Free Prosecco Pink by Traci Angrighetti

used to have before she redecorated her apartment like Elvis Presley's Jungle Room at Graceland.
    "People were smaller back then," Delta said, eyeing my 5' 10" frame with evident disapproval.
    I made a point of turning my back to her and began inspecting the area to the right of the bed, next to the windows, while Veronica searched the area to the left. On a white marble–covered night table beside the bed sat a stunning bronze snuff box adorned with a picture of Marie Antoinette.
    "Is this box an original too?" I asked.
    "Yes, it's from France. So is the trio of perfume bottles."
    I looked at the delicate pink glass bottles with gold filigree. "I only see two."
    Delta frowned and rushed to my side. "I don't understand," she muttered. "Where's the other bottle?"
    "Could someone have moved it?" Veronica asked.
    "That's impossible. I have the only key to this room, and no one has been allowed in here since the body was found." She knelt and looked under the bed.
    I stared at the night table, deep in thought. "Are you sure the bottle was here that night?"
Delta stood up and brushed some dust off her navy blue dress. "I think so."
    "Hold on," Veronica said, reaching into her beige and leopard-print Furla tote. "I have the police photos with me. There's one of the nightstand, remember?"
    "That's right!" I said.
    Veronica began flipping through the pictures with Delta looking on.
    Meanwhile, I glanced beneath the table but didn't see anything. Then I pulled back one of the heavy, pink silk damask drapes and noticed a two-inch tear in the white sheer curtain underneath.
    "It's not in the picture," Veronica said. "There are only two bottles on the nightstand."
    "Wait a second!" Delta said, snapping her fingers. "That bottle was here on the day of the murder. I know it for a fact."
"How?" I asked.
    "Because a French antique dealer on the same tour as Miss Jones made a comment about the trio. He said he'd never seen the full set intact."
    I chewed my lip. I was starting to think there was a connection between Ivanna's death and the missing perfume bottle. "What about this?" I asked, pulling aside the drape to reveal the tear in the sheer curtain. "Did you know it was torn?"
    "No, I didn't," Delta replied, her eyes smoldering with anger.
    I stepped aside as she stomped up to the drapes and jerked them away from the window, causing a small object to propel across the floor.
    Veronica bent down and retrieved the item. "It's a piece of pink glass!"
    "That's part of the perfume bottle," Delta said, her pale skin blanching as white as the curtain.
    "Was the room cleaned after the tour?" Veronica asked.
    "No, the cleaning crew came the morning after I found the body, but the police had me send them away." Delta lowered her head. "I suppose it's possible that a member of my staff could have broken it, but I don't know what reason they would have had to go into the room after a tour, and especially to go behind the cordon."
    I thought about the torn curtain and the broken bottle, and in my mind they added up to one thing. "I don't think that's what happened," I said. "There was a struggle in this room the night Ivanna Jones died, which means that your hunch about this being a murder is probably right."

CHAPTER SIX
     
    Delta crossed her arms and curled her lips. "Of course I'm right. Like I told you, that girl was murdered in this house. The only thing you two need to worry about is finding out who did it."
    "We're just covering our bases," Veronica explained.
    "This isn't a damn baseball game," she snapped. "This is my business, and I'm paying you to find the killer. No more no less."
    I narrowed my eyes and opened my mouth to reply, but Veronica silenced me with a shut-it look.
    "And you'll do it soon," Delta added. "I'm losing money by the minute thanks to this disaster."
    I'd had enough of Delta and her demanding demeanor. Mentally repeating the customer is always right with the intensity of Dorothy when she was trying to will herself and