Wedding Cake and Widows: A Comedy Cozy Mystery (Mom and Christy's Cozy Mysteries Book 8)

by Christy Murphy

  “Get out your pictures,” Mom said to Briana.

  “The ones from the day or the day after?” Briana asked, taking her phone out of her purse.

  “The day after,” Mom said, taking Briana’s phone from her. “Look.” Mom scrolled through the photos. “The side gate was locked the next day. And the walls are so high, nobody could’ve reasonably climbed them.”

  “So it was someone with a key,” I said. “Like Rhett, the assistant? Or Lexi? Or Sylvia?”

  “Or Ford,” Darwin said.

  “Could be,” Mom said, handing Briana’s phone back. “Get the pictures from the day.”

  Briana pulled them up.

  “It only looks wet near the stairs where DC dragged Cal to the surface. It’s dry by the blood stain.”

  “So it happened in time for the patio to dry, but not long enough for rigor mortis to set in,” I said.

  “Or someone did it from the side,” Dar said.

  “I tried that. They would have fallen in,” Wenling said.

  “Not if you hit my head on the side of the pool, and had really long arms like Ford,” Dar said.

  “You think it’s Ford?” Briana asked.

  “It’s always the one you least expect, and he was there,” Dar said.

  “Or it’s the sales guy at the lot,” Wenling said as she poured herself another champagne.

  “Why the guy at the lot?” Briana asked.

  “He’s the most likable one we’ve met. It’s always the nice person,” she said.

  “Not always,” Mom said.

  “I bet it’s Ford,” Dar said.

  “He does have a temper,” Briana added, “but I can’t believe he’d kill his father. It really could be Lexi or Sylvia. They likely had keys.”

  “A hundred dollars it’s Derek the sales guy,” Wenling added.

  Uh-oh. The Vegas spirit had already corrupted Wenling.

  “I’ll take that bet,” Dar said.

  My mind reeled. What if it was Ford? My mind looked for a reason why, and it stumbled on the germ of a motive. “Ford was worried his dad was changing the will, so there’s motive. Maybe he knew more about Lexi and Cal than he was letting on.”

  “So is that why you invited Sylvia and Lexi, Mom?” I asked.

  “Actually, it’s because I ran into them when I went by the house with the florist,” Mom said. “But then I figured it would help to ask them questions while they’re here. Like you said, they do have keys.”

  “We better get to dinner,” Briana said, checking her watch.

  “Are drinks included in the buffet?” Wenling asked.

  “You better slow down,” Mom said. “Your face is going to get red.”

  “Your face is going to get red,” Wenling said to Mom.

  Briana and I traded a look. Wenling was already half in the bag.

  “You can lose all of your money,” Mom said.

  “I’m in a ton of money, and Darwin’s hundred bucks,” Wenling said. “Give me a minute.”

  “What for?” Mom asked.

  “I’m going to change my diaper so I don’t have to worry when I hit the slots,” Wenling said.

  “Let’s make it a point to cozy up to Sylvia and Lexi,” Dar-dar said.

  I wasn’t sure it was such a great idea to cozy up to two women who might have killed Cal Warrington. Although, it was looking like Ford might’ve been our top suspect. But then why would he ask us to investigate?

  Wenling joined us, and we all headed down to the buffet.

  My cellphone rang—the Barney Miller theme song. It was the ringtone I gave to DC as a joke. He loved that show.

  I’d forgotten to call him to say where I was. And I needed to come clean about the mystery.

  “Hey handsome!” I said, answering as we exited the elevator. “You’ll never guess where I am.”

  “In Vegas for your bachelorette party,” he said.

  “I guess they told you.”

  “Pretty smart going during the week. The rates are lower,” DC said.

  I laughed. “Well, that’s all Mom and Briana. They even did a promo with the diaper company so we could get a bigger group discount.”

  I heard a male voice in the background.

  “That’s great, but I’ve got to go,” DC said.

  “I wanted to tell you something interesting we found out,” I said.

  The male voice in the background grew louder.

