Page 49 of A Whisker in the Night

The baby gives another kick as I pick up speed—which, let’s be honest, is more of a determined waddle at this point.

“Going somewhere?” I call out and Verity freezes mid-stride.

She turns my way and a tense smile curves her lips. “Oh, Bizzy, it’s just you.” She gives a little laugh. “I’m afraid I’ve seen enough for the day. But you might want to find a seat. You look awfully winded.”

“I’m fine,” I reassure her as I finally catch up, sounding as winded as can be. “I love your shoes.” I frown at the lie. I can’t love footwear that costs more than my car. “Funny thing about those Virtuoso heels,” I say, as she kicks one up to inspect it, “they leave quite an impression. Especially in soft dirt... like in the woods where Hamish died.”

Verity inches back.

You didn’t even warm her up!Fish leaps with glee.Way to go for the jugular, Bizzy. You’ve got this.

Sherlock growls.She doesn’t have this. And she certainly doesn’t have a weapon to defend herself with.

That’s where we come in,Jellybean counters.

I like the way she thinks.

The smile on Verity’s face doesn’t waver. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she says, but too bad because I’m on a roll.

Not only that, but I’m craving one, too. Oh, all right, I’m craving a warm, fresh-baked cornbread muffin slathered with honey butter. I blame Hammie Mae for that.

“The farm was doing terribly under your management,” I continue. “Hamish didn’t have any money. He was trying to shake Matilda down for alimony. You said so yourself.”

Verity gasps and inches back once more.

“Yet somehow you can afford shoes that cost more than most cars,” I point out. Okay, so maybe just my car. “You had been stealing from the farm, hadn’t you? And I bet you’ve been dipping into the funds at the restaurant, too.”

Her lips wiggle for a moment as if they don’t have a clue whether to smile or frown.

“Bizzy, what’s gotten into you?” she says with her tone suddenly as sugar-sweet as her perfume. “Are you feeling well? I thought I had told you all about my success with the Bartender’s Dream.”

“I didn’t forget. But I did hear a rumor that it was more like a nightmare.” And had Verity not appeared so quickly, I would have researched that rumor, too.

The baby kicks in rhythm with my accusations.

Verity belts out a growl. “Oh, that ridiculous lawsuit? Bizzy, those were just a few units that caught fire. I’m going to counter-sue. I’m sure it was faulty electrical in their own homes that caused the infernos and had nothing to do with my units.” She glowers at the sky.I should never have brought that up to her. Leave it to those stupid machines to turn my life into a nightmare.

I glance down at her pricey shoes.

“I bet if I do a little digging, I’ll find out those machines never made any money. You found another way to make some extra cash. Hamish found out you were cooking the books, didn’t he? That’s why the business at the farm was tanking. Hamish wasn’t running it into the ground,youwere. After all, those designer clothes weren’t going to pay for themselves.”

Her hot pink lips round out in horror. “You can’t prove anything,” she says, glaring my way.Besides,she muses to herself,I’ll be out of the country before this woman can waddle her way to her thirst trap of a husband and rat me out.

Knew it. I’m also well aware that my husband is a thirst trap.

I nod to the furry among us as if to say we’ve got her.

Verity tries to step around me, but being the owner of a bulging belly has its advantages—namely, being able to block an entire path with minimal effort.

“Running off to the Maldives?” I ask sweetly and watch as her face grows pale. Wait just a minute…” I whisper to myself. “TheMaldives,” I shout so loud you’d think I had been searching for this answer for days. And in a way I have. “You have an offshore account there, don’t you? The name…MH Enterprises—you were trying to frame Matilda!”

Wait—Verity sent the flowers? She suctioned the money from Georgie’s account and maxed out all of her credit cards?

Of course, she did. It was the perfect diversion.

A dark laugh strums from the woman. “Come on, Bizzy. You know Matilda is guilty. Didn’t you see her with that stupid bookend that day at the festival? Do I have to spell it out for you? It was left at the crime scene, for Pete’s sake. Certainly, you can put two and two together. Your sister came into the restaurant a couple of weeks ago and said you’re the best of the best.”

“A couple of weeks ago?” Now it’s my turn to inch back. Hamish hasn’t been dead for a week.

---