Marius grabbed me, clapping a hand over my mouth and smothering me against his chest before I could scream.
Zoe was unfazed. “Was that a cat?”
There was the noise again, this time accompanied by moaning and the telltale slap-slapping of someone getting it on.
“Oakley, take it, take my fucking cum,yeah,” a male voice groaned as he apparently dumped all the presents down the chimney.
“Oh, Theo, give me your seed. I can’t wait to have your baby. Oh, your cum feels so good in my pussy.”
“Jesus Christ,” Zoe muttered.
“They were in on it! Both of them murdered Brooks, and I am going to get my proof,” I hissed.
Marius grabbed me as soon as I started to go up the stairs. “No. You’re going to get caught.”
“I need a photo. This is evidence. This will clear my name.”
In the bedroom, the floor creaked as people began moving around.
“We’re leaving.Now.” Marius picked me up and carried me out of the house, shutting the front door behind all of us.
“You should have letme get a photo,” I complained when we were celebrating with holiday-themed cocktails in the Christmas market. “Oakley is having an affair with Theo. This is means, motive, and opportunity all in one.”
“It’s a bad look if we all get arrested,” Marius argued.
“Can’t we just”—Zoe reached for a beef Wellington bite—“you know, anonymously send the news of the affair to the police?”
“This isn’t TV. That’s not how this works. That’s not how any of this works.” Marius stared vacantly at his cocktail.
“Someone’s glad he volunteered for the Emmie-innocence shit show.” Zoe laughed.
“Maybe my anonymous tip will convince the cops to search the house and find actual evidence,” I argued. “They never searched the house, just Gran’s apartment. She’s still mad theymessed up her fiddle-leaf fig. Also, I forgot. She wanted me to ask you if you could sue the police station on her behalf.”
“Isn’t that thing dead?” Zoe frowned. “And she painted it green in her art class?”
“So no, I won’t be suing,” Marius said slowly.
I slurped my drink thoughtfully. “Okay, new theory. The baby is not Brooks’s, and Oakley offed him with the help of her affair partner.”
“Theo is the murderer,” Zoe said matter-of-factly. “Girl sleeps with boyfriend’s best friend. Brooks finds out, and they off him for the money. It’s practically a cliché. That would explain the motive.”
“We needed a photo of them together for proof.”
Marius shot me a glare. “If the paternity test comes back negative,” he said, steepling his hands, “then that’s all the proof we need.”
“Or one of Brooks’sotheraffair partners found out about the affair and was trying to kill Oakley with cupcakes,” Zoe suggested.
“Pregnant women like cupcakes.” Marius shrugged. “Maybe Oakley had a craving, and the other affair partner knew about it and exploited that knowledge.”
“Beatrice. She’s close enough to Oakley to know her cravings.”
I ignored the twinge of sympathy I felt for Oakley. “Maybe Oakley was the intended victim after all.”
16
MARIUS
Itook the long way through the Christmas market to my car, trying to clear my head.
