I knew I was beaming, but I didn’t care. Higgs knew the way directly to my amateur sleuth’s heart.
The moment I thought that, was the same moment I remembered how lightly I’d have to tread around Nikki. She’d been skittish at the very thought of the police. If she’d told Sophie and Mickey to be wary of me, essentially, I was screwed.
Watching as they were seated, I sank low in my chair, trying to make myself as small as possible and hoping for the best. I figured maybe I could catch them off guard.
“I can still see you,” Higgs said on a laugh.
I threw a finger over my mouth. “Shhh. Pretend you don’t. I told you what happened with Nikki. I don’t need her to spook the other two off.”
“Do you really think they can be of any help, Trixie? I mean, Julie did tell you they didn’t see anything. Much the way she didn’t.”
“Aren’t you always telling me sometimes it’s just that one little clue that can break a case wide open? You know, when a suspect sees something they think is completely innocuous, but it turns out it’s something that can make or break a case?”
He held his hands up and grinned, his sleeve tattoos on each forearm especially bright in the gloom pouring in from the windows. “Okay, okay. But I can still see you.”
I sat up then and decided to take matters in hand. I knew Mitzy had been murdered, and I was going to find out who did it. Period.
“Wait here,” I told him, slipping from my chair and eyeballing the table where Nikki and the others sat, her back to me. As I approached, I smiled over Nikki’s head at their concerned glances when they realized I was heading toward them.
And that’s when Nikki turned around and saw me.
She hopped up from her chair as though the devil had invited himself to a sit-down, her finger waving in the air as she grabbed her coat. Her face bright red, her mouth an angry thin line.
“I know why you’re here, and I’m not going to talk to you, lady! I told the police everything I know. Now leave—me—alone!” she yelled at me, grabbing Sophie by the hand and stomping toward the door.
There was a long silence before Higgs snuck up behind me and whispered, “I hope this is a lesson to you, Sister Trixie. No good ever comes from a place that gives you kale chips with our lunch.”
Chapter 16
I sighed in mortification as everyone stared at me, poking him in the side. “I told you, she’s not a fan.”
“Obviously.” Grabbing me by the hand, he pulled me back toward the table and threw some money on it to cover lunch. “Listen, I have to get back to the shelter and make a burger…er, do some work. You want to come with or do you want to see how many more people you can scare off from the health food restaurant?”
I stuck my tongue out at him with a giggle, but my appetite was gone. “Nope. My dance card is full for today. I’m outta here, but I’m going to spend some time with my laptop and see what I can see. I’ll walk back with you, okay?”
“Then let’s blow this popsicle stand.” He held out his arm to me, and I took it, letting him lead me out of the bustling café.
As we stepped outside, a voice called out, “Miss Lavender?”
We both turned to find Mickey, his ruddy-cheeked smile hesitant. I peered at him through the drizzle. “Mickey, right?”
His shoulders instantly slumped. “Yeah. Look, I’m sorry Nikki acted like that. She’s way overdramatic about everything. But Julie told me she talked to you, and she said you were really nice.”
I smiled. “Well, thanks for realizing I’m not a monster, Mickey. I really just wanted to talk to you guys about that night, and see if you saw something or heard something one of the others didn’t.”
His curly brown head, glistening with rain, turned from left to right. “I really didn’t. Julie’s telling you the truth. I didn’t see anyone or hear anything before that door slammed shut and we were locked in.”
I nodded in understanding. This became more and more like the perfect crime than any crime ever. “Can I ask you something, and I hope you’ll give me an honest answer?”
Mickey shrugged, tucking his hands into the pockets of his tracksuit. “Sure.”
“Did you like Mitzy? Or was she as cruel to you as she was to the others?”
He looked at me for a long moment, his mouth working, but no words came out.
Then, he suddenly blurted, “She was really awful. I want to be a makeup artist to the stars, and I think I’m pretty good at it. I know I’m pretty good at it. I thought entering the contest was stupid, but I did it anyway, because Mitzy’s skills are mad, and so are her connections. I really thought I’d gain some great experience, maybe meet some new people. But it wasn’t worth the abuse. She was crappy to everyone, including us, and we were doing this for free. I decided after only two days with her, no connection was worth hanging around that toxic dumpster fire, and I wanted to go home.”
Yet another Mitzy hater. “I’m sorry your experience was so poor, Mickey. She does seem to have a reputation for being unkind.”
“Unkind?” he snorted. “She’s a…er, was a monster, and I know my mother would be really upset with me for speaking ill of the dead, but it’s true. She had an ugly heart.”
I looked at Higgs, whose mouth had gone thin in a grimace, but we both knew this was yet another dead end.
I stuck my hand out and offered it to Mickey. “Well, thank
