A Pinch of Murder: A Frosted Love Cozy Mystery (Frosted Love Mysteries Book 2) (3 page)

Missy woke up to a darkened room, with a crick in her neck from having fallen asleep in an awkward position on the couch. She rubbed a hand across her face and stretched, wincing at the needles of pain that accosted the leg that had fallen asleep from being tucked beneath her.  After flexing her foot back and forth to restore feeling and use to her leg, she wandered sleepily over to the bed. She looked at her phone, saw that it was just after 1:30 in the morning, and crawled beneath the covers, falling asleep almost instantly. She hadn
’
t set the alarm on her phone because the morning session didn
’
t start until 10:00 a.m. and she knew that she would wake up with more than enough time to shower, dress, eat breakfast and make her way to the ballroom for feedback and competition results.

Missy knew that filming began today, but was completely unprepared for the crushing crowd and tons of cameras in the ballroom when she got there. Looking around for where the list was supposed to be posted, she saw that there was an inexplicable number of police present, and the looks on their faces were strangely grim.  A short, dark-haired woman dressed in a beige, ill-fitting suit appeared in front of Missy, seemingly out of nowhere, and flashed a badge in her face.

“
Melissa Gladstone?
”
she asked curtly.

“
Yes,
”
Missy frowned, put off by the woman
’
s manner.

“
I
’
m Detective Rosa Ramirez, LVPD, come with me please.
”
She gripped Missy
’
s upper arm in an attempt to steer her out of the room.

Missy shrugged away from the detective, upset at the way she was being treated. 
“
I
’
m sorry,
”
she began, doing her best to remain polite,
“
what exactly is this about?
”

“
I have some questions for you,
”
Ramirez replied, stone-faced. 
“
I can either speak with you here, or we can go to the station,
”
she raised an eyebrow, daring Missy to argue with her. The taciturn detective took her by the arm again, and confused, she followed mutely.

“
What
’
s going on? Can you at least tell me that?
”
Missy asked, after being ushered into a nearby conference room. Ramirez ignored her question and led her to a table, where a tall man, presumably another detective, wearing jeans and a light blue button down, sat, apparently waiting for them.

“
Melissa Gladstone,
”
Ramirez said to the man, who made a note on a clipboard.

“
Ms. Gladstone,
”
the man said, extending his hand. Missy shook it, baffled.
“
I
’
m Detective Thom Brasco,
”
he introduced himself with an easy smile.
“
Please have a seat.
”
He indicated the chair across from his. Ramirez roughly pulled out the chair next to Brasco
’
s and sat, staring suspiciously at Missy.

She decided to completely ignore the rude woman glaring at her, and addressed Detective Brasco.
“
What
’
s happening?
”
Missy asked, beginning to worry.

“
We just have a few questions for you, Ms. Gladstone, shouldn
’
t take too long,
”
he smiled dismissively, clearly discouraging further inquiries from her. Without even pausing long enough to take a breath (or let Missy get a word in edgewise), he began questioning her.

“
Where were you last night?
”
he asked in a very pleasant, conversational tone.

“
I went to the pool, and then I came back to my room and stayed in for the night, why?
”
Missy frowned.

“
What time would you say you went to your room?
”
Brasco continued.

“
It was just before 7:00. I remember because I was hungry and when I looked at my watch, I was surprised to see that it was so late, but I don
’
t understand why you
’
re asking me about that.
”
Missy was getting more uncomfortable by the minute. Did these people suspect her of something? She wanted to know what was going on.

“
Standard procedure,
”
Brasco supplied smoothly, moving on.
“
If you were hungry, why did you choose to go back to your room rather than getting something to eat?
”

“
Standard procedure for what?
”
Missy demanded, fed up with being kept in the dark.
“
I
’
m not answering another question until you tell me what
’
s going on here.
”

Brasco looked pained.
“
I don
’
t want to upset you with any unnecessary details, but wouldn
’
t you want to help us out if someone was trying to pull some shenanigans with the judging process for this competition?
”

Missy
’
s eyes widened.
“
Someone is trying to tamper with the results of the competition?
”

Brasco shrugged and shook his head in mock dismay. 
“
Like I said, we don
’
t want to get into all of that, but if you could help us out by answering a few questions, we
’
d really appreciate it. Trying to leave no stone unturned, ya know?
”
he replied earnestly.

“
Oh my, of course,
”
Missy nodded, still shocked and hoping that this didn
’
t have anything to do with the impropriety of the proposition that Marta Cambridge had presented her with yesterday.

