Focal Point Fiasco (Whispering Haven Cozy Mystery Book 6) by Ruth Baker

Author:Ruth Baker [Baker, Ruth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: CleanTales Publishing
Published: 2025-02-23T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Normally, Fiona Blake, the town’s notorious gossip, sought Carol out within a few hours of a new case breaking, either to see what she could glean or to drop her own nuggets of information. This time, the two of them ran into one another by pure happenstance, when Carol saw the other woman’s jet-black dyed hair in the sea of pedestrians crowding Main Street.

Fiona’s face turned toward her, and a knowing grin spread across her face. Carol couldn’t see her eyes behind the dark sunglasses, but she could assume that they were glinting the way they did when she sniffed out juicy gossip. She tended to be drawn to it like a magnet. Sure enough, Fiona was already walking over, her heels clacking on the sidewalk as that smirk of hers grew, turning practically gleeful.

“Hello, Fiona,” Carol said.

“Carol, you’ve been holding out on me, you sneaky thing,” Fiona chided, even as she gave her a cat-like smile.

“What do you mean?”

Fiona gave a tsk and folded her arms. “I had to hear from someone else that you were at the party where Oscar Harding died,” she said. “And here I thought we were good enough friends that you would tell me yourself.”

The mock scolding didn’t ruffle Carol’s feathers. She knew Fiona well enough to recognize when she was actually mad and when she was craving gossip. This was the latter. Fiona craved gossip the way a man dying of thirst craved water. Not only that, but she was notorious for all her gossip to be accurate, no matter how bizarre it initially sounded.

Chewing her lip, Carol said, “It’s been a busy few days,” she said.

“I’m sure.” Fiona raised her eyebrow. “After all, helping with the investigation and losing your camera is sure to have you preoccupied.”

Carol gaped. “How on earth did you know about my camera?” she demanded.

Instead of giving anything remotely resembling a helpful answer, Fiona winked and put a finger over her lips.

“How is the investigation going?” Fiona asked. “I’ve heard it’s a tricky one.”

“A bit,” Carol admitted. “It seems like a lot of people had reason to want him dead. He sounds as though he was a ruthless businessman with a lot of money, so plenty of reasons to kill him there. And we’ve got multiple conflicting stories making everything more difficult to pin down.”

“Ah, but isn’t that part of the reason you love it?” teased Fiona.

This time, Carol couldn’t hold back the smile. “A bit. Though I would love it more if the killer hadn’t stolen my camera.”

Tilting her head, Fiona raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure that’s why they stole it? What if it was a random theft?”

“Already looked into that,” Carol huffed. “Unfortunately, at the moment, it seems like we’re stuck.”

Giving a disappointed, almost mock-chiding tut, Fiona shook her head. “You should have come to me ages ago, Carol,” Fiona lectured, a smirk spreading across her lips. “I have information you might find interesting for your case.”

When Fiona had information, she meant it. Carol instantly perked up.

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