Big Bad: a Small Town Murder Mystery by Kirsten Weiss

Author:Kirsten Weiss [Kirsten Weiss]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: misterio press
Published: 2022-06-22T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

“Darling Dan may be rolling in cabbage,” I muttered, climbing the stairs to my apartment. “But I ain’t goin’ to the big house. I saw him with Fran with my own two eyes.”

All this nineteen-twenties slang was going to be my downfall. It was hard enough remembering the clues I needed to reveal at tonight’s show without throwing a bunch of tomatoes and cake eaters on top.

It didn’t help that that homicide detective had searched the prop room this afternoon, either. I don’t know if I was more unsettled that only he had come, or that I’d clearly developed a thing for expensive men’s suits.

My hip bumped the banister. “Darling Dan... rolling in cabbage. Darling Dan... rolling in cabbage.” Achieving the landing, I made my way to my apartment, and reached the doorknob. I halted, my hand outstretched.

The black cat sat beside the door. He looked up at me and meowed, a pained expression on his whiskered face.

“Couldn’t get in on your own? Ha.” I opened the door.

A woman shrieked. “Get out!”

I pushed the door wider. Sammie slunk inside.

Autumn threw a sparkling red shoe at the cat. He leapt aside, evading it easily, and hopped onto the bed to join Fredo, curled into a furry gray ball.

“Why’d you let that cat in here? I’m allergic.” The actress tugged up the straps of her flapper dress, the color of black ice.

“What are you doing in here?” I asked.

“This is my changing room,” she said without looking my way. “And I wouldn’t mind some privacy.”

“Is not. This is my apartment. I live here.”

She snorted. “Nice try. What are you? The phantom of the opera? Who lives in a theater?”

“I do. That’s my dog.” I pointed at the fur ball on the bed.

She blinked. “That’s a dog? I thought it was a throw pillow.”

“It’s—he’s got ears!”

The actress tossed her hair. Closer, I could see the red was flecked with gold. It made her even more revoltingly beautiful. “You’ll have to wait until after the show,” she said. “I’m busy in here. Now go on, go away, and take the cat. I’m ah—ah—allergic.” She sneezed.

“I’m not—This is my apartment,” I sputtered. “How did you even get inside?”

“The door was unlocked. Zip me up, will you?” She turned her back on me.

My fists curled into a quick, evil-crone clench. But the sooner Autumn was done, the sooner she’d be out of here. I zipped up the beaded dress and frowned. “Isn’t this Lilyanna’s dress?”

“Who?”

“Lilyanna Gomez. She plays the ingenue.” And I was feeling oddly defensive of her, though I hadn’t seen her around much lately. Though it was hard to actually see Lilyanna under her rabbit and beekeeper costumes.

“This dress suits me better than the rag that theater manager gave me.” The actress strode into the bathroom. “Where’s the makeup table?”

“In the dressing room across the hall,” I said.

“Can’t you bring it in here?” she called. “Oh! It’s so cold in here. Do something about that draft, will you?”

My hands twitched. “It’s not a draft.

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