Read Online On the Avenue by Antonio Pagliarulo - Free Book Online

her a cold stare. “We're not talking about me here, Ms. Hamilton. We're talking about you—
all
of you. Where's this paparazzo you're talking about? Where's Jeremy Bleu? A murder has been committed, and I'm not getting very convincing answers from any of you.”
    “We're telling you all we know,” Park said firmly.
    “And how well did you know the victim, Zahara Bell?”
    “We knew
of
her, and of her stature as the world's greatest fashion editor,” Lex replied. “But none of us had ever met her personally.”
    Detective Mullen flipped through to the front of his notepad. “From what I was told a few minutes ago, your father's company sponsored this gala here tonight. You mean to tell me you invited guests you've never met?”
    Madison sighed. What was the point of trying to explain philanthropy to a cop? It was blue blood versus blue-collar, and the two simply didn't mix.“That's exactly right,” she said. “In our world, Detective Mullen, people can know each other without ever meeting each other.”
    He raised his eyebrows. “That doesn't make sense.”
    “Sure it does,” Madison told him. “You knew my sisters and me before meeting us a few minutes ago, didn't you? That's because we live in the public eye. Same thing with Zahara Bell. I had hoped to meet her tonight, but …”
    “But what?” Detective Mullen asked.
    “But she didn't make it, obviously.” Madison had to shut her eyes against the memory of Zahara Bell's body. She felt even worse when she remembered that the body was still behind that closed coatroom door, with that heinous scarf as its last accessory.
    “So then, I guess you haven't found him yet,” Coco said, breaking the momentary silence.
    “Found who?”
    Coco rolled her eyes. “The killer.
Helllooo?
”
    Detective Mullen glared down at her. “What makes you so sure the killer is a
he
?”
    “Oh, come on. Get real.” Coco chuckled.
    “It's totally obvious,” Lex said under her breath.
    Park and Madison nodded firmly.
    “Is that what you girls think?” Detective Mullen said. “You think only men are killers and criminals because of the statistics you've read in some magazine? Well, lemme give you girls a quick lesson—”
    “It has nothing to do with statistics.” Madison cut him off. “It has to do with obvious common sense. And glaring evidence. Zahara Bell's killer was a man. There's no doubt about it.”
    “Of course there isn't,” Park said. “I can't even believe we're discussing this.”
    Detective Mullen crossed his arms over his chest. “What evidence? What the hell are you girls talking about?”
    “Didn't you see the body, Detective?” Lex asked him, her tone incredulous. “There's an ugly black scarf around Zahara Bell's neck. It doesn't even
remotely
go with the dress she's wearing. It's not even the right season. It's a mismatch. Only a man could have killed her that way and not noticed how
bad
it looks. A woman wouldn't have anything like that still out of fall storage.”
    “A hetero man,” Coco chimed in. “I mean, that's important, since we're building a profile of the killer.”
    “Oh, totally,” Madison agreed. “A heterosexual man with no sense of style. The kind of man who wears black loafers with navy blue pants. Or boot-cut jeans with white sneakers. Hideous.”
    Detective Mullen, standing there in black loafers and navy blue pants, didn't say a word.
    “Let me tell you,” Lex said excitedly, “if the killer had been a woman, all the signs—the evidence— would have been a lot sleeker. A scarf like the onearound Zahara Bell's neck would not have even entered the picture.”
    “Not one that looks like alpaca,” Coco offered. “Something like raw silk, maybe, or maybe even cashmere.”
    “I would never ruin a cashmere scarf,” Park said. “Especially not if it meant
leaving
it around some-one's neck. Though I guess if it was completely, noticeably last season …”
    “True, but you get my point.” Lex looked at