Murder By Muffin (Lucy McGuffin, Psychic Amateur Detective 3)

Gilly stares me down as I take my seat. “Lucy, what are you doing here?”

“Obviously I’m here for the meeting. Sarah would be here too except no one bothered to notify either of us. I assume that must be a mistake.”

“I’m sorry, but this meeting is strictly for cast members.” Gilly’s pantsuit looks like it came off the pages of Vogue magazine, and her long dark hair has been professionally blown out. She’s also wearing red lipstick. I’ve ever seen her look so polished.

Before I can respond, Brittany and Darren rush through the door. I was wondering how long it would take them to get here. Brittany immediately picks up on the tension between Gilly and me. “I told Lucy about the meeting,” she blurts.

“I suspected as much.” Gilly turns back to face me. “Lucy, I know you were disappointed when Tara took you off the show, but I have to honor her decisions, which means you’re no longer part of this group.”

Mark Dalton crosses his arms over his chest. “Who’s in charge now that Tara is gone? And how long is this meeting going to last? I’m expecting a full house tonight, which means I have to get to work.”

“Any concerns you have can be brought to my attention,” Gilly answers in an icy tone. She looks at Mark with disdain. “And this meeting will last as long as it needs to.”

So the role of Tara Bell will now be played by Gilly Franklin. It didn’t take long for a bit of power to go straight to Gilly’s head.

“Good to know who’s in charge,” I say. “But I’m afraid I’m not going anywhere. Read the contract. Written notification is the only way we can be taken off the show before filming begins, and that hasn’t happened. Until it does, I have just as much right to be here as the other contestants.”

Gilly looks momentarily confused. She looks to Alan and Pete for guidance. Alan shrugs as if to say this isn’t his area of expertise. “I’ll take that up with legal. I guess it won’t hurt if you stay. For now.”

“Darn right Lucy is staying,” says Carlos.

Juanita Torres, who’s sitting behind me, taps me on the shoulder and gives me a thumbs-up in support. I give her a thumbs-up right back. She’s flanked by her two sons, Miguel and Luis, both in their mid-thirties.

Brittany and Darren take their seats in the back of the room.

“As you all know, we’ve had a monumental setback with the show. Until matters are resolved, everything is at a standstill.” Gilly glances my way again, this time giving me a significant look. As if I’m somehow responsible for Tara’s death. Working with Tara must have affected Gilly’s brain cells. I can’t believe she told Travis and Zeke my joke about poisoning the muffins. In retrospect, no, it wasn’t funny, but I had no idea at the time what was about to go down.

“Resolved?” asks Wendy Figueroa. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Heidi raises her hand like we’re in a classroom. “Do the police know what happened to Tara?”

“They have their suspicions,” Gilly says tightly. “And I have to be honest. After what’s happened, the network is considering other locations, so there’s a good chance we won’t be filming here in Whispering Bay after all.”

The room erupts in murmurs.

“It’s just as well,” says Juanita. “I didn’t like the way Tara treated Lucy. If The Bistro by the Beach is off the show, then La Cantina isn’t going to participate either.”

“Neither is the Burger Barn,” says Carlos.

“Hold on.” Luis Torres stands up. “My mother spoke out of turn. We have a contract with the network. It’s not our fault that Tara’s dead, so how’s the network going to compensate us for all the time we’ve already spent accommodating the film crew?”

“Luis!” Juanita hisses. “Sit down. You’re embarrassing me!”

“Luis is right,” Miguel says to his mother. “We’ve spent a lot of time preparing the restaurant for this filming. We have a right to compensation.”

“May I say something here?” Brittany stands up. “Let’s not jump to any conclusions. I’m sure we can work something out, right?” she asks Gilly. “Just because there’s been an … incident, the whole town shouldn’t be punished. After this misunderstanding is cleared up, there’s no reason we can’t continue filming.”

No wonder Brittany is in PR. She makes Tara’s death sound like nothing more than a minor irritation, like someone’s forgotten to put napkins in the takeout bag. Wait. I take that back. I really hate when I order takeout and they forget the napkins. And the ketchup.

The door to the room opens again, causing everyone to look up. It’s Rusty Newton. “Sorry to interrupt your meeting, but I’m here on urgent police business.”

Gilly stills. “You mean … you have information on Tara’s death?”

My Spidey sense wakes up from its nap.

Gilly is terrified. Which is an unusual emotion when you think you’re going to discover something about your boss’s death. Unless you have something to hide.

“How did she die?” asks Wendy.