Page 17 of Macaron Massacre
“This is our suspect circle,” she announces as she holds it up for all to see. “So, who have we got? Who is on the suspect list?”
“Miranda Lemon!” someone shouts from the back, and I look up to find it was my sister, Meg. Very funny. I bet she won’t be laughing once our mother becomes the town pariah.
“Not Miranda Lemon,” I say, pushing Naomi’s hand away from the paper, preventing her from making it official. Not that the newspaper hasn’t. The press is having a field day hanging both my mother and Mayor Nash in the court of public opinion.
“I’m sorry, Lottie.” Naomi jots down my mother’s name without batting a false eyelash. “We have to be impartial if we’re going to solve this crime. Anyone else?”
“Good Lord,” I grumble. “Gloria Dallas, Rich’s ex-wife. She was acting strange the day of the murder, too.”
Lainey raises a hand. “I saw her downing a bottle of champagne!”
“Withyou!” Cormack shouts, and the table breaks out into titters once again.
Figures. Leave it to Cormack to implicate me with glee.
“Oh please. You can stop smiling now.” I groan at the mess my life has inadvertently become. “That’s not what happened. Back to the case.”
“He has three daughters!” Lily shouts as if it were the winning answer in a game show quiz.
“Two daughters,” I correct. “Michelle Ireland and Claret Dallas,” I say and point to the page as Naomi dutifully writes their names down.
“No, I’m pretty sure it’s three.” Lily shakes her head, contesting my accuracy. “My sister went to school with Dawn.”
“Dawn Dallas?” I rack my brain trying to remember if anyone brought up yet a third Dallas offspring that day.
“She’s the black sheep. Nobody talks about her anymore,” Cascade Montgomery pipes up. She’s tall and elegant in a steam punk sort of way. Cascade owns and runs the Busy Bee Craft Shop across the street. In fact, it was Cascade’s cousin, Merilee Simonson, who happened to be the victim of the very first murder I solved.
“Why don’t they talk to Dawn?” I’ll admit, a morbid curiosity is piqued within me. No matter how much I don’t want this case solved, my undeniable thirst for justice is percolating full tilt.
Lily nods to Cascade as if to sayI got this. “Rich didn’t care for Dawn’s boyfriend, and the entire family was banished from ever speaking to her again.”
“That doesn’t make sense.” I inch back, trying to process the lunacy. “Even if our father didn’t approve of Forest, my sister and I would’ve still spoken with Lainey.”
A dull murmur erupts as whispers of Joseph Lemon hating Forest Donovan circulate around the table.
“It was just an example,” I shout up over the noise. “Back to the case before there’s another murder.”A real massacre right here in my bakery, I want to add but don’t. “What’s the boyfriend’s name?”
A bout of silence stops up the café.
Britney leans in, a silver blonde strand of hair covering her secretive eye. “You’ll have to investigate that one. I’m sure Noah will gladly assist you.” She rolls her free eye. “And now I know why you dove into such a grisly hobby.”
“Believe me, I didn’t start finding bodies all over Honey Hollow just to get into your husband’s pants.”
A wild round of gasps erupts once again. “Wait! That’s not what I meant. I had no idea Noah was a married man while I was diving into his pants!”
A dark chuckle garners my attention from the register, and I look over to find the hot detective himself with an adorable pooch by his side, Toby.
“Excuse me,” I say as I try to rise from my seat, but Naomi pushes me right back down.
“This will just take a second,” she snips. “Occupations of the suspects? Do you have any information?”
My head feels fuzzy for a moment as that afternoon glides through my mind at record speed. “I think Gloria did something with fashion, Michelle is a life coach, and I don’t know what Claret does.” I force a grin to come and go at the homicide hungry masses. “Meeting adjourned.” I thump Naomi’s coffee mug over the table before bolting over to Noah.
I’m about to say hello when a woman at the window catches my attention, and as soon as she spots me, she hightails it down Main Street.
“Lottie?” Noah follows my gaze. “Everything okay?”
“Um, yes.” I decide to shake it off. “I think Everett’s fan was back for a moment. But she’s gone now. Should we go out there and follow her?”