An Appointment With Murder by Jennifer L. Jennings;John Simon Page A

was lying on top of her bureau. I brushed my teeth and found some lipstick in my purse. I was a little apprehensive about Max seeing me without my face on, but what did it really matter? I was married. He was too young. End of story.
    Max was knocking on the door twenty minutes later. As I let him in, he smiled and pointed to my hat.
    “You look cute.”
    “Best I could do on such short notice.”
    “It suits you.”
    We went into the kitchen and I poured him a mug of coffee. We sat quietly for a few moments before I unloaded on him.
    “Jacob and Lindy came to see me yesterday,” I began.
    He raised his eyebrows in surprise.
    “She’s back in town?” He moved closer to me.
    “They explained everything to me, and I don’t believe they had anything to do with Beth’s death. But something else has come up.” I spread the photos in front of him.
    “Remember I told you about Lindy’s white Subaru?” I said, as he inspected the photos. “That night Beth got into it with her, these must have somehow slipped out of her purse. Lindy found them on her car seat the next morning. So my question is, how’d Beth get these?”
    “Who is this guy? A client of yours, I presume.”
    “His name is Jeff Gardner. He’s the guy I stayed late for the night Beth was murdered. But these photos weren’t taken that night, but almost two weeks before. See the date?”
    “Yeah, but who took them?”
    “Gabby thinks Jeff set up a camera or cell phone out of sight on a high shelf in the massage room. But why would he do that? As you can see, there’s nothing erotic going on here.”
    “Don’t know. Maybe it wasn’t for the reason you’re thinking. There must be an explanation. Have you called him yet?”
    “No. I don’t really know what to say. He’ll probably deny it anyway.”
    “It’s worth a shot,” Max said, taking a sip of his coffee.
    “Anyhow, I met with Melissa again yesterday to see if she knew anything about the photos. She didn’t. But we may have found a way to find Carter.” I took out the greeting card and handed it to him. I pointed to the name at the bottom.
    “Cousin Greg? We don’t have a cousin Greg,” Max said.
    “That’s the name Melissa said Carter always used when he sent these cards to Beth. She said Beth and Carter would send notes like this to each other with messages only they would understand the meaning of. Maybe one of Carter’s ‘jobs’ finally caught up to them in a really bad way.”
    “That’s why I blew a gasket when Beth told me what she was doing with Carter. I knew it was just a matter of time before they got busted for something.”
    I nodded and gnawed a fingernail.
    “But surely Carter must know by now that Beth is dead. You don’t think he’ll still show up, do you?”
    “I asked the police to keep her name out of the press until we’d had more time to find her killer. They balked, but eventually agreed to give me a week. There’s a chance Carter doesn’t know.” There was an edge of excitement in Max’s voice.
    “Seems like a long shot. But we should devise a plan, anyway, don’t you think?”
    “The plan is quite simple. I’m going to show up tomorrow at this location.”
    “Then what?”
    “Then I get him to tell me exactly what the hell he got Beth into this time.”
    “I’ll go with you.”
    “That’s not such a good idea.”
    “Why? D’you think Carter will do something stupid?”
    “It’s not him I’m worried about.”
    “I understand,” I said, leaning back in my chair. “Hopefully, it won’t come to that.”
    * * *
    When Max left Gabby’s house, I noticed a text from Gabby. She’d booked an appointment for me for three o’clock. My shoulders slumped as I texted an acknowledgment. It was the last thing I wanted to do.
    I finally woke Brian and I got our things together. We stopped at Burger King on the way home. He ordered a cheeseburger and fries; I ordered a vanilla shake.
    “I have an appointment today, but I’ll be home for