Mayhem in High Heels by Gemma Halliday Page B

decided as I watched Mrs. Kleinburg, I'd bet is just what she meant for it to do.
    "Yes, horrible," I echoed. "You were a client of hers?" I asked, turning to Mitsy again.
    "I was. But I fired her," she responded, sticking her chin up in the air.
    "Oh?"
    "Yes, she was impossible. I mean, she said she would give me my dream wedding. Those were her exact words. 'Dream wedding.' Then whenever I asked for something, she couldn't deliver."
    "Really?" I asked. "Anything specific she didn't deliver on?"
    "God, everything!" Mitsy rolled her brown eyes toward the ceiling. "First she said we couldn't change the flowers this close to the wedding, even though I pointed out that they would now clash with the new color we picked out for the bridesmaid dresses. Then she said the Italian pastry chef I wanted to do my cake wouldn't fly in from Milan to bake it. Then there was the whole orchestra disaster."
    "Orchestra?"
    "Yeah, I wanted a nine-piece orchestra. Gigi said the reception hall we'd booked could only accommodate five. So, I told her to find a new place. Well, of course she went up in arms saying it was too late to book the size venue we needed. But the last straw was when I was supposed to meet with her at the church to discuss the ceremony arrangements and she totally blew me off. Canceled at the last minute."
    "When was this?"
    "Saturday."
    "The day before she died?" Dana piped up.
    "Yes. Why do you ask?" Mrs. Kleinburg stepped in, eyeing Dana and I. Apparently she wasn't as open as Mitsy with her dirty laundry.
    "Well... we just want to make sure that this sort of thing doesn't happen again with your new planner." I cringed. I was not the world's best liar and I had a bad feeling the more fibs I told, the sooner they'd come back to bite me in the butt. But in for a penny, in for a pound.
    Mitsy nodded vigorously. "Thank you! I've gained two and a half pounds from the stress! I need someone who is way less pain in the ass."
    "Mitsy. Language," her mother said, visibly flinching.
    "Had she ever missed an appointment with you before?" I asked. With the way Gigi had emphasized the importance of an organized schedule to her assistant, I had a hard time picturing her forgetting a client meeting.
    Mitsy shook her head. "Never. She told me something had come up at the last minute."
    "Hmm." I wondered if that something had anything to do with her death the following morning. "She didn't happen to say what had come up, did she?"
    "No. She sent me a text, so she didn't elaborate. Just, 'unavoidable' and 'terribly sorry.'" Mitsy snorted as if she didn't believe it. "Old hag probably needed an emergency Botox or something."
    "Mitsy," her mother chided again.
    "Anyway, I was so done with her after that," she said
    I made a mental note to ask Allie about it later. Maybe it was wrinkle related, but then again, maybe not. Unexplained absences the day before the victim's death were the things those Law & Order guys salivated over.
    "Hey, which pattern do you like?" Mitsy asked, gesturing to a row of plates. "Royal Rose, Rose of India or Ivy and Rose?"
    I looked down. All three plates had a yellow background spotted with red roses. I squinted hard, trying to see some difference among them. "Umm... Royal Rose?"
    Mitsy gave her mother a smug I-told-you-so look. "See?"
    Mrs. Kleinburg looked hardly convinced. "Well, it was lovely to meet you," she said, clearly not meaning it at all.
    "Thanks. And same to you," I said, giving a nod Mitsy's direction.
    She shot me a wan smile, then turned back to her china.
    As Dana and I made our way out of the breakables section I watched Mitsy from behind. While she was clearly a nightmare client, I had a hard time putting her in the role of murderer. She seemed more the type to hire out that sort of unpleasantness. Besides, if she had really fired Gigi on Saturday like she said, I didn't see the motive in it.
    Then again, I only had her word that Gigi had missed the appointment at all. I wondered if Allie could