Mascara and Murder (Murder In Style Book 3)

by Gina LaManna

  “True,” she said, sizing me up. “You know, I can see why Ryan dated you.”

  “Oh?”

  “You’re pretty good at what you do.”

  “Thanks?” I wasn’t sure Ryan had dated me because I knew how to put clothes and accessories on a person’s body, but I didn’t care to nitpick. “That’s sweet of you to say.”

  “This could be really awkward, two of Ryan’s exes working together.” She spun around in the mirror and took a good, long look at the backs of her legs. “But you make it pretty easy.”

  “Er, so do you.”

  “I like this outfit. Put it in the keep pile. I’m so glad they fired that other girl.”

  “Emily?”

  “I thought that was the maid. Or is that Cassidy?”

  “Emily was the stylist before me,” I said. “She chose all the clothes in the current trailer.”

  “Yeah, but there’s only, like, half left,” she said. “She took about half of them back with her. All the best ones.”

  “Why’d she do that?”

  “I think she’d bought some of them herself. Through her own connections. She stormed out of here really upset, and I think she just grabbed her favorites and took them with her.”

  “Why did she get the clothes herself?” I asked. “I thought there was a budget.”

  “Sure. A small one,” she said. “Most of us are doing Ryan a favor on this production.”

  “Why?”

  She glared at me. “Do you really need to ask that?”

  I winced. “Sorry. I suppose you were dating him when this thing started? But if you’re so upset with him, why don’t you quit?”

  “I’m not upset with Ryan,” she said, pushing her hair out of her eyes. “I’m completely over him. We only dated for a few weeks or something. It wasn’t like I’d sunk years into the relationship.”

  The way her eyes flicked to mine in the reflection of the mirror, I could tell she knew that I had invested years into my relationship with Ryan. A part of me wondered if she’d meant her comment to be taken as sympathy. Another part of me wondered if she’d meant it to be a subtle dig.

  “Right,” I said. “Well, we’ve got a good haul, here. We just need something for the big party scene you’re filming this afternoon. I have a few ideas. I’ll be back.”

  I ducked out of the fitting room and made my way back to the clothing racks where I took a deep breath. Inadvertently, Emma Lou had tipped me off to one more element of the mystery that was building up around Tennison’s murder. Most people on the set were doing Ryan a favor? What was that supposed to mean?

  After all, I was, theoretically, getting paid for my work, but I’d been brought on as an emergency stylist. Was it possible that Ryan was scraping by because most of the people working on this film owed him a favor?

  It lined up somewhat with the idea that his production company was going under. And maybe he’d promised his friends points on the back end, promising them they’d get paid when the film was a big success. It still didn’t bring up a motive for killing Tennison, but it was something to keep in mind.

  As I grabbed a few more articles of clothing for Emma Lou, my phone buzzed with a text message. I glanced down at the screen and saw it was a message from Ellen at the inn.

  I opened the phone and read:

  Ellen: Button is gone, so is the note!

  I felt my heart pounding as I tapped out a quick reply to Ellen, thanking her for the update. I still wasn’t convinced that it meant anything, the fact that someone had been sneaking away for some private time in Blueberry Lake. But I could keep an eye out for a shirt with a silvery button.

  I returned to the dressing room, nearly buckling under the weight of the items I’d grabbed from the racks. I slipped a few over the door and pondered the developments.

  “Hey, Emma,” I said after a few minutes of shuffling. “How are you doing in there?”

  “I’m fine,” she said. “I think you grabbed the wrong size.”

  “Can you open up? Let me see what you’ve got on.”

  Reluctantly, Emma opened the door and let me see. Indeed, I had been so distracted, I’d grabbed a child-size shirt instead of an adult. I grabbed it from her, but not before I looked more closely at her. At her red eyes, at the pale skin that was uncovered by makeup.

  “How are you doing?” I asked. “Really?”

