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

“My Aunt Jen didn’t want to leave it to Kara, and she knew Rose didn’t need it.  So it came to me.  Not much of a thing to inherit, but it’s good enough for me.  I like to fish, and it’s kind of peaceful here.”

We didn’t have any more questions, so we thanked him and moved on.

I was hungry, and I convinced Thelma that we needed to stop at Steak ‘n Shake.  You can guess who got what.  One of us had a double steakburger with cheese, fries and a chocolate milkshake, and the other had a grilled chicken salad.

“I can hear your arteries screaming,” Thelma commented as I finished the milkshake.

“And my stomach’s purring,” I said.  “I think you carry this self-denial thing too far.”

“At least I can sleep at night without enough heartburn to light a campfire.”

She had a bit of a point there.  Lately, I’d been waking up in the middle of the night with indigestion.  But luckily there were fruit-flavored Tums for that.

“So are we going to the bar next?” Thelma asked.

I pulled a piece of paper with the name out of my purse.  “The Lucky Seven Lounge.  Sounds like something from a sit-com.”

“You need a new purse,” Thelma said.  “That hole is getting bigger.”

“Yeah, you’re right.  That little devil Stewart sure did a number on it.”

We decided to make a quick stop at Walmart to pick up a new purse, and there was the Lucky Seven Lounge just up the street.

Back in the car, I dumped everything from my old purse into the new one, and we drove to the Lucky Seven.  It was the kind of place that lowered expectations.  A couple of the neon letters in the sign were burned out, and the windows hadn’t been cleaned in such a long time that the dead flies were probably mummified by now.  Despite the word Lucky in the name, the place screamed Loser.

Inside was as dark as a bat cave, and it took a minute for our eyes to adjust.  There was a long bar straight in front of us and a few tables in the center of the room.  The wall space was taken up by slot machines, placed elbow to elbow and all calling out with little tinkling sounds.  Like an ice cream truck for grown-ups.

“Good thing we already ate,” I said to Thelma.  “The food here is probably left over from Halloween.”

“Come on,” Thelma said, heading for the bar.  “Let’s get this over with.”

The woman behind the bar had been watching us from the moment we walked in while she wiped down the bar, and I had a feeling she knew right away that we weren’t here to gamble.   She looked to be about fifty, with bleached hair pulled back in a ponytail.  Heavy on the makeup.  Tight white blouse that displayed an ample bosom.

“Can I help you?” she asked, setting down the rag.

“We’re looking for some information,” Thelma said.  “Did you by any chance know Kara Koch?”

There was a slight hesitation.  “Are you from the police?”

“No,” Thelma said, “we’re writing a story about her.  She’s been murdered.”

“No kidding?”

“It’s true,” I confirmed.

“So somebody finally did it.  Did they catch him?”

“Not yet,” I said.  “That’s part of the reason we’re here.  We’re looking for some background to get an idea of who might want her dead.”

The bartender laughed loudly.  “You’ve got to be kidding.  Who didn’t want her dead?”

“So you knew her?”

“Yeah, I knew her.  She was a real piece of work.  She was a waitress here for a while, and she tended bar now and then.”

“I heard she had a thing going with one of the owners,” I said.

The bartender gave a grim smile.  “You might say that.  She and Jeffrey Connell were hot and heavy for a while, until she got bored with him.”

“So she dumped him?” Thelma asked.

“You might say that.  She carved her initials in his neck one night after he was pissing drunk.  His wife found him later with blood all over the pillow and bed.  She went with him to the hospital, and he told her someone had attacked him on the street, and he’d passed out after he got home.  She believed him until the cuts healed and she read the initials. Then all hell broke loose.”

“So he left town?” I asked.

“It was about the time Kara got in trouble for hitting some girl in a church.  Kara took off, and Jeffrey couldn’t get over her.  He managed to find out where she went, and he moved to be close to her.”

So Kara had taken off first and Jeffrey followed.  I guess the gossip mill at the church couldn’t get everything right.

“It doesn’t sound as though she would have been flattered,” Thelma said.

The woman shrugged.  “I don’t know what happened then.  I heard a rumor she’d beaten him up, but it was just a rumor.  You never knew what she was going to do.”

“Did she ever cause any trouble when she worked here?” I asked.

“Plenty.  She stole money from the register and tips from the other servers.  But the men loved her.  At least until she started cutting them.”

“Well, thank you for your time,” Thelma said.

“You never wish anyone dead,” the woman said, “but with her. . .  Well, I don’t think anyone’s in mourning.”

“Good grief,” I said when we were back in the car.  “Do you think we’re ever going to run out of suspects?”

Thelma sighed.  “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone as universally hated as Kara.  So sad.”

“So scary,” I said.  “I’m just glad we didn’t have to deal with her when she was alive.”

“I think we should just concentrate on the suspects in Hannibal or the immediate area,” Thelma said.  “Not that I’m