Teddy floats over with her mouth agape. “What in the world is going on here? Lottie, you can’t just hog the suspect while you force Carlotta to do your dirty work. That’s exactly what she says is happening here.”
I give a tiny shake of my head in the gullible ghost’s direction. This is not the time or the place for Carlotta’s ridiculous shenanigans.
“Bambi?” I lean in. “Can I ask about that dark night you were alluding to? The way you wove your words, it was as if you were painting a picture. You really pulled me in.” Typically, greasing a suspect’s ego is a tried-and-true tactic, but at the moment, I happen to mean these words. She was that good.
She blows out a breath. “She iced me out. I suspect it had something to do with the fact she wanted me to take down one of her exes. She was notorious for collecting do-nothing cheaters who loved to mooch off of her. Verity always had a cash flow going. She was a hard-working thief, I used to call her.” She winks my way. “Her latest boyfriend was no different. Of course, Chad has a job. A chef or a magician or something like that. And I think he sings, too. I don’t really care for Chad all that much, so I’ve never put much energy into learning more about him.”
Teddy scoffs. “A singing chef and a magician? Verity always did like the go-getters even if they didn’t actually get anything. Oh dear, Carlotta is missing all of the good stuff. I wish you wouldn’t press ahead without her, Lottie. I have a feeling things will go terribly wrong if we don’t wait for our commander in chief to arrive.”
I roll my eyes and Bambi laughs.
“I thought the same thing, honey. A chef and a magician? Verity was probably blowing smoke up my skirt. She liked to do that toward the end. Let’s just say she needed to be in the driver seat of our friendship, and when the boat started to rock, she threw me overboard without hesitation. But like I said, I don’t really care about Chad. He’s a freaking lunatic just like the rest of the guys she attracted. Verity sure did seem to have it all together.” She nods to the crowd. “Especially to these guys, but she was a fractured mirror, long before I ever met her. And believe me, she cut everyone who dared get too close.”
“Oh dear.” Teddy shivers as a sprinkling of silver stars peppers to the floor. “Verity certainly was a walking piece of broken glass. I couldn’t have said it better myself. She said she’d claw her way to the top. She vowed she’d have enough money so that she wouldn’t have to rely on anyone.”
Interesting.
I lean toward Bambi. “So I take it Verity didn’t come from much.”
“Are you kidding? She was scraping and stealing from the waste bin just to keep herself fed as a kid. She was a dumpster diver before dumpster diving was cool.”
“Oh yes.” Teddy sighs. “Those were some of my best memories. Verity often said that’s why she needed me. I was able to winnow all the way down to the bottom of those steely, stinky wonders. And we always found treasures. Burgers and fries, and even the branch of a eucalyptus on occasion. We made a great team, Verity and me. That is, when she was in a good mood.”
“But I bet she was moody,” I say to Bambi with a nod. “You don’t get to be a genius like that without a few emotions.”
“You can say that again. She was a tempest in a teacup. She had to be just to survive.”
I nod. “And I bet that secret you’re holding for her had to do with her need to survive.”
Her eyes sharpen over mine a moment. “You can bet your bottom dollar it did. In fact, Verity’s bottom dollar often relied on it.”
The barista motions to Bambi, and without hesitation, I step in front of her.
“Bambi, who do you think could have done something like this to Verity? The poor thing died a horrible death.”
She sighs as she stares off past me, her eyes quickly growing vacant.
“She wanted to ruin me. I can only guess she wanted to ruin other people, too. Verity was a very powerful woman. But the sin that did her in was the fact she forgot what it felt like to be hungry. She thought nothing of stealing the food from someone else’s mouth when she herself once knew the pain that hunger could bring. She had evolved into a monster.” Her eyes grow dark. “Anyway.” She takes a breath. “That bonehead she was dating was closer to her toward the end than I was. Maybe he knows who had it in for Verity the most. All I know is I survived her tyranny, and I’m still standing on the right side of the soil. Excuse me.” She gives a little wink, picks up her drink, and melts into the murky darkness.
“Wait!” I call out. “I didn’t get that secret—”
Carlotta scurries up and shoves a cup of coffee my way.
“Well, Lot? Did she do it?”
“She had motive.”
“Carlotta!” Teddy belts out a growl of frustration. “Lottie was relentless. I tried to get her to wait. You were right. The girl is stubborn as a hurricane.”
“Stubborn as a hurricane?” I smack my lips as I look to the one who bore me.
“What?” Carlotta squawks. “Would I say something like that?”
The crowd breaks out into a quick applause, and the emcee of the night steps on stage and asks if anyone from the audience would like to volunteer.
“Right here!” Carlotta
