much as even a slight turn of her head.
I grinned and followed them into the kitchen, where Ida Belle grabbed the coffeepot. Gertie breath was almost restored, and I gave her outfit another assessment.
“Red Hat Society meets Jersey Shore ?” I asked.
Gertie stopped stirring her coffee. “What?”
I waved a hand at her. “The look. I thought it was a mash-up. Never mind.”
Ida Belle raised her eyebrows. “What exactly did you do after we left Francine’s?”
“I can tell you what I didn’t do—I didn’t kill Pansy Arceneaux.”
Ida Belle nodded. “We know.”
“Poor Celia,” Gertie said and sniffed.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “You’re not supposed to outlive your kids, much less find them murdered. I bet she’s a mess.”
“Beatrice tells us they had to sedate her. One of Celia’s cousins came to get her and took her to New Orleans.”
Silently, we all took a seat at the kitchen table. By unspoken agreement, no one spoke for the first few sips, then Ida Belle sighed.
“While I’ve enjoyed a whole two minutes completely free from Gertie’s babble, we have a serious crisis on our hands.”
“I know,” I said. “I’ve already reported in to my partner at the agency. He’s going to do everything he can to shore up my cover on his end, but if Carter digs too deep, it won’t hold.”
Gertie’s eyes widened. “Surely, he doesn’t think you did this. Carter is young and not yet up to our standards of stealth and subterfuge, but he’s smart.”
“Gertie’s right,” Ida Belle said. “You have opportunity and ability, but you really don’t have motive. No one will take that beauty pageant stuff seriously as a reason to kill someone.”
“People in Sinful might,” I said.
Gertie’s eyes widened.
Ida Belle blew out a breath. “Crap. You’re right. No one in Sinful could stand Pansy, but they won’t be willing to admit that one of our own killed her. You’re the easiest scapegoat, and that falling-out last night will only cement it in the majority of their feeble minds.”
“Not to mention,” Gertie said, “that our idiot mayor will be looking to find a quick solution. It’s an election year. Hard to get votes if you’re letting the people who murder your family members get away.”
I’d already known it was serious, but hearing them spell out all the details made it sound all that more bleak. “So what do we do? Harrison told me to stay in public as much as possible—that way if anyone else turned up dead, I’d have an alibi.”
“That’s fine if we assume another murder victim is forthcoming, and in the same manner Pansy was murdered,” Gertie said. “But what if it was an isolated incident?”
Ida Belle shook her head. “And it probably was. Let’s face it, Pansy was the type of person who created long-term grudges. You heard that argument between Mark and Joanie last night at the church.”
“That’s true,” Gertie said. “It’s entirely possible someone has been waiting all these years for her to return to Sinful so that they could exact their revenge over something from high school.”
I frowned. “You really think someone could have waited all these years to kill Pansy over some high school slight? That seems a bit far-fetched to me, even by Sinful standards.”
Gertie’s brow creased with the effort of her thoughts. “Maybe thinking about getting revenge all these years drove them steadily over the precipice of sanity. What started as a simple revenge plot morphed into murder.”
I stared. “Really, Dr. Phil?”
“Did you spend all night watching television?” Ida Belle asked.
“No. Well, half, but it was a very informative half.”
Ida Belle rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah. The Red Hat Society, those fools on Jersey Shore , and Dr. Phil have all the answers.”
“Probably more answers than you got waxing your car.”
“For your information, I had a season marathon of Justified when I got home.”
“Oh!” Gertie’s eyes
I grinned and followed them into the kitchen, where Ida Belle grabbed the coffeepot. Gertie breath was almost restored, and I gave her outfit another assessment.
“Red Hat Society meets Jersey Shore ?” I asked.
Gertie stopped stirring her coffee. “What?”
I waved a hand at her. “The look. I thought it was a mash-up. Never mind.”
Ida Belle raised her eyebrows. “What exactly did you do after we left Francine’s?”
“I can tell you what I didn’t do—I didn’t kill Pansy Arceneaux.”
Ida Belle nodded. “We know.”
“Poor Celia,” Gertie said and sniffed.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “You’re not supposed to outlive your kids, much less find them murdered. I bet she’s a mess.”
“Beatrice tells us they had to sedate her. One of Celia’s cousins came to get her and took her to New Orleans.”
Silently, we all took a seat at the kitchen table. By unspoken agreement, no one spoke for the first few sips, then Ida Belle sighed.
“While I’ve enjoyed a whole two minutes completely free from Gertie’s babble, we have a serious crisis on our hands.”
“I know,” I said. “I’ve already reported in to my partner at the agency. He’s going to do everything he can to shore up my cover on his end, but if Carter digs too deep, it won’t hold.”
Gertie’s eyes widened. “Surely, he doesn’t think you did this. Carter is young and not yet up to our standards of stealth and subterfuge, but he’s smart.”
“Gertie’s right,” Ida Belle said. “You have opportunity and ability, but you really don’t have motive. No one will take that beauty pageant stuff seriously as a reason to kill someone.”
“People in Sinful might,” I said.
Gertie’s eyes widened.
Ida Belle blew out a breath. “Crap. You’re right. No one in Sinful could stand Pansy, but they won’t be willing to admit that one of our own killed her. You’re the easiest scapegoat, and that falling-out last night will only cement it in the majority of their feeble minds.”
“Not to mention,” Gertie said, “that our idiot mayor will be looking to find a quick solution. It’s an election year. Hard to get votes if you’re letting the people who murder your family members get away.”
I’d already known it was serious, but hearing them spell out all the details made it sound all that more bleak. “So what do we do? Harrison told me to stay in public as much as possible—that way if anyone else turned up dead, I’d have an alibi.”
“That’s fine if we assume another murder victim is forthcoming, and in the same manner Pansy was murdered,” Gertie said. “But what if it was an isolated incident?”
Ida Belle shook her head. “And it probably was. Let’s face it, Pansy was the type of person who created long-term grudges. You heard that argument between Mark and Joanie last night at the church.”
“That’s true,” Gertie said. “It’s entirely possible someone has been waiting all these years for her to return to Sinful so that they could exact their revenge over something from high school.”
I frowned. “You really think someone could have waited all these years to kill Pansy over some high school slight? That seems a bit far-fetched to me, even by Sinful standards.”
Gertie’s brow creased with the effort of her thoughts. “Maybe thinking about getting revenge all these years drove them steadily over the precipice of sanity. What started as a simple revenge plot morphed into murder.”
I stared. “Really, Dr. Phil?”
“Did you spend all night watching television?” Ida Belle asked.
“No. Well, half, but it was a very informative half.”
Ida Belle rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah. The Red Hat Society, those fools on Jersey Shore , and Dr. Phil have all the answers.”
“Probably more answers than you got waxing your car.”
“For your information, I had a season marathon of Justified when I got home.”
“Oh!” Gertie’s eyes
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