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While I thought her art would sell here, I had no reason to force her into placing it on our walls. “Alright.”
Elrik frowned, looking between us, but said nothing.
More customers came in, and Carla stomped over to serve them.
Elrik and I left Creature Cones. Once the door had shut behind us, he stopped me on the sidewalk and drew me over close to the big plate glass window with ice cream cones and other delectable treats painted on the glossy surface.
“Tell me more about Carla’s art,” Elki said softly.
“She’s painted all her life, and it’s gorgeous. Like, New York show quality beautiful. She talked to Grannie about renting the space, but I’d already spoken to my grandmother about my dream of opening an ice cream shop, so Grannie told her no.”
He frowned.
I tilted my head. “You’re looking for a motive in her art?”
“Let’s step back a bit. What would Carla gain by pinning the poisoning on Grannie?”
“I can’t think of anything other than Walter dating Grannie before Carla. She was mad enough about him considering divorce to make threats. And I’m sure she was pissed off when she discovered he’d sold most of the shares in his company. When I lay it out like that, she has plenty of motive. Anger will make people do things they’d never otherwise consider. But Walter’s dead. It’s been a long time since all this happened. Why wait until now to act?”
“It has been a long time.”
“I guess I can’t see her doing something like this.”
“She wanted your space.”
“So did Hazel. But I’m not sure if wanting this spot onMain Street is a solid enough motive for someone to do such a horrible thing to my grandmother.”
He shrugged. “As you said, people do weird things when they’re angry. Ginny said everyone believed you’d be making the punch that night.”
“Because I’d done it for a while. It wasn’t long after Grannie got home from rehab that she started going to the socials and supervising me making the punch.” My low laugh rang out. “She couldn’t stand long, so she’d sit nearby and direct me.” I frowned, thinking. “We need to consider the idea that someone was trying to frame me, not my grandmother.” This opened all sorts of new avenues.
Rapid footsteps came our way, and we turned, watching as the nurse who had been caring for Sue at the hospital hurried in our direction.
She stopped beside us and peered around before leaning close and lowering her voice to a bare whisper. “I’m Pauline, but you can’t remember my name.”
“I’m Melly, and this is Elrik. Why shouldn’t we remember your name?”
Elrik shot me a raised-eyebrow look, but I was as puzzled as him.
“I could get into trouble for this, so I didn’t see you. I didn’t speak with you. You didn’t see or speak with me either. Confidentiality and all that.”
“I see.” Though I truly didn’t.
“About your friend, Sue,” Pauline said.
My shoulders drooped. “I’ve known her all my life. She and my grandmother have been best friends since they were in school together.”
“I could tell that you care for her.”
I sniffed. “Very much. I’m sad about her prognosis, about what this means for her.”
“Yeah, that’s just it.” Pauline winced through a swallow. “Her kidneys didn’t take a hit, thoughIdidn’t tell you that.”
I blinked slowly. “I don’t know what you mean. She was just at her doctor’s this morning.”
“Was she?” Her eyebrows lifted.
“Why would she lie about something like this?” Elrik asked.
