Raspberry Tart Terror (Murder in the Mix Book 30) Unknown (christmas read aloud .TXT) 📖

Teddy moans, “How I wish my Sugar would simply stay out of this. For all the times I’ve heard her say she could just kill Verity Prescott, she should probably leave town in the event the sheriff’s department decides to arrest her.”

A breath gets caught in my throat. It sure sounds as if Teddy thinks Sugar is capable of murder.

Juliet nods as if she heard. “I know what you’re thinking, Lottie. Sugar was very good friends with Verity. But please don’t think poorly of her. She actually has a kind heart, even if it does get her in a boatload of trouble most of the time. Honestly, this is the exact kind of thing she would do—giving Evie Verity’s followers hoping that something good would come of the mess that Verity left behind, only to have Evie’s life upended and turned into a nightmare.”

“Boy, is it ever turning into a nightmare,” I say, looking out at the hall. Not sure I’m buying the fact Sugar would do something like that to Evie, though.

“The funny thing is, that’s the very situation Verity and I were arguing over the night she was killed. I thought it was low of Verity to force Sugar to move her grand opening date after Sugar had already spent so much money on it. Just because Verity was rolling in it, doesn’t mean the rest of us are.”

Teddy tips her head back and slaps her furry round belly. “So that’s what the big argument was about between the two of them. I guess that’s one mystery solved.”

Agree.

“That was nice of you,” I tell her. “Maybe I should talk to Sugar again about that whole grand opening debacle? I mean, her second attempt was more or less a hit, but maybe I can collaborate with her somehow on doing something additional. You know, something like buy three cookies and get a discount at the all-romance bookshop?”

“I would wait,” she says with a marked urgency in her voice. “Full disclosure, I was thoroughly interrogated by Featherby Sleuths Investigative Services.” She rolls her eyes as if she understood what a farce that was. “Anyway, she thinks Sugar is the killer.” She shrugs.

“You don’t look all that convinced.”

“I mean, sure, she and Verity had a twisted history, but to poison the woman? Sugar might be pulling Evie’s leg where technology is concerned, but I don’t think she has it in her to pull off a horrible homicide.”

“I wholeheartedly agree.” Teddy floats over and hugs Juliet by the neck. “Now wait until you hear what she has to say about Bambi.” Teddy tips a furry ear my way. “Now that’s something that will make your skin crawl.”

“What about Bambi?” I ask out loud without meaning to. Darn it. Some days it feels as if this little sugar cookie floating around in my belly has stolen all my brain cells.

Juliet laughs. “You’ve got great intuition, Lottie.” She gives a quick glance over her shoulder. “I shouldn’t say this too loud because for all I know Bambi might be milling around in that sea of bodies, but the woman was really enraged with Verity.”

“Does this have something to do with why Verity announced she wanted to get a restraining order against her?”

Juliet nods. “Bambi and Verity’s friendship started out as hot as a kitchen fire. One moment they were virtual strangers, and the next they were inseparable. Bambi was just hitting her stride as a gossip columnist for some rag in Leeds before she moved the show online and started her podcast to go along with the rest of her social media stuff. That’s when she really hit the big time.”

“Why do you think she and Verity hit it off so well?”

“Oh, Verity didn’t have any real friends in her new party world. I bet it was a relief to find someone as wild as she was. I mean, Verity and I were co-workers. Even if she did invite me clubbing, I wouldn’t have gone. And by the time Verity hit it big, she and Bambi were on the skids. Bambi fit the mold until she didn’t.”

“What do you mean?”

Juliet swallows hard. “Once Bambi made a name for herself, Verity saw that she could use her as a means to destroy other people, namely her enemies. That’s when things were still good between the two of them. Verity turned Bambi loose on the people in the social media world that stood in her way.”

“Who did Verity have her take down?” I ask, stepping in close.

“There were these twins who had a popular YouTube channel right up until Bambi unleashed the fact they were buying subscribers. She unveiled that they were nothing but a bunch of fakes. And then there was some teenager from Kansas who was starting to poke fun at Verity’s style. And well, he lost his entire following when Bambi exposed that he turned his puppy over to a shelter after milking it for all it was worth on social media. As it turned out, he didn’t give that puppy to the shelter because he was through using it to boost his fame. Come to find out, his sister was deathly allergic. But by the time he spoke out, it was too late. Bambi eviscerated him. She ruined the kid’s life. And there were many more of those stories to go around.”

“It sounds as if Bambi came in handy to Verity. What happened? Did she turn out to be a stalker or something?”

Juliet laughs at the thought. “I don’t think so. I’m not exactly sure what transpired.” Her features sharpen as her lips press tightly. There is such a simple beauty to Juliet, and this tiny freeze-frame in time with her eyes wide set only seems to annunciate it. “Whatever the disagreement was, it made Verity desperate enough to want to seek the authorities to keep Bambi away from her. But I’m sure the sheriff’s department has already checked things out.”

Teddy looks my way. “Have they?”

“I’m not so sure,” I whisper.

Juliet collects