Curl Up and Die

by Sophie Sharp

  Mia didn’t know what to say. She loved her Uncle Doug and she’d never want to do anything to hurt him, but she couldn’t risk getting Aunt Molly into trouble either. What a pickle she was in. In the old movies, this was the part where the little girls cried, “Oh, Daddy, what shall I do?” and flung themselves into the strong arms of their fathers, who’d give them a good talking to about their mistakes and then help them get out of whatever pickle they were in.

  But before Mia could launch herself off the bar stool and into Uncle Doug’s arms, the doorbell rang. Mia froze. For a horrible second, she wondered if they had been wrong about Nell, that maybe she was involved in Veronica’s murder, and now Mia had gone and left her aunt alone with a killer, and something terrible had happened. But when Uncle Doug returned from answering the door, he had a bad look on his face. Trailing behind him was Max Harrison, whose expression was a strained mix of grief, embarrassment, and oddly, energy. He was well put together, as if he had a date or something.

  “Mia?” said Uncle Doug. He wasn’t smiling anymore. “Max here is looking for your aunt. He says the guest book from Opal May’s funeral has gone missing. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?” He grabbed his phone and dialed, probably her aunt.

  Mia gulped. She was right. She should just go back to her mother. Sure, it had been a far from perfect life, and Mia had failed to launch under Lacy’s care, but she got herself into a lot less trouble in L.A. And her mother’s looks of disappointment had nothing on Uncle Doug’s.

  “Funeral book?” said Mia. Her neck strained as she tried to decide whether to shake her head and deny everything, or nod and blurt the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. “I don’t feel so good. It’s been a very upsetting day. Sorry, Max,” she said and hurried to the kitchen door.

  Her uncle set down his phone and looked at Max as Mia rushed away. “Molly’s not answering. Sit down, have some cake. She’ll be back soon, I’m sure.”

  Mia didn’t turn around, just kept speedwalking until she reached her studio. There she climbed up to her bed and lay staring blankly at the ceiling, Henri purring by her side.

  Tomorrow, she’d apologize to her aunt for not being a more faithful niece; she’d apologize to Uncle Doug for not being honest; she’d apologize to Damion for not trusting him; and then she’d start making plans to move back to L.A., where she couldn’t cause her aunt and uncle any more trouble.

  Funny, though, she thought. Despite all that happened, she was really going to miss San Cosmas.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Molly? What in the world are you doing here?” Nell asked her.

  Molly tilted her head to the side and smiled. “I need to talk to you about a few things. It’s really important.”

  Nell looked over Molly’s shoulder and then down at her watch and frowned, looking torn. “I know it must be or you wouldn’t be here.” She put her hand on Molly’s shoulder and ushered her inside. “Just let me send a quick text. I have someone coming over, so I just need to ask them to hold off.”

  Damion returning, no doubt. Maybe he’d run out to get him and Nell dinner or a bottle of wine. Oh jeez, now she was thinking like Mia.

  Nell, frazzled, set her phone aside, looking at Molly. “Okay, how can I help?”

  Molly wasn’t sure how to approach this delicately. She decided to simply go for it. “For starters, you can tell me what Damion was doing here and explain how the two of you know each other.”

  Nell went from panicked to tight-lipped within seconds. “I don’t like your aggressive tone, Molly, especially while standing in my house, uninvited. And that’s none of your business.”

  “But that’s just it, Nell. It is. I came over here with Mia to ask you about something to do with Veronica, and we saw the two of you in each other’s arms.”

  Nell blanched, and her eyes quickly filled with tears. Tears of shame, Molly suspected. “Mia saw? It’s not what you think.” Nell was babbling now. “It’s just a project he is helping me with. I met him at Tabitha’s Café. He works there. He needed extra money. We were just excited about a decision we made, so we hugged.”

  Molly really hoped this could be true. She also wanted to pat herself on the back for offering such an explanation to Mia only minutes ago. “Really? What kind of project?”

  “It’s a secret for now. I wish I could say more.”

