Murder Most Meow_A Hazel Hart Cozy Mystery Four by Louise Lynn

Author:Louise Lynn [Lynn, Louise]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-05-08T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

"You think this entire thing is about money?" Esther whispered, though there was no need. They sat on a picnic blanket tucked into a secluded corner of the park, near the lake. Normally, such a prized place would be snatched up in the summer, but during the festival, everyone wanted to stay near the booths and the stage, which meant the places closer to the shining jewel that was Lake Celeste were quite empty.

That morning had been uneventful, mostly.

Word of the accident involving Angela Dane had spread, but no new suspects had come up.

Hazel hadn’t gotten the chance to talk to Violet about the photos yet. The girl had been asleep by the time Hazel got home the night before since Maureen had dropped her off. And she’d been gone that morning when Hazel rose, though Violet had sent a text:

Farrah picked me up early to fix some costumes. C U l8r!

It took Hazel longer than she wanted to admit to puzzle out the second bit. Teens and their texting shorthand.

Now, at noon, Hazel shrugged and chewed on her bite of sandwich. She'd told Sheriff Cross what she learned from Mr. Allen night before, and he was trying to pull some financials for Dominic Dane. That would hopefully lead to a better idea of who killed the man and tried to, possibly, kill Angela too.

"I don't know. And I'm not sure if they're trying to hurt Mr. Allen or what. But money is a pretty good motivation for killing someone. At least it has been in the past."

Esther frowned at her heavily, even if Ruth wasn't within earshot. "Yeah, but a good motivation for killing someone in the middle of a play?"

Hazel swallowed a lump in her throat and took a long sip of Esther's delicious lemonade. "Whoever did it wanted it to look like an accident. Maybe they didn't want it to seem like Dominic had been murdered."

Esther stabbed her salad, frowning. "You said something about a contract? Well, if this whole thing is about money, why kill him when the festival has a clear behavior clause.”

Hazel’s swallowed her bite. “The festival has a behavior clause?”

Esther gave her that stern look. “Yes. It’s in the bylaws. And you signed the contract, didn’t you? Every vendor and actor has to, in order to avoid a public scandal.”

Hazel had signed a contract, but she hadn’t read it as well as she should have. “What’s in it?”

Esther rearranged the food on her plate. “Didn’t you listen to dad’s business advice about never signing a contract you didn’t read?”

“I did read it. Just not well. Are you going to tell me about it or not?” Hazel said and gave her sister a sheepish grin.

Esther sighed. “Fine. It says everyone has to hold to a certain behavior standard. Anything that breaks the standards of the festival, such as lewd behavior, can get the person kicked out without compensation.”

Hazel nodded slowly. “You’re right. If Christopher Allen did this for money, he could have had Dominic kicked out for drinking too much and hitting on every woman he encountered.

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