Page 139 of No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding

“They’re not going to run out of alcohol, El. You can slow down.”

“Connor?” I look up and it’shim. His tux still immaculate, his thick hair in place.

My heart skips a beat.

Is this relief, or am I having a heart attack?

“El, have you hit your head?”

“You’re alive!”

I hug him hard, breathing in his musky aftershave, and just as quickly let him go.

“What?”

I clench my hands and take in a slow breath. “Someone’s deadin the broom closet.” I point over my shoulder and pray that the tears I shed for him aren’t visible.

“And you thought it was me?” His eyes dance, because even though I’ve just told him someone is dead, his focus is always on how that impacts him.

See, Harper? People don’t change.

“Yes, I did think it was you for a moment. Clearly, I was wrong.” I don’t look him in the eye. He doesn’t need to know. Nothing good can come of this.

“Who is it, then?”

“I thought at first it was Fred, but...” I turn and open the door again.

Connor stands beside me and looks at the body, sucking in his breath. “That’s Ken.”

“Ken?”

“The stand-in.”

“Oh my God, you’re right.” My eyes trace over the body, and I can’t believe I missed the little details. His less expensive shoes. His rougher hands.

Sherlock Holmes, I am not.

I’m not even Cecilia Crane.

“Why would anyone want to kill Ken?” Connor asks.

“I don’t—”

“What are you two doing in there?” Simone says behind us. “My God. Is hedead?”

“I...”

“Fred is dead?”

I turn around. Simone is wearing a dress in a deep wine color, and her thick, dark hair has tumbled out of the updo it was in earlier. Her eyes are shining like she might be about to cry.

I take hold of her arms. “It’s not Fred, it’s Ken. And keep your voice down.”

But it’s too late. The word “dead” tends to carry in any environment.

“What is going on?” Mrs. Winter slurs behind me. “What are you saying about my Fred?”

I make a desperate gesture with my hand to Simone, and she reaches for the door and closes it. I turn around slowly. Mrs. Winter is wearing a silver turban with a brooch in the middle of it like she’s Elizabeth Taylor in her turban era. Her eye makeup is similar, too, that elongated liquid eyeliner that extends beyond the creases of her eye like a thick black whisker.

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