Sugar and Iced (Cupcake Bakery Mystery) (13 page)

Her mind went right to Stan’s words about new evidence. What could he have found? How could it be so damning that they needed to bring Lupe in for questioning? Mel carefully lifted Lupe’s dress from the rack. She glanced around the room and noted that Lupe’s gown was simple when compared to the others. It was a figure-hugging ivory sheath and while it was going to look amazing on her, Mel had to acknowledge that Sarah Hendrick’s was right. It was going to appear rather plain compared to the low-cut, ruffled, and sparkly dresses of the others.

She hoped Alma could give them a quick fix just to kick it up a notch. Then again, if Stan arrested Lupe for Mariel’s murder, she would hardly be needing the gown.

The murmur of voices in the room took on a frenzied sound, and Mel glanced behind her to see what the buzz was about. She hoped it was Stan or Manny hauling someone, anyone, in for questioning but no. When she turned around she saw an Asian woman enter the room, looking like she owned it.

The woman worked her way from station to station. She glanced at the contestants. Some she stopped to critique, others she gave a brusque nod to, and still others she paused in front of to adjust their blush or eye shadow. No one managed to get a smile out of her and Mel found herself clutching Lupe’s gown to her middle as if nervous for what the woman would say to her, which was ridiculous given that Mel wasn’t a contestant.

The woman wore little to no makeup, or at least if she did, it was impossible to discern. Although her features were not pretty or glamorous, she was handsome, with a flawless complexion that glowed against the backdrop of her long dark hair, which she wore in a side part. Mel stared at the woman in rapt fascination.

In complete contrast, roaring right up on the woman’s heels was Brittany Richards. She led Destiny by the hand, giving the teen no option but to follow.

“Ji!” Brittany called. She was waving at the smaller woman as if they were longtime friends. “You remember my daughter, Destiny, don’t you?”

The woman turned and Mel saw her lips tighten just the tiniest bit before she forced them into a miniscule smile.

“Of course,” the woman inclined her head. “Nice to see you again.”

Brittany puffed up like a proud mama hen. She then proceeded to dangle Destiny in front of the woman, pointing out her ski slope nose and high cheekbones. It was quite clear that Brittany was making a pitch of sorts.

“Oh, that woman is the world’s biggest suck-up,” a woman standing near Mel griped. “Just because she’s married to Brandon Richards she thinks she owns every pageant they enter.”

The woman started to vigorously brush her daughter’s hair. “Ow, Mom.”

“Sorry, honey.” The woman immediately calmed down her brushing.

Another mother nearby said, “I heard Brittany bribes the judges with trips to the Caribbean.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me,” the first woman said. “Don’t they have a private jet?”

“Four houses and domestic staff in every one of them, too,” the other woman added. “All paid for by boob jobs and nose jobs.”

“Why did we enter this pageant again? We don’t stand a chance. That tiara is bought and paid for.” The other mother sighed and put down the hairbrush.

“Well, Ji Lily owns her own cosmetics company,” the second mother said. “Maybe one of our girls will get lucky and get a modeling contract with her.”

Mel glanced over at the Asian woman. She remembered Cici telling her that Ji Lily was their makeup consultant. She also remembered that Cici said that Mariel was in partnership with Ji Lily in a nail polish venture. She wondered how that had been going. Surely, Uncle Stan and Manny knew about it, too.

If Ji Lily was here, they must not have found anything suspicious about her business with Mariel. Still, Tate had loads of contacts in the business world. It couldn’t hurt for him to ask around and see what he could find out. If the partnership had soured, that would be one more name to give Uncle Stan and Manny.

As if sensing her stare, Ji Lily turned away from Brittany, who did not look pleased to be abandoned in the middle of her monologue, and began to walk toward Mel. She had a sharp look in her dark eyes that Mel couldn’t read, but she got the feeling that the woman was intent on chatting with her. Yikes.

Ji Lily stopped in front of Mel. “You’re the one who
found Mariel?”

