Page 12 of Little Merry Murder

“I … we … Claire was … The thing is we …”

She burst into tears, speedwalking out of the break room, the door slamming shut behind her.

I looked at the others. “Is she all right?”

Holly swished a hand through the air. “She’ll be fine. She’s just a bit tender about the whole thing. We all are.”

“Holly’s right,” Colin said. “Ever since Claire died, we’ve been thinking of a way to honor her. Claire always had a soft spot for animals, so we held a potluck dinner a few nights ago here at the school. We donated the money we made to the local animal shelter.”

“Did Claire have any pets of her own?”

“She didn’t,” Colin said. “Something about her husband being allergic.”

“Did Claire talk much about her personal life to any of you?”

“Like what?”

“I guess what I’m wondering is if any of you knew Claire and Owen were having marital problems.”

There were surprised looks all around, and in unison, they all shook their heads.

“If they were having marital issues, Claire was tightlipped about it,” Holly said. “She never said much about her personal life.”

“What kind of problems were they having, if you don’t mind me asking?” Colin said.

I didn’t.

“Owen was planning to file for divorce,” I said.

“Oh, wow. I don’t think any of us knew about that.”

“I’m not even sure Claire knew,” I said. “Owen never mentioned it to her before she died.”

Holly tapped her shoe on the floor, thinking. “You should talk to Claire’s best friend. I bet she’d know.”

“Do you know her name?”

“I believe it’s Leah. Not sure about the last name.”

“Do you know anything else about Leah?”

Holly paused, then said, “Claire mentioned something once about Leah having her own business. I believe she owns a flower shop in San Luis Obispo.”

“Good to know.”

“Who hired you to investigate Claire’s murder?” Colin asked.

“Owen’s mother hired me,” I said.

“What are you going to do if he ends up being the murderer?”

“There won’t be anythingtodo. If he’s guilty, it won’t be the outcome his mother is hoping for, but I will have done my job.”

“Do you have any other suspects?” Colin asked.

“I’ve just been hired to investigate, which is why I’m here. Can any of you think of anyone who may have had a motive to kill Claire?”

They all said no.

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