Pampered to Death: A Deadly Calm Day Spa Mystery by Molly Dox Read Free Book Online Page A

growing up will do that to you, no? She doesn’t look a thing like that anymore, thankfully, though Cassie has carried on the tradition. If you’ll excuse me, I have things to do.”
    “Get out, that’s Olive?” Andrea whispered to Jocelyn. “That’s why she looks familiar. It’s her face, but these days her hair is styled differently, she wears glasses, and even the color of her hair has changed.”
    In the photo is was a shocking and bold red color, but the last time Andrea saw her at the spa, it was a docile golden-brown with highlights, longer and straight, not crazy and wild as in the photos. She had a hard time picturing Olive as she used to be.
    Cassie slid into the room, pouty that she was being bothered. “What do you want?”
    “This picture, I would have never guessed that your aunt used to look like that. She’s used to be a client,” Andrea said. “And why didn’t you tell us you were in town over the weekend?”
    It was the ‘aha’ gotcha moment they were hoping for, only it fell flat.
    “What are you talking about?” She shook her head. “You’re seriously confused. I haven’t been to town in ages. And yeah, I adore my Aunt Olive. She was the coolest person while I was growing up. She didn’t like my mom very much though, so I guess we had that in common too. She didn’t think she was good enough for my dad.”
    “I noticed the bracelets. You wear them just like in the picture,” Jocelyn said.
    “Yeah, she inspired me. She’s the one that had the biggest impact on me as a kid. My mother was too busy breaking glass ceilings to care that she had a kid. She wanted a name for herself, and apparently being a Chadwick wasn’t enough.” Cassie didn’t try to hide her lack of enthusiasm when it came to her mother.
    Andrea turned back to the topic of the bar. “Somebody saw you in town. I have a witness.” She studied Cassie’s face as she spoke.
    “Well, your witness is mistaken. I was at the commune. There were other people with me. It’s not like I was alone. Oh, wait a minute, you don’t think…”
    Jocelyn shrugged.
    “That’s cold. I didn’t kill my mother. Whatever nonsense you’re trying to pin on me, you can stop it right now. There’s no way I’m getting involved in this. I had nothing to do with it, and I have an alibi and witnesses. That’s just sick. You need to leave. How dare you try to entrap me into saying something that just isn’t true,” she seethed. “Get out of my house.”
    The women knew they weren’t going to get anything else out of her. They turned and left before things got ugly. Cassie slammed the door behind them. They didn’t say anything until they were off the Chadwick property. Back on their bikes, they knew what was next. They’d need to talk with Olive Mackanack. Something fishy was going on, and pieces of the puzzle were starting to shape up. While they still hadn’t wiped Carmen off of their list, Olive had a few things showing up in her column. She wore clip-on earrings, she hated Jeanie, and she might have been the one at the bar. Wouldn’t have Monica recognized her? Maybe not, she wasn’t Monica’s client, and if she didn’t look like she usually did at the spa, totally changing her look…
    Out of nowhere, a car came close enough to sideswiping them that the girls were run off the road. They lost their balance and tumbled into the ravine.
    “Idiot!” Jocelyn called out in anger.
    Andrea’s heart raced, and her body was sore from falling. “Are you okay?”
    “I’m a little banged up, but I’ll be okay. What about you?”
    “I’ll figure it out when I stand up. Yikes, my ankle hurts. Hopefully if I walk it out, it will get better. Not sure if it will be easier to ride or walk my bike.” She leaned onto the frame of her bike, now down in the ravine and slowly pushed it up the small slope.
    “How did they not see us? Then entire road was open, they could have moved over.” Jocelyn was peeved.
    “Maybe it was