banquet to attend? Suddenly something gold and sparkly caught her eye. On the floor, behind the clothes, was a gold sequined purse. It looked familiar but Susan didn’t think it was Hayley’s. This was a little gaudy for Hayley’s taste. Besides, Hayley always carried a fabric bag. Susan had even ordered a Vera Bradley diaper bag for Hayley’s baby shower because she’d heard Hayley mention loving that designer on more than one occasion. I wonder what that’s doing here? She knew it was wrong to keep snooping but she couldn’t help it. She unclasped the purse. Inside was a leather wallet. It still smelled new. Susan found Vicky’s driver’s license and credit cards inside. Oh, my God ! she thought. This means that either Hayley or Antonio killed Vicky. She found an Epi-pen in the purse as well. This would have saved her, she thought. Either Hayley or Antonio was so cold-blooded that they’d put peanuts in the cupcake and then made sure Vicky would die from anaphylactic shock.
Which one, though? Antonio benefited from Vicky’s death because he got her job. It was difficult to come by a principal job in Westbrook. And he was having an affair with her. Maybe she threatened to tell Hayley. Then again, maybe Hayley found out about the affair and took it out on Vicky. Hayley could be very calculating. She could picture her executing such an elaborate plan. I’m sure she hasn’t been getting a lot of sleep with a new baby. Maybe she even has post-partum depression. Maybe she snapped from exhaustion. And she did enjoy baking. Her chocolate brownies were to die for. Oops, that was not a good choice of words, thought Susan. It was impossible to determine which of the Petrocellis had stashed the purse here.
Susan suddenly heard voices in the hallway and quickly thought to close the closet door and turn off the light. How embarrassing would it be to be caught in here? She held her breath and her heart was pounding. Oh no, now I’m sweating in my good dress. She hoped she wasn’t in the process of creating underarm stains but then she remembered she had bigger issues. Someone was coming into the bedroom. She heard talking.
“Oh, here it is. I must have left it in here. The doctor said to use it with every diaper change because the baby’s rash was pretty bad.” Susan recognized Hayley’s voice and hoped she didn’t remember having sent her in here to the bathroom. “No problem. I’ll take care of him,” Susan recognized the young voice as that of the hired helper. Then she heard the bedroom door close and it was quiet again. Susan let out her breath. She gently opened the closet door, went down the stairs and rejoined the party.
Chapter 28
“But, Mike, there’s no plausible explanation as to why Vicky’s purse was in the closet. Either Hayley or Antonio has to be responsible for Vicky’s murder.”
“There you go with your overactive imagination again. Maybe it wasn’t even Vicky’s purse,” said Mike.
“Then why were Vicky’s wallet and Epi-pen inside?” asked Susan.
“Well, maybe Vicky borrowed the purse from Hayley and returned it, forgetting her things were still inside.”
“Now who has an overactive imagination? Vicky would have checked inside before returning it,” said Susan.
“Let’s get some sleep. You can discuss this with Lynette in the morning.” Mike nudged Ludwig off the bedspread and climbed under the covers.
Susan was anxious to tell Lynette, even though it meant admitting she’d been snooping. It wasn’t intentional snooping though. It truly was an accident, or maybe karma, that she wound up in that closet. Finding out that Antonio was in all likelihood boy toy or macho man by driving to the Omni and the Hilton and showing Vicky’s picture around under false pretenses–that was a different story.
She tossed and turned all night long. The blue walls weren’t helping tonight. What if Westbrook Elementary was being led by a cold blooded killer? It was bad enough that
Which one, though? Antonio benefited from Vicky’s death because he got her job. It was difficult to come by a principal job in Westbrook. And he was having an affair with her. Maybe she threatened to tell Hayley. Then again, maybe Hayley found out about the affair and took it out on Vicky. Hayley could be very calculating. She could picture her executing such an elaborate plan. I’m sure she hasn’t been getting a lot of sleep with a new baby. Maybe she even has post-partum depression. Maybe she snapped from exhaustion. And she did enjoy baking. Her chocolate brownies were to die for. Oops, that was not a good choice of words, thought Susan. It was impossible to determine which of the Petrocellis had stashed the purse here.
Susan suddenly heard voices in the hallway and quickly thought to close the closet door and turn off the light. How embarrassing would it be to be caught in here? She held her breath and her heart was pounding. Oh no, now I’m sweating in my good dress. She hoped she wasn’t in the process of creating underarm stains but then she remembered she had bigger issues. Someone was coming into the bedroom. She heard talking.
“Oh, here it is. I must have left it in here. The doctor said to use it with every diaper change because the baby’s rash was pretty bad.” Susan recognized Hayley’s voice and hoped she didn’t remember having sent her in here to the bathroom. “No problem. I’ll take care of him,” Susan recognized the young voice as that of the hired helper. Then she heard the bedroom door close and it was quiet again. Susan let out her breath. She gently opened the closet door, went down the stairs and rejoined the party.
Chapter 28
“But, Mike, there’s no plausible explanation as to why Vicky’s purse was in the closet. Either Hayley or Antonio has to be responsible for Vicky’s murder.”
“There you go with your overactive imagination again. Maybe it wasn’t even Vicky’s purse,” said Mike.
“Then why were Vicky’s wallet and Epi-pen inside?” asked Susan.
“Well, maybe Vicky borrowed the purse from Hayley and returned it, forgetting her things were still inside.”
“Now who has an overactive imagination? Vicky would have checked inside before returning it,” said Susan.
“Let’s get some sleep. You can discuss this with Lynette in the morning.” Mike nudged Ludwig off the bedspread and climbed under the covers.
Susan was anxious to tell Lynette, even though it meant admitting she’d been snooping. It wasn’t intentional snooping though. It truly was an accident, or maybe karma, that she wound up in that closet. Finding out that Antonio was in all likelihood boy toy or macho man by driving to the Omni and the Hilton and showing Vicky’s picture around under false pretenses–that was a different story.
She tossed and turned all night long. The blue walls weren’t helping tonight. What if Westbrook Elementary was being led by a cold blooded killer? It was bad enough that
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