Baby Bundt Cake Confusion (Murder in the Mix Book 31) by Unknown (reading eggs books .txt) 📗

Ariella’s shoulders cinch. “I don’t know.” She gives a few wild blinks. “I mean, I’d hate to set poor Jen up to look like she could have done this, but I suppose someone needs to take the blame.” She blows out a hard breath. “Okay, so there was something that Jazzy had over Jen, but it’s embarrassing and it’s nothing to take someone’s life over. It’s silly, in fact.”

“What is it?” Noah prods.

“A confession.” She frowns up at Everett. “She forged her father’s signature while he was on his deathbed. Nobody was going to give her the money she needed to open a chicken hut of all things. Her father was embarrassed by the idea. And when Jen saw that he was on his last leg, she simply helped herself to his checkbook. She took way more than he had planned on leaving her in the will. Her brothers got ripped off when you consider how large that sum was. And well, Jazzy found out, because, get this—Jen outed herself while on one of their famous bender weekends. Jazzy wasn’t too drunk to forget, though. She always remembered the dirty details and filed them away for later. She knew how to ruin people—how to eviscerate them financially to the point they’d never recover.” She closes her eyes and shudders. “Poor Jen. I’m sure if she did pull that trigger, it wasn’t premeditated. But I don’t think it was her or anyone from the courthouse. Honestly, I should probably have my money on Stassi.”

“Really?” I blink back, surprised. Because the evidence seemed to be mounting toward Jen’s chicken coop a moment ago.

“Really,” she says with a forlorn smile. “I saw Slater and Stassi with my own two eyes. Her hair was rumpled and so was his. Her skin was pink and glowing, and no, I don’t buy that whole looking-for-his-wedding-ring routine. Stassi grew to hate Jazzy while they were filming the second season of Money on the Med. You could tell just by the way the show interviews grew cattier by the day. Stassi had always been jealous of Jazzy. If you watch season two, episode ten, she says so as much word for word. And after Jazzy humiliated Stassi publicly, all Stassi saw was red. She knew that Owen carried a gun. She had asked to see it on several occasions, and Owen was always more than happy to comply. My guess is, she did exactly that the night of the murder. She lured Jazzy outside when she asked if they could have a private chat. I was hoping for the best when I heard the invite, but here two people I loved ended up dead. As for Owen, I think he realized that Stassi might have had nefarious intentions and went after her. And that’s when I think he was caught in the crossfire. Stassi never meant to hurt Owen that night. She wouldn’t.”

Noah tips his head to the side. “So you knew Stassi had asked Jasmine outside?”

She closes her eyes a moment too long. “I not only knew it, I heard it.”

“That’s not what you said in the police report.” He sighs.

And that’s not what she said to me either. She said Jasmine stepped out to have a smoke. But in her defense, she was in shock. It was her husband lying there dead on the ground. I don’t think I would even know how to formulate a sentence, let alone answer a question the same way twice.

Everett takes a deep breath. “Have you seen Slater?”

“Not at all.” The words speed from her. “I’ve been thinking about him a lot, though.” She sighs as her gaze drifts for a moment. “You know, everything he did for Jazzy was because he loved her. I never understood why she was so cold and undercutting to him.”

“Oh, I do!” a voice trills from above as Lil’ Mama floats down from the ceiling with all the elegance of a deflated balloon. “Mrs. Albright always said, ‘Never let a man see your soft side. They want you hard and stern and able to dole out a swift emotional beating every now and again. A healthy dose of humiliation never hurt either. And having a little blackmail on the side would always serve you well.’”

“Blackmail?” I say out loud without meaning to. “Sorry.” I pat my fingers to my lips a moment. “I was just thinking out loud. But could Jasmine have been blackmailing Slater?”

Her eyes grow wide with the accusation. “Over what?” she says, incensed that I had the nerve to ask. “I’m sorry, Lottie, but they were done. She wanted out. And she set out to humiliate him for cheating on her. Her ego couldn’t handle not being in the driver’s seat for once. And, by God, she was going to take back the wheel any way she knew how.”

Her phone buzzes, and she glances down. “I’m sorry, it seems a float has been overrun with a bunch of teenagers shouting who needs Cabo when we’ve got Fallbrook.” A pained laugh strums through her. “I don’t even know what that means. I bet they’ve been hitting the green beer. Half the bartenders are so drunk tonight they’re forgetting to card people. And Lord knows a sixteen-year-old girl these days can look far older than twenty-one when she wants to. I’ll see you all soon at Mackie and Cressie’s new B&B. It’s going to be fun!” She darts out of the pub before we can ask another question.

Everett groans, “I’d better clean up this mess before Evie and her friends get tossed into a paddy wagon.”

“I’m coming with you, Sexy.” Carlotta quickly works the pin off Everett’s chest. “Sorry, but I have a feeling Harry won’t have a stitch of green on him, and I’ve got some blinking I’ve been meaning to do.”

The two of them zip off and I shrug over at Noah.

“What do you think?”

“She gave us a