Merry Masquerade in Savannah: A Made in Savannah Cozy Mystery (Made in Savannah Cozy Mysteries Serie Hope Callaghan (best sales books of all time TXT) 📖

Carlita could tell from the look on her daughter’s face something had happened.  “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Mercedes squeezed her mother’s arm. “You’ve simply got to try the half shell oysters.  They’re to die for.”

“Yeah. Die.” Autumn repeated.

Carlita frowned.  “Okay. Where are they?”

“Follow me.” Mercedes led her mother out of the library, down the long hall to the flagstone courtyard in the back.

“There’s no food out here,” Carlita said.

“I know.” Mercedes didn’t stop until they were on the other side of the pool and out of earshot.  “Autumn and I came out here to take a quick look around and noticed a woman lying on the pool house floor.”

Chapter 8

“What do you mean, there’s a woman lying in the pool house?” Carlita asked.  “Did you tell anyone?”

“We didn’t need to.” The women moved away from a hedge of gardenia bushes and into the open.  “We walked over to check it out and I heard someone say ‘she’s dead.’”

Autumn pointed to the pool house, where several people darted back and forth.  A small crowd had gathered and the women made their way over.

Carlita bounced on her toes and peered over a woman’s shoulder.  Lying on the terra cotta tile floor was a young woman, dressed in a server’s uniform.  There was a puddle of blood next to her head and her skin was a pasty pale shade.

One of the men on scene was Detective Skip Wilson, the detective who had recently investigated the death of Jon Luis, a Savannah area author.

Tori stood off to the side, a pinched expression on her face.  She began to tremble when Detective Wilson stepped away from the scene and approached her. After he finished, Carlita watched as Tori shifted to the side, to say something to the person standing directly behind her…someone who looked very familiar.

The woman, dressed in black and wearing an official-looking badge, lifted her walkie-talkie to her mouth.  “EC Security Services staff, please report to the rear quadrant of the property. We need to secure the area.”

“Is that Elvira?” Mercedes gasped.

“Yes, I believe it is.” Carlita marched around the perimeter of the pool and stopped in front of her former tenant.  “What are you doing here?”

“Working,” Elvira calmly replied.  “Mrs. Montgomery hired my new security firm, EC Security Services, to help with crowd control and ensure the guests’ safety.  Unfortunately, we weren’t hired to patrol the perimeter cuz if we had been, this never would’ve happened.”

Tori frowned. “You two know each other?”

“Yes, and you should know her too,” Carlita said.  “She’s the woman who snuck onto your property and tussled with Lucien.”

Tori shook her head, confused.

“Remember the bracelet?  We met that day, when I stopped by to ask if you would return the intruder’s bracelet that had fallen off during the scuffle with Lucien.  The intruder was Elvira. You had her arrested for trespassing.”

Tori frowned. “That was you? I thought you looked vaguely familiar.  You told me we’d never met before.”

Elvira had the good graces to look slightly embarrassed.  “We didn’t officially meet. Besides, it was a minor misunderstanding and has nothing to do with my level of professionalism.” She puffed up her chest.  “EC Security Services has never had a customer complaint.”

Mercedes, who had made her way over, snorted.  “Maybe it’s because you just started the business.”

Dernice appeared on scene and elbowed her way to the center of the gathering.  “Do you want us to secure the rear exits?”

“Yes.  Start there and then station Becker and Weston on each end of the pool enclosure.  I’ll get Fogarty to guard the pool house. Don’t let anyone through without proper identification.”

“As in?” Dernice asked.

Elvira stuck her index finger in the air.  “The cops…er, I mean the police, crime scene investigators, the coroner, or Mrs. Montgomery.”

“Got it.” Dernice quickly exited the area and began talking to a small entourage of security detail who were dressed in uniforms that matched Elvira and her sister’s.

Tori led Carlita, Mercedes and Autumn off to the side while Dernice and Elvira discussed securing the area.  “This is dreadful.  I thought hiring extra security for my party would ensure something like this wouldn’t happen.” Her eyes fell on the woman’s body.

“What happened?” Carlita glanced around the room.

“I was in the drawing room, showing Mayor Puckett and his wife William’s collection of swords.  He’s a collector, as well.  We were making our way back to the library when one of Ms. Cobb’s security staff members hurried over, saying something about the pool house door was ajar, so he went to investigate.  That’s when he saw Ava, one of my employees, lying on the floor inside the pool house.”

Elvira finished her conversation with Dernice, circled the room and stopped when she reached Carlita and the others.  “You and your guests have to leave. We need to secure the area and make sure no one contaminates potential evidence.”

“We haven’t touched anything,” Autumn said.

“And I aim to keep it that way.” Elvira rested a light hand on top of her stun gun.  “I can’t show anyone preferential treatment. I’m going to ask you a second time to leave the area.”

Tori cleared her throat.  “Mrs. Garlucci, her daughter and their friend will leave the area when the authorities ask them to leave. Until then, they stay.”

“Fine,” Elvira sniffed. “Don’t blame me if someone messes with the evidence.” She stomped off.

Tori pressed a weary hand to her forehead.  “I had no idea I was hiring that woman.  I thought you needed to pass some sort of strict state testing before obtaining a license in the State of Georgia.”

“Who says she’s licensed?” Mercedes asked.

“Are you saying she’s not?” Tori gasped.

“There’s always the possibility,” Carlita said.  “We’re talking about Elvira.” She turned her attention