Macchiatos, Macarons, and Malice by Harper Lin

Author:Harper Lin [Lin, Harper]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harper Lin Books

Chapter Fourteen

Whitney smiled brightly as I approached the front desk. “Hi! How can I help you?” she chirped.

I considered coming up with a plausible lie about needing more towels or toilet paper and beating around the bush for a while until the murder (hopefully) came up naturally in conversation. I also considered just blurting out my questions—it certainly wouldn’t have been the first time I’d used that approach.

Ultimately, I decided to go with the indirect-direct approach. “Have you heard anything about when the spa will reopen?”

She shook her head sadly. “I’m sorry, I haven’t. You have a massage scheduled, don’t you? When is it? Tomorrow?”

I nodded.

She grimaced. “Hopefully it’ll be open again by then. It’s taking them a while to do the investigation, I guess.”

“Have you heard anything about whether they have a suspect?”

She looked at me a little suspiciously, with one eyebrow raised ever so slightly. “I don’t know.” Then her eyes flicked back and forth, and she leaned toward me. “If Garrett catches me talking to you about this, I could get fired.”

“So don’t talk to me about that,” I said casually. “Talk to me about Sophie.”

“Sophie?”

I nodded. “Yeah, Sophie from the patisserie.”

“Why do you want to talk about Sophie?” She looked even more suspicious now than she had before.

I shrugged like it was no big deal and had nothing to do with me trying to solve Gina’s murder. “Just curious. She doesn’t talk much, does she?”

The laugh that burst from her lips came so quickly that it was obviously genuine. “Sophie? God, no! Girl will hardly say boo to me, and we’ve known each other for like three years now. Don’t take it personal. She does what she wants when she wants and how she wants.”

“So, it’s not unusual for her to be a little…” I trailed off, partly for effect and partly because I wasn’t quite sure how to say what I wanted to say without, well, sounding like Sophie.

“Rude?” Whitney’s tone made it clear that I had nothing to worry about. “No, that’s just Sophie. She is who she is, love her or hate her.”

“And which way do you feel about her?”

She shrugged and shook her head with a half smile on her face. “It depends on the day. Some days she cracks me up and I love her, and others, I just… mmm.” She shook her head again, this time with less of a smile. “She is who she is.”

I wondered if that bad disposition fed into other bad behavior as well. But I didn’t think it was time to ask that yet.

“Good to know she doesn’t just hate me for some reason.” I thought for a second, trying to come up with something else to ask other than whether she thought Sophie could be a murderer. “That reminds me, I’ve tried to stop by the patisserie a couple times, and no one was at the counter. Is someone else supposed to be working there too?”

Whitney looked surprised. “Really? No one’s been there? Are you sure?”

I nodded.

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