She walked over and scooped up her laptop, lying closed on the coffee table, and curled up on her sofa. She was just going to make a list. In case she needed it. Of what she knew, what she suspected, and how it might have gone down.
Half an hour later, she had a list of questions that impressed even her. Top of the list was: Why kill Noah in that store? Like any city, Fort Worth had its share of down and out neighborhoods. Why not choose an abandoned house in a derelict neighborhood where no one would have come upon the fire until it was too late? That question spurred lots of others until she had a long list of things to be run down.
“Noah should see this.”
The thought given voice surprised her. She’d promised herself at least twice now that she wasn’t going to get any more involved. She’d just made the list to prove to herself that Investigator Durvan couldn’t be saying all that he knew about the fire. Or that the investigator was so busy trying to frame Noah that he hadn’t bothered to look at all the facts. The list made her feel more in control, more like her old self.
At least that was as good as she was going to be feeling about things for now. She had a daunting task of obstacles involving Flawless. Beginning with her calling in the restoration company right this minute.
She dug in her purse and found the card the young man had given her the morning before, and placed the call. The answering service for the company said they would send someone out by noon. She didn’t need to be there. With her permission, they would get in because the mutual wall between her store and the fire-gutted one had been damaged and needed to come down anyway.
She’d begun calling her vendors yesterday, the morning after, because she didn’t want them to hear from anyone else about the fire and subsequent damage to Flawless, and its merchandise. Most had been friendly, even supportive, as she promised them that they would be paid out of the insurance money. A few had been upset at the loss of their work, feeling as she did that the intrinsic value was in the creative process itself, not in how much the resulting works were worth. How did one value a painting or even a handmade scarf or wall hanging, except in terms of how appealing they were to a potential owner? Many artists struggled with the idea of selling their one-and-only favorite creation. Several agreed to recreate versions of Carly’s choices from their inventory, but kept the original pieces. She understood their feelings.
Carly reached up to finger one of the silver bells that made up the necklace she wore. She had hand-fashioned each bell into the shape of the African sesame seed flower with its long narrow bell and flared ruffle edge. Each of the three dozen bells had taken days to shape. A fresh water pearl suspended on a thin silver wire served as a clamper for each. With the largest placed at the center point, clusters of smaller and smaller bells climbed up either side of the silver chain, creating a bib necklace of bells. It was the task that helped her get through the first two months after Arnaud’s death. But it wasn’t a memento of him or their life. It was a pledge to herself that she could and would make a life on her own, with new talents.
Carly checked the wall clock. Services, usually praise singing, had begun fifteen minutes ago and usually lasted half an hour. Even so, she was dressed. That left no excuse not to go.
Arriving much too late at St. James A.M.E. Church to miss turning every head in the sanctuary, Carly tiptoed up the aisle to Aunt Fredda’s prominent third-row pew.
Aunt Fredda waited until they were rising to sing another hymn before she whispered out of the corner of her mouth, “What kept you?”
“An unexpected visit from the arson investigator who’s looking into the fire.”
Aunt Fredda made her famous humph of disapproval.
Carly sighed. She’d felt the same about Durvan’s visit. She didn’t like being accused by hints and by the resurrection of an old scandal of wrongdoing. So maybe she’d do a little bit of investigating. On her own.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The Texas Motor Speedway was home to Big Hoss TV, as the world’s largest high-definition LED video board was known to fans. Covering more than 20,000 square feet in area, it was filled with news about the events taking place on this the final day of the Lone Star Nationals Giant Automotive Festival. Located in far north Fort Worth and spilling over into Tarrant County, the speedway routinely hired off-duty police, firefighters, and county law enforcement personnel to augment their security for big events. Noah, always glad for extra ways to earn money, had arrived with his K9 Harley an hour before the opening.