FLORA HAD HER PHONE BACK out. Was staring at it impatiently.
“What the hell is it with you and that phone?” D.D. asked.
Flora didn’t answer, just tucked the phone away. Roxy’s two brown-and-white spaniels were sitting on either side of Flora. The short-haired one—Blaze, D.D. thought—had his head on Flora’s foot, while the longer-haired one, Rosie, was sniffing the air.
“You picked up the dogs this morning?” D.D. asked sharply.
“I stopped by the high school counselor Tricia Lobdell Cass’s place. Figured the girls”—she nodded toward Las Ni?as—“would recognize the dogs as Lola’s. Be less liable to attack first and question later.”
“Did it work?” D.D. asked, thinking it wasn’t a bad strategy. A group of girls might view a single female as an immediate target. But a single female with two familiar dogs . . .
“Learned a few things,” Flora volunteered. “Tricia mentioned there’d been some kind of issue with an inappropriate photo several months back. Someone sharing the silhouette of a nude girl on a school loop account, something like that.”
“Allegedly Roberto,” D.D. provided.
Flora nodded. “The principal inspected his phone but couldn’t find anything. According to Las Ni?as, the photo wasn’t of Lola, but Roxy. I also heard from Tricia that Anya Seton was jealous of Roberto and Roxy, but the school counselor thought it was paranoia on Anya’s part.”
“You think Roberto and Roxy were a couple?”
“I can’t see that. But it’s still possible Roberto had such a photo. Sent it around the school as a form of blackmail.”
“He might have taken the photo during their time together at Mother Del’s. Maybe he went so far as to tell her she should keep quiet about those days, or worse photos would follow.”
Flora nodded. “Given that Lola was a member of Las Ni?as Diablas, I wanted their take on the attack against their gangland sister. Hence my dog-chaperoned visit.”
“And?”
“They don’t know what went down yesterday. Carmen considered it a family issue.”
“No gangland retaliation?”
“According to them, no, and I believe them. Also, Lola was very popular with the boys, but she used that to her advantage. Never gave up something for nothing, is how Carmen put it.”
“Thirteen-year-old girl,” D.D. muttered.
“Reading between those lines, sounds to me like she didn’t have a boyfriend. More like she used situations to her advantage. Which could mean she flirted with the wrong guy, and some vengeful ni?a went after her, but it’s hard to see how that would translate to the elimination of her and her entire family. Way easier to simply shoot her the next time she was out with the dogs, whatever.”
D.D. agreed. “ME found evidence that Lola had had sex shortly before her death. So we know she was sexually active. Aren’t Las Ni?as Diablas known for their love of knives, however?”
“Yeah.”
“So again, the shooting of Lola’s entire family . . .”
“If I were a jealous girlfriend, I’d be more apt to carve up my rival’s beautiful face,” Flora concurred.
“Good to know,” D.D. assured her. “This is what troubles me, however: According to the ME, Lola was killed with a single gunshot to the head. Up close and personal. The killer wanted to be certain.”
“She was the primary target,” Flora said softly.
“Exactly. Which might bring us back to revenge. Anya, a fellow gang member, a jealous rival. Except none of that feels right. Revenge is an emotion. This murder went down more like an assassination.”
“She was up to something,” Flora said, studying the cracked sidewalk. “I thought for certain Lola was involved in Roberto’s suicide. I mean, she and Roxy move back to Brighton three years later, only to discover their enemies waiting for them. Roxy and Anya apparently had some kind of altercation in the high school hall. Then this photo starts circulating. Makes sense to me that Lola would do something like join Las Ni?as Diablas, where there’s safety in numbers, while placing an entire group of homicidal girls at her disposal. But according to Carmen, they never had to intervene with Roberto. Loser shot himself, despite what Anya wants to believe.”
“You trust Carmen?” D.D. asked. “Think she was telling the truth?”
“She has no reason to lie. I’m not a cop. And once we established our mutual reputations—”
“Vigilante to gang leader?”
Flora shrugged. “In our worlds, taking credit for Roberto’s death is just that—credit. Guy was an ass, threatening one of their own. If his shooting had been Las Ni?as’ doing, they’d be crowing about it, not covering it up.”
“Which leaves us with what? Roxy Baez taking a page out of your book? Arranging for Roberto’s death to protect her sister?”
“Like I said, Carmen says the photo was of Roxy. So assuming that Roberto’s suicide wasn’t accidental, maybe Lola did it. To protect her big sister.”
D.D. frowned, turned over the pieces of the puzzle in her mind. “Except . . . someone found out? Instead of resolving the situation, Roberto’s death made it worse? A new threat emerged, hence Lola’s tension and Roxy’s recent stress these past few weeks.”
Flora shrugged. “Reasonable story line, except the only person we know who cared about Roberto’s death is Anya. And for all her dramatics, she’s apparently already moved on with married theater guy.”
“Who may or may not be her alibi for yesterday morning,” D.D. considered. “What is this, a duel of sorts? Roberto threatens Roxy, so Lola kills Roberto. In revenge, Anya kills Lola and Lola’s family. Which leads us to Roxy now running around, opening fire on Hector for abandoning them five years ago, then targeting Las Ni?as Diablas for leading her sister astray these past few months? It all seems . . .”
“Crazy?”
“Far-fetched. From a homicide detective’s point of view, murder is a simple business. People kill for love or money. In this situation, there’s plenty of love and loyalty, but those lines are also getting all tangled up. Which makes me wonder again about money.”
“What money?” Flora asked.
“Juanita’s potential lawsuit against the state of Massachusetts. She was alleging her girls were abused while under the state’s care. If she could prove it, that settlement . . .”
Flora’s eyes widened. “Would be worth millions.”
“Exactly. Which is motive enough to kill Juanita Baez, let alone Lola and Roxy.”
“Meaning Roxy could’ve been a target, too, except she was out walking the dogs.”
“Of all our theories, I like this one the best,” D.D. agreed. “Except where is Roxy now, and why does a female matching her description keep being spotted at scenes of recent shootings?”
“You think she was the gunman this morning?”
“Don’t you? Nine-millimeter pistol. Same caliber as the one used against Hector and, for that matter, her entire family.”
Flora’s phone buzzed in her pocket. The woman pulled it out, glanced at the screen, then held it out.
“I can answer half your question,” she said.
“Before or after I smash your cell phone?”
“I found Roxy Baez.”
“What?” D.D. straightened.
“This morning. I figured out where she was hiding. Then I sent a mutual friend to make contact. Roxy couldn’t have been the one opening fire here because she was already meeting with my friend at the community theater building a mile away.”
“The community theater building? Where Anya Seton is rehearsing a play?”
“Old building. Lots of nooks and crannies. Roxy knew it well from working there five years ago, remember? It also happens to be near Mother Del’s, where her best friend, Mike Davis, lives, not to mention close to cafés, the high school, and other familiar locations. It also has two significant advantages.”
D.D. stared at Flora wide-eyed.
“Because of the upcoming debut, people are coming and going at all hours. Meaning there’s nothing odd about a lone female entering and exiting the building. Second, it’s a theater. Filled with props, accessories, and costumes.”