Mel just stared at her. She was unsure of what to say and found the woman’s blunt manner more than a little off-putting. The woman seemed to grasp that the verbal offensive strike wasn’t working for Mel.

“Excuse me. I’m Ji Lily, the cosmetic consultant for the pageant,” she said. “And I believe you are Melanie Cooper, the baker providing the wonderful cupcakes I have seen in the lobby?”

Mel had to give the woman credit. With very little effort, she transformed into someone completely charming. Ji ex-tended her hand and Mel clasped it in hers. The woman had a solid handshake.

“I am,” Mel said. “But I’m not the person who found Mariel. That was my partner, Angie DeLaura, who is not here today.”

“Oh.” Ji sounded disappointed.

“Was there something I can help you with?” Mel asked. “I was there right after she was discovered—” Mel noted that the mothers surrounding them were listening and she decided it would be prudent to move away. She tipped her head in the direction of the nearest door and led Ji out into the hallway. “I was there right after my partner discovered Mariel.”

“Did you get a good look at her?” Ji asked.

“At Mariel?” Mel clarified. It seemed a grisly line of questioning and she couldn’t fathom why Ji would want to know.

At Ji’s nod, she answered. “Yes, I guess so.”

“Was it true that she was strangled?” Ji asked. “The detectives would neither confirm nor deny.”

“Oh,” Mel said. She wondered at that and whether she should give out information if Manny and Uncle Stan were withholding it. Then again, there had been so many people in the lobby when she was discovered it wasn’t as if people didn’t know. “From what I saw, I would assume that was the cause of death. Why do you ask?”

Ji gave her a dark look that clearly meant she had no intention of sharing why she was asking. Mel frowned. That wasn’t playing fair.

“I answered your question,” Mel said. “Pony it up.”

Ji gave her a small smile. “All right. Launching your own nail polish line is not cheap, and Mariel was stalling on paying me the second half of her investment money, you know, the money needed to actually launch the line. I think the police believe I might have tried to choke it out of her, literally.”

“Did you?” Mel asked.

“Well, I was questioned and they released me, so I guess my alibi checked out. Hard to choke someone when you’re up to your elbows in new nail polish colors. Speaking of which, I am launching Mariel’s line in memory of her. My web designer thinks the ad campaign stands a good chance of going viral. We could make a killing.”

“Figuratively speaking?” Mel asked.

“Of course.” Ji’s glee at the possibility of banking on Mariel’s death caught Mel off guard. She would think if Ji had killed Mariel she would keep her enthusiasm on the down low. Perhaps that was why she was okay with showing her opportunistic side. She hadn’t done it. Or she was the scariest sociopath
ever
.

“Since you were in business with her and worked closely with her on the nail polish, do you know of anyone else who might have wanted to do her harm?”

“Do her harm?” Ji asked. “That’s the polite phrase for ‘murder her,’ is it?”

“Oh, please,” Mel scoffed. “Don’t nitpick when I’m surrounded by people who use the term ‘facially gifted,’ as if being pretty is comparable to being mathematically gifted or artistically gifted.”

Ji grinned and Mel was momentarily stunned by how her handsome face transformed into one of real beauty. “Touché. Let me put it this way, to know Mariel was to want to kill her. Look around you. You can take your pick of would-be killers.”

With that Ji turned and walked away, leaving Mel more worried about Lupe than ever. If the rest of the people in the pageant circle were anything like Ji or Brandon and Brittany, Mel had no doubt that the real killer would do everything he or she could to make Lupe take the fall for Mariel’s murder. Given that Brittany had already caused Lupe to fall, literally, Mel’s fear seemed spot-on.

Mel took all of Lupe’s things and walked them out to her car. She was not going to let anyone mess with Lupe’s stuff on her watch. Back inside, she wondered how things were going at the police station. She took out her phone and sent Oz a quick text. There was no reply from Alma about the dress.

Mel could hear the cheers coming from poolside as the contestants finished up the bathing suit competition. She wondered if anyone else had fallen. Then she shook her head, refusing to think about it.

