“Except she already told us who did, so there really isn’t much point in searching for someone else when we have the primary suspect right here,” Tara said.
“The point would be to get to the truth,” Mel said.
“So bored.” Tara stretched her mouth wide in a fake yawn and patted her lips with one hand.
Mel took another step towards her, not really sure of what she planned to do, but it was rendered null and void as Joe slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her back out of striking range.
“It sounds like you all have a lot of information to share,” Joe said. “Right, Stan?”
Stan was popping an antacid tablet and nodded. “Yeah, let’s divide up the interviews. Martinez, you take Ray and Angie, and I’ll take Ms. Leighton and Mel.”
“What?” Tara fumed. “Why do I get stuck with Dumb and Dumber?”
“What’d you call me?” Angie snapped.
“Relax, Sis,” Ray said. “She’s just trying to look like she’s not interested in this.” Ray made a sweeping gesture at his own body and Angie rolled her eyes.
“Okay, so she got half of it right,” Angie said.
“Harsh, Ange, real harsh,” Ray said.
Mel took a moment to turn her back on the group and fire off a quick text. If this situation was going the way she feared, Cassie was going to need professional help of the lawyerly kind, and not from the side of the courtroom Joe sat on.
“Angie! Mel!” Tate appeared in the doorway to the bar. “I got here as fast as I could. Are you all right? What happened?”
He dashed across the room and grabbed Angie in a hug that lifted her right off of her feet. Then he kissed her. It might have gone on longer, but Ray grabbed Tate’s collar in his fist and lifted him up until he was forced to drop Angie.
“Save it for the honeymoon, Harper,” Ray said.
“Right,” Tate said. He held up his hands in surrender and Ray dropped him back on the ground. Tate glanced from Angie to Mel. “You’re both okay?”
“We’re fine,” Angie said. She took Tate’s hand in hers. “And it turns out, Blaise’s murder had nothing to do with us. Somehow, it’s all connected to Elise Penworthy and her book The Palms.”
“What? I don’t understand,” he said.
“The caterer, the photographer, and the driver hired to work Elise’s book signing were all murdered,” Mel said. “And someone just tried to kill Elise. You two just happened to have the same photographer and driver. It really was just a coincidence.”
“That’s horrible. Those poor people,” Tate said. He looked upset, as if he couldn’t process so much bad news all at once. “And yet, I’m so relieved we had nothing to do with it. Ugh, I’m a horrible person.”
He looked at Angie and she nodded and said, “No, I feel the same way. I didn’t want to be responsible for Blaise’s death, either.”
They hugged and the group moved away from them to give them a minute to talk.
Uncle Stan gestured for Mel and Cassie to come with him and he led them towards a booth in the corner. Mel was grateful to have Joe there as her fiancé, but not so much as a county prosecutor.
“Will this be a conflict of interest for you?” she asked. “Shouldn’t you probably leave so that the case doesn’t get tainted?”
“I’ll recuse myself from the case should there be one,” he said.
“Oh, good, then you won’t be mad that I texted for backup,” she said. “I don’t think Cassie should answer any of Uncle Stan’s questions.”
“Why not? Do you think she had something to do with the murders or with the attack on the author?”
“No, not at all. I’m just not certain she can account for her whereabouts the whole time. It was crazy busy with all of the people and the books and such. So, I figure it won’t hurt for her to have proper representation.”
“Mel . . .” Joe said. “Tell me you didn’t. Not him.”
“All right, I won’t tell you,” she said.
“Melanie Cooper, my favorite cupcake baker,” a voice boomed from the doorway to the bar.
“Oh, for cripe’s sake,” Uncle Stan muttered. “Who called that guy?”
“Sorry, Uncle Stan,” Mel said. “It had to be done.”
“You know, if you weren’t my favorite niece I’d disown you right now,” he said.
“I’m your only niece.”
“Pity.”
Steve Wolfmeier, a local defense attorney, strolled across the bar towards them. In his shiny suit and shinier shoes, he looked like someone who could slide through a tar pit and not get a bit of black ooze stuck on him. In other words, he was the perfect attorney for a person in a jam, which Cassie was.
“Hi, Steve,” Mel said. She waved him over.
He stopped in front of her and Joe. The two men glared at each other. Steve studied Mel and Joe with a frown.
“I heard he put a ring on it,” he said.
Mel held up her hand. The diamond Joe had given her a few months before sparkled.
“I could have gotten you one three times that size,” he said.
Mel felt Joe bristle beside her.
“You know what they say, it’s quality not quantity,” she said.
“I’d give you both,” Steve said.
“That’s it,” Joe said. “How about we chat outside?”
Mel quickly looped her hand through Joe’s arm and reined him in. “Not really the time for that. Steve, this is Cassie Leighton, owner of the bookstore A Likely Story. Her author was just assaulted and, well, I’m going to let her explain what happened.”
“Cassie—can I call you Cassie?” Steve held out his hand.
“Sure,” she said. She looked a little
