Page 15 of Passions in Death
“Shauna manages Fancy Feet, a shoe boutique. Erin saw the shoes in the window. She had her first real art show coming up that weekend and went in to try them on.”
“We connected.” Shauna sobbed it. “We just connected. She said I should come to the show, and I did. She wore the shoes. We went out for a drink after, and just connected. I’d only been with men before, I’d never felt attracted to women. But we fell in love.”
“You love who you love.” Peabody spoke softly. “You love the person. The shoes were the start of it, for both of you. So they’re important.”
“But how did you know about the shoes?”
“She had the case in the privacy room, and the shoes in it.”
“I don’t understand, I don’t understand.”
“She also had a kind of costume, short grass skirt, leis, a card for you.”
“I want the card. I need the card.”
“We’ll get it to you. She scanned two tickets to Hawaii. Maui.”
“But—no.” With the back of her hand, she swiped at tears. “That can’t be right. That was just a silly wish of mine, and we talked about going someday. We’d save up for it. We wanted to get married now, so we’d save up for a honeymoon in Maui because we didn’t want to wait to get married.”
“I checked. She bought the tickets, booked a hotel, three weeks ago. Do you know where she might have gotten the money?”
“I…” Struggling, Shauna rubbed her hands over her face, but tears rolled through them. “Her parents, maybe. They’re great, but I don’t see how they could afford all that.”
“She sold a painting? I bet she did,” Becca put in. “You said she was spending a lot of time in the studio. She does mostly street art,” Becca added. “But she shares a small studio with three other artists, and works through the— God, I can’t think!”
“SoHo Arts.” Shauna closed her eyes. “They held her first real show. Glenda, Glenda Frost runs it. She couldn’t come tonight because she’s in Italy.”
“We’ll check on that.”
“She was going to surprise me with something I wanted. Now she’s dead.”
“She didn’t bring the case with her tonight?”
“No, no, we came together. She didn’t have it. Maybe she came by earlier and left it with Crack.”
“No, she didn’t. Who would she have trusted with it? Who would she have trusted with the case, with the surprise?”
“Any of us,” Angie said. “Well, maybe not all of us, as some of us can’t keep it zipped. She’d have trusted me, or Becca. I don’t know why she didn’t. She never said a thing to me.”
“Or to me. You think…” Becca pressed her lips together. “You think whoever she did tell killed her. That doesn’t make any sense.”
“No one who knew her would do this. No one,” Shauna insisted. “Everyone was happy for us. My parents were surprised, but once they met her, they loved her, too. Our families, our friends, they were all happy for us.”
She dissolved into tears again. “I have to tell my family. I have to tell her family. I don’t know how.”
Peabody reached out. “We’ll do that, Shauna.”
“That wouldn’t be right. You didn’t know her. I have to tell them. I need to do that for her. It’s all I can do for her now.”
“We’ll go with you, both of us.” Angie looked at Becca.
“Absolutely.”
“Ms. Hunnicut, you said you dated men prior to meeting Erin.”
“So?” She shot a hot look at Eve out of drenched eyes.
“Did you have any bad breakups? Anyone you dated resent you stepping away? Or that you fell in love with a woman?”
