Page 67 of Murder on Charity Lane

“Twenty-five dollars an hour.”

“In the nude?” Lily asked.

“Undraped.” Ocean tore her gaze away and sat across from Lily-Ann. “Uh, and I wanted to talk to you before dinner.”

“Are you bringing cheese and crackers?”

“I’m bringing Cheez-Its, like I told you.”

“Oh.”

“Mrs. B wants the kids to come, and I had to lure them with Cheez-Its.”

“How do they feel about kettle corn? I have an extra bag.”

“They’d love that.”

Lily-Ann liked Ocean’s children more than she usually liked kids. Miles was attached to Anthony, which pleased her, and Riley came to her for advice. Only about math careers and beauty regimes, of course—the emotional stuff she left for Sophie—yet she still treasured the interactions.

“Is that all you wanted to talk about?” she asked.

“No, I also wanted to tell you not to grill CJ about Frank DeYoung’s death.”

“I won’t.”

“By ‘grill,’ I mean ask anything.”

“Oh.” Lily-Ann frowned. “Why?”

“We’re just introducing ourselves to the new neighbor, who I happen to be dating. Mrs. B wants to welcome CJ and have her greet everyone at Hamilton’s. This is not a meeting of the Murder Collective.”

“All right. I understand.” Lily-Ann tried to conceal her disappointment, then closed her laptop and asked, “May I grill you instead?”

“About CJ?” Ocean frowned. “I guess.”

“About her and Frank DeYoung.”

“Not about your love life,” Anthony added.

“Oh!” Ocean leaned back in the chair. “Sure.”

So Lily-Ann asked, “What if someone did interfere with the flooring? Was there a rug at the top of the stairs? Something that intentionally tripped him? What about his shoes? We need the caterer’s contact information. And the cleaner’s.”

“If they’d noticed anything, they would’ve told the cops.”

“Not if they’re undocumented.”

Ocean tilted her head. “True.”

“Sabotaging his medication would work, too.”

“Mm. CJ helped him with that. And the autopsy found nothing.”

“Hamilton says the broken wine bottle was actually a broken Amaretto bottle,” Lily-Ann reported.

“Okay.”

“They’re more fragile.”