Page 20 - Labelle Gramercy, On the Case

Polished Off

Camaro. The license plate tag indicates the registration is delinquent,
and it is not parked properly.”
She jotted a few things in her notebook, frowning slightly. Was
she repressing an urge to write a ticket for those minor infractions,
like a predator imposing forcible self-discipline in the presence of
some minor prey in order not to reveal its position to the larger game
it was really stalking?
Linsey clambered out of the car hastily, nearly slamming the door
on her skirt. She was a tall awkward young woman, drawn
disproportionately from the same stagnant gene pool as her aunt. Her
gaze raked over Labelle, almost did the same to me, then stopped.
“Uh, Mr. Keane, right? The lawyer?”
“Yes, Linsey. And this is Lieutenant Gramercy, of the police
department. May I offer my condolences?”
Her face twisted between sizing up Labelle and signaling sorrow
to me. “I—uh, sure, thanks. Iris told me Mariana had some kind of
fit and keeled over. She really died? Do you need to talk to me,
Officer?”
Labelle was oblivious of passersby. “Just a few questions, Ms.
Doyle. When did you last see your aunt?”
“Oh, yesterday. Right here at the shop. She went in and out a few
times: I don’t know exactly when the last time was. Sometime in the
afternoon. Sorry to be so vague.”
“Did you have coffee with her yesterday?”
“I never have coffee with her. I mean, she drank it in the morning
before I got there and didn’t make it again. I don’t like coffee,
anyway.”
“Is this your only place of employment?”
Linsey shrugged. Was she embarrassed? “At the moment, yes. I’m
going to school part-time. Mostly night classes, at the Collagen
College of Cosmetology. I’ve got eight units to go to get my
certificate.”
“Were you there this morning?”
“No. I attend classes at night, unless they are having a lab in
daylight makeup. You can’t graduate without that. That rouge you’re
using, for instance, is really for evening.”
“I’m not wearing any makeup.” Labelle Gramercy did have an
almost unnaturally ruddy complexion, one may infer an artifact of

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