Gillian fanned herself with her hand. “How terrible! Such a cruel death. Someone must have truly wanted her to suffer. Perhaps the way they felt they had suffered.”
James frowned. “I think she enjoyed issuing a little verbal torture to everyone she met. The only person I ever saw her be civil to was my father, and he was plying her with whiskey.”
“I suppose Willow must be at the top of your suspect list,” Lindy said to Lucy. “That girl took more than her fair share of abuse.”
“She was at the bed-and-breakfast too,” Lucy agreed. “But why travel to Quincy’s Gap and then kill Paulette? That would be downright stupid. With her boss a stranger in town, Willow would be elected Most-Likely-to-Kill-the-Diva right off the bat.”
Lindy scooted back her chair and approached the glass case filled with assorted custard flavors. She pointed at one and then gestured at a candy jar filled with peanut-butter cups. A few moments later, she returned with one of Willy’s famous “concretes,” in which he combined the custard and candy toppings-and in this case a few ribbons of hot fudge-using a pair of spackling knives. James loved to watch him blend the sweet ingredients. Willy’s hands were quick and deft, much like the hibachi chefs juggling spatulas or pepper mills at a Japanese restaurant.
“Sorry for the interruption. I just think more clearly when I’ve got a little chocolate running through my system.” Lindy sighed in contentment as she swallowed of bite of chocolate mixed with fudge and peanut-butter cup. “We should consider that Willow may have intentionally waited until Paulette’s family was in town to act. She probably knew more things about the Diva’s life than anyone else, so if there was any family conflict, she could use that to her advantage.”
“Clever,” James said in admiration. “Though I wouldn’t wait around to see if the poison worked if I were a murderer . On the other hand, there was definitely tension between Paulette and her daughter as well as her older sister, Wheezie. Apparently the son could do no wrong.”
“That’s how my mama feels about me!” Bennett thumped his chest and grinned.
As the friends sipped coffee and watched Lindy devour her frozen custard, Lucy created character sketches of Paulette’s family. She shared details from her interviews with the three relatives, stating that each of them had seemed genuinely shocked but not overly distraught by the news of Paulette’s death.
“Frankly, Chloe seemed relieved, as though she had no one to criticize her anymore. Chase got a greedy gleam in his eye, and Wheezie was, I don’t know, resigned. Though I swear she smiled once and then tried to hide it by coughing. All of the family members gave brief and careful answers to our questions-never saying more than necessary. I got the feeling that each one of them was hiding something.”
“How do you sense something like that?” Gillian asked, fascinated.
Lucy pondered her friend’s question for a moment. “When someone’s keeping something from me, it’s like a curtain drops over their eyes. It’s invisible, but I still see it. I can’t explain it better than that.”
James studied her for a moment, wondering if he’d be attracted to Lucy’s cornflower blue eyes, luminescent skin, and lustrous cinnamon-hued hair for the rest of his days. She always looked especially appealing when they were involved in a case together. He was suddenly struck with the realization that they got along best when they were investigating a murder. The rest of the time they seemed at a loss over how to take the relationship to a romantic level and keep it there.
James also saw, in this oddly timed moment of self-reflection, that for years he had been at the mercy of Lucy’s whims. He had wanted to claim Lucy as his own from the day they met, and since that time, only his relationship with Murphy had interfered with those feelings. Lucy, however, seemed only interested in behaving like a couple when he was already dating someone else. Clenching his fists, James looked away from her animated face. His emotions were warring within him as he thought about never kissing her again for the rest of their lives.
Why does everything have to be so complicated? He thought crossly. Am I ever going to find the right person to spend my life with? Because apparently, it’s not going to be Lucy Hanover!
Gillian observed James’s hangdog look and covered his hand with hers. “Poor Milla. What did she and your father decide to do about their wedding?”
“It’s postponed. There’s going to be a memorial service for Paulette on Christmas Eve instead.” James scowled. “Unfortunately, it’s bound to turn into a media feeding frenzy. Newspaper reporters and TV crews should be descending on us any second now.”
“You hear that, Willy?” Bennett called out to the proprietor. “The press is coming to Quincy’s Gap. Better stock up.”
Willy scrutinized the contents of his cooler and smiled. “I’d best make lots of extra coffee-flavored custard. Those journalist types go nuts for anythin’ that has so much as a whiff of caffeine.”
James was highly tempted to ask for one of Willy’s cinnamon cappuccino custards, but he was determined to restrict his caloric intake that day and feared that having dinner at the family-style Italian restaurant in New Market would be enough of a challenge to his resolve.
“So tell me, Bennett,” Lindy raised a dark eyebrow, “how exactly can five people crash a dinner party at Mamma Mia’s?”
“Easy.” Bennett wiped a trace of whipped cream from the rim of his wide-mouthed cup and sucked it from his finger with a smile. “We act like we just happened to have run into our old friend James. Because the man is so polite, he’ll introduce us to Milla’s kin and then he’ll feel like he’s gotta ask us to join the party. We protest at first, but then we sit down and order a few rounds of booze. We only pretend to drink, while encouraging the rest of them to get soused, and then we sit back and listen.”
“Do you think they’ll be completely honest and open with you there?” Gillian asked Lucy.
“No,” she answered truthfully. “I’ll dress in plain clothes and hang out at the bar, but I can’t sit with the rest of you. I can’t even come in at the same time. Maybe I can still eavesdrop from the bar.” She looked keenly disappointed.
The group fell silent, recognizing that their crime-solving methods were now firmly and truly altered since Lucy had become a deputy.
“It doesn’t matter,” Lindy said after a moment, and slung her arm around Lucy’s shoulder. “As long as we’re together, we can do some good.” She put her free hand in the center of the table. “The Flab Five is back at it! Who’s with me?”
Grinning like children, the friends piled their hands on top of hers and James felt, at least for the moment, that equilibrium had been restored.
James had never been to Mamma Mia’s before as it had only been open for a little over a month. The restaurant’s décor was a strange blend of luxury and outright tackiness. The walls were wood-paneled and the tablecloths were a pristine white and had been ironed and starched to crispness. Despite these elegant details, there were also dozens of Italian flag garlands criss-crossing the ceiling and trellises of silk bougainvillea in a very unnatural shade of electric pink obscured the walls. The centerpieces on the tables were comprised of dyed-green carnations and miniature Italian flags. The music was at odds too, alternating between Frank Sinatra, Pavarotti, and the soundtrack from Moonstruck .
Upon entering the quirky restaurant, Milla quickly took care of the seating arrangements and, after introducing James to her family, placed him between Willow and Chloe.