Murder of a Creped Suzette by Denise Swanson Page B

to decide if she could stand to wear yet another pair of black slacks to school, she hummed along with Glen Campbell singing “Galveston.”
    The announcer’s voice distracted her from her fashion dilemma. “It’s six o’clock on a beautiful fall Tuesday morning. Today’s temperature will be in the high sixties, with light breezes and sunshine. And all of you will be pleased to hear the high humidity is finally gone.”
    Yes! Yes! Yes! Skye grinned. At last it was sweater weather.
    As she reached for her zebra-print twinset, the DJ said, “Now for some breaking news. Early yesterday evening, the body of a woman was discovered at the old Hutton dairy farm. This property was recently purchased by Rex Taylor, a music promoter from Nashville, for a country music theater. Mr. Taylor hopes to turn our area into the Branson of Illinois.”
    Skye was tempted to cover her ears and sing La la la , but she forced herself to listen to the rest of the report so she’d know exactly what information had been released to the public.
    “The police have verified that the victim was found under a large piece of construction machinery, but they refused to provide any further details.” The announcer’s voice deepened. “Murder has not been ruled out.”
    When the DJ switched to sports, Skye turned off the radio. Sound bites of athletes mangling the English language drove her crazy.
    As she finished dressing, the phone rang. “Morning, darlin’,” Wally greeted her. “Are you feeling better?”
    “Yes. Much. Thank you for persuading me to leave last night.” Skye wedged the handset between her shoulder and neck and sat down at her dressing table to apply her makeup. “What time did you get home?”
    “Close to midnight.”
    “You must be exhausted.” Skye examined the circles under her own eyes and reached for a tube of concealer. “What kept you so long?”
    “First it took the techs forever because it was an outdoor crime scene; then we had a hard time locating Rex Taylor, and when we did find him, his wife demanded that she accompany him to the barn. After watching the guy flirt with the female EMT, I can see why Mrs. Taylor insisted on coming with him.”
    “Yikes.” Skye stroked taupe eye shadow on her lid. “That couldn’t have gone well.”
    “Nope.” Wally’s tone was not amused. “When she saw the body, the idiot woman fainted and her husband made us get the paramedics to take care of her.”
    “Was Rex able to ID the body?” Skye asked, almost not wanting to know.
    “Yes and no,” Wally answered slowly. “He was able to say for certain that the clothes the victim had on were what Suzette had worn to work that day. And Mrs. Taylor identified a necklace on the body as Suzette’s. But to be absolutely certain we’ll have to wait for DNA tests. When the techs went through her room at the motor court, they picked up her toothbrush and razor for comparison DNA samples.”
    “But for investigation purposes, you’re going with Suzette, right?”
    “Yes,” Wally confirmed. “No one else is missing from the staff.”
    “Did you get a chance to ask about Toby?” Skye crossed her fingers. Please, please, please, she begged silently. She really wanted to be able to hand the dog over to his rightful owner on her way to work.
    “Yep. He was Suzette’s all right.” Wally paused, then said, “Did she mention any relatives when she talked to you the other night?”
    “None that are living.”
    “Son of a b—!” Wally cut himself off. “Mr. and Mrs. Taylor have no idea who her next of kin might be, and no emergency contact is listed on her employment records.”
    “What will you do next?” Skye checked her watch. She really needed to get off the phone with Wally so she could start looking for someone to take care of Toby.
    “We’ll talk to her colleagues, do a background check—you know, the usual. What time will you be finished today?”
    “I should be able to leave by three thirty. Why?” Skye