Deadly in High Heels by Gemma Halliday

skinny white jeans that would have shown every teeny ripple of fat, if she'd had any. She'd topped it with a simple, pale yellow tank blouse that highlighted her unnatural tan. (Which was a little on the orange side for me, making her look like a sunburst.) Her hair was teased into a large coiffed brunette helmet, and she had more makeup on than the clown at my children's last birthday party.
    "You're in the right place," I told her.
    "Maddie, right?" she asked, coming into the room. "I remember you from yesterday."
    I nodded. "It looks like we're fitting you for your eveningwear, swimsuit, and the commercial-break dance numbers, correct?"
    "I guess so. Laforge just told me to come in here and try on shoes," she said.
    "Right, well let's get started with your eveningwear. This is your gown?" I asked, using my tablet to pull up the photos I'd been emailed of her dress. It was a stunning off the shoulder red number with a long sequined train. When she nodded, I grabbed her shoebox containing the black satin four-inch pumps I'd chosen to complement the dress. Though, at the time, I'd had no idea how tall New Mexico was, let alone her hair. I hoped that the extra inches the heels gave her didn't count against her in the judging.
    New Mexico slipped the shoes on and tried walking around in them. I had to say she was a total high heels pro. She looked as if she'd been born in stilettos.
    "These are super cute," New Mexico said, checking herself out in the full-length mirrors mounted to the wall behind the door.
    "Thanks," I said, unable to keep the beam of pride out of my voice. "I'm glad you like them."
    "Well, honestly, I'm just glad I'm going to get to wear them on stage at all! I can't believe the competition was almost canceled. As it is, now we're having to double up on rehearsals. Talk about Jennifer screwing us over even in death!"
    Clearly New Mexico had not been a fan of the dead girl. It made me wonder…had Desi had something personal against Miss Montana?
    "From what I've been hearing, Jennifer was well liked by everyone." I paused, gauging New Mexico's reaction.
    She grinned, a slow thing that was anything but friendly. "Well…let's just say that not everyone loved Miss Montana."
    "Oh?" I asked, raising one eyebrow in her direction as I grabbed another shoebox from the stack, this one containing the sapphire blue stilettos to match her swimwear outfit.
    "Sure, Jennifer was sweet and kind and yada, yada, yada."
    "But?" I prompted.
    "It became crystal clear, to me at least, on the first day we arrived in Hawaii that someone had it in for her."
    "How so?" I asked.
    "Well, we were all getting our costumes together on our racks in the main dressing room…you know, the one set up in the green room?"
    I nodded. While I'd seen the few private dressing rooms off the backstage area, it was clear there certainly weren't fifty-one of them. The girls each had one small luggage rack assigned to them in the green room and one vanity in which to do their hair and makeup.
    "Go on," I prompted.
    "Well, Jennifer couldn't find her bikini top. She said it was missing."
    "Did she misplace it?"
    "Ha!" New Mexico barked out. "You really didn't know Jennifer. Jennifer did not misplace her pageant costumes. Everybody knows that. Heck, even Maxine wouldn't misplace her costume. It's like the cardinal rule."
    "So…it was stolen?" I asked.
    "Well, I don't know if I would say 'stolen'…"
    "But somebody did take it?"
    New Mexico looked over her shoulder, as if making sure no one was listening. Which, since we were in a closed dressing room, nobody was. "All I know is that Jennifer's coach, Dempsey, was carrying on about how it was a clear case of sabotage against his client. But Jennifer said that maybe it just slipped out somewhere or got lost in the luggage."
    "Always Miss Congeniality," I mumbled.
    "Seriously!" New Mexico said. "I mean, what a big fat phony."
    As soon as the words popped out of her mouth, her hands reached up and covered her