Lacey's Murder Case (A Lacey Thompson Humor Mystery)

Chapter 6

I'm not going to tell you that Jessica took it lightly. Because she didn't.

In fact, after I told her about the call, she looked at me with judging eyes. Like I confessed to a heinous crime. Well, I couldn't really blame her.

The love of her life was found dead. And most likely killed by a mysterious murderer. Who presumably made that call. That I stupidly dismissed.

Boy, it sure did suck to be me right now.

"I want to be a part of the investigation."

Speak of the devil. Jessica stood on the doorway of my new cubicle the following morning, hands on her hips, looking like a woman on a mission. On a mission to ruin my investigation, that is.

I glared at her. "Will you keep your voice down?"

I stood up and brushed past her, then glanced both ways, checking for any eavesdropper nearby. No one's there. I breathed a sigh of relief and shot her a condescending look.

"Let's go to the ladies room," I said, grabbing her elbows.

Ever so conspicuously, I led Jessica into the bathroom and closed the door behind us. After checking the stalls for any occupant, I turned back to her. "Just because I told you about my plan doesn't mean you can join in."

"But I want to find out who killed George. I want to bring justice to his death."

"Well, what do you think I'm doing?" I took a deep breath. Patience. I need patience. "Look, just let me handle this, okay?"

"What if you screw up?"

"I'm not going to screw up."

Jessica stubbornly crossed her arms over her chest. "Why, I don't believe that for one second."

"Well, you better believe it!" I snapped, glaring at her.

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes. "I'm not gonna stop harassing you until you give in."

Suppressing the urge to strangle her, I shut my eyes and mentally counted to ten. Then in a calmer voice, I said, "I'm really starting to regret that I told you about that call.” 

"You did the right thing. I have every right to know about it." And there went the calmness.

"What are you, his wife now?" I laughed sarcastically, feeling my irritation bubbling up once more. For a moment, I contemplated counting up to a hundred. But I doubt that number would still be enough.

Jessica probably realized that acting stubborn wouldn't work on me. Her expression softening, she stared at me with puppy-dog eyes. "Please, Lacey. You have to let me help. Think of it as a way of making up for dismissing that call." Then the puppy-dog eyes turned serious. "You owe it to me. You owe it to George."

Oh great. She's guilt tripping now. Like I wasn't feeling guilty already.

"Fine!" I snapped, finally giving in. Like I had a choice, anyway. I couldn't very well allow Ms. Guilt Trippy here to sabotage my investigation out of spite. "But you better keep quiet. No one should know about this."

"Okay." She bit her lip. "But what if that hot detective finds out?"

"Hot detective?" Though I already knew who she was talking about. There's only one detective I knew who was hot with a capital H. You know, the one detective who makes me want to fan myself just by looking at him. But like I said before, my loyalty remained with Scott.

Jessica snapped her fingers in front of my face, missing my nose by barely an inch and effectively interrupting my GQ fantasies. "The one with the funny surname."