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“Nah,” Carlotta is quick to shoot his suggestions down. “Too old-fashioned. You need to give ’em something shiny and new like Fabio the Fabulous and Galactic Star.”
“No and no,” I tell her. “But maybe we’ll use our Edward and Joseph for middle names? That’s certainly a lot to think about.”
“Are we through with our visit to fantasyland?” Noah asks as Pancake jumps from his lap and rushes in Weenie’s direction.
“Let’s head to homicide-ville instead,” I suggest.
Before the two boys in this room come to blows.
“Start naming suspects, Lot,” Noah says. “Let’s see what you got.”
“That a boy, Foxy,” Carlotta says, standing on the opposite sofa while looking through the viewfinder on the camera. “Keep the naughty one-liners coming. I can get creative in edits and make it look like a good time was had by all.”
“Crane Mitchel,” I tell him, choosing to ignore the giant gnat hovering over my sofa. “She’s really my only suspect. But I’ll try to stay open-minded. Let’s see—”
“Open-minded,” Carlotta quips. “I can work with that, too. Thanks, Lot. You’re up next, Sexy. Where’s your mind at?”
“I’m open wide,” he says.
“My favorite words to hear in the bedroom,” Carlotta bucks. “Now there’s a man after my own heart.”
I make a face. “Okay, let’s go back to that fated night at Rizzo’s.”
Carlotta bucks again, “What did you have to go and mention that rat trap again for, Lot? Every time I hear that name it’s as if an electric jolt runs through me.” She turns to Noah. “Is that arsonist still on the loose in Honey Hollow? I’ve got to see me a certain someone about turning a certain place into a pile of cinder.”
“Sorry, Carlotta.” He shakes his head. “I don’t work for the fire department. But if I were you, I’d go with Lottie’s plan and sell the place. You’ll make twice as much as the insurance payout would be and have half the headache.”
“And that’s what we’re going to do. We’ll open again come Monday,” I say sternly to Carlotta for even speaking the idea of burning the place down. “So here’s what I remember from that infamous night. My mother was there with her writing group consisting of Bella Hall, victim number one, Crane Mitchel, her adversary, Marlena Mills, victim number two, and Danya Swanson. Bella argues with just about everyone there that night, then I find her in the alley with a slice of my pineapple upside-down cake next to her body. She had a bullet to her chest, which means she most likely saw—and perhaps knew her killer. And Noah, you said forensics has confirmed that she was killed with a 40-caliber projectile. That’s a bullet, Carlotta, in the event you didn’t know.”
Carlotta clucks her tongue. “You think I’m an idiot, don’t you, Lot?”
I glance up and do a double take. “Carlotta, the lens caps is still on your camera. You’re wasting your battery.”
“Doh!” she cries as she struggles to remove it and nearly flips off the back of the sofa.
We’ll be lucky if that wreath of doom doesn’t land her in the ER once again—or a casket just like its previous owner.
“As I was saying”—I lean into the sofa as Teeny Weenie flies right into my lap—“I did hear Danya give Bella that barb about not being on any best-sellers list. That certainly gave off bad blood vibes. Then later that night, after the murder, Danya actually brought up the fact it might have been a suicide. She made it a point to tell me that Bella was a drama queen. And then the night of the hatchelorette party, Danya brought up the fact Crane essentially lit an entire forest on fire in an effort to do research on arson.”
Noah nods. “Which resulted in an arson charge for herself.”
Everett points my way. “You mentioned Bella lorded that over Crane.”
“That’s exactly what Danya said.” I nod his way. “It sounded like blackmail to me, but Danya thought it was all in good fun.”
“And what about Crane?” Everett asks.
I shake my head. “She’s almost too easy. She was snippy with Bella before the poor woman died. And once Crane saw Bella’s body in the alley, I could have sworn I saw her smile. She apologized profusely for the murder taking place at Rizzo’s. I swear it felt as if she were personally responsible at the time—a foreshadowing of sorts? Both she and Bella were certified to carry—and let’s not forget Crane lied to my face about having a weapon.”
“But she did turn it over to Ivy when asked,” Noah points out. “And forensics should have the results back to me soon enough.”
“Okay.” I take a breath. “Let’s see what else. Oh, then that day Marlena died, Lou, the firefighter who works with Forest—well, he’s the one who told me about Crane’s dubious past as a pyro. He felt really bad about outing her, too. Anyway, that afternoon I saw both Crane and Danya get pretty upset that Marlena took that bag from Bella’s place. Danya said she had lent Bella one of her mother’s scarves and wanted it back, and I’m not sure what Crane wanted from the woman’s office. Nevertheless, they were both highly irritated with her.”
“I don’t see why,” Carlotta squawks. “Marlena Mills is the kind of friend every girl needs.”
“Why is that?” Everett takes the bait for me.
“Every woman knows if you bite the big one, you gotta have backup come in and clean the deep, dark secrets out of your nightstand before the family rolls in.”