  Yeah, me too. Molly couldn’t imagine a project in San Cosmas that was too secret for Damion to even mention to Mia. “Can you give me a hint?”

  “It has to do with the lot. That’s all I can say.”

  “Does the mayor know about this project?” Molly asked.

  Nell looked up and to the right, just like the liars on Molly’s cop shows, and then said, “Of course he does.”

  If Nell wouldn’t tell her more, Molly would need to talk to the mayor to see if he really did have any clue what was going on with Nell, and now the lot. “Nell, of all people, you know I deserve to know if something is happening at the lot, or if any of this has anything to do with Veronica.”

  “Molly, you need to leave. I’m not having this discussion with you or anyone else at this time. And if I have, um, had any information about Veronica, I’d tell it to the detective, not you. You should know me well enough to know that I have San Cosmas’s best interests at heart.”

  Enough to murder someone? Molly hoped not.

  “I should know you well, shouldn’t I? And I’m trying not to jump to conclusions, but this week is unlike any week I’ve ever lived. You and the mayor jumped ship and abandoned us truckies. Veronica Corsello was found behind my van by my niece. And I think you know, my Van Clan was being blackmailed, or were being blackmailed, by Veronica.”

  Nell covered her chest and shook her head effusively, wide eyes. She was either genuinely shocked or good at acting. Molly wasn’t sure which anymore.

  “Of course I didn’t know they were being blackmailed. Have you told the detective?”

  Too bad, too sad. Liar, liar, pants on fire. Given what Molly knew from Anthony about the conference, Nell was lying to her. What else was she lying about? “Oh Nell. This is disappointing. I know you knew she was blackmailing at least Anthony. You were there when she caught him having the affair. You talked to him yourself days after. You’re smart enough to know that he wasn’t an isolated incident.”

  Nell fanned herself and lay back on her couch. “No. No. Yes, I was there, but no, I never knew she was blackmailing Anthony. I thought it was just … Oh, please tell me that he doesn’t think I’m involved. I love Jocelyn like a sister.”

  “Fortunately for you,” Molly said, “he credits you with trying to save his marriage. But he wasn’t the only one she went after. She wanted to force the truckies to support the development plans and agree to end their leases early. I wasn’t targeted, at least not before she died.”

  “No …”

  “Yes. Now, unfortunately for you, I’m beginning to think Veronica was blackmailing you, too, and you just won’t admit it. Maybe it’s why you openly started supporting her plans, and encouraged the mayor to do the same, just this past week, seemingly out of left field. I was shocked then, but maybe not so much anymore.”

  Nell stared up at the ceiling and said, “Don’t be silly. I’m an open book to this community. I was raised by it. There is nothing about me the people don’t know.”

  Normally, Nell would be right. She was an open book, but that book didn’t use to have Damion in it, or in her arms, and acting guilty.

  “Really? What about having an affair with a younger man? People don’t know that, do they? Honestly, I don’t think they’d care, but you obviously do, and maybe Veronica took advantage of this fact. If you’re in trouble, Nell—”

  Nell gasped and jumped to her feet. Livid. Her eyes were blazing fire and fury. Molly was afraid for the first time in her life. Nell looked wild and desperate. “Get out. How dare you. How dare you come in here and accuse me of an affair with a younger man. How da
re you accuse Damion.”

  Molly jumped to her feet and backed toward the door. “I want to help. I want to get to the bottom of Veronica’s bullying. What if she was manipulating and blackmailing more people than you and the Van Clan, and what if one of them is the killer?”

  “You can help by getting out of my house this instance before I—” Nell marched toward the door and swung it open. Her face was a furious, mottled red.

  Before you what? Hit me over the head with something? Like chocks? Guilt looked monstrous on Nell. Ugly. Desperate people did desperate things.

  She waited until she was at the door, ready to jump out, before asking. “Where’s the necklace you bought from Mia?”

  At that, Nell’s eyes widened, and she reflexively embraced her bare neck beneath her now untidy bob. Molly had a flashback to the day she had cut off Nell’s hair. Nell had done the very same thing—grasped her empty décolletage—and within hours of Veronica’s body being found at the van. It was Nell’s bloody necklace in Veronica’s hand!

