“Am I that transparent?”
He reached over and stroked my arm. “Are we talking about your skin?”
I slapped his hand away.
“Play nice,” he cautioned.
“What were you trying to hint at earlier with Philip?”
Lance clicked his tongue on his teeth. “Not so fast. Do we have a deal?”
“What kind of deal?”
“We’re going to partner up as a little team, right?”
“I guess, but I really don’t know anything. Honestly.”
He tapped my knee. “That’s why you need me.”
“So dish. What do you know?”
Lance kicked the door shut with his foot and scooted closer on the couch. “I know that Philip couldn’t have murdered that fat French chef last night.”
He looked quite pleased with himself as he sat back and waited for my response with wide eyes.
“How do you know that?”
“Because, darling, he and his little tryst were with me last night.”
“Tryst?”
Lance practically beamed. “I knew you’d love that.” He reached into the breast pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a tin of mints. He popped one in his mouth and offered the tin to me. “Mint?”
“No. Tell me about this tryst.”
Lance slowly slid the mint tin closed and returned it to his pocket. “Patience. Patience.”
I rolled my eyes.
He chuckled. “You can’t blame me for wanting to build a little drama into my big reveal. It’s what I do.”
I hardened my eyes.
“Okay, okay.” He lowered his voice. “Philip and his paramour were dining with me at Puck’s Pub last night.”
“You told Thomas about this, right?”
“Juliet, you’re no fun. Of course I told the authorities. Philip’s a friend and I know that that detective of yours would like nothing more than to pin this murder on Philip and close the case.”
“Thomas is not my detective and, really, stop with the whole theater act. You know as well as I do that neither he nor the Professor are like that.”
Lance cut me off. “We digress. What I didn’t mention was that our dinner wasn’t exclusively business.”
“Go on.”
“When Philip contacted me last year about doing the show in Ashland we talked about ways we could loop OSF in, make it mutually beneficial, you know.”
I nodded. “Shocking.”
“Business is business, darling.”
“Believe me, I know. I feel like I’m selling a little piece of my soul by doing this show.”
Lance dropped his jaw in mock surprise. “Say it isn’t so.” He turned serious for a moment, completely losing his affected tone. “Jules, you could never sell your soul. You and your mom are a different kind of breed.”
I was taken aback by his serious shift. “Wow, thanks.”
He gave me a devilish grin. “We’ll never speak of it again. Now back to this murder business. As I was saying, Philip and I have some plans to cross-promote each other’s shows. We met last night to discuss it and he brought along a lady friend.”
“Who?”
“I believe you know her as Luscious Linda.”
“Linda? The Southern belle? But Philip’s been totally over the top flirting with me, Mom, everyone.”
“Exactly. Throw suspicion away from his real fling.”
“Wait, did you tell Thomas that Linda was with you? I don’t understand.”
“Oh, I told him she was with us for a while, which she was. Only she claimed she had a headache once Philip and I started talking shop and she ducked out early. For all I know that Southern charmer could be our killer.”
“I don’t understand. What didn’t you tell him, then?”
“That Linda and Philip are having a smoking-hot love affair.”
“Okay?” I gave him a questioning look. “What’s the big deal?”
“First off, Linda’s in the process of a nasty divorce back home in Georgia. She doesn’t want word to get out. Philip’s not exactly eager to share the news either. It’s a conflict of interest for him to be involved with one of the contestants.”
“I’ll say.” There went my chances of winning the twenty-five grand. “Did they just hook
He reached over and stroked my arm. “Are we talking about your skin?”
I slapped his hand away.
“Play nice,” he cautioned.
“What were you trying to hint at earlier with Philip?”
Lance clicked his tongue on his teeth. “Not so fast. Do we have a deal?”
“What kind of deal?”
“We’re going to partner up as a little team, right?”
“I guess, but I really don’t know anything. Honestly.”
He tapped my knee. “That’s why you need me.”
“So dish. What do you know?”
Lance kicked the door shut with his foot and scooted closer on the couch. “I know that Philip couldn’t have murdered that fat French chef last night.”
He looked quite pleased with himself as he sat back and waited for my response with wide eyes.
“How do you know that?”
“Because, darling, he and his little tryst were with me last night.”
“Tryst?”
Lance practically beamed. “I knew you’d love that.” He reached into the breast pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a tin of mints. He popped one in his mouth and offered the tin to me. “Mint?”
“No. Tell me about this tryst.”
Lance slowly slid the mint tin closed and returned it to his pocket. “Patience. Patience.”
I rolled my eyes.
He chuckled. “You can’t blame me for wanting to build a little drama into my big reveal. It’s what I do.”
I hardened my eyes.
“Okay, okay.” He lowered his voice. “Philip and his paramour were dining with me at Puck’s Pub last night.”
“You told Thomas about this, right?”
“Juliet, you’re no fun. Of course I told the authorities. Philip’s a friend and I know that that detective of yours would like nothing more than to pin this murder on Philip and close the case.”
“Thomas is not my detective and, really, stop with the whole theater act. You know as well as I do that neither he nor the Professor are like that.”
Lance cut me off. “We digress. What I didn’t mention was that our dinner wasn’t exclusively business.”
“Go on.”
“When Philip contacted me last year about doing the show in Ashland we talked about ways we could loop OSF in, make it mutually beneficial, you know.”
I nodded. “Shocking.”
“Business is business, darling.”
“Believe me, I know. I feel like I’m selling a little piece of my soul by doing this show.”
Lance dropped his jaw in mock surprise. “Say it isn’t so.” He turned serious for a moment, completely losing his affected tone. “Jules, you could never sell your soul. You and your mom are a different kind of breed.”
I was taken aback by his serious shift. “Wow, thanks.”
He gave me a devilish grin. “We’ll never speak of it again. Now back to this murder business. As I was saying, Philip and I have some plans to cross-promote each other’s shows. We met last night to discuss it and he brought along a lady friend.”
“Who?”
“I believe you know her as Luscious Linda.”
“Linda? The Southern belle? But Philip’s been totally over the top flirting with me, Mom, everyone.”
“Exactly. Throw suspicion away from his real fling.”
“Wait, did you tell Thomas that Linda was with you? I don’t understand.”
“Oh, I told him she was with us for a while, which she was. Only she claimed she had a headache once Philip and I started talking shop and she ducked out early. For all I know that Southern charmer could be our killer.”
“I don’t understand. What didn’t you tell him, then?”
“That Linda and Philip are having a smoking-hot love affair.”
“Okay?” I gave him a questioning look. “What’s the big deal?”
“First off, Linda’s in the process of a nasty divorce back home in Georgia. She doesn’t want word to get out. Philip’s not exactly eager to share the news either. It’s a conflict of interest for him to be involved with one of the contestants.”
“I’ll say.” There went my chances of winning the twenty-five grand. “Did they just hook
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