Gilt Trip by Laura Childs

Author:Laura Childs
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2013-08-26T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

CARMELA and Ava exchanged hasty, astonished looks. This was front-page news for both of them!

“But that’s neither here nor there,” Beetsie prattled on. “Goodness, I do think it’s really going to pour.” She hunched her shoulders and tried to shield her head with her clunky black purse. “I guess I’d better dash across the street to the luncheon reception.” And without even a polite good-bye, she turned and scuttled over to join Margo, who was still surrounded by a small group of mourners.

“Did you hear that?” said Carmela, her voice rising a couple of octaves. “Undertaker? That means Merriweather probably has a trocar. Just like the murder weapon!”

“It also means he probably knows how to use it,” said Ava.

“If Merriweather’s an expert, and it sounds like he might be, he could probably kill someone in an instant.”

Ava snapped her fingers. “In a heartbeat. Why . . . he could probably stab someone at a party and no one would even know until it was too late!”

Carmela rubbed at the goose bumps on her arms. “Where’s Bobby Gallant? Did you see him? I need to talk to him. I think I should tell him about this.”

“I know he was here,” said Ava. “I just saw him a couple of minutes ago.” She glanced at the sky and flinched. “But if he has any common sense at all, he’s somewhere out of this weather. C’mon, we should go, too. Let’s head over to Commander’s Palace and find us a nice cozy table. Ponder this new information where it’s nice and dry.”

Carmela glanced around. “You go grab a table. I’ll be right behind you, I promise. I’m just going to take a quick look around, see if I can find Gallant.”

Ava wagged a finger at Carmela. “Okay. But be careful. Stay out of trouble!”

Like that’s going to happen, Carmela thought to herself. She was already in too deep and knew it. She probably shouldn’t have agreed to help Margo in the first place. Now here she was. Checking out suspects, stumbling on a couple more. Madness, for sure.

Carmela dodged around several tombs and mausoleums, looking for Gallant. She really needed to find him! Making that connection between Merriweather and the trocar had given rise to a very bad feeling!

Could Duncan Merriweather be the murderer?

He was older, she reasoned. But he was big. And maybe still strong enough to wield a weapon like that. If Merriweather got it in his head that he wanted to be Margo’s next husband—and inherit the wealth that way—that could be a powerful motivator. A powerful motive.

Voices rose from behind a nearby crypt. Carmela ignored them and was about to call out Bobby’s name when she realized the voices had turned harsh and were rising rapidly in pitch.

An argument? Sure sounds like it.

Now she recognized one of the voices!

That’s Eric Zane!

Creeping closer to the crypt, Carmela ducked down, hoping to listen in on the conversation.

“It’s worth a lot of money!” Zane said angrily.

Carmela pressed herself against cold, damp marble.

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