A.J. swallowed hard. “You think she’ll be remanded to custody?”

“I’m not going to lie to you. I think it’s very possible. The DA really thinks we’ve got the makings of a watertight case. On top of that, after last year’s allegations of nepotism, he wants to make it clear to the media that no favoritism will be shown to anyone, including celebrities.”

“So he’s making an example of my mother?”

“He’s not making an example of her,” he said wearily. “He wants it played by the book. And if this was anyone but your mother, I wouldn’t hesitate a second to put her back behind bars.”

A.J. nodded tig htly.

“I’m going to be a while here. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

A.J. nodded again. Jake’s cell phone rang.

“Excuse me.” He moved away. A.J. watched his expression change and her heart sank. Something told her this call was not business-maybe it was feminine intuition, but the expression on his face told her the call was personal, private, and not unwelcome.

For a few seconds she stood frozen.

“I suppose you’re driving back with that brute?”

A.J. started. She hadn’t noticed Elysia’s return. “No. Are we cleared to leave?”

“According to Detective Lennon, yes. And I don’t know why we wouldn’t be. We’ve been interrogated, tested for gun powder residue, and had our luggage pawed through in search of the murder weapon.”

“It’s not personal, Mother. They do have to investigate us.”

“I know,” Elysia said bitterly. “But it’s not pleasant either.”

A.J. did not see Jake again before she and Elysia packed the Land Rover and left.

As they pulled around the crime scene vehicles, lights flashing in the twilight, A.J. said, “I’m sorry, Mother. I know you were friends a long time.”

Elysia nodded, for once having nothing to say.

The trimmed yards and tidy houses rolled by in the deepening twilight, some dark, some lit by cheerful lamps. Comfortable facades that hid… well, that was the point. Who knew what lived behind the pleasant surface?

“Mother, when we were talking with Maddie about Dicky, you said something about your hairstylist recommending the Egyptian cruise line. Was that your stylist at The Salon?”

“Yes.”

“Who’s your stylist there?”

“I’m not really locked into any one stylist,” Elysia said indifferently. “I tend to go with whoever is available.”

“Do you remember who recommended the cruise line?” Out of the corner of her eye, A.J. noticed her mother’s purse-which was positioned behind the driver’s seat-give a sudden jump. This so distracted her, she nearly missed Elysia’s answer.

“Alessandro.”

“The Alessandro I had today?”

“That’s the one. He’s very popular, from what I understand. I think Roberto actually gives a better cut, but he’s not as personable.”

A.J. ignored the summation of stylist social skills that followed. When Elysia finally paused, she said, “I’m beginning to think there really might be something to this idea that The Salon is somehow mixed up in all this. Alessandro spent most of his time with me asking me all kinds of personal questions: was I married, did I have a boyfriend, did I have kids-”

“He probably wants to date you.”

“I didn’t get that impression.” Elysia’s purse gave another, more forceful jump. “Mother… your purse is moving.”

“That will be Morag waking up, I imagine.”

“Morag?” A.J. reached behind the seat and dragged the purse over. Sure enough a pair of tiny beady eyes met hers.

“You stole Maddie’s ferret? Why?”

“What was I supposed to do? I could hardly leave the wee beastie there. She’d have been handed over to animal control.”

“You don’t know that. Besides, you can’t take evidence from a crime scene.”

“I sincerely doubt anyone was going to devote themselves to finding her a good home. The way those idiots kept leaving all the doors open it was a mere matter of time before she got out in the street where a car or a dog might kill her. As for evidence, I don’t think Morag is concealing the murder weapon. Nor do I think she’s going to make much of a witness.”

“That’s not the point.”

“Or perhaps you think she’s a suspect?” Elysia tossed over her shoulder, “Morag, did you do it?”

“Very funny.”

Elysia shrugged.

“What are you going to do with a ferret?”

“I’ve no idea. I only know that little creature was… very dear to Maddie. And Maddie was very dear to me.”

A.J. had no answer to that.

Fifteen

“Springtime in New Jersey” sounded like the start of a joke, but the truth was that this part of the Garden State really did look like a garden at this time of year. The countryside was lushly green and bright with wildflowers.

Despite the tragedy of the weekend, as A.J. drove to Sacred Balance on Monday morning, she felt her spirits rise fractionally.

She was the first one in when she reached the studio. As she turned on the lights and set about preparing her morning tea, she considered Lily’s closed office door. A.J. had a key to every office, every desk, every file cabinet in the building. It had never occurred to her to use them-she had no desire to spy on her employees-but for the first time she wondered if trust was not a mistake where Lily was concerned.

It was a depressing thought.

She went in her own office and signed onto her laptop. There was an e-mail waiting for her from the SCA.

A.J. read it quickly. It was polite and noninformative. Dakarai Massri had left the employ of the Supreme Council of Antiquities to pursue other opportunities in September of the previous year.

There were not many lines to read between on that, but she did her best as she absently listened to the comfortable bustle of the staff filing in.

She heard Lily go straight into her office and close the door. A.J. looked at the photograph of her aunt and sighed.

Suze came in.

“Thank God you’re back. One more day of the Yoga Overlord’s reign and I think there would be a revolution.”

“What’s been happening?”

“You mean aside from the fact that she tries to run this place like a prison camp?”

“It can’t be that bad, Suze. Everyone was happy with the way Lily managed when Aunt Di was alive.”

“That’s because Lily didn’t act like she does now when Di was alive. She wouldn’t have dared. Di was totally hands on.”

Meaning A.J. wasn’t hands on enough? Sometimes it was hard to tell whether these observations were criticisms or simply observations.

“What exactly is Lily doing that’s so bad?”

“It’s not one gigantic thing. You know how it is with her. It’s constant. It’s exhausting.”

“Have there been any more mysterious visitors to the studio?”

Suze shook her head. “Not during my shifts. Not that anyone has mentioned.”

Suze went off to prepare for her class, and A.J. went next door to Lily’s office.

She tapped on the door.

“Enter,” Lily commanded.

A.J. opened the door. Lily looked up from her laptop. “Yes?”

A.J. had to squelch her instant annoyed response. Lily probably didn’t even do it on purpose; it was just her manner, but in one curt word she managed to imply that A.J. was interrupting, irritating, and an idiot.

A.J. said with false brightness. “Hi! How was your weekend?”

“Good. Apparently much better than yours, according to the news. Murder does seem to follow you everywhere you go.”

A.J. kept smiling although her face was starting to hurt. Better hers than Lily’s though. “I thought maybe we could finish Thursday’s discussion.”

Lily made a point of looking at the clock. She rose. “Unfortunately, I’ve got class in ten. Perhaps later.” She added, “That reminds me. Do I need to get someone to cover your classes today?”