What a Nunderful World

by Dakota Cassidy

  So I asked. “Why did you allow Mitzy to treat you that way, Julie? I understand why Margot had no choice with her contract, but all of you volunteers weren’t even being paid. Why stick around for the abuse?”

  “I’m so ashamed to admit this, but I guess it was my brush with fame. Being so close to someone so admired—someone I admired—was kinda cool. For a little while, anyway. I kept thinking she was just nervous or stressed because so many people bought tickets, but really, she was just mean.”

  “But wasn’t she worried you’d tell people how cruel she was?”

  Julie’s full lips thinned. “We all signed NDAs. She said if we didn’t, we’d have to go home, on our dime, mind you. I live in New York. I’m a full-time student in college. I can’t afford to buy a ticket back home. They cost a fortune. But I kinda figured it was a lesson in sticking things out, which is what my mom would have said, and I’d take my hits because that’s life.”

  Boy, Mitzy had this all sewn up, didn’t she? She’d thought of everything.

  But maybe she wasn’t so horrible. “So she did pay for you to come to Portland?”

  Julie gave a sheepish glance to Margot, but then she looked down at her fashionable black work boots. “I won the trip—just like the others did. She had a contest on her channel. She paid for our tickets to fly here to Portland, where the tour was scheduled to start, and then we were going to fly privately with her the rest of the tour, and then fly back commercial when it was through. But a couple of the volunteers had decided, especially after we got locked in that closet, to go home early, even if they had to take out loans to get back home. Well, until this happened, anyway. Now we’re all stuck here with no choice.”

  I clucked my tongue. “About that closet? I talked to Nikki the other night, and she said she didn’t see who it was who locked you all in there. Did you see anything at all?”

  Julie shook her head hard. “None of us did. But I’m glad I found the hammer to pry the stupid door open, or we’d still be in there. It felt like ages until someone heard us.”

  “I bet it was pretty scary,” I commented sympathetically, reaching out to lightly touch her shoulder.

  “Not as scary as Mitzy,” she said wryly, making everyone nervously giggle a little. “I’d have much rather stayed in the closet.”

  But the janitor’s closet made me wonder something else. It was obvious someone wanted to keep the volunteers and Margot from getting to Mitzy with the EpiPens. I’m sure the police must know that, but it didn’t hurt to ask.

  “Did the police take your fanny packs from you with the EpiPens still in them?”

  “Yep. They confiscated everything—our phones, the fanny packs, all of it. They did let me come collect my phone today, though.”

  “So you have no idea who locked you guys in the closet. Did you see anyone suspicious while you were doing your volunteer duties? Hear anything?”

  Julie paused a minute with a frown. “No. I was so busy right up until I got the text from Mitzy that said our promised swag was in the basement, I didn’t really pay attention. I was too afraid I’d get kicked off the team to do anything out of line.”

  My mind raced with endless possibilities. “And you’re sure you got a text from Mitzy, telling you to go collect your swag?”

  Julie pulled her phone from her tiny purse and clicked it on, scrolling the screen. “We all did. We got the exact same text. See? It was from Mitzy.”

  I read the text and nodded my head. It sure was the very same text as Nikki’s. “Margot, do you know if the police verified Mitzy’s phone to see if it really sent the text?”

  People cloned phones all the time, so I wondered if Tansy had checked to be sure this message really had come from Mitzy’s phone, or a clone.

  Margot shrugged again. “I have no idea. I only know they found her purse in a dumpster.”

  Yeah. They sure had, and taken it away without allowing me to see what was on it.

  “What about the other two volunteers? Where are they now?”

  Julie blew out a breath, putting her foot up behind her against the brick side of the building. “Mickey’s been in his hotel room since it happened, except when they made us come in for questioning. He’s panicked and just wants to go home. His parents said they’d pay for his flight. They even offered to come get him. I also saw Sophie in the hotel lobby yesterday. They’re as freaked as we all are.”

  I turned to Margot and decided I was going to ask her about the purse with Mitzy’s initials on it.