  Molly had always sucked at poker and she was sure her face showed her newfound horror.

  Nell’s face turned to stone, her eyes to shards of ice, and all of a sudden she seemed taller and wider. Molly wasn’t sure what her next step should be. What would Nell do now?

  Molly had watched a nature show once about grizzly bears in Alaska. The ranger advised, “If you ever cross paths with a grizzly bear, back away slowly and avoid eye contact. But if they charge, stand your ground. You can’t outrun one.”

  Nell reminded Molly of a grizzly bear just then, and Molly prayed to Hey-Zeus that Nell wasn’t the charging kind because Molly had never been in a cat fight in her life. She and Lacy hadn’t even ever tussled.

  She only had one choice, to back away slowly. Dropping her stare, Molly said, “I can help you. If you’ve done something—”

  Nell slammed the door in her face.

  Molly turned and raced away. Adrenalin must have been surging through her veins because she was ready to run all the way home, oxygen be damned. Her heart pounding, she couldn’t help but look over her shoulder a few times. This was too much. She wished she’d confided in Doug so she could call him now. She rushed home, eager to bury herself in his unsuspecting but protective arms. At first she was thrilled when she opened the door and saw Doug waiting for her, but when she saw his face and the funeral guest book sitting on the table next to him, she realized she’d just run from one angry grizzly bear straight into the path of another. She was deep in the doodoo now.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Tuesday morning, Molly stumbled out of bed and made her way to the kitchen. Doug’s pick-up was already tearing out of the driveway. He had been so mad the night before that, except to tell her about Max’s visit, he had barely been able to talk about her “betrayal,” as he’d called it. He still couldn’t this morning. He said they’d talk when he calmed down. She hoped it would be today. She couldn’t remember the last time he’d given her the silent treatment.

  As Molly shuffled to the coffeemaker, Mia walked in, head hanging. “I’m sorry, Aunt Molly. I should have warned you last night about Max coming over, but Uncle Doug was so upset, I felt like such a jerk, and I escaped to my apartment to lick my wounds with Henri.”

  Molly walked over to her niece and reached out to gently raise her chin. “Mia, you have nothing to apologize about. My marriage is my marriage, and I am the one who made the stupid decision to lie to my husband.”

  Her niece wrapped her arms around Molly’s waist. “I love you, Aunt Molly. And I know Uncle Doug loves you too.”

  They sat down, side by side at the kitchen table. “Any word from Damion?”

  “He was my Lyft driver. It didn’t go well,” Mia said.

  Molly waited for further information but when Mia just stared straight ahead, Molly decided to try again later. While Mia drank her coffee, Molly updated her niece on everything that had happened at Nell’s. Then she slapped Mia’s back as she choked on her coffee.

  “It was Nell’s necklace? I shouldn’t have left you alone with her!”

  “I’ll tell Moat about it. Get dressed.”

  Mia was just standing when Molly’s phone rang. Molly hoped it was Doug, but when she squinted at the screen, she saw Brody’s name. What on earth did he want calling at this ungodly hour in the morning? But honestly, who cared. She could use her friend right now.

  “Sorry to wake you, Moll,” Brody said, “but I just thought of something and I thought maybe you’d want to know.”

  “What is it?” Molly said, suddenly alert. Guess she wouldn’t be crying on his shoulder after all.

  “That morning I was with Asil, I drove by Opal May’s funeral on the way there. I had to work, but I wanted to pay my respects, so as I drove by, I said a few words to Opal May up in the heavens. Anyway, that’s when I spotted Nell walking toward the funeral parlor, or rather just sort of standing on the sidewalk. I stopped to let her cross, but she just stood there in a daze. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, because we were all upset about Opal May, but then when you started asking me about being with Asil, I started thinking that it was funny that Nell wasn’t at the funeral already.”

  “But she was there,” Molly said. “I saw her.”

  “Maybe,” said Brody. “But I definitely saw her outside.”

  “OMG!” Molly shouted.

  Mia jumped.

