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LATER THAT EVENING, after a chaotic day surrounding Carlos’s murder, Dana and Katie sat in the living room by the fireplace at the Victorian.
“Think about it,” Dana said to Katie. “If Thomas Cicaro is this hot-shot Hollywood businessman with mob connections whose pride is bigger than Mount Everest, then he would have a good motive. A strong motive. Gigi made him look like a fool, an idiot in the public eye. A loser. And a man like that would not like to look like a loser to his peers.”
“True. But I don’t know about him being the killer, Dana. It would be pretty obvious, wouldn’t it?”
Earlier, after the murder, Dana had gone to the dressing room to console Gigi after the cops had finished interviewing her. The concert was cancelled and tickets were to be refunded but many of the guests wanted their ticket donations to go forth in honor of the walking trail and Gigi’s late fiancé. And of course, Gigi was too emotional to perform, understandably.
“But that’s just it. Sometimes we overlook the obvious,” Dana said.
“True.”
“It makes my skin crawl, just thinking of our little Valentine’s cupcake bagged up in the evidence lab like a prime suspect—even though it’s clear that Carlos was stabbed.”
“I know. Man, that really sucks!”
“Tell me about it.” Dana’s heart thundered in her chest. “Somebody’s really out to make us look bad and frame Terry for the crime of murdering her ex.”
“You have to admit. It doesn’t look good for her. I mean, she lied to us. Why on earth did she tell us she was going home sick and then end up at the concert?”
“I know. I can’t wait to speak with her about this.”
“Well, I would love to know what she was doing there, too. I mean, what do we really know about her anyway? She’s a temp. And she only started over the Christmas holidays. A few months is not a long time to know someone.”
“True.” Dana pulled out her laptop, flipped it open and as soon as the home screen appeared, she opened the Internet and tapped away on her keyboard searching for key terms that would help in this case.
She was snuggled in the comfy couch by the fireplace, the warmth from the fire on her legs. She had a large orange mug with snowflake designs on it and a saucer by her side table. She’d just taken a few sips of some delicious creamy rich hot chocolate with whipped cream and sprinkles of cinnamon and nutmeg. Just the way she liked it. She needed something soothing down her throat right now. It was the perfect way to top off the evening. Grandma Rae used to always make it like that for the girls when they were younger, just before bedtime. It really helped them to have a good night sleep.
“Now back to the case. Remember what Grandma Rae used to say about pride?” Dana added.
“That it’s okay to lose your pride over someone you love, but don’t lose someone you love over your pride?” Katie recited.
Dana grinned. “Not that one, Katie. I think she said something about ‘Pride will cost you everything, but leave you with nothing.’”
“Oh, that’s deep. I don’t remember that one.”
“Well, you know Grandma Rae was always full of lyrics. She would always be sprouting them like fresh vegetables.”
“I know.” Katie beamed with fondness over the memory.
Boy, they both really missed Grandma Rae. She would always know what to say and how to say it at the right times. They could do with having her comforting words right now, but for now Nana’s words of wisdom would be forever ingrained in their memories and kept close to their hearts forever.
“So you think pride is the motive here, Dana?” Katie asked taking a sip of her hot chocolate with whipped cream and marshmallows. Katie left a milky moustache on her upper lip after her taste of the hot chocolate.
“Katie, you look so cute with your milk moustache.” Dana grinned.
“Oh,” Katie said, smiling. She then wiped it off and placed her large orange mug down. “By the way, what did that hot stud of a boyfriend of yours have to say about it when you told him?”
“He’s not my hot stud of a boyfriend, Katie. I already told you. There’s nothing going on between us.” Well, it would certainly look that way now. Detective Troy really thought Dana was way out to lunch on her hunch with his case. He really thought he’d already found his killer.
“And besides, he told me that he has his men on it and would be interviewing Thomas Cicaro and Mr. Mercer, too.”
“Hey, wait a minute. He’s in town? That Hollywood mob guy?”
“Katie, we really don’t know yet if he really does have a mob connection so it’s probably best that we let that rest for now.”
“You look a little nervous, Dana. I swear those mystery riddles you dream up are keeping you awake at night and paranoid. You really think, like that last case you wrote that the mob bugs homes and if you keep mentioning their name, they’ll come after you?” Katie arched her brow, her lips curved into a grin.
“No, Katie. I really don’t think so. I just would prefer not to keep referring to Mr. Cicaro as a mobster without any real evidence. Besides, he’s a respectable Hollywood tycoon, right?”
Just then Truffles, her ginger-haired furry Persian cat came strutting into the living room wagging her bushy tail. She purred gently and crawled onto Dana’s lap.
“Aww, look at you, sweetie. Did you enjoy your dinner?” Dana loved to rub her chin against Truffles silky fur. She was so cuddly and warmed her heart every time. Even after a long stressful day at work. Not to mention Truffles had been her secret silent partner in some of her crime-solving cases. It was as if they were in tune with each other. She was the only one who could sense what Truffles was bothered about. Well, she and her late Grandma Rae. Truffles was a loyal kitty to her late nana and helped save her life on more than one occasion.
“Why is it that you always love to jump on Mommy’s lap when she has her laptop open, huh, cutie?” Dana cooed gently to her little four-legged angel.
Truffles purred playfully.
There was something about having her little kitty that melted her heart. No matter what she was feeling inside, when Truffles was around everything seemed okay.
Was it Dana’s imagination or did Truffles eye the keyboard with a bit of suspicion?
“What is it, baby?”
Truffles started playing around on the keypad. Her tiny little paws playfully slapping against random keys.
“No, sweetie. You don’t want to do that. You’ll break Mommy’s MacBook. These babies are expensive to replace.”
When Dana looked at the screen of the laptop, it went blank. There was nothing on the screen except blackness. “Oh, no, sweetie, what did you do?”
“I told you to be careful with Truffs and that computer. She’s a kitty, not a kid.”
Dana playfully rolled her eyes. “I know, cuz. It’s just...” Well, Dana really didn’t think Truffles would mess up her keyboard or her laptop, now did she? Of course, she also couldn’t tell Katie, no matter how much she loved her cousin, that Truffles was...well, special.
Maybe Dana was the one that was special.
Dana finally pressed a few keys and rebooted the laptop. Once that was done, she snapped it shut. “You know I have a busy day ahead of me tomorrow. I think I’m going to call it a night.”
“Good idea. Are you going to see Gigi again?”
“Yes, I want to offer my condolence again and bring her some flowers—from us, of course.”
“Thanks, cuz. I really wish I could go with you tomorrow but that massive order from the Gransons are in, and with Terry away...”
“I know,” Dana said quietly. “I just hope it’s not too late. I hope we can catch the real killer so that Terry can go free.”