  “What about Mitzi’s purse? I heard there were two. The real one with the EpiPens, and one that was placed on the couch she sat on. Did she have two?”

  Margot rolled her tongue in her cheek. “Mitzy had a bunch of those. They were made originally for swag bags and to give to contest winners. Or sometimes she’d just hand them out randomly. We had a bunch of ’em with us that we brought from LA in a ton of different colors.”

  Ugh. That meant anyone could have swapped them out. Dead end. “And your purse? You said that night the pens you carry were gone. Did you see anyone take your purse? Anyone suspicious near it?”

  Margot shook her head. “It’s like I told the police, I was runnin’ around like a chicken with my head hacked off, tryin’ to make sure everything was perfect and on time. I don’t even remember puttin’ it down, to be honest. I don’t keep anything important in there, like my license or credit cards, except the EpiPens and some lipstick. No money or anything, you know? I put it around my neck just before Mitzy went on stage. I always do because I liked knowing the EpiPens were near.”

  Now, if I were to believe Margot, and she’d left her purse unattended, anyone could have taken the EpiPens.

  Shifting on my feet, because they were now officially killing me, I asked, “And where did you leave your purse before she went on stage?”

  “In Mitzy’s dressing room, which anyone could have gotten into,” Margot replied. “I mean, there were a ton of maintenance men in and out of there. Something happened with the pipes in the bathroom. Maybe it was one of them, but it sure as sugar wasn’t me.”

  Gosh, this was frustrating, but I made a mental note to talk to the maintenance men and the other volunteer named Sophie. Maybe, if I got lucky, I could talk to Mickey, too.

  Margot eyed me under the neon lights of the bar. “So, now can I ask you a question, Trixie?”

  “Of course.”

  As cars drove by and a light rain began to fall, she asked, “Why are you so interested in what happened to Mitzy?”

  I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly, but I decided to be honest. “I guess because I watch too many murder mysteries,” I offered on a self-conscious smile. “Not that I think any of you had anything to do with it, of course. I’m just a lover of true crime, and it kind of happened right under my nose. Something like this doesn’t happen very often.”

  Okay, that was a tiny fib. I’d been involved in more than my fair share of crimes, but I did like to watch true crime shows…

  Margot looked at all of us for a long moment before she said, “Listen, I know it looks bad for me, y’all. I know it looks like I mighta had somethin’ to do with it. But all I can do is tell the truth. And the truth is, Mitzy had a lot of enemies. In the industry, at the 7-Eleven down the road from her house, at her hair salon…even as far back as high school.”

  My waning interest perked right back up, and despite the cold, I wanted to know what she meant. “But I thought you said you only went to college with her? Did she tell you about her high school days?”

  “I did, and she didn’t, and I know why. About three or four months ago, she got a couple of weird comments on her videos about some girl named Kelly Leigh, and the commenter asked what happened to her. So I asked her who Kelly Leigh was, thinking maybe it was a friend from HS she might want to reconnect with. Of course, she pretended like she didn’t know what I was talkin’ about…but it wasn’t hard to find out why she didn’t want to talk about it. I just googled Kelly’s
name and Mitzy’s hometown, and there it was in all its ugly.”

  My heart began to race. I felt something—something tingly—and I knew whatever Margot said next would be important.

  I tried not to squeal with excitement when I asked, “And?”

  “And it turns out Kelly Leigh was a sophomore in high school when Mitzy was a senior. They went to school together. But when Kelly Leigh was fifteen, she killed herself.”

  The tingly feeling increased and shimmied along my spine, followed by deep sorrow. I’m not sure if the universe was listening, but I was anything but excited about that news.

  “How awful,” I murmured.

  “Oooh,” both Sally and Julie breathed, their faces pained.

  Keeping my tone as even as possible, I asked, “Do you know why she killed herself?”

  Margot’s face distorted, and her voice hitched a bit, her southern accent becoming stronger. “She killed herself because she was being bullied—allegedly by Mitzy and her clan of evil mean girls.”

  Chapter 14

  Pow. That one hit me right in the kisser.

