Homicide and Halo-Halo (Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery #2)(52)

“More than just the manslaughter?” Elena had kept to the background, watering her plants and minding her business, but even she couldn’t ignore the draw of “sordid details.”

He nodded. “Seems she was married to the son of the head of her old law firm. Not only did her father-in-law fire her, but he pushed his son into divorcing her while she was in jail. That’s why it took me so long to connect the dots. She’s using her maiden name now, but I’d heard of her case back when she was still using her ex-husband’s name.”

“That’s awful. I mean, I get that she killed somebody and had to serve her time, but why sever all ties with her? You said she wasn’t drunk.”

Amir raised his eyebrows. “Come on, Lila, you know why. To save face.”

The Brew-has and I all sighed. It always came to that, didn’t it? What everyone else thought of you. Your precious image.

Amir pulled a folder out of his briefcase. “By all accounts, she did her time and tried to make up for her mistakes. Volunteered with a local legal organization, doing pro bono work for nonprofits in underdeveloped neighborhoods for a while. I’m not sure what brought her to Shady Palms, but I’m guessing we’re the only ones who know the full details of her past. Well, except for . . .”

After he paused for a beat too long, Adeena rolled her eyes. “Oh come on, Amir Bhai. You know dramatic pauses are my thing. It’s not cute when you do it. So spill, who knew about her past?” Realization lit up her expression. “It was Rob Thompson, wasn’t it?”

He hesitated. “You know I hate gossip. But someone at my firm told me they’d seen Rob and Sana out on an alleged date a few days before he died. Only it didn’t seem all that romantic. It seemed like he was threatening her.”

“How so?”

“Rob put a manila envelope on the table and said something to her. She must not have liked whatever was in there, because after she looked at the contents, she threw a glass of water in his face and left.”

I frowned. “You think he was blackmailing her?”

“Most likely.”

“I don’t get it. If he blackmailed her, why would she agree to judge the pageant with him?” Elena asked, setting down her watering can. “She’s great, but I don’t think ‘suck it up and do it for the kids’ applies here.”

“The judges were chosen ages ago. I only joined because one of the original members left, remember?” I said. “And if this happened just a few days before he died, she couldn’t drop out without bringing more attention to herself.”

Adeena frowned. “Which gives her a motive for murder. She’s built up a successful business and peaceful new life here and he was threatening that.”

I swore under my breath. “Ugh, this is so messed up. What Rob did was disgusting but that doesn’t mean he deserved to die.”

“I know Sana is your friend,” Amir said, looking at Adeena and Elena before shifting his focus back to me. “And that you and Sana were getting close, so I wanted to warn you all. I’m not saying she did it. I’m just saying maybe you shouldn’t be alone with her anymore. She must know you’ve been looking at the case. She’s a highly intelligent woman.”

Thinking that the kind and vibrant woman I’d been getting to know might’ve been pushed to murder was bad enough, but then I remembered something else. “Valerie! She relies on Sana for everything. I think she might be her only friend. What happens if Sana is the killer? That the person she trusted the most murdered her last remaining family member?”

Amir held out his hand, likely trying to look authoritative but it was hard to take someone seriously when their hands were covered in ice candy drips. “You’re getting ahead of yourself. Watch her closely during your pageant events, keep your ear to the ground, and don’t hang out with her alone. That’s it. You don’t have to concoct all these wild theories about what might happen.”

“Wild theories? I’m just thinking about the possibilities. Isn’t that what you’re always telling me? Look at situations from multiple angles?” I glared at my arroz con leche ice candy as if it were the ice pop’s fault Amir was being condescending.

“Yes, so that you don’t get hung up on one idea. I gave you information that hints at just one possibility. Do you know if Sana has an alibi for the time of Rob’s death?”

I scowled. “I don’t even know his time of death, so how would I know who does or doesn’t have an alibi?”

“What time did you find his body?”

“Around one in the afternoon.”

“Witnesses at the bar report him leaving alone a little after midnight, and the coroner’s report puts his death shortly after that.”

“Why do people remember the time he left so clearly?” Elena asked, wiping up the drips Amir and I were leaving behind, then handed me a kulfi ice candy to enjoy as well. I smiled my thanks at her.

“After the fight with Bernadette, people were watching him to see if anything else interesting would happen.”

“And did it?” Adeena asked. She handed her brother a wet napkin to clean his hands and raised her eyebrows at the mess he’d made.

He smiled sheepishly and cleaned up after himself before nodding. “Valerie and Sana were there, too. After Bernadette left, a drunk Valerie chewed him out. Something about not wanting a repeat of last time. He laughed and she threw a drink in his face.” He let out an unamused laugh. “That seemed to happen to him a lot.”