really doubt that.  At least come shopping with us tomorrow.  I don’t want to look like a fool.”

Thelma snorted.  “Nobody’s going to care what you’re wearing after the maniac chains you to the wall.  He’ll take off your clothes anyway.  He may leave the bustier on.  That will look good in the police photos after they find your body.”

I decided not to answer that.

* * * * *

Eileen stopped by on her way to her gallery the next morning.  I was fortifying myself with a few fun-size Snickers bars for breakfast.  If they ever need a testimonial, I’m ready to state under oath that they are indeed a fun size.

“I brought you another puzzle,” Eileen said, setting a box on the kitchen table.  “That’s not your breakfast, is it?”

“Pretty much so.  Thanks for the puzzle, but I don’t think they work for me.”

“I guess not if you’re eating candy for breakfast.”  She glanced around and saw the other puzzle on the coffee table.  “What happened?  Did you lose some of the pieces?”  She walked over to the table and stared down at the misshapen mess.  “Aretha, don’t you even know how to put together a puzzle?”

“I was impaired,” I said.  “It could happen to anybody.”

“Honestly, I don’t know what you’re thinking sometimes,” she said in exasperation.  “And you missed the meeting last night.  We voted to rename the club.  People thought Fat Blasters was too negative with the word fat in it.  So now we’re the Slenderizers.”

“Sounds like the name of an expensive girdle,” I said.

“And you’d better have a good excuse for not coming last night,” she went on, “or you’re going to have to pay a fine.”

“I went to a female impersonator bar.”

Eileen just stared at me.

At least the people at work were more interested in what I’d done last night than Eileen was.  Thelma had already told them about seeing Avery perform and they wanted details.

“What do the guys do with their junk?” Marybeth asked.  “Don’t they wear skintight outfits?”

“They do, and I have no idea where they hide the jewels.”

Marybeth and JoAnn were still talking about the logistics of being a female impersonator when Thelma and I left for lunch.

We had just been served our order in the pub down the street when Rose walked in the door.  She looked around, saw us, smiled and came over.

“Do you mind if I join you for a minute?” she asked.  “I wanted to run something by you.”

Thelma slid over, and Rose sat down next to her.

“How are you doing?” I asked Rose.

“Good days, bad days,” she said, pushing a lock of her perfect hair back from her face.  “That’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about.  I really need something to keep me busy so I’m not always thinking about what happened.”  She took a deep breath.  “I was thinking of applying for a job at the paper where you work.  I could help with the story.”

“I don’t know,” I said hesitantly.  “That might just make you more depressed.”

“I suppose you’re right,” she said.  “But I want to help in some way.  I mean, we weren’t close, but she was my sister.”

“Well,” I said, “there’s one thing you could do.  Can you tell us anything about Kara’s life when you both were growing up?”

“Not a lot,” she said.  “Arnold, Missouri, is a fairly small town, but we lived separate lives.  After we were adults we grew even further apart.  And then she went to jail.  After she got out, she came to church with me for a while, but then she dropped out.”

“What church was that?” Thelma asked.

“The Wings of Hope.  It’s right on the main highway through town.  And she used to work at a bar there, the Lucky Seven Lounge.  I don’t remember where it is, if it’s still there even.”

“Okay, thanks.  That helps a lot.”

After she left, I said to Thelma, “I feel sorry for her.  She moves here to repair her relationship with her sister, and then her sister is murdered.  So what does she do now?”

“I think she’ll find something,” Thelma said.  “She comes across as a resourceful woman.”

“We’d better go,” I said, looking at my watch.  “Time for me to get sexy.”

Thelma rolled her eyes.

Avery was waiting for us just inside Victoria’s Secret.  He was back to being dressed as a man, but it didn’t seem to bother him in the least to be seen loitering in a woman’s lingerie shop.

“Why does your purse have a hole in it?” he asked.

“I had a run-in with a dog.”

That seemed to satisfy him.

“I’ve found the perfect thing,” he said, leading us to the back of the store where there were all kinds of lacy tops on display.  He held up a black thing with thin straps.  It flared at the waist, which I figured would make my hips look all that much bigger.  “Look at the back,” he said enthusiastically, turning it around to show me how it laced.

“I can’t wear that,” I hissed.  “It’s obscene.”

“But think how you’ll look with your bare arms and your cleavage,” he pleaded.

“That’s exactly what I’m thinking about,” I said.

“I have to agree with Aretha,” Thelma said.  “I think this is too over the top.”

“Okay, okay.  How about if she wears a blouse under