Death with a Cherry on Top: A Beach Themed Cozy Mystery (Twisted Sisters Ice Cream Cozies Book 1) (4 page)

Giuseppe changed his mind. It's not like his pockets were lined in gold, since he was saving up for a new car. He made a quick call to his mother and mentioned he'd bring Jessica over for dinner after all. He'd take her out later for ice cream and then they could take a walk on the beach. He knew if he didn't bring the girl over this time, his mom would keep badgering him anyway. Might as well get it out of the way. He'd apologize, insist his mother gave him little choice, and see how she handled the quick change of plans. He liked the girl, and if she was easy going about a shift in plans, maybe he'd ask her out again.

As the evening closed in on them, Giuseppe picked up Jessica and drove her to his house. "We're a pretty likable bunch, most times, but if my Pops goes into one of his long spiels, just not your head and don't let him see your eyes glazing over."

She laughed, like he was kidding, but he wasn't.

Giuseppe opened the front door and led his date to the kitchen. It was the center hub of the Ambrogi household.

Gina welcomed the girl to her home, before asking where she'd gotten such a lovely charm bracelet. Bells went off in her head. "That's so pretty."

"Oh, thank you," Jessica said, flattered by the compliment. She didn't bother mentioning that it wasn't hers. She'd borrowed it from a friend for her date. Normally, she wore mostly gold jewelry, but with silver sparkles running through her shirt, the bracelet was a nice match.

Dinner went smoothly enough, but it was near impossible not to mention Carla's situation. Gina worded things cautiously. "Has there been any talk about -- well, you know, at the playhouse?"

"Oh, I don't know. It was still closed from what I’ve heard. They haven't asked me to return for a few days. I think they were still investigating. I was told that we'd be pushing everything back one week." Jessica paused and then delicately added, "I'm sorry about your daughter."

Gina felt the girl was sincere, but she didn't trust anyone at this point. "Who was Carla's understudy? Was that you?"

Jessica shook her head, her cheeks turning a bright shade of pink. "Oh, dear, no. I'd be too uncomfortable with so much attention. I like working behind the scenes. Kitty is going to be taking over. Again, I'm sorry. I thought they'd cancel the show, but they've only pushed it back. One of the old director's offered to step in after he heard about the tragedy."

"Kitty, huh?" Gina said.

"Quite honestly, I don't know how she's able to do it. Her and... well, the two of them were involved. The director, Finn, and Kitty were sort of a quiet item on the sidelines. Not many knew about it, but I stumbled into them one day, quite literally, tripping, and they were behind one of the costume racks. Anyway, when I stopped by to see her earlier, to see if I could borrow her bracelet, she didn't seem as sad as I'd expect. Her pseudo-boyfriend was found dead, but she wanted me to know the show would go on." Jessica covered her mouth. "I should keep my opinions to myself. I'm sorry, I've said too much."

"No, you've been quite helpful, thank you," Gina answered.

Giuseppe made a big show of 'are we having dinner or not' and then casually slid his arm over Jessica's shoulder. She settled in against him, liking this new move.

Gina's mind ticked. She needed to talk to Lottie. It appeared that Kitty had more cards on the table than she was willing to admit. Not only was the charm bracelet hers, she didn't seem upset over the fact that her beau had been knocked off,
and
wanted the show to go on. Something wasn't adding up, and it was time to learn more. Kitty had some explaining to do. If they could get Kitty to spill the beans, maybe admit to being involved in foul play, it may just save Carla from being charged and tried for a crime she didn't commit.

Lottie's ears were getting red. "That little, conniving toad!"

"Yeah, when I heard she wasn't even upset about Finn kicking the bucket, knowing they'd been, you know, a thing, something felt weird about that. Right?" Gina paced as she spoke. "And the flowers, apparently, she saw him bringing them into Carla's room and got bent out of shape. Jessica mentioned she heard shouting, but she didn't stick around to hear more. She said it made her uncomfortable so she left to take a walk. Nice girl by the way, I think our Giuseppe may have a thing for her. He was very sweet with her, tender...hardly the Giuseppe we know and adore."

"Oh sweet, he always picks the wrong type of girl for him. Hopefully, he sticks with this one for a while. Do you like her? How was she otherwise?"

"Very sweet, agreeable, friendly, a little shy, but I kind of like her. Not bad after Giuseppe's last girlfriend, Bianca. Yikes, that girl was trouble!"

Lottie nodded in agreement. "Yeah, wasn't fond of the last girlfriend."

"There was just one thing that bothered me. She went from knowing and saying almost nothing, to knowing more than I expected. So, why hadn't she told the police all the stuff she was telling me? According to the report, she didn't mention much of anything. She said she didn't see or hear anything, and didn't really know anyone well, since she was new in town. And yet, she went out of her way to borrow jewelry from a girl
she didn't know well
...that's the only part that bothered me."

