Romeow and Juliet by Kathi Daley Page B

on him, dear. I think they were deciding among themselves who would have the right to pursue him.”
    It’s hard to have a proper rant when the person you’re ranting to takes everything you say so literally. Of course, I’m not sure why I cared if the women at the Clip and Curl were arm wrestling over Cody. They could have him, because lord knew I certainly didn’t want anything to do with him.
    “I’m afraid the girls might be wasting their time fighting over Cody,” one of the other women sitting at the quilting table chimed in. “I saw Cody at church on Sunday and he was sitting next to Samantha Waller. They seemed to be pretty chummy.”
    Samantha Waller was the homecoming queen the year Cody was homecoming king. They’d dated for a while in high school, although they’d parted ways by the time Cody and I hooked up. Samantha had married a local boy right after graduating, but they’d since divorced. I guess it made sense that now that they were both living on the same island and single at least for the time being, they might renew their relationship. I’m not sure why that angered me, but it did.
    “Samantha needs to settle down with someone like Cody,” someone said. “She married that loser who got her pregnant and now she’s on her own with twin boys to raise. Cody was always such a responsible sort. The type to honor his commitments. Samantha could certainly do worse.”
    “I heard Cody is volunteering at the church this summer. He’s going to put his muscle to use and finally get the building painted.”
    “It’s about time,” one of the women grumbled.
    There were two churches on the island: St. Patrick’s Catholic Church and Madrona Island Community Church. The Catholic Church was in desperate need of a facelift, so I assumed that was the one the women were referring to.
    “I know Velmalee is thrilled to have Cody back on the island,” Marley informed the group. Velmalee Arlington ran the community theater group, and even though Cody was most known for his contribution to the Madrona High School football team, he’d starred in his share of musicals as well. “I’m assuming he’ll rejoin the church choir as well.”
    “Can we stop talking about St. Cody and get back to the subject of Keith Weaver’s death?” I suggested.
    “I thought we’d exhausted that subject,” Marley said.
    “The subject can’t be exhausted until the killer is caught,” I argued, not because I was that concerned about finding the killer but because I was over listening to everyone rave about the island’s favorite son.
     
    After Marley and I closed for the day I said my good-byes and headed home. I knew that both Max and Romeo would be waiting for me and I had the cats in the sanctuary to tend to, but I decided to take a few extra minutes to stop off at Francine’s one more time. I parked at my cabin and headed next door via the beach. I knocked on the door and waited, but there was no answer. I walked back around the house and looked in through the tiny basement window. It was dark, and I couldn’t really see anything, so I did what any logical person would do—I broke the window and squeezed inside. The minute my feet landed on the cement floor I heard a car pull up in the drive. I hoped whoever it was would realize Francine wasn’t home and quickly be on their way.
    I stood still for a moment and listened. I didn’t hear anyone walking around overhead. Perhaps the car had left. It was dark in the sublevel room, so I used the flashlight on my phone to have a better look around. The basement was large and stuffed with old furniture and discarded boxes. It was going to take a while to find the rug. I carefully made my way through the room so I wouldn’t make a lot of noise in case whoever had arrived in the car I’d heard hadn’t left as I’d hoped. All I had to do was find Francine’s body, forward a photo of it to Finn, and then sit back and let him deal with the rest.
    “What are you doing in