  She shot me a barbed look, but when I stood my ground, she relented slightly. “I-I don’t know.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I shot the man I was dating. It was an accident, but I still feel so guilty. Then he died because of it. I-I killed him.”

  “You didn’t kill him if it was an accident,” I said. “Whoever traded the guns is the one responsible for his death. That’s who the police are looking for.”

  She shook her head. “I just... I can’t wrap my head around who might want him dead.”

  “Speaking of,” I said. “A lot of people saw Ryan going into the car before the scene. I overheard someone say that it was because you asked him to grab something for you?”

  She blinked. “Who said that?”

  “I don’t remember. It was something I overheard.”

  “You’re lying.”

  “No, I—”

  “Whatever, it doesn’t matter.” Emma flicked her hand. “It was probably that stupid maid who told you. She hangs around everywhere. Yes, I did ask him to pick something up for me.”

  “What?”

  “My purse, okay? I’d forgotten it there on the last take.”

  “Was it your purse for the scene?”

  “No, like, my personal purse.”

  “Why didn’t you leave it in your trailer?”

  “What is this, an interrogation?”

  “I’m sorry, I was just wondering. I’m trying to help.”

  She shook her head but continued anyway. “It was my real-life purse. A little zebra-print clutch, if you must know. I had my lip gloss in there. I keep it close so I can touch it up between scenes. The makeup artist isn’t very good.”

  “Gotcha,” I said. “That’s all I was wondering. Did he find the purse, then?”

  “Well, yeah,” she said. “That’s what I told him to do. He came back with the purse. The makeup chick put my lip gloss on. End of story.”

  “So you don’t think Ryan wanted Tennison dead.”

  It was a good thing I was already wary around Emma Lou because I was paying attention to her every move. Which was why I noticed the shortest hesitation in her response.

  “That’s ridiculous,” she said, her voice going up an octave. “Why would you ask that?”

  “I think everyone’s asking themselves who wanted Tennison dead. I’m just ruling out people from the set that had no motive.”

  “Well, you worded the question a little strangely. You asked if Ryan wanted Tennison dead, not if he switched the gun out.”

  “Does that change your answer?”

  “I mean, of course he had a reason to be mad at Tennison,” she said. “They’d been in a fight.”

  “About you?”

  “Why would they fight about me?”

  “I think that’s obvious.”

  She sniffed. “Maybe. But still—Ryan and I only had a short fling. There were no hard feelings between us.”

  That wasn’t the story that had been painted for me, but I went with it for the sake of seeing what else Emma Lou had to say. And I was glad I hadn’t pressed the issue.

  “It was about the money,” she said. “That’s why Ryan was really pissed at Tennison.”

  “The money?”

  At that moment, the door to the shop opened. A voice called out to greet my mother, and I stiffened, realizing I knew that voice. I hurriedly pushed another outfit at Emma Lou. “Put this on.”

  Emma Lou took it, looking confused, but did as I said. I backed out of the room and shut the door behind her, then turned to face Cooper. Except he had been intercepted by my mother who
was preening over him like he was a visiting emperor.

  “I’m fine, Mrs. McGovern,” Cooper said. “I already ate breakfast.”

  “Mom,” I said. “Leave him alone.”

  “I’m just trying to feed the chief,” she said, shooting daggers with her eyes in my direction. “He does such selfless work for our town, it’s the least I can do. So noble.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” I said. “Save it. What’s up, Cooper?”

  He stepped closer, looking over his shoulder at my mother who was staring until finally she got the hint and busied herself sweeping the hat section.

  “Miss me?” I murmured.

  “I did,” Cooper said, leaning in to give me a swift kiss on the forehead.

  I heard an audible gasp, now in the shoe section.

  “Unfortunately,” Cooper continued, taking a step back—probably so my mother didn’t hyperventilate—“that’s not the reason I’m here. I was told you were helping Emma Lou get dressed?”

  “That’s not exactly what I’d call styling her, but I suppose. In layman’s terms.”

  “I have to take her down to the station for formal questioning.”