  “Nell left the funeral? But when? I was there the entire time she was. There must be a logical reason.”

  “I don’t know,” Brody said. “But I figured if anyone could make something of it, it would be you.”

  Molly hung up, twisting her hands. “Mia, sounds like maybe Nell had snuck out while I was talking to the mayor. That timing could work.” Had Nell slipped out after the eulogy so she could kill Veronica Corsello? Veronica had been holding Nell’s necklace.

  “Holy Spitoly,” Molly said, grabbing her purse and keys. “I need to talk to the mayor, stat. Then we need to talk to Detective Moat.” And maybe, just maybe, Doug would be so wowed by the end results, that he’d forgive her for keeping him in the dark.

  “I’ll go with you,” Mia said.

  “No, I think I should talk to Mayor Tully alone. I’ll text you when I’m done and we will go see Moat afterward.”

  “I’ll be here,” Mia said and waved to her as she drove off.

  Thank goodness San Cosmas was small enough and, normally, safe enough that the mayor lived in a regular neighborhood with a regular drive and a regular front door. Molly didn’t have to buzz an intercom to be let through any California Royal gates or security guards. Now, whether it would be considered rude that she was showing up unannounced was another matter. But it had to be done. Besides, the sooner she got this over with, the sooner she could grab Mia and head to the police station.

  Molly glanced at her watch. It was super early. Just shy of eight in the morning. Not the most optimal time to knock on the mayor’s door and say, “I was just in the neighborhood.” Lucky for her, if not the mayor, the mayor wasn’t married and didn’t have any children who might be tucked in bed and sound asleep. He had been married, for more than a decade. But twenty-five years ago, his wife left him. He’d hit bottom with his alcoholism. Once he pulled himself out of the bottle, with Opal May’s encouragement, and had been sober for five years, he became active in the community, helping teens and adults who were addicted. It was while working with the downtrodden in San Cosmas that he’d met Nell. She was actively engaged with the Boys and Girls Club and those in the community who were vulnerable. Nell was another one who had been encouraged by Opal May Harrison. After Nell moved back to town, she had made an oath to pay back San Cosmas for raising her, and when she and Mayor Tully became the dynamic duo and he ran for mayor with Nell as his chief of staff, they’d won by a landslide. Molly had always respected the mayor, along with most of San Cosmas, for being open about his alcoholism and for “owning” it. After all, Molly and Lacy’s mom had str
uggled with drinking most of their lives.

  The drinking had started slowly with their mom. Just a drink here and there, little stashes hidden throughout the Winnebago. And then over time, her mom became adept at finding other drinkers on each new set they travelled to for Lacy’s show. The mayor had helped Molly do an intervention about fifteen years ago while her parents were visiting. It had been a futile effort; as soon as her mom left, the drinking resumed. Her mom was too attached to alcohol to quit. Then, later, or now.

  But not the mayor. He had his twenty-five-year sobriety chip, and he had sympathy in spades. Her mom still struggled. Molly really should call her. It had been a while since their last visit. Molly would put it on her To Do list.

  Mayor Tully loved San Cosmas more than Nell, if that was possible. They were both married to their civic duties. So maybe Molly shouldn’t be so hard on either one for having some kind of illicit affair and actual life outside of politics. So what if Nell had a young boyfriend (other than that he was also her niece’s boyfriend)? And so what if the mayor may have had something going on with Veronica outside the office (even if Molly thought Veronica’s ugliness had been more than skin deep)? Didn’t everyone deserve to feel attractive and/or loved? At the end of the day, Molly had Doug to go home to and cozy up with to discuss their days and lives. And most importantly, laugh together—she sure hoped that she and Doug would laugh together again. But all this was a good reminder to be more sensitive. If the mayor had shared more than business with Veronica, he might be grieving in the privacy of his home.

  But when it came to Nell possibly being involved with blackmail or murder, Molly couldn’t turn a blind eye. The mayor, in addition to the detective, had a right to know. In fact, she knew Mayor Tully would want to know. He loved Nell. And all of this would affect his life and career.