"Odd, you don't think..."

"I don't want to think, because I like her, and Giuseppe likes her, and she's nice, and she's certainly not Bianca. This girl actually wears proper clothes."

"She's not a micro-mini queen with a bikini top for a date material, and those thigh high boots, oh dear goodness, that girl liked to stand out.”

"Yeah, well, Bianca might not have been a hooker, but she sure dressed like one. So, Jessica’s humble nature is a nice change of pace." Gina frowned. "Am I giving her leeway for the wrong reasons? I just... Most people don't borrow jewelry unless they're good friends. Maybe she was closer to Kitty than she said, and yet, based on the police report... Something isn't adding up. Remember, I found that charm? Yeah, she was wearing a charm bracelet that she happened to borrow from Kitty. Coincidence? Or was it truly her bracelet?"

"It’s speculation... We don't really know, do we? Kitty will be coming over for the Ice Cream Queen stuff, let's ask her about a charm bracelet and see if she owns up to it being hers, or if she has no idea what we're talking about." Lottie fidgeted, lacing her fingers together.

"What do you think of that Ian character? Seems like he has Carla's best interest in mind, even if he is a little creepy and hanging around. I can't imagine him wanting her to be put in jail. He wouldn't have access to her there. Unless, he'd have access via visitation and that was his plan? To keep her like a caged bird. I want to believe he has good intentions."

Lottie stood up for Ian. "I think he wants her to himself, but out of prison. Sounds like he has a crush more than anything."

"Let's hope you're right, because the less people we suspect of foul play, the easier it will be to catch them."

"Oh, there was one other thing that crossed my mind," Lottie mentioned, "but, I think I'll wait to tell you this one. Let's go pay somebody a visit. After everything we've gathered so far, something just hit me."

"And what would that be?" Gina was anxious.

"Come on, let's go have a talk with somebody. I'll tell you more on the way." Lottie answered.

"Tell me! Tell me!" Gina nudged.

"Okay, so I've been thinking, and when you filled me in this morning about Jessica's latest stuff, here's where I'm at. With everything on the line, what came up a couple of times were the flowers. Kitty saw Finn bring them to Carla's room. It turns out she might have misread that errand, thinking that Finn was bringing them to her competition. Kitty was Carla's understudy. And Jessica, she saw the two of them fight about it. Ian didn't see where the flowers went, but was angry with Finn because he took away his opportunity to deliver them himself. Who else was there? One person stood out - and he was an important one. The prop master, Simon, was there working. Maybe he saw Finn deliver the flowers to Carla - and Carla, being Simon's ex… Maybe a thread of jealousy ran through him. If he thought Finn was putting the moves on Carla, it might have stirred up old feelings."

"Got it! Let's go see if we can get him talking. Do you think he did it?" Gina's excitement grew with the new possibility.

"I think he could have made it happen, switching out a prop, setting up Carla. She'd be the one holding the knife. Her prints would be all over it, which would cover up his own. He could have diligently wiped it, then placed it where Carla would pick it up. I think he may have set her up. Maybe he was angry and went too far. Maybe he hadn't meant to kill Finn, but his rage went unchecked. As soon as he realized what happened, he made sure somebody else's prints would be on the knife."

"Ooh, that's good. Maybe we should bring some back-up. Text Pops and ask him to meet us."

The women pulled up to Simon’s house and got out of the car. Ringing the bell, they waited. Only when the door opened, Simon wasn’t the one to answer it.

"Kitty?" Gina was confused. "What are you doing here?"

She adjusted her skirt, shifting it over her knees. "Not that it's your business, but I was visiting my boyfriend."

"Your boyfriend? I thought Finn was..."

Kitty glanced over her shoulder. "Shh, it's not what it seems. I just pandered to Finn. Understudy this year, star next year." She winked, trying to explain her methods of climbing the ladder.

"Who's there?" Simon walked up behind her, only wrapped in a towel. He'd just gotten out of the shower. "Mrs. Ambrogi? What brings you here?"

"Did you tell Kitty what you did? Does she know?" She held his stare.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He stood his ground.

"Oh, that's a shame, because it turns out a camera had been recently installed. They hadn't told anyone yet, because it was just set up. Turns out there were some break-ins off season, and they were trying to catch the thief. They forgot it was even there. Imagine their surprise when it caught something that they weren't expecting."

"I know every inch of that building. There's no camera. Whatever you're trying to pull, we're done here. You should leave." His shoulders tensed.

Kitty spun toward him. "What are they talking about?"