Mel wondered who outside this crazy pageant circus would know about Ji Lily. Even if Uncle Stan and Manny had let Ji go because her alibi was solid, it didn’t change the fact that she was in business with Mariel, and with Mariel gone, who had the most to gain? Ji. She even admitted she hoped to make a killing.

Mel took her phone out of her pocket and scrolled through her contacts until she found the name she wanted. She pressed the little phone icon and waited.

“Christine’s Salon, this is Juliet, may I help you?” a young woman answered.

“Hi, Juliet, this is Melanie Cooper. I’d like to speak with Christine,” Mel said.

“I’m sorry, she’s with a client. Can I have her call you back?”

“Tell her there’s a dozen Hi-Hat Cupcakes in it for her,” Mel said.

“One moment.”

Mel waited. She supposed she could have offered up two dozen, but Christine was a tough negotiator so it was better to start low.

“She wants to know if they’ll be dipped in chocolate with a cherry on top,” Juliet said.

Mel let out a put-upon sigh, mostly for effect. “Fine.”

“One moment, please,” Juliet said.

Mel waited again. She could hear the sound of blow-dryers and pop music in the background. Christine’s Salon was right down the street from her bakery and Christine was the one responsible for Lupe’s transformation. There was no one Christine didn’t know in the local beauty scene.

“Cooper, those had better be super Hi-Hat Cupcakes,” Christine said. “I just left a client under the dryer for you.”

“They’ll be amazing,” Mel assured her. “So, what do you know about Ji Lily?”

“The cosmetic upstart?” Christine asked. She sounded intrigued. “She makes a good formaldehyde-free nail product that lasts. I haven’t tried her lipsticks but I hear they’re good, too. Why?”

“She’s the beauty consultant at the pageant,” Mel said. “And she was in business with Mariel Mars to launch a new nail polish line.”

“I heard about that,” Christine said. “I remember at the time thinking it was weird.”

“Why?” Mel asked.

“Because Mariel is an old, dried-up prune.”

“Harsh,” Mel said.

“I know,” Christine said. “But I’m not going to lie and say she was more than she was just because she’s dead. The truth is, Ji had nothing to gain by having Mariel be the face of her nail polish line unless—”

“Yes?” Mel prodded her.

“Hang on, dryer check,” Christine said.

Mel heard the phone being put down and she studied her own shriveled cuticles while she waited.

“Unless Mariel was staking Ji with a serious infusion of cash,” Christine said. “Otherwise there really was no purpose in Ji helping Mariel out. I believe Mariel was the one with all the gain here.”

“Ji told me that Mariel owed her a lot of money,” Mel said. “In fact, she said she thought the police questioned her because Mariel owed her so much money that they might think she tried to choke it out of her.”

“Huh,” Christine grunted. Mel could tell she was back to fussing over her client’s hair. “You’re a businesswoman, would you work for free waiting for a big payoff from an almost celebrity? Mariel wasn’t even a has-been, she was an almost-was. Did Ji strike you as being that stupid? Because the few times I’ve met her,
dumb
was not the word that leapt to mind.”

“No, she seems pretty sharp,” Mel said.

“My advice?” Christine asked. “Follow the money. When do I get my cupcakes?”

“Tomorrow,” Mel said. “Baker’s honor.”

“Cool,” Christine said and hung up.

Mel put away her phone as she pondered what Christine had said. She saw a crowd had gathered around the cupcake tower and she hurried over, assuming that Marty needed backup. When she arrived, she was surprised to find Marty surrounded by a bevy of beauties who all looked as if they’d be at home in a senior version of the Sweet Tiara.

“Oh, Martin, you are incorrigible,” one of the ladies said as she swatted his arm playfully.

Another woman wiggled her way in between Marty and the woman who was laughing and said, “I think he was talking about me, Adele.”

“Oh, Evie, you think everyone is talking about you,” Adele snapped. “Just because a drunk once said you had eyes like Elizabeth Taylor’s doesn’t mean it’s true.”