  “But—”

  He gave a subtle shake of his head. I looked into his eyes and saw that he’d turned up something, and it was something he couldn’t tell me right here, in public. I swallowed and nodded.

  “Do your thing, then, I guess,” I said. “But actually, wait. Let me make sure she’s dressed first.”

  Cooper looked relieved at the idea. “I’d appreciate that.”

  I snuck back into the changing room and found Emma Lou looking very gorgeous in a slim-fitting yellow gown.

  “That’s the one,” I said, clasping my hands together over my chest. “You look stunning.”

  “I know,” she said with a small squeal. “It is perfect. And I’ve never seen anything like it before. You were totally right.”

  “I knew it!”

  A throat cleared from outside the dressing room.

  “Right,” I said loud enough for Cooper to hear. “I think you should probably get dressed, Emma Lou. I’m really sorry, but there’s someone here to see you.”

  “I figured.” She sighed. “He’s going to arrest me, isn’t he? Your boyfriend?”

  “I don’t think... I really don’t know. I just date the guy.”

  A squeal sounded, this time from the lingerie section. I really doubted my mother was sweeping that fast. There was a much better chance she was just sneaking around in hopes of eavesdropping. The squeal was quickly muffled.

  “I pulled the trigger.” Emma slipped out of the gown while I averted my eyes. “I knew it would only be a matter of time before I got arrested. I suppose it’s my fault.”

  “Emma,” I said as she slipped into her clothes and went to unlock the door. “What were you saying about the money?”

  “Talk to Kiernan,” she said. “I don’t know all the details, but he should be able to give you a few answers.”

  Then I watched as the ex-girlfriend to my ex-boyfriend was led away by my current boyfriend for questioning at the station. I was exhausted just thinking through the connections. But most of all, I was more surprised by the hint of sympathy that had cropped up for Emma Lou.

  What if she hadn’t intended to pull the trigger on her boyfriend? Even if she had been calculating when she’d dated Ryan, what if she wasn’t the guilty party? Apparently, the screenwriter would be able to help me with the details. Or so I hoped.

  I gathered up the clothes we’d agreed on, then gave my mother the billing details that Ryan had shared with me. I told Allie to look into making a website for my mother’s business because she couldn’t be the only business in the twenty-first century to not have a website. And also because there would be orders coming in, I was sure, once the movie credits rolled. Assuming the movie ever got made.

  Because at this rate, it was the Hunger Games with the cast and crew. People dating, dying, and getting arrested at an incredible rate. But who was the mastermind behind it all?

  Chapter 19

  I retreated back to the set where filming was currently happening. I wasn’t entirely sure if it was my job to break the news to the director that his female lead was currently down at the station. I debated looking for Ryan to get his take on the matter, but he was nowhere to be seen.

  The director was barking orders to a group of extras that seemed to have taken the lead from Ethel Louise Schroeder. At least three people were arguing that they deserved to have lines in the scene. The director’s hair was sticking straight up, and it was easy to see how it’d gotten that way since he kept shoving his fingers through it in frustration.

  The person I needed to talk to was also nowhere in sight. But as I took a glance over at the writer’s trailer, I caught sight of the door half open and a figure moving beyond it.

  I hurried over to Kiernan’s trailer and knocked on the door. My head was poked halfway through, making it impossible for him to pretend he wasn’t there.

  “I don’t have coffee,” he said, narrowing his gaze in my direction. “That’s what you’re looking for, isn’t it?”

  I looked at the coffeepot which was currently gurgling to life with a liquid that looked like coffee, smelled like coffee, and probably was coffee.

  “I don’t have coffee for you,” Kiernan corrected. “You ladies have been drinking me dry.”

  “I don’t want any coffee.” I raised my hand and showed off the now-cool coffee cup from June’s. But the prop did the trick because he waved for me to enter. “Thanks for having me.”

  “I’m not having you.” Kiernan slid behind his computer, glanced at something on the screen, then locked it before glancing up at me. “You walked in here, and I’m not sure why. Care to enlighten me?”