Pops pulled up at the address. Perfect timing! Gina crossed her fingers, said a prayer and yelled over to her father, hoping he'd play along. "Did you bring the tape? I think Kitty should know what her boyfriend did."

Pops patted his pocket. "I sure did."

Gina loved that she could count on her father to work with her, without her having to spell it out to him.

"What’s on the tape?" Kitty demanded. She scowled at Simon.

Simon got quiet, and swallowed hard. Fear crawled across his face. "I didn't mean for it to happen. It was an accident. I was just going to threaten him, but then we got into it. We struggled, tripped, and one thing led to another."

Kitty's jaw dropped. "You?"

Pop reached into his pocket and pulled out a mint. "Did you want a mint?"

"You! What?" Simon roared, angry at having been trapped.

"I think you'd better put some clothes on. The police will be here shortly," Lottie said, dialing 9-1-1.

Kitty's mouth was still hanging open. "Simon?"

"I'm sorry, Kitty. I'm still in love with Carla," Simon admitted. "I let jealousy get the best of me."

"You used me?" She reeled back and slapped him. With that, she stormed out past everyone.

"Not so fast," Gina called out to her. "We'll need your statement."

Kitty grumbled. Finn, now Simon, she'd wished Carla had done it. Carla getting out of jail meant her competition was back. She'd see what the future held, but there was no way she was losing to Carla again. She'd chase Carla back to New York and finally be the local star she was meant to be. Kitty would be the queen bee of Wildwind. She stormed to the sidewalk and sat on the curb. That’s when it hit her like a ton of bricks. The sensation pulsed through her veins. Shame and embarrassment caught her off guard. Why didn’t she feel anything? Was she that heartless that she could let an innocent women rot in jail? Let alone, she hadn’t cried over Finn’s death, and now Simon’s confession.

Kitty sighed. She was a user. It was more about what they could do for her. Maybe it was time to re-evaluate life. She dropped her head into her hands. The ice around her heart melted, and for the first time since this entire thing took place, she cried. Kitty closed her eyes and searched to find her integrity. It had to be inside of her somewhere, right? It was time to change her ways.

Carla bowed out of the play, not wanting to be a part of the tragedy. The play would go on, but without her. She’d head back to New York, but first she’d spend a long weekend with her friends and family. Lottie and Gina cooked up a feast to celebrate Carla’s release.

Gina’s family was in one piece again. Everything felt right. With things going back to normal, it would mean business as usual. Summer was rushing straight at them. Soon throngs of vacationers would fill Wildwind’s hotels. The boardwalk would come back to life with hungry beachgoers. They’d be ready with an assortment of treats served in cones, cups, or dipped in sprinkles.

Once things settled back down, Lottie hopped back into action. It was time to open “Twisted Sisters Ice Cream” the following weekend. Sure, it was a week or so late, but having Carla free and clear made it the best delayed opening ever.

In no time, lines of people made their way to the stand, filling Lottie’s cash register with crisp bills as Kitty stood waving customers in.  She played her role as the Ice Cream Queen perfectly. There was something else, something different. She seemed almost humble, like a changed woman. Was it possible?  Only time would tell if this new Kitty would stick around, but Gina and Lottie hoped so.

THE END

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About Me
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Molly Dox is happily married and has two grown boys. Her husband, an insanely patient man, believed in her from the start. Crazy man didn’t know any better. She spends her time between writing and corralling her dogs in an attempt to get them to go outside at the same time. Sometimes writing books is easier. In her (cough) late forties, she’s enjoying her dream of writing full-time.

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Other reads by Molly Dox. Please see the listings below.

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Longer Standalone Reads:

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Digging for clues was a delicate balancing act. She needed to be careful not to ruffle any feathers now that her own life was in jeopardy. Would she unravel the clues and finger the culprit? If she played her cards right, she might just find the killer.

This cozy mystery is family friendly with no foul language, no blood, and no sex. This is a standalone book, and not part of a series.

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This is a standalone read, and is not part of a series. This book is family friend. It is a clean read with no blood, no sex, and no foul language.

Short Stories:

The Annie Addison Cozy Mystery Series (Complete series, Books 1-6)

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Book 1 - Color Me Crazy

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Book 5 - Bad Hair Day

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Poppy Pepper’s Paradise Cove and Mini Golf – The Complete Series (Books 1-6)

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Set in balmy Central Florida, this series of six short stories is perfect for a light weekend read. These cozy mysteries are family friendly. (No foul language, no blood, no sex) Each story follows Poppy on her trail to solving a crime.

Book 1 – Sunbaked Snowbird

Book 2 – Something Fishy

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Book5- Deadly Baggage

Book 6 – Criminals on Vacation