Four Parties and a Funeral by Maria DiRico

Author:Maria DiRico [DiRico, Maria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Books
Published: 2023-01-17T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

Having hopefully nipped any further humiliation for Madison in the bud, Mia entrusted the care and feeding of the bachelorettes to Teri. She checked in with Jamie and Evans, who were rooming together. They promised to keep an eye on the bachelors, who were itching to start their own street fight, given the attention the ladies scored with theirs.

Somewhat regretfully, Mia traded an afternoon of sightseeing for sleuthing. Being in New Orleans provided Little Donny a break from being the primary suspect in Giles St. James’s murder, but Mia knew he’d be back in the NYPD’s crosshairs as soon as their return flight touched down at LaGuardia. It was time to keep her promise to his parents and do whatever she could to remove him from suspicion once and for all.

Her plan was to engage production crew members in casual conversations that might point a finger at a killer in their ranks. She’d start with the most approachable of them and work her way up from there. The goal was made easier when she glanced out her hotel room window and saw Lysette heading out onto the street.

Mia dashed down the stairs, continuing straight out the door. “Lysette,” she called, out of breath. The camerawoman turned around. “Are you heading to Café du Monde?” Mia asked, making an educated guess since Lysette was headed in that direction. She was rewarded with a head nod. “Can I come? I’ve always wanted to go there.”

“Sure. It’d be nice to have company.”

The women walked past Jackson Square, making small talk about the beauty of the park and surrounding buildings. After a short wait in line, they were seated at one of the café’s iconic round metal tables and were quickly served two orders of beignets, along with chicory coffee.

“Watch out for the powdered sugar,” Lysette warned. “It gets everywhere.”

“You’ve been here before?”

“My family’s from New Orleans. I still have relatives here.”

Mia held her beignet over the plate and bit into it. Her tastebuds were overwhelmed with a blast of doughy, sugary goodness. She made quick work of the beignet, following with a few swigs of coffee. “OMG, I’m in love. Why did your family ever leave this town?”

Lysette smiled. “Same reason everyone leaves a place. To find better opportunities in a new place. For us, that was Los Angeles. No way would I have the career I have now if my family had stayed here.”

Seeing an opening, Mia used flattery as a transition to the topic of Giles’s murder. “I’m so impressed. I don’t know Hollywood at all, but it doesn’t take an insider to figure there are a ton of people who wish they had your career. Although . . . it sucks Giles wouldn’t give you a shot at directing.”

“That was Giles. He loved making promises he had no intention of keeping.”

Mia was surprised to hear Lysette sound wistful instead of bitter. His death seemed to have genuinely affected her. “Do you think that’s what got him killed?”

“No,” Lysette said, appalled.

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