  Sally and Julie gasped again, the condensation from their breaths making puffy clouds before Sally put a hand over her mouth to squash her astonishment. Passersby looked at them with curiosity as they made their way along the sidewalk.

  My eyes widened at the accusation. “Was Mitzy accused of a crime?”

  Margot tucked her hair behind her ear and shook her head. “No. It never went that far. It never does with Mitzy. The articles I read hardly mentioned her, but her parents are rich and have lots of connections, so I’m sure they squashed any talk of her involvement like bugs on a hot summer day. She’s from a small podunk town in Mississippi, but she was a big deal there, and so were her folks.”

  “So what leads you to believe she had something to do with this girl Kelly’s death?

  Margot shrugged. “The article I read said there was suspicion about some bullying by the cheerleading team, and a very minor statement from Kelly’s parents, but an investigation concluded the reports were unfounded.”

  “And I’m guessing Mitzy was a cheerleader.” I didn’t really need the confirmation, but I said it out loud anyway.

  “The head cheerleader,” Margot said dryly

  Hah. I should have known. “And what about the comments on her YouTube page?”

  Margot snorted, rubbing her arms. “Deleted, of course. All by me, because that was part of my job. But there was one that said, “‘I know who you are, Mitzy Cavanaugh. I see you.’”

  “From who?”

  “No idea. The username was just a bunch of numbers and letters. Our tech guy couldn’t trace it. It went to a fake ISP in Canada that led us nowhere. Still, it only happened that once. The other two just said things like, ‘Remember high school?’ That upset Mitzy. I didn’t know why at the time because it seemed so innocuous, and I really thought they meant some kind of prank or somethin’. You know, like stealin’ the school’s mascot? Now I wish I’d never read that article and paid closer attention.”

  “So you think it was connected to the post you deleted?”

  “I’m sure of it. It’s just a feelin’, but my insides say it’s someone who knew what happened to that poor girl.”

  “And how are you so sure Mitzy was responsible for Kelly’s death?”

  Margot looked at me, her eyes filled with fierce conviction. “Oh, I don’t know if she was the only one responsible, or even responsible in that she was only horrible to her. So horrible the poor child felt hopeless. That age is tough. Sometimes, it doesn’t take much. The article I read said several people commented on Mitzy’s involvement, but also that Kelly was a target for others at school, too. But I do know for sure, Mitzy was a bully with a soul blacker than coal right up until the day she died. Makes perfect sense she was one in high school, too.”

  Definitely a fair statement. Boy, when Coop picked an idol most likely to fall, she picked the cream of the crop.

  That’s when I thought of how Mitzy had cheated with Luca, and it prompted me to ask, “You know something that’s really been bothering me?”

  Margot’s eyebrow rose in question. “Besides the fact that you think Mitzy might have been murdered?”

  I sucked in my cheeks before I spoke. “Luca and this whole thing with Susie Masters.”

  Everyone rolled their eyes, including Margot, who probably rolled them the hardest. “That snake in the grass?” she replied, disgust in her tone. “I can’t believe he showed up here, lookin’ like some hangdog hot mess. He’s no sorrier that Mitzy’s dead than he is for knocking up Susie. He’s a snake, and he deserved havin’ his scrawny butt kicked out of Mitzy’s house.”

  Now that was interesting. “Kicked out? Who kicked him out and when?”

  “Mitzy’s parents, as soon as he showed his face here in Portland. I didn’t know this while Mitzy was still alive, but they own the house. They co-signed the loan for her. So, he’s out on his weaselly butt as soon as they clear this mess up here.”

  I’d figured his motive for seeking Susie out had little to do with her pregnancy—if he was, in fact, as much of a jerk as they claimed. Now that I knew more, my guess was he needed a place to go, and Susie’s was as good a place as any.

  I gave Margot a thoughtful look. I didn’t really need verification, but I asked anyway in case there was something I could learn from their affair. “So Luca really did cheat on Susie with Mitzy?”

  “As plain as the day is long, he did. I saw him coming from Mitzy’s room when it happened,” Margot assured me with a harsh gaze. “I told her it was shady as a maple, but Mitzy never cared about things like that. She always took whatever she wanted because that was how Mitzy’s world worked.”

