him to take her back.”
I’d clearly touched a raw nerve. Yet I was still taken aback when she added, “I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out Aziza killed Simon.”
“Why would she have done that?” I asked, surprised.
She shrugged. “Maybe he finally dumped her for real. Maybe he realized once and for all that there was no room in his life for such a high-maintenance relationship now that he was finally about to achieve the success he longed for. I always believed that sooner or later, Simon would come to that conclusion. If he told her that on Friday night, and if she understood that this time he really meant it, I could easily imagine her going nuts and attacking him. In fact, she was the first person I thought of when I found him Saturday morning.”
“Lacey,” I asked gently, “can you tell me about that? What it was like finding him in the dressing room?”
Instantly her shoulders slumped and all the muscles in her face sagged. The anger was gone. In its place was sadness.
“It was horrible,” she said, lowering her voice to a near-whisper. “I went into the men’s dressing room to check if this old trunk that had been stashed in the corner for as long as I could remember had any costumes or props inside that might be useful in
She’s Flying High
.”
A faraway look came into her eyes. “As soon as I walked in, I knew something was wrong. There was this horrible smell…” She made a choking sound, as if she was reliving the entire scene. “But I went over to the trunk anyway. I noticed immediately that it wasn’t in the spot where it had always been. Someone had obviously moved it.
“It seems funny now, but my first thought was that I was glad it was in a more convenient place. It hadn’t been moved very far, just a few inches away from the wall. But that meant I didn’t have to drag it out of the corner myself. Anyway, I went ahead and opened it.”
And in the process covered it with your fingerprints, I thought cynically. Just in case you needed to explain how they got there.
But I kept my theories to myself. “Was the trunk difficult to open?” I asked.
“Not at all. I mean, it wasn’t locked or anything. As I was lifting the lid, I noticed that the smell got much worse. And then I saw what was inside. Simon, all crumpled up in this really unnatural position. That was what struck me most. That and the horrible expression on his face. He looked…surprised.”
As any of us would be, I thought, if someone bashed us in the head from behind.
“I only looked at him for a second,” Lacey went on. “My main thought was that I had to get away. From the horrible sight, I mean. And that I had to call 911.”
“Which is what you did,” I noted.
“That’s right. From my cell phone. In the hall, right outside the dressing room.”
“Lacey,” I asked, “did you happen to see anything odd?”
She looked startled. “Finding a dead body in a trunk isn’t odd enough?”
“I mean anything that might have indicated who the killer was. A scarf, a button, a hair—anything at all?”
Lacey shook her head. “I didn’t have enough time to see anything like that. Like I said, I just wanted to get away. It was such a horrible sight.”
“I understand completely,” I assured her. “It must have been awful for you.”
“I’ll never forget it,” she agreed solemnly. “Look, I’m finding this really painful. Maybe we’d better stick to talking about whatever it is that brought you here today.”
I froze. I’d been so busy trying to locate Lacey that I’d forgotten to come up with a good reason for showing up at her workplace like this.
I glanced around frantically until my eyes lit on one of the photographs of the school’s alumni hanging right outside. It featured a cute little girl in a black-and-white polka-dot dress and fluffy blond hair with a big white bow.
“Uh, I have two nieces, named Maxine and Lou—Louella,” I stuttered, glad that I was fairly fast on
I’d clearly touched a raw nerve. Yet I was still taken aback when she added, “I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out Aziza killed Simon.”
“Why would she have done that?” I asked, surprised.
She shrugged. “Maybe he finally dumped her for real. Maybe he realized once and for all that there was no room in his life for such a high-maintenance relationship now that he was finally about to achieve the success he longed for. I always believed that sooner or later, Simon would come to that conclusion. If he told her that on Friday night, and if she understood that this time he really meant it, I could easily imagine her going nuts and attacking him. In fact, she was the first person I thought of when I found him Saturday morning.”
“Lacey,” I asked gently, “can you tell me about that? What it was like finding him in the dressing room?”
Instantly her shoulders slumped and all the muscles in her face sagged. The anger was gone. In its place was sadness.
“It was horrible,” she said, lowering her voice to a near-whisper. “I went into the men’s dressing room to check if this old trunk that had been stashed in the corner for as long as I could remember had any costumes or props inside that might be useful in
She’s Flying High
.”
A faraway look came into her eyes. “As soon as I walked in, I knew something was wrong. There was this horrible smell…” She made a choking sound, as if she was reliving the entire scene. “But I went over to the trunk anyway. I noticed immediately that it wasn’t in the spot where it had always been. Someone had obviously moved it.
“It seems funny now, but my first thought was that I was glad it was in a more convenient place. It hadn’t been moved very far, just a few inches away from the wall. But that meant I didn’t have to drag it out of the corner myself. Anyway, I went ahead and opened it.”
And in the process covered it with your fingerprints, I thought cynically. Just in case you needed to explain how they got there.
But I kept my theories to myself. “Was the trunk difficult to open?” I asked.
“Not at all. I mean, it wasn’t locked or anything. As I was lifting the lid, I noticed that the smell got much worse. And then I saw what was inside. Simon, all crumpled up in this really unnatural position. That was what struck me most. That and the horrible expression on his face. He looked…surprised.”
As any of us would be, I thought, if someone bashed us in the head from behind.
“I only looked at him for a second,” Lacey went on. “My main thought was that I had to get away. From the horrible sight, I mean. And that I had to call 911.”
“Which is what you did,” I noted.
“That’s right. From my cell phone. In the hall, right outside the dressing room.”
“Lacey,” I asked, “did you happen to see anything odd?”
She looked startled. “Finding a dead body in a trunk isn’t odd enough?”
“I mean anything that might have indicated who the killer was. A scarf, a button, a hair—anything at all?”
Lacey shook her head. “I didn’t have enough time to see anything like that. Like I said, I just wanted to get away. It was such a horrible sight.”
“I understand completely,” I assured her. “It must have been awful for you.”
“I’ll never forget it,” she agreed solemnly. “Look, I’m finding this really painful. Maybe we’d better stick to talking about whatever it is that brought you here today.”
I froze. I’d been so busy trying to locate Lacey that I’d forgotten to come up with a good reason for showing up at her workplace like this.
I glanced around frantically until my eyes lit on one of the photographs of the school’s alumni hanging right outside. It featured a cute little girl in a black-and-white polka-dot dress and fluffy blond hair with a big white bow.
“Uh, I have two nieces, named Maxine and Lou—Louella,” I stuttered, glad that I was fairly fast on
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