  “I’m on the phone with Christy,” DC said to the other men in the room.

  I distinctly heard some “oohs” and “ahs” that I didn’t like.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “That’s just the guys. We’re doing my bachelor party tonight, too, apparently,” he said.

  “Oh, you’re going to hang out at Stu’s place?” Stu was one of DC’s groomsmen. I really liked him. He was a sensible guy.

  “Uh, no, not exactly,” DC said.

  He sounded uncharacteristically evasive.

  “What did the plans get changed to?” I asked.

  “Psst!” Wenling called to me. Although with her tipsiness, it was more like “Pttthhh.”

  I held up my finger to tell her one minute.

  “The guys had other plans,” DC said.

  “You’re the guest of honor!” Wenling yelled. “They’re waiting for you. You go to the front of the line.”

  “Well, it sounds like you’ve gotta go,” DC said.

  “Are you guys heading to a strip club?” I asked.

  “They say it’s a surprise, but I’m worried it might be something like that,” DC said.

  I laughed. If they thought taking DC some place where he’d have to give out money was going to be fun for him, they’d were mistaken.

  “Behave yourself,” I said.

  “You know me,” DC said.

  “I know you, but I don’t know your friends,” I said.

  A few of the guys in the background called for DC.

  “Babe, they’re waiting. Love you,” he said. The guys started teasing him. I could hear them screaming “love you!” like small children.

  “Love you too,” I said.

  Well, it looked like I wasn’t the only one keeping things from us. But the next time we spoke, I was sure I’d tell DC. Unless the case was solved. Then maybe it could wait until after the honeymoon.

  I decided I’d make a point to gather clues from the two Mrs. Warringtons.

  14

  I woke up to the sound of someone knocking on the living room door to our suite. I heard Mom answering the door, some whispered talking, followed by the smell of coffee. Room service. The greatest gift to vacations since the do not disturb sign.

  I missed DC. We hadn’t had a chance to spend a lot of time together in the last few weeks.

  The blackout curtains in the room made it impossible to know what time it was. Not willing to face what I was sure was the late morning or early afternoon desert sun, I got up and turned on the light.

  I looked at myself in the mirror and stared at the bags under my eyes. You’d think I’d been drinking and partying, judging from my face, but I’d only had one drink.

  After Lexi and Sylvia left the table, I had to work hard to appear festive at my own party.

  Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t blame Lexi. It was so hard to imagine losing someone before your own honeymoon. And with her having her own money, I doubted she was in it for the will.

  Unless she was a really good actress and really greedy.

  I sighed and looked at the picture of DC on the home screen of my phone. I hoped he had a good time at his bachelor party, and that he didn’t spend the whole night worrying about money. But if his friends were the right type of bachelor’s stated least have paid for whatever it is, they plan to do.

  I stopped myself from picturing too many bachelor party events in my mind. The role of jealous bride wasn’t one I wanted to play.

  Coffee. That’s what I needed. I crawled out of bed and padded over to my en suite b
athroom. This place was nice. I’d make a point to take a soak in the giant tub later. I brushed my teeth, slipped on one of the hotel robes, and entered the living room.

  Room service had delivered a continental breakfast with coffee. Briana was eating a muffin and sipping a coffee. She was already dressed. So was Mom.

  “Don’t worry,” Mom said. “I got a pot of regular, caffeinated, and decaf, so you can make it into half caff.”

  I appreciated that Mom had gone to the trouble. “Thanks, Mom.”

  “Maybe we should have gotten an entire pot for Wenling, or is she still in bed?” I asked.

  Last I saw Wenling, she was at the slot machines, drinking a giant margarita and cackling over her winnings.

  “She didn’t come back last night,” Briana said.

  “What?” I asked.

  “She texted me at 1 AM, demanding that I go downstairs and hold her machine while she changed her diaper,” Mom explained.

  “I hope you told her to just go to the bathroom,” I said.

  I could tell from the look on my mother’s face that she hadn’t. “You went down there at one o’clock in the morning?” I asked.