  She paused for a moment, and then she looked me in the eye. “You know what I do feel bad about, though? Susie. I really liked her. She was always nice to me whenever I saw her at conventions or parties. Had no idea she was thirty, but then, I don’t really care. She’s an amazing makeup artist, and to boot, she’s a nice person who didn’t deserve all this ugliness—especially with a little one on the way.”

  “Trixie?” a deep male voice said, pulling me from the conversation. Higgs appeared behind me, putting his hand at my waist. “Everything okay?”

  I leaned into him and smiled, grateful for the warmth of his chest against my side. “Everything’s fine. Everyone, this is Higgs. My date tonight.”

  He smiled and shook hands while each of the women smiled back and fought obvious coos of appreciation.

  “Figured you might be cold out here. Brought you my jacket,” he said, draping his suit coat over my shoulders.

  Each of the women sighed, sounding a little breathless, and I decided there was nothing left to ask at this point. “Ladies, thank you for talking with me. I hope the police straighten this out as soon as possible, but if you can think of anything else, or you need someone to talk to, or someone to pass the time with until you all can go home, here’s my card. I own a tattoo parlor on Peach Street, called Inkerbelle’s. I know lots of great little out-of-the-way eateries and coffee shops.” I handed them each a card with a smile.

  Margot held it up and squinted. “Tattoos, huh? Maybe I’ll get one to celebrate my freedom,” she joked. Then looked at us all and asked, “Too soon?”

  Sally swatted at her with a shiver. “Yes, it’s too soon! Knock it off, Margot. You never know who’s listening.” With a smile, Sally turned on her heel and waved to me. “And on that note, I’m going back in to do what we intended. Send Mitzy off properly. Nice meeting you, Trixie. Your makeup is iconic.”

  We all waved goodbye as Higgs turned me in his arms to face him, pulling me close and clasping his hands around my waist. “What was that all about? I see the sleuthing gleam in your eyes, Sister Trixie. I’m guessing your talk proved fruitful, mistress?”

  I rested my face against his chest and smiled, inhaling his cologne, letting the clean scent of it soothe me. “I did get some stuff t
hat could be useful.”

  “And now I guess you want to go home and hit the laptop to research ‘stuff,’ right?”

  Lifting my head, I smiled up at him. “Has anyone ever told you you’re dreamy, Higglesworth?”

  He chuckled a deep rumble that resonated against my torso. “So that’s a yes? Home?”

  “Yes.”

  “Amen. I don’t think I could have listened to another song about tossing my hair back and checking my nails.”

  My head fell back on my shoulders as I laughed out loud, making people stop and look at us on the sidewalk. “That’s Lizzo, buddy and that you didn’t know that? It means you’re old, Higgs. So old.”

  “I’ll show you old,” he teased before he picked me up, threw me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and made a run for the car, with me laughing and sputtering the entire way.

  Higgs and I said goodnight at about one in the morning, both of us yawning. I’d told him everything I’d learned tonight with Margot, Sally and Julie, and that I planned to talk to Sophie, the other volunteer, and maybe even Mickey, too.

  I had to wonder if I could get Mitzy’s parents to speak with me. Tansy hadn’t asked me to help her with them either, so I’d have to be delicate if I did contact them.

  Higgs opened the passenger door of his car for me and held out his hand, which I took willingly, then pulled me close again.

  “So let’s do lunch tomorrow? The kale and quinoa are on me.” Then he gave me that quirky smile of his that meant “yuck, but I like you, so I’ll eat something that’s good for me.”

  I giggled, mostly because our running joke was how he ate enough for ten men and everything he put in his face was going to clog his arteries.

  Poking him playfully in the chest, I teased. “Talk dirty to me. You’re on. Now, I have to go before I fall asleep standing up.”

  Cupping my cheek, he said, “I’ll poke around online tomorrow and see what I can see, and if I find anything before lunch, I’ll text you.”

  I gripped his wrist and smiled. “Same. Kiss Jeff for me, and take one for yourself, too.”