Powdered Murder

Taking in the entire sight made my blood run cold.

"No," Lila muttered. "No. No. No. That can't be her. She can't be dead. Do

"She's definitely dead," Bebe said quietly. She glanced down, realizing she'd been snapping her bracelet hard enough to make her skin turn red. She gulped and looked at me with tears in her eyes. I reached out a hand to console her, but she ended up wrapping her arms around me instead. I hugged her - my eyes surveying the scene in front of me.

Do

Her skin and clothes were intact. There were no cuts or bruises on her arms or legs that I could see. No trail of blood leading to the edge of the pool. It looked like she'd accidentally slipped and had possibly hit her head. But why did she come straight here instead of meeting us in the Aspen Room first? And where did she get the cupcake?

None of the chairs or tables surrounding the pool looked like they'd been moved. Nothing had been turned over. There were no abandoned robes near the water. No watery foot prints leading anywhere. The only thing that felt off was the open window. My eyes darted again to the half-eaten cupcake. It was floating alongside the body as if Do

My gut told me this wasn't an accident.

"Misty!" I shouted. "Misty, call the police!"

"I can't believe it." Lila sniffled. "He actually did it this time, that scumbag."

"Excuse me?"

Lila's hand shook as she wiped away a tear, rubbing her wrinkle-free forehead. Her eyes darted around the room like she was expecting the killer to jump out of the shadows and drown her next.

"I receive threats all the time, but none of those psychos ever follow through," Lila gulped. "I know who did this. It had to be him." She covered her mouth and began to sob. Her cries grew louder and louder. Pretty soon she'd be wailing.

"Who?" I urged her to tell me before she became hysterical. "Who did this?"

"It was my stalker."

CHAPTER THREE

I waited in the Aspen Room for my turn to be questioned by the Bison Creek police department. The entire division consisted of Sheriff Williams and his son Murray. I imagined that both of their jaws dropped to the floor when they'd received the call about Do

After Misty called the sheriff, I had to keep her from reaching into the pool and tampering with any evidence. I almost screamed at her when she ran to the open window and tried to close it. The draft had blown through her messy hair as she'd yanked at it, anchoring her entire hand on the windowsill. Whatever fingerprints might've been there were now mixed in with Misty's. I had to take charge and basically lock down the crime scene by forcing everyone to leave. I wasn't an expert by any means, but I knew that there were procedures that needed to be followed. Even at the gym we had incident reports for injuries and health scares. Lila hadn't been too happy about that. She'd been seconds away from diving into the pool to pull out Do

Bebe was talking loudly in the room next door. Her voice carried through the walls as she spoke to Murray. She'd been distraught when she saw Do

The door to the Aspen Room flung open, making my heart jolt. Joy rushed towards me so fast I thought one of the hotel's prized vases was going to fall to the floor and shatter. Joy clenched her jaw and sat next to me. She was breathing heavily and she took a moment to calm herself down.

"This is horrible," she whispered. "Just horrible."

"Relax, sis." I placed my hand on her shoulder and forced her to take a few more breaths. "I don't want you to fall over and have a heart attack."

"Essie," she muttered. "You have to help me. If word of this spreads too far, the resort will be finished. I will be finished." Her eyes looked glossy.

"Joy, I'm so sorry." I couldn't think of anything else to say to her because I knew she was right. Tourism in Bison Creek would take a hit if news of a wedding killer at Pinecliffe Mountain Resort reached the ears of anyone outside of town. And that was not the sort of news that could be hushed for long. Eventually, this place would be crawling with reporters. And unless the murderer was caught, who would want to chance a night in a town where a murderer roamed free?

"Luckily, Lila hasn't decided yet whether or not the wedding is cancelled."

"What?" I raised my eyebrows, knowing that if it were me I wouldn't hesitate to call the whole thing off. Even if I'd been about to marry Patrick, I would take the untimely death of one of my bridesmaids as a sign from above.

"If we can figure out what happened to that poor girl, I think I can convince Lila to move forward with the wedding. I can't lose this account. Mr. Kentworth promised me that he would consider promoting me if I pulled this one off." Her eyes beamed when she said the word wedding.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" I asked. "I mean, have you spoken to Patrick? What did he say about the whole thing?"

"Oh no, he's in Denver on business. He won't be back until late tonight."

"Then someone should call him and tell him," I insisted.

"Leave that to his fiancée." Joy waved her hand as if that particular detail wasn't as important. "Essie, you have to help me clear the hotel's name of any foul play so we aren't destroyed by this. This can't be made to look like negligence on our part."

"Me? Why me?" I glanced at the wall, still able to hear Bebe's steady jabbering.

"Because you and I both know that this is way over Sheriff Williams' head. He couldn't even figure out who stole Mrs. Tankle's Siamese cat last summer."

"Pixie?" I replied. "Oh, she wasn't stolen. She ran away. Went off to brave greener and more mouse-ridden pastures."

"You see." Joy sat up straighter and smiled at me. "If anyone in this town can figure this out it's you. You notice everything that goes on, and most people in town actually like you. I can't say the same for Murray after last year's Christmas Market debacle."

"I warned him that the wassail was alcoholic," I murmured.

"Please Essie, I've worked my whole life to be Head Event Coordinator. I don't want to get fired. Or worse. Demoted. You have to help me." She stuck out her bottom lip as she pleaded.

I knew that I would eventually give in and agree. She was my sister and I would have been heartbroken if this whole mess were blamed on her. For all I knew, Do