  “She was on a winning streak, and it’s safe here in the hotel. They have cameras all over the place for the money,” Mom said.

  “So what’s on the agenda for today?” Dar said, coming out of his room with a towel on his head.

  “I’ve got a promo by the pool,” Mom said.

  “I thought I might check out that poker class at two and then join the ladies’ tournament,” Briana said. “Jerri and some other ladies from the readers’ club will be there.”

  “What time does your promo start?” I asked Mom.

  “Don’t worry about the promo,” Mom said. “Go to the poker game and have fun. Win some money.”

  “Mom, are you going to be on that motorcycle again?” I asked.

  “No,” Mom said. But I got the distinct feeling that she was hiding something from me.

  For the longest time, I could never tell when my mother was hiding something from me, but in the last two years, I’d developed a little more of my mom’s observation powers.

  “What are you not telling me, Mom?” I asked.

  The door to the suite swung open, and a very jubilant Wenling danced in. “Good morning! Ask me how much money I won?”

  “How much money did you win?” Mom said.

  “$8,732,” Wenling said. “I’m going to make it rain.”

  With that, Wenling ran over to us and then threw a bunch of singles over Dar.

  He started doing a little dance, and then the money stopped.

  “That doesn’t even look like $200,” Dar said, staring at the money.

  “I didn’t take al, the winnings in cash,” Wenling said. “I had them wire the money to my bank account.”

  “Clever,” Mom said.

  “This is just seed money for future gambling,” Wenling said.

  “Aren’t you tired?” I asked.

  “Money gives me energy,” Wenling said. “Especially money that I didn’t have to earn.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. I’d say I didn’t know much about not earning money, but I had gotten a few royalty checks from a song that I wrote with my ex-husband. And I had to say, those checks were very energizing.

  “So what are you guys doing today?” Wenling said. “Trying to win as much money as me? Because you can’t.”

  “I have to earn money by working,” Mom said.

  “Shooting off a t-shirt cannon isn’t working. That’s having fun,” Wenling said. “How much for me to buy your t-shirt cannon?”

  “It isn’t mine. You can’t buy it,” Mom said.

  “I’m sure I can get one somewhere,” Wenling said.

  “But where are you going to get the t-shirts?” Mom said. “You’d have to buy t-shirts and then shoot them at people and then let them keep them.”

  Mom knew Wenling liked the idea of shooting a t-shirt cannon, but she didn’t like the idea of having to pay for her shirt ammunition.

  “I can afford it,” Wenling said. I noticed she hadn’t said that she would actually do it, though.

  “We’re going to take a poker class and then join the ladies’ tournament,” Briana said.

  “How much can you win?” Wenling asked.

  “The grand prize is $10,000,” Briana said. “And then they have little door prizes and stuff like that.”

  “I’m going to go to bed, but what time is it?” Wenling asked.

  “You won’t wake up in time. The class is at one o’clock and the tournament starts at two. But it’s 9 AM now, ” Briana said.

  “9 AM?” I asked. I couldn’t believe I was up this early in Vegas.

  “I’ll see you at the tournament. I’ll be the one winning the money,” Wenling said as she collected her singles off the ground, making sure that every single one was accounted for, and headed to her room.

  “Do you know how to play poker?” Briana asked.

  “I’ve seen it on TV,” Wenling said.

  As she walked away, I spotted the stain on her gray sweatpants.

  “Your diaper is leaking!” Mom said. “Those are only supposed to be worn for 6 to 8 hours!”

  “I can afford to buy new pants,” Wenling called back as she shut the door to her room.

  “I’ve got a massage and a waxing appointment at the spa in an hour,” Dar said. “But I’ll probably meet you guys at the poker tournament.”

  “I might actually go back to bed,” I said.

  “Oh no,” Mom said. “Did we wake you?”

  “No, it was room service,” I said. “I’m not even going to sleep sleep. I think I’m just going to watch TV in my room and veg out until the poker thing.”

  “Well, you don’t have to worry about the wedding or the mystery,” Briana said.

