Nine Ladies in Danger: A Ryli Sinclair Christmas Cozy Mystery by Jenna St. James

Author:Jenna St. James [St. James, Jenna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aye Alba Publishing

Chapter Twelve

“Everyone calm down, and stay where you are!” Garrett’s voice boomed out over the room. “I need everyone to just remain standing where you are. Please, do not move until we tell you to.”

He said something to Matt, and my brother veered off and headed for The Manor’s front door. Garrett then spoke into his phone before striding toward the Nutcracker exhibit…the crowd parting for him.

“This is just great,” Aunt Shirley muttered as she slipped up behind Willa and me. “The only assignment I gave you two was to watch over Vivian Marshall. And now she’s dead. Remind me never to hire you two as bodyguards.”

“It’s not our fault she went and got herself killed,” Willa said.

Aunt Shirley looked down at Vivian’s sprawled body. “I guess the good news is she waited until the end of the evening before dying.”

“Yes,” I said dryly, surreptitiously taking a photo of the crime scene. “That’s the good news here.”

“This will surely put a damper on the evening,” Officer Ryan said as he sidled up next to me.

I blinked in surprise, taking in his off-duty clothes. “Have you been here the entire time?”

Officer Ryan smiled. “I’m here with Sasha. She wanted to come by and see how the fundraiser was doing.”

Sasha Collins was the physical therapist at The Manor. Last Christmas, Officer Ryan had been shot in the shoulder trying to help me take down a bad guy. The only physical therapy offered in Granville was at The Manor. Sasha had just been hired on, and when Ryan contacted her, she agreed to treat him if he came to the assisted living facility to do his PT. That had been almost a year ago, and the two had been dating ever since.

“I’ll want to talk in-depth later,” Garrett said by way of hello. “Right now, tell me who I need to question immediately. I don’t know how long I can keep everyone controlled in this room.”

I nodded and counted off on my fingers. “There’s Betty Pearlman, Dirk Scullari, Loretta Lipscomb, and Stewart Cartman.”

“What should we do about the crowd?” September Sunshine asked as she hurried over to our group. “Do we send them all home?”

“I will shortly,” Garrett said. “Officer Ryan, can you take Aunt Shirley with you to see if you can find our persons of interest?”

“Of course,” Officer Ryan said.

Officer Ryan turned to Aunt Shirley, and he held out his hand to her. Movement caught my eye, and I glanced over at my brother blocking the front door and my mouth dropped.

“Matt!” I cried out. “Stop that guy right there trying to leave out the side door! He’s Vivian’s former manager!”

There was a collective gasp from the crowd…and then the murmurs started. Matt all but tackled Stewart Cartman to the ground when Stewart tried to make a run for it. Something in my brain clicked, and I looked back down at Vivian.

“That’s it!” I cried. “I knew something was off.” I turned to Garrett. “Vivian’s necklace isn’t around her neck. It’s gone!”

Matt pushed a protesting Stewart Cartman through the crowd and stopped in front of us.

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