Evie gasped. “It is so true. Look, they’re violet; not blue, violet. Don’t you think, Martin?” Evie batted her eyes at Marty.

“Oh, don’t get all full of yourself, that’s just your cataracts.” Adele sniffed.

Mel opened her eyes wide at Marty to indicate he needed to smooth things over before there was a geriatric catfight on their hands.

Marty shrugged. It was obvious he was the typical male, useless in the face of female ire.

“Ladies, if you don’t mind,” Mel said. “Marty needs to start working the room.”

Mel loaded cupcakes onto an empty tray. Perhaps if he was in motion, the ladies would disperse without launching into smashing each other with their canes or getting into a blue-hair-pulling fight.

“Who are you?” Adele glowered at Mel as if she were a rival.

“Yeah, who do you think you are bossing around the owner of Fairy Tale Cupcakes?” Evie asked.

Mel swiveled her head slowly in Marty’s direction. He patted his bald head with one hand while hugging his middle with the other. The ladies were having none of that. They each flanked him, putting their arms through his as if they were about to pose for a group photo.

“Now, I never said that—” he began.

Marty didn’t get to finish his protest, as he was interrupted by a voice that Mel was pretty sure could shatter glass if it was required.

“Someone please explain to me why these two old biddies have their hands on
my
boyfriend!”

Mel turned to see Olivia Puckett standing behind her with her hands on her hips, her eyes blazing. For once her crazy face was not directed at Mel, for which Mel was extremely grateful.

“Boyfriend?” Adele and Evie said together.

Mel extended the half-loaded tray to Marty as if she were opening an escape hatch for him.

“Back to work,” he chirped under Olivia’s hot gaze. “Nice to meet you, ladies.”

With a spryness that belied his eighty-something years and was probably due to an ingrained survival instinct, Marty shot across the room as if he’d sat on a tack. Too bad for him, Olivia was hot on his trail. Mel had a feeling he wasn’t going to get out of this one until he fully explained himself. Good luck with that.

“Men,” Adele huffed. She then grabbed two cupcakes off of the tower and said, “Come on, Evie, I think I saw some hotties out by the pool.”

“Cabana boys?” Evie perked up and followed her friend, their rivalry already forgotten. “Do you think they might be too young?”

“Huh. I’ll be their Mrs. Robinson,” Adele joked as she nudged Evie in the side with her elbow.

Mel watched them go and wondered if she’d just gotten a glimpse of her and Angie in the future. It was a sobering thought.

While prepping another tray for Marty, Mel watched as the last of the bathing beauties came in from the pool area. She wondered how the judging had gone and if Lupe’s spill was going to cause her to be bounced from the final round.

Cici was leading two well-dressed women and a man in black through the lobby. Mel recognized Jay Driscoll and Lexi Armstrong as the judges she’d already met. Mel assumed the buxom blonde with them must be Mariel’s replacement, Anka Holland.

As Mel studied the woman, she couldn’t help but try to find one part of her that hadn’t had work done. Her hair was bottle blond, her lips were artificially puffy, her skin had the smooth sheen of someone who had injected entirely too many chemicals into her dermis. Her eyes were big and wide, as if they’d been lifted one too many times. Mel wondered if Brandon Richards had done her work. If so, Mel figured she was due a refund.

“This is Melanie Cooper.” Cici paused by the cupcake tower. “She will be baking the cupcakes that the girls design. Obviously in the interests of fairness, we are keeping the decorative portion of the cupcakes to a minimum. It will be mostly about taste, with lesser points given for presentation.”

“Ahem.” Someone cleared their throat loudly from be-hind the group. Mel was not surprised to see Olivia standing there.

“Oh, yes, and this is our other baker, Olivia Puckett,” Cici said.

Mel glanced around for Marty, but he was obviously dragging his feet as he made his way back to the cupcake tower.

“I own Confections,” Olivia announced. “Three-time winner of the Best of Phoenix award.”

“For your brownies,” Mel added. “We’ve won twice for our cupcakes.”