Free Prosecco Pink by Traci Angrighetti Page B

"I'll bet you hear a lot of Tara jokes."
    She stared at me, expressionless.
    Time to try another tactic. "What's up with the pineapple?"
    "It's a symbol of Southern hospitality, isn't it?" Veronica chimed in.
    Scarlett nodded. "Yes ma'am. But in the old South, if you were a guest in someone's home and you woke up and found one at the foot of your bed, it meant you'd overstayed your welcome."
    "Awk-ward." I laughed.
    She pressed her lips into a thin line. "Miss Delta said you had some questions about that woman that was killed?"
    Clearly, Scarlett was in no mood for jokes. "Uh, yeah," I said. "Were you here between five p.m. last Friday and eight a.m. the next morning?"
    "I came in at eight thirty on Saturday for the nine a.m. tour," she said, her eyes narrowing. "Why?"
    "We're not accusing you of anything," Veronica began, "we're just trying to find out if you know anything that could help us."
    "I don't," she said hotly.
    It appeared that Scarlett had a scrappy side, like her Gone-with-the-Wind namesake. "Did you see the body after it was found?" I asked.
    She nodded. "Miss Delta told me what happened when I came to work. I went into the room to see for myself."
    "Did you recognize the victim, Ivanna Jones?" Veronica asked.
    Scarlett glanced at the floor. "I seen her here before."
    I felt my heart skip a beat. "When?"
    "A week or so ago."
    I remembered that Delta said she'd seen Ivanna two weeks before. I wondered whether Ivanna had returned to the plantation a week later. "Can you give us a more precise date?"
    She tugged at the top of her corset. "Uh, actually, I think it was two weeks ago."
    Veronica furrowed her brow. "You're sure?"
    "You think I'm lying?" she asked, raising her chin.
    "I want to make sure we have the correct information, that's all," Veronica replied.
    Scarlett stared at Veronica and said nothing.
    Changing the subject, I asked, "Was Ivanna on one of your tours?"
    "Yeah." She paused and played with the fabric of her petticoat. "And…" Her voice trailed off as she looked out the window. Then her face clouded over. "I'd better go." She grabbed the feather duster from the bed and pulled her hoop skirt and a red dress from the back of the door. "It's almost time for my tour."
    "Okay, but let us know if you think of anything else," I said.
    Scarlett left the room without a word.
    "Did you see that?" I asked as I hurried over to the window. "She was about to tell us something, but she changed her mind."
    "Yeah," Veronica replied with a toss of her hair. "And from the way she kept messing with her clothes, I'd say she was lying about when she saw Ivanna."
    I stared out onto the grounds below and immediately locked eyes with a stocky, thirty-something male standing near the back porch. He turned away and headed in the direction of the sugar mills. "I just saw a man looking up at this window. Let's go find out who he is."
    I rushed downstairs with Veronica close behind. When I opened the back door, seven miniature pinschers rushed in and circled me with their teeth bared like tiny land sharks preparing for a foot-feeding frenzy. I immediately froze in my tracks and feared for my Dolce Vita wedges and my toes.
    Veronica sprung into action. "Bad dogs!" she shouted, clapping her hands. "Shoo! Shoo!"
    But the mini mongrels stood their battleground.
    Using my best Southern canine speak, I yelled, "Go on, now! Git! "
    Delta emerged from her office wearing her standard scowl. "What's all the damn fuss about?" she asked, waving an antique candlestick like a club. "We have a tour going on, you know."
    "This pack of wild Dobermans!" I said, desperately wanting to gesticulate but holding my body mummy-style still.
    Delta looked down as though she hadn't realized the dogs were there. Then she dropped to her knees and drew the dogs into a collective embrace. "Mamma's sweet babies!" she cooed in a manly maternal tone as she kissed each dog on the mouth.
    I felt my jaw drop from the shock of Delta's unexpected display of