Death by Manicure: The Case of the Poison Polish. Dr. Robert T. Spalding Jr.
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and Ed had been extra supportive even to the extent of letting the kids stay round their house on the occasions when Robert needed some extended time to himself. The kids didn’t mind; they got on well with Pam’s kids, so it was a chance for marathon video game sessions and other frivolities.
But Robert was suffering. He had not taken on any plumbing jobs since Katie’s death a few weeks earlier. He was taking it pretty hard. Whenever the phone rang he thought that it might be reporters or his lawyer, and he couldn’t handle it. When he left the house, people in the neighborhood would say that they were so sorry for his loss, but their condolences wouldn’t bring his wife back. When he went into town he felt like everyone was watching him and saying, “That’s the guy who lost his wife in such a silly way,” and it gnawed at his gut.
For a while he let the answer machine pick up any calls, but eventually he turned that off. He ordered his boys to just let it ring unless he told them otherwise. They were getting on with their lives. They didn’t have much of a choice, as they had schools to go to, and their teachers would not allow them to wallow in self-pity for longer than was the normal mourning period. Robert was his own boss, and he was taking advantage of this. If he worked for a regular company they would not allow so much time for a person to pull himself together. It was the stupidity of his wife’s death that really got to Robert … a stupid pedicure for God’s sake.
He went through all the normal stages of grief, denial, anger, self-pity, placing blame on others. First of all he blamed the salon and rightly so, but then he started to play the “what if” game. What if he had learned about giving pedicures? He could have done his wife’s nails and maybe she would still be alive. And then he would think, maybe and maybe not, a burglar could still have killed her while he was out of town, or she could have been knifed in a mugging incident. It was self-torture to play that kind of game, yet his mind just spun out of control at times.
CHAPTER 1
June 6th 2010, Orlando, Florida
At 8 a.m. Athena Elliott opened the curtains and sunshine instantly filled her fourth-floor hotel room making her squint. She showered, got dressed and went down to grab a quick breakfast – cereal, fruit and fresh Florida orange juice. Then it was back to the room briefly to make sure she had everything and then she was off.
“Oh damn, I’m going to be late,” exclaimed Athena to nobody in particular as she emerged from her car after reaching her destination. The vehicle belied her status as one of the most highly respected women in the nail world. She kept the car more out of practicality than anything else. Putting money back into her business was more important than making a $500 car payment. Besides, it had seen her through some bad times. It had been faithful in its service to her and it got her from points A to B, which was all she really cared about. Her attitude was that you should own something only if you needed it, not just because you wanted it. That’s why she didn’t own more than one car at a time. Her mentality was that you could only drive one car at a time, so there was no need to have more than one. She did wear jewellery but not to the extent that it was overkill. And she wore it because it made her feel feminine, not because it sent a message out to the world about her status because of the value of the items around her neck or on her wrists.
Today, her usually steady world was just a bit off. She had been unable to get a room in any of the really local hotels, and not being a Florida native she wasn’t used to having to stop the car to wait for the torrential rain downpours to end before she resumed driving. She knew she could have avoided this because she could have quite easily gone by plane but she enjoyed driving.
She was ten minutes later than she had planned to be, although the Disney World resort condo where she stayed close with about another 100 nail professionals was a convenient distance from her destination. Not the end of the world by any means, but to her it was discourteous in a professional capacity. Arriving at her destination, she found a place to park and quickly emerged from the car. She slammed the door shut, locked it up and then dashed through the rain shower that was so commonplace to anyone familiar with Florida. Her rather modest entrance was in stark contrast to the seemingly never-ending waves of chauffeur-driven limousines and courtesy cars that ferried guests and professionals to the Orange County Convention Center.
And the place was bustling with activity, for it was early June and the Pinnacle Beauty Show was back in town. It was one of the key events of the year to someone in Athena’s line of work. To the uninitiated, the show was a very lavish beauty expo featuring some very colorful booths. Each year, a number of beauty manufacturers made large investments in their booth displays and usually sent their top staff members to run them. Running over three days, the show hosted contests on applying artificial nails, nail product demonstrations and a galaxy of beautiful models occupying booths and demonstrating other products. There were also lectures and forums that gave useful background into the beauty industry, and it was a golden opportunity to discuss the latest trends and bounce ideas off like-minded people. Athena always came away from this kind of event with many new contacts and always learned something that gave her an edge in a highly competitive market.
Every summer, something in the region of 45,000 people flocked to the event that provided essential education to everyone from bright-eyed industry students and newcomers to experienced industry veterans like Athena. Local hotels made a killing when the show was on, and June was high season.
Renowned for being the highest-rated educational event in the beauty/cosmetics industry, the show always boasted an unmatched business forum, hair and nails competitions, extension and weaves education and much more. It was the place to see and be seen, and Athena knew that you weren’t taken seriously in the trade if you weren’t at this over-the-top event. Or to be more accurate, your company logo needed to make a showing if you wanted your company to make an impact in the beauty industry, and Athena had made sure all was in order.
Athena’s business was, to put it simply, nails. The term “nail industry” refers to a broad range of entities that have to do with regulation, instruction, licensing, certification, and continuing education. Also included are manufacturers and suppliers of nail products, magazines, and beauty trade shows. The industry interfaces directly with the public in nail, beauty and hair salons, in spas and massage therapy businesses, and one-on-one with individual licensed nail technicians and cosmetologists.
Her formal title and what she put on forms when asked for her occupation was Medical Nail Technician. The product that she became famous for was called Glitzy Tips, a flexible film nail covering that applied to the nail with a special glue. What the public and nail techs alike enjoyed was that with Glitzy Tips there was no drying time, chipping, fumes or chemicals. Removal was made simple and could be done at home. Glitzy Tips was described as being for “the girl who wants to stand out and be noticed.”
Athena was perfect for the profession she had chosen. A dark-haired beauty with a dazzling smile, she was Greek by descent. She had grown up in Houston, Texas. Her family had many chefs there and she was fully expected to go to culinary school. But she chose cosmetology school instead. If she hadn’t gone into nails she claims that she would be a master chef instead and would own a Bed & Breakfast in a beautiful place somewhere. But it was a safe bet that eventually she would have put a sign up in reception offering to do nails for her guests – for a nominal fee of course.
She had caught the nail bug many years ago. When she was in high school she would go with her mom to get her acrylic nails filled. Her mom was a perfectionist, and it seemed as though she was never pleased with the service that she received at the local salon. Back in those days Mona Nails actually sold their kits in the salon, and Athena had asked her mom to buy her one, and things took off from there. The seeds had already started to germinate in her mind that she wanted to make nails her career. At first her family dismissed the notion as being nothing more than a hobby or a passing fad. Lots of people have a hobby that they are good at and enjoy, but there was a world of difference between a hobby and something at which you could make living – an enjoyable living. Going into her chosen profession meant a great deal of hard work for her, but it was with joy that she embraced her lessons.
To put the requirements into some sort of perspective, now a typical 600-hour