Free Dusted to Death by Barbara Colley Page A

it would be much better if one of the security guards phoned the police anyway, especially considering the hassle she’d gone through when she’d reported Joyce Thibodeaux’s murder. The last thing she wanted was to call attention to herself again.
    Snagging her supply carrier where she’d left it, she hurried down the stairs. When she reached the bottom floor, she set it down beside the staircase, and glanced around frantically for someone, anyone, to help. Since the parlor door was still shut, all she could do was assume that the meeting was still in progress. No way was she going in there. The security people could make that announcement…if only she could find one of them. So where were they? Maybe outside on the front porch…or in the parking area, for sure.
    Just as she reached for the doorknob, the front entry door swung open, causing her to almost collide with Samantha O’Reilly.
    “Whoa, hey, Charlotte, slow down.”
    Charlotte grabbed hold of Samantha’s arm. “Up—upstairs, in Angel’s dressing room.”
    “Just calm down,” Samantha soothed. “Calm down.”
    Charlotte shook her head. “No—you don’t understand. You—you need to—to call the police. There’s been a murder.”

Chapter 5
    “A murder? Who’s been murdered?”
    “Nick—Nick Franklin, Angel’s boyfriend.”
    Samantha still didn’t look convinced. “Okay, take it one step at a time and tell me what you know.”
    Growing more impatient with each passing moment, Charlotte shook her head. “For Pete’s sake, please just go upstairs and see for yourself.”
    Samantha threw up her hands in mock surrender. “Okay, okay—but you wait right here.”
    After that, time seemed to stand still as Charlotte waited for Samantha to return. When she did finally return, time suddenly seemed to speed up at an alarming rate.
    The security guard was talking on a cell phone as she descended the stairs and crossed over to the parlor door. Though she gave a confirmation nod to Charlotte, she continued talking as she headed straight into the parlor.
    After several long seconds, an ear-piercing scream split the silence, followed by sobs of hysteria. Though Charlotte wasn’t sure, she thought the scream had come from Angel. As if the scream had been the impetus, sudden chaos broke out. Shouts of disbelief followed and voices buzzed as the news spread. Then, above the noise in the parlor, the sound of wailing sirens reached Charlotte’s ears.
    The moment the police arrived, the whole scene was all too familiar: the uniformed officers, the detectives, the crime scene crew, and last, but never least, the news media. Just before she was herded into the front parlor with everyone else, Charlotte caught a glimpse of the multitude of reporters hovering behind the guardrails that had been erected around the perimeters of the house. It never ceased to amaze her how they found out things so fast. She slowly shook her head as she searched for an empty seat in the parlor. A pack of wolves, that’s what they were. They were like a pack of ravenous wolves hungry for any juicy tidbit tossed their way.
    Charlotte had just claimed an empty chair when she saw Angel, supported on either side by Heather and Toby, being escorted out of the parlor. Though the young actress had stopped crying, her face was as pale as the white walls of the parlor.
    Several moments after Angel left, two homicide detectives entered the room. Charlotte swallowed hard when she recognized one of the detectives. Even worse, he spotted her almost immediately and headed straight for her.
    Charlotte stretched her neck first to one side, then to the other to ease the tension she felt building in her neck muscles. Just the sight of Detective Gavin Brown stirred up unwanted memories, more specifically, her last run-in with him.
    “Oh, great,” she murmured as the detective approached her. “Just great.”
    From the expression on the detective’s face, this time wasn’t going to be any better