Page 47 of Death By Llama
Oh, boy.That was not going to go over well.Brandy lived for Riverdale and was still in mourning it had been canceled.She had seen every episode but when she dated someone new or had new friends like me and Oliver she liked to start over again with the pilot and force them to sit through it.Not that I didn’t like the show, because I did, but she was very intense about plowing through all the episodes with you in marathon binge sessions.
I had a hard time envisioning Justin watching very adult-looking teens engaged in a soapy murder mystery.
But then again, I also had a hard time envisioning Justin and Brandy together in general even though I had actually seen them together on dates.It just seemed like an ill fitting relationship.
As if I was one to talk.
“Sophie, there you are,” Cameron said, looking frazzled, also on his phone as he strolled out of the dining room.“I’m talking to my lawyer.This is just…bad.So bad.”
He kissed my forehead and then turned me and gave me a little shove in the direction of the kitchen.“Can you make coffee for the first responders?”
I was supposed to be making tea for him according to my mother, but I liked Cameron’s idea better.
But before I entered the kitchen I had one little stop to make.I went to the entryway and the coat tree.I dug into the pocket of the windbreaker I had worn in my death defying descent down the slippery stairs on the shoreline to look for clues.I found the business card for Opulent Occasions and flipped it over.
The handwriting was feminine.Something I hadn’t noticed before.
I had to assume that Ashley had left the card for Nick.Did that mean that she was the one who had pushed Nick?I hadn’t seen Ashley outside just now, which was interesting.I wasn’t sure what to make of that.
“So we can file a claim?”
Cameron’s voice was hushed, but I could hear him clearly.I leaned toward the dining room, hiding behind the coat tree.He thought I was in the kitchen now so maybe he wasn’t as guarded as he might normally be around me, at least when it came to his business practices.
“This is the only way out of this money pit.File a liability claim with the insurance company, recoup our investment, and walk away.They won’t argue because they insured a dangerous property now that there are two deaths.”
The hair on the back of my neck rose.So two deaths benefited Cameron and one death hurt him financially?
That didn’t sound good.
That sounded like…no.I was being ridiculous.There was no way Cameron would push Nick off of a cliff to save a buck.
Would he?
How well did I know him, truthfully?
A cold sweat broke out all over my body.Was I dating a murderer?
If Peanut’s death was an accident, maybe Cameron had panicked and found himself a way out of a financial conundrum.
People had killed for less and tripping or shoving someone wasn’t as…intimate as other forms of murder.Maybe it was impulsive.Maybe he regretted it.
“I feel terrible for this poor man’s family,” Cameron said.
Or maybe I was losing my mind.That didn’t sound like the words of a killer.
Shaking my head, I went to the kitchen to start brewing a jumbo pot of coffee.Even in July, that would be welcome to the men and women who had to go down that cliff yet again and retrieve another body.
Flipping the card back over as I searched for the coffee grounds, I dialed the number for Opulent Occasions.
A man’s voice answered.“Hello, Opulent Occasions, can I help you?”
It should have been polite, but it sounded a little annoyed.This had to be Brad.
“Hello, may I speak to Ashley, please?”
“Who’s this?”
“It’s Sophie LaFleur from Friendship Harbor.I’m at The Captain’s Inn and well, we’re just, um, looking for Ashley.She seems to be missing.”