  “It’s about Tennison.”

  “You’re always talking about Tennison. Why?”

  “I’ll be honest,” I said. “Ryan asked for my help, and he’s looking at potential jail time. You may not particularly like him, but I think you know he didn’t kill anyone. And I know that, too.”

  Kiernan put his hands over his face and rubbed his eyes. “Go on.”

  “Last time, you seemed like you thought Ryan might have been responsible for everything that’s happened.”

  “I was pissed,” he said. “Everything got all screwed up on this film. The world’s upside down. I don’t know who to trust.”

  “You can trust me,” I said. “I know you don’t know me, but all I’m looking for is the truth. And I think you might be able to help me.”

  “What makes you think that? I already talked to you. Sorta wish I hadn’t, but you caught me at a rough time.”

  “There’s no good time when it comes to a murder investigation,” I said. “And right now, Emma Lou is getting questioned down at the station.”

  Kiernan sat up straighter. “She is? How do you know?”

  “I was with her when the cops came,” I said, feeling like I should probably leave out the fact that the cops in question was a cop, singular, and also my boyfriend. “They’re looking into the possibility that it was all a ruse. That Emma Lou actually planned everything out. That maybe she’d intended to shoot Tennison.”

  Kiernan considered. Eventually, he leaned back in his seat and let his hand drag down to his chin. “Nah, I don’t think so.”

  “Why not?” His reaction surprised me. He wasn’t totally in shock, but he seemed quite certain that Emma Lou wasn’t behind it. “You barely seem surprised.”

  “I’m not totally surprised. Emma pulled the trigger. Of course the cops are going to take a look at her. Can’t even say that I blame them. Still don’t understand why that means you came to talk to me.”

  “Because Emma asked me to,” I said. “That’s why I’m here. She seems to think you might know something going on behind the scenes. Something about Tennison.”

  His look became immediately more guarded. “What sort of thing?”

  “An a
rgument that Tennison and Ryan might have had.”

  “Last time you were here, I told you—”

  “It’s nothing to do with Emma,” I said. “But she seems to think that Ryan and Tennison might have bickered about money. Any chance that rings a bell?”

  Kiernan took a deep breath. He looked out the small window next to him, though I couldn’t imagine he saw anything of interest through the tiny square. Eventually, he turned his gaze back to me. “What about it?”

  “What was the fight about?” I asked. “It seems you know. I’ve been trying to prove that Ryan didn’t do it this whole time, but if I’m wrong—”

  “I don’t know if Ryan did it or not. I thought he was incapable of it, but he was pretty ticked at Tennison. So was Kyle.”

  “Kyle?” I asked. “Kyle Curser, the director?”

  He nodded. “We were all sorta pissed at Tennison, to be honest. Sure, I was his friend. But he wasn’t being careful, and it screwed the rest of us over.”

  “How so?” When he cast a skeptical glance my way, I zipped my lips. “I won’t say a word to anyone if you don’t want me to. I’m just trying to sort through everything to find out who killed your friend.”

  “The argument was about money. Emma got that right,” he said. “Ryan’s production company is... floundering. He’s not great with money. He got rich quick, but then, I suppose you know that.”

  I nodded. Ryan hadn’t been a big-name actor until just recently. He hadn’t had a whole lot of time to accumulate wealth, though he wasn’t hurting if he’d been able to start up a production company and shoot a few movies already.

  “Well, Ryan did the math, or he had someone else do the math, and it turns out we don’t have enough to make it through filming this movie. We don’t even have distribution, yet, because his last few films bombed so badly. There’s no saying if we’ll get our money out of it.”

  “We?”

  “Ryan called all his friends—me, Kyle, Emma Lou, Tennison—and asked us for a favor. He wanted to give us points on the back end and have us work without pay temporarily so that he could free up budget for the rest of the production costs.”

  “Like stylists, postproduction, locations, and everything else.”