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If she fired her gun, Noah has her exactly where he wants her.
“If you didn’t kill her, who did?” I ask.
“I don’t know.” She blinks as if thunderstruck by the thought. “Bella had enemies. She was a top attorney before she left the courthouse to write full-time.”
Weenie flies by. “All of her clients loved her. She only lost one case.”
“She only lost one case,” I say mostly to myself.
“That’s right.” Crane rolls her eyes. “And to hear her talk about it, she was proud of that, too.”
“Why would she be proud of something like that?”
Crane shrugs. “It was a drug felony charge her client was trying to evade. Bella hated drugs; her brother died of an overdose. Who knows? Maybe she wanted to nail her client? I wouldn’t put anything past Bella Hall.” She glances past me. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m suddenly craving some cookies.” She heads back into the conservatory.
“What do you think?” Winslow asks, and his eyes glow like blue beacons in the night.
“I think I’d better do a little more digging. If she fired the gun recently, it’s a closed case. If she didn’t, well, then I have another killer to catch.”
A sharp yowl razes our eardrums.
“I’d better wrangle Thirteen,” he says. “But I’ll admit, the weenie dog is growing on me, too. Good luck with the case, Lottie.”
“Something tells me I’ll need more than luck.”
I’ll need hardcore evidence.
We split ways and I enter the conservatory where the hula music is still thumping and the body count has grown to the point you can hardly move without touching three different people.
True to her word, Crane is piling some of my cookies onto a small plate, and I shake my head in disbelief.
I’ll play along for now.
If she didn’t do it, who did?
My phone chirps, and I look down to see it’s a text from Everett.
I’m heading over. I’ve got a surprise to share when I get there, and I’ve got one to give you now. Check your emails.
I tap over to my email account and, sure enough, I received one from Everett less than five minutes ago. I open up the file attached and a smile floats to my lips. It’s forwarded from Everett’s secretary. I’ll have to send her a muffin basket for making my night.
It’s the full list of Bella Hall’s clients and cases. Next to each name it says the word won, right up until I hit the bottom of the list. Lost this case, Everett’s secretary noted.
I click on the woman’s name and read the note attached. Dedra Norris was booked and is serving time for felony drug charges. Dedra was found guilty of selling narcotics. She pleaded innocent but was swept up in a sting operation.
That certainly sounds familiar, and I swallow hard at how close to home this one sits.
Wait a minute…
Norris?
Why does that sound familiar?
And then it hits me.
I know exactly why that struck a chord.
It looks as if I have a shiny new suspect. And just my luck, they’re standing right in this room.