  “The mystery?” I asked.

  “Because we figured out he wasn’t murdered, right?” Briana asked.

  “Right,” Mom said.

  “The medication?” I asked. “So you guys are sure he hit his head on the side of the pool trying to get out of the pool or getting into the pool?” I asked.

  “Either way,” Mom said. “He probably slipped, hit his head, and then fell in.”

  “And that means it definitely wasn’t the car salesman,” Darwin said. “So money bags over there doesn’t get my hundred dollars.”

  “And I’m glad it wasn’t Ford,” I said.

  “Me too,” Darwin agreed. “I would’ve been without a date to the wedding.”

  “Did he say yes?” Briana asked.

  “Yup,” Dar said.

  “And you didn’t tell us until now,” Mom said.

  “You heard me asking him on the phone in the kitchen,” Dar said. “You even high-fived me!”

  “In the kitchen,” Mom mumbled. “That couldn’t be. I don’t forget things.”

  “You were working on the recipe for the cake,” Dar said.

  “Oh,” Mom said.

  I knew that Mom wouldn’t have heard anything while she was working on the recipe for that cake. She still hadn’t gotten it to match up with the original recipe as much as she would’ve liked.

  She’d already swung by the cake place to grab a few extra slices a few more times during the week.

  I’d “tasted” so many samples of Mom’s wedding cake that I no longer worried that I’d eat way too many slices at my wedding.

  Mom received a text about her appearance downstairs, and the crew dispersed for the day plans. I headed to my bedroom to crawl into bed, catch a bit of TV, and nap.

  My cell rang as I climbed into bed. It was DC. Excited, I muted the television and answered.

  “Hey babe!” I said. “How was the bachelor party?”

  “We went to paintball. I got a few bruises, but it was fun. Then the guys bought me chicken wings. How’s your party?”

  “We’re going to a poker tournament downstairs in a few hours, and we ate at the buffet la
st night. Wenling stayed up all night gambling and won some money.”

  “How about you? Did you win anything?” he asked.

  “I only played five dollars on the slots,” I said. “I’m not much of a gambler.”

  “That’s good to hear. Listen, babe,” he said. “I’ve got to ask you something about Cal Warrington’s death.”

  Uh-oh. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that,” I said. Coming clean about our investigation to date needed to happen now.

  “What do you know about this Rhett Filbert?”

  “He was Cal’s assistant,” I said. “Why?”

  “Maybe it’s you and your mom’s influence on me, but I’m thinking that this may not have been a total accident,” DC answered. “But you know, the department is very confident that it was an accidental drowning. What do your Mom and your mystery friends think about all this?”

  “Mom thinks it was an accident,” I said.

  “Let’s talk about how you might do some casual digging,” DC said.

  Wait a minute! Was DC actually asking for help? And was this the one time Mom and all my friends were sure it was an accident?

  15

  The alarm on my phone rang. I awoke and scrambled to shut it off, forgetting where I was. The almost total darkness of the room made it harder for me to place myself in place and time.

  Vegas. I was in Vegas with Mom, my friends, some strangers, and an odd set of widows.

  I looked around the room and enjoyed the quiet. It struck me that in less than two weeks I would move in with DC and wake up in a new house in a new life. I could make it into anything I wanted to.

  A part of me wanted to skip the tournament, stay in bed, and think about everything. But you only have your bachelorette/undergarment promotional party once.

  I got out of bed and went to the hotel living room to raid the mini fridge for a Diet Coke. Mom had left me a fresh promotional t-shirt. I had to say, I enjoyed the easy-going wardrobe of being a brand ambassador.

  Not wanting to be late to the class before the tournament, I hit the shower, changed into my fresh t-shirt, and headed down the hall to the elevator.

  As I walked down the hallway of the hotel to the elevator, a giddiness swept over me. Here I was at my bachelorette party getting ready to enter a poker tournament with a ton of my friends. Sure, some of them were friends I just made on the bus, but a lot of them were friends I’d made over the years living in Fletcher Canyon.