“
So, just to clarify
…
why was it that you went back to your room rather than going to get something to eat?
”
the detective persisted.

She still didn
’
t see the point of his question, but couldn
’
t see the harm in answering either.
“
I ordered room service because I was tired and didn
’
t want to dress for dinner.
”

Detective Brasco made some notes on his clipboard while Ramirez continued to stare at her. 
“
I see,
”
he nodded.
“
And what did you do after you ate your meal from room service?
”

“
I watched movies until I fell asleep.
”

They chatted for a few minutes about what kind of movies they both liked, with Ramirez looking bored and picking at a hangnail, and then he resumed his questioning. Missy was much more relaxed, seeing that the detective seemed to be just a nice guy doing a rather distasteful job.

“
Do you have a relationship with any of the judges?
”
Brasco asked casually.

“
A relationship? No, I wouldn
’
t say so,
”
she shook her head.

“
Are you acquainted with a Miss Marta Cambridge?
”
the detective inquired, seeming to consult a list of names on his clipboard.

Missy
’
s heart pounded.  Did they know about Marta
’
s offer? Did they think that she had tried to unduly influence Marta because they were from the same hometown?  It could profoundly affect Missy
’
s reputation if she was dismissed from the competition because it appeared that she was trying to gain favor with a hometown girl, when in reality, the opposite was true.  If anything, Marta was probably angry with her.  Maybe she had called the police and made up allegations of trying to influence a judge because Missy had refused her offer. Was that even illegal?? Missy started to panic and couldn
’
t think straight. She would be giving Miss Marta Cambridge a piece of her mind when all of this nonsense was cleared up!

“
Ms. Gladstone?
”
Brasco prompted, snapping her out of her panic-induced reverie.

“
Oh
…
sorry. Umm
…
yes, I am acquainted with Marta Cambridge, we grew up in the same town
”
she replied carefully, hoping he would leave it at that.

“
So then, you
do
have a relationship with one of the judges,
”
he affirmed, jotting down a note.

“
Oh no, I wouldn
’
t call it a relationship,
”
Missy smiled nervously. 
“
We were never really what you would call
‘
friends
’
or anything.  We were actually rivals when it came to silly things like bake sales and such.
”

Brasco studied her for a moment and Ramirez leaned forward, her eyes narrowed.

“
But the two of you had lunch yesterday, is that correct?
”
he asked mildly.

Missy sighed, her anxiety level ratcheting up ever higher.
“
Yes, we did. I didn
’
t particularly want to go; I was just being polite because Marta insisted.
”

“
Really? Why do you suppose she did that?
”

Missy had a choice to make
…
she could either try to cover for Marta, so that the famous cooking show host
’
s reputation wouldn
’
t suffer, or she could be truthful with Detective Brasco and let Marta suffer the consequences, clearing her own name of any suspicion. Considering Marta
’
s high-handed and rude treatment of her, she decided to do the right thing and tell the truth.

“
I found out after we got to the restaurant that Marta had asked me to lunch so that she could try to strong-arm me into converting my muffin shop back home into one of her franchises.  She even said that she had specifically arranged to have me invited to the competition for that reason.
”

“
I see,
”
Brasco nodded, while making copious notes on his clipboard.
“
Anything else?
”

Missy hesitated for a moment, uncertain as to whether or not she should throw her arch-rival entirely under the bus.  In the interest of cooperating fully, she felt that she should tell the whole truth, but she still felt bad about the potential impact that this could have on Marta
’
s career.

“
Marta
…
sort of threatened me,
”
she admitted, feeling uncomfortable, but at the same time relieved at having everything out in the open.

“
Threatened you? How?
”
the detective
’
s eyes, just for a moment, mirrored the expression of his acerbic partner
’
s. Missy saw the split-second reaction and felt scared for a moment, but continued on with her account.

“
She basically told me that if I didn
’
t tell her by this morning that I
’
d agree to franchise with her, she
’
d have me eliminated from the competition,
”
she frowned sadly.

“
What was your response?
”
Ramirez startled her by asking curtly. Brasco shot her a look. Missy looked back and forth between the two of them, noting the change of mood in the room. Brasco smiled understandingly and took control of the conversation again.

“
That must
’
ve been tough for you to hear, coming from someone with whom you had hometown ties,
”
he said sympathetically.

“
Yes, it really surprised me,
”
Missy nodded, glad that he was so understanding, and wishing that Ramirez would just keep quiet. The woman
’
s cold manner made her uncomfortable.