Ultimate Concealer, A Toni Diamond Mystery: A Toni Diamond Mystery (Toni Diamond Mysteries) by Nancy Warren Page B

husband. Really.”
    “Loretta, my daughter was with her dad when your husband deliberately crashed into his car and then had two of his, um, associates, rough him up a little.”
    Her eyes widened, in what looked to Toni like genuine surprise. “I didn’t hear about that. He did that in front of your kid? Oh, my God. I’m sorry.” She pulled out the pack of cigarettes again. Contemplated and dropped it back into her bag. “Look. Everybody likes Dwayne. He’s easygoing and always has a joke or a compliment.”
    “My daughter heard Grant say, ‘You have something that’s mine and I want it back.’ Something like that.” She watched the woman’s face. “Do you have any idea what he was referring to?”
    Her second martini arrived and Loretta sipped it before answering. “No idea.”
    “Any idea why your husband was meeting Dwayne last night?”
    The other woman shrugged. “Dwayne may have wanted to make CDs? Advance his music career? I don’t know.”
    Toni pulled one of her business cards out of her bag and passed it to her companion. “If you think of anything that might help us make sense of what’s going on, would you call me?”
    “Yes, sure,” she said picking up the card. Then she laughed. “Oh, my gosh. You sell Lady Bianca?”
    “I sure do.”
    “I used to love that stuff. I lost my supplier when she moved out of state. Never bothered finding another one.”
    Toni didn’t waste a nanosecond. “I’d be happy to offer you a makeover and show you our new line. I think you’ll love the latest colors. There is a brand new selection of moisturizers full of botanical herbs and minerals from the Dead Sea that I swear by.”
    The woman nodded slowly. “I think a woman who just found out she’s a widow deserves a makeover, don’t you?”
    “Yes, ma’am.” Neither of them mentioned that the person giving the makeover was the ex-wife of the accused murderer.
    “If you give me your number, I’ll call you to set up a time for a makeover,” Toni said, pulling out her cell phone.
    Once she had the number punched in, she rose. Loretta stood at the same time. Impulsively, Toni stepped forward and hugged the new widow. “I’m so sorry.”
    After a stunned moment, Loretta hugged her back. “Thank you.”
    She pulled away. “If there’s anything I can do.”
    “I’ll let you know.”
    As Toni walked away she held the scent of Loretta Forstman’s perfume. It was strong and spicy. And she’d smelled it before.
    When her ex-husband had been leaning in trying to kiss her, she’d smelled that scent on him. In her experience with Dwayne there was usually only one reason why he smelled of another woman’s perfume.

Chapter Nine
    “If I were asked to name the chief benefit of the house, I should say the house shelters daydreaming.”
    —Gaston Bachelard
    When Toni arrived back at Brent’s house, she walked in to find The King and I playing on the big-screen TV. Deborah Kerr was singing “Getting to Know You,” and Linda was humming along.
    “Hi, y’all,” Toni called out. Four heads turned her way. Linda and all three of the Chers had thick face masks on. And Japanese kimonos. “You look like a group of Kibuki actors,” she said.
    “Come join us, honey. I’ve got one more sample pack. It’s the chamomile and French mud relaxation and exfoliating mask.”
    “Oh, I’d love to,” Toni said. Her skin cried out for calmness and exfoliation after the dry air of the casino, the alcohol, the cigarette smoke. “But I can’t right now.”
    “Maybe later,” Linda said. And all four heads turned back to the television.
    In the kitchen, she found her daughter and Brent practicing some horrendously complicated looking equations on foolscap. “Are you designing a space shuttle?” she asked, looking at the squiggles.
    “No. Nothing so exciting. It’s calculus.”
    “Oh.” Toni’d never finished high school when she was supposed to, mainly because she met Dwayne and got pregnant with