Dead Man Docking - Mary Daheim [69]
“I don’t mean her,” Renie explained. “She’s my cousin. But I’m afraid we found a corpse. You’d better call the police.”
Olga looked as if she thought Renie was joking—or crazy. “A corpse. I see. You mean you don’t like the clothes? You think fashion is dead?”
At last, Olga spotted the shoes. She screamed. And screamed and screamed. Judith grasped the woman by the shoulders. “Calm down! You have to help!”
But Olga had no intention of helping. She was almost as tall as Judith, and considerably stronger. Breaking away, she fled from the dressing-room area. She was still screaming.
“And she didn’t even see the rest of the body,” Renie said in disgust.
Judith leaned against the doorjamb. “Good God, this is the worst yet. Three bodies in three days, and all connected to Cruz Cruises. I’m about to announce that there’s a maniac loose.”
Renie was fully dressed. “So what do we do? Just stand here until somebody responsible shows up?”
“What else?” Judith glanced out into the corridor. No one was in sight. “Are you the only one trying on clothes?”
“I think so,” Renie replied, “unless you count Émile.”
“You didn’t see anyone or hear anything?”
Renie shook her head. “They aren’t that busy in this department. It’s Saturday, it’s nice out, people are probably doing other things.”
“Maybe,” Judith said in a worried voice, “we should be, too. As in pretending we’re innocent bystanders.”
“But we are.”
Judith shot Renie a sour look. “You know what I mean. The first officers to arrive will be uniforms from this beat. For now, let’s not tell them we know the victim. I don’t want to spend the rest of the day at the jail. Our husbands have already done that this weekend.”
The first to arrive wasn’t a police officer, but store security. In fact, it was a young couple who could pass as husband-and-wife shoppers. They barely glanced at the cousins before going into the adjoining dressing room.
“Maybe we should’ve left while we had the chance,” Renie whispered.
Judith shook her head. “That wouldn’t be right.” She could hear the security employees’ shocked, yet low voices a few feet away. The man was on his cell phone at once, summoning the police. He began to check out the other dressing rooms. A moment later, the woman confronted Judith and Renie.
“Caroline Halloway, security,” she said in a brusque voice. “Are you the ones who reported the accident?”
“Accident?” Renie echoed.
Anticipating hostilities, Judith moved between her cousin and the security woman. “Yes,” she responded, giving her name and Renie’s, along with their home addresses and the hotel where they were staying.
“Visitors,” the woman said, making rapid notes. “How long were you in here before you noticed the problem?”
“Problem?” Renie shot back.
“I wasn’t here,” Judith said, stepping aside. There was no choice but to let Renie talk, since she was the one who’d found Émile.
“At least five minutes,” Renie said in a less hostile tone. “I was trying on clothes.” She swept her hand over the items on the floor and hanging from the pegs. “I got involved. You know how that goes.”
Caroline apparently did know. Judith figured she must be used to self-absorbed shoppers. “What brought the man’s presence to your attention?”
“His shoes,” Renie said. “I didn’t notice them at first. I was carrying so many garments that I couldn’t see over the top of the pile. Then I started trying on the Ellen Tracy separates, but I was looking in the mirror on the other wall. Finally I decided to pick up some of the items I’d let fall to the floor. That’s when I realized that no man should be putting his shoes under my divider.”
“What did you do then?”
“I figured he was some kind of pervert.” Renie shot the security woman an arch look. “I’m sure you’ve heard about those weirdo types even in a place as high class as this one. I told him to take a hike, but he didn’t react. Then my cousin showed up before I could do anything else. That all happened less than ten minutes ago. I peeked under the divider. My cousin went around to look in the dressing room. The man was