Murder on the First Day of Christmas (Chloe Carstairs Mysteries) by Billie Thomas Page A
Authors: Billie Thomas
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a bid for mayor?”
I nodded. “A dream come true for Bunny.”
“The campaign was going well until his barely legal lover threatened to expose their affair if he didn’t buy her a car for her birthday. She needed more reliable transportation on the nights when she closed at the fast food restaurant where she worked. Call it sticker shock, but the Moseleys felt the girl, who had once been content with gifts of stuffed animals and Victoria’s Secret sleepwear, was getting too big for her britches.”
“Bunny knew about the affair?” I couldn’t believe she had tolerated not being the center of any man’s attention.
“Not till the blackmail started. Garrison was such a dolt that he turned to his wife for help with his girlfriend.”
“Idiot.”
“Once Bunny was on board, her life’s mission became damage control, and if that meant squashing the girl like a bug under her four-inch Ferragamo heels, so much the better. To hear Shelley tell it, there were twice-daily come-to-Jesus meetings and almost hourly phone calls with the Moseleys. Talk about Lady Macbeth.”
“I shudder to think what Bunny would have trouble washing off her hands.”
Mom gave me a disapproving look tinged with a smile. I was easing back into her good graces.
“Shelley advised Garrison to ‘fess up to the affair before the girl dropped her bombshell,” she continued. “Do the whole ‘I have sinned’ routine and throw himself on the mercy of public opinion, but he and Bunny refused. Garrison insisted the girl had no proof, and it was her word against his.”
“But there’s always something.”
“Shelley tried to tell them that. Hotel receipts? Love letters? Eyewitnesses? Garrison denied they existed.”
“Video tape, audio tape, naughty text messages?” I asked.
“Garrison claimed he had been careful. Maybe he had been, I don’t know, but Shelley wasn’t about to help them advance a lie. So, when the girl went public, the Moseleys set up their own interviews in their living room of that big house in Mountain Brook, the one with the fountain.”
I nodded that I remembered.
“They expressed their dismay that this girl could tell such a terrible lie, posed on their gazebo and begged the press to respect their privacy. They even walked down the front steps of their church and told reporters they had prayed for the poor misguided child. I have to hand it to them, it made a credible story. The girl had no proof.”
“Like I said, there’s always something.”
“In this case, it wasn’t what the girl had, it was what Garrison didn’t as in self-control. He never actually broke off the affair.
“No.”
“Yes. So, when a Jefferson County deputy ran he and Missy in for committing lewd acts in her car near the old cannon on Altamont road, it pretty much ended that run for mayor. He’ll have to wait six or seven years to get elected now, this being Birmingham and all. We never forgive, but we always forget.”
“But Bunny wasn’t that magnanimous.”
“To say the least. She divorced Garrison faster than you can say ‘extreme emotional distress’ and took him for a bundle. Before the papers were even filed, she met Gavin Beaumont at a fundraiser and was lounging naked on his examining table three days later.”
“Love in the stirrups. That’s our Bunny.”
We shook our heads, good moods restored.
“Oscar was all over the Net,” I said. “Mostly articles about cases he prosecuted and now clients he’s defending. Lots of overlap with Saul, especially about black widow stuff. When Saul did his book tour for that one, he gave Oscar a lot of press. And then, when he started dating Robin, the two guys appeared on all the major talk shows.”
“Instant publicity.”
“For
I nodded. “A dream come true for Bunny.”
“The campaign was going well until his barely legal lover threatened to expose their affair if he didn’t buy her a car for her birthday. She needed more reliable transportation on the nights when she closed at the fast food restaurant where she worked. Call it sticker shock, but the Moseleys felt the girl, who had once been content with gifts of stuffed animals and Victoria’s Secret sleepwear, was getting too big for her britches.”
“Bunny knew about the affair?” I couldn’t believe she had tolerated not being the center of any man’s attention.
“Not till the blackmail started. Garrison was such a dolt that he turned to his wife for help with his girlfriend.”
“Idiot.”
“Once Bunny was on board, her life’s mission became damage control, and if that meant squashing the girl like a bug under her four-inch Ferragamo heels, so much the better. To hear Shelley tell it, there were twice-daily come-to-Jesus meetings and almost hourly phone calls with the Moseleys. Talk about Lady Macbeth.”
“I shudder to think what Bunny would have trouble washing off her hands.”
Mom gave me a disapproving look tinged with a smile. I was easing back into her good graces.
“Shelley advised Garrison to ‘fess up to the affair before the girl dropped her bombshell,” she continued. “Do the whole ‘I have sinned’ routine and throw himself on the mercy of public opinion, but he and Bunny refused. Garrison insisted the girl had no proof, and it was her word against his.”
“But there’s always something.”
“Shelley tried to tell them that. Hotel receipts? Love letters? Eyewitnesses? Garrison denied they existed.”
“Video tape, audio tape, naughty text messages?” I asked.
“Garrison claimed he had been careful. Maybe he had been, I don’t know, but Shelley wasn’t about to help them advance a lie. So, when the girl went public, the Moseleys set up their own interviews in their living room of that big house in Mountain Brook, the one with the fountain.”
I nodded that I remembered.
“They expressed their dismay that this girl could tell such a terrible lie, posed on their gazebo and begged the press to respect their privacy. They even walked down the front steps of their church and told reporters they had prayed for the poor misguided child. I have to hand it to them, it made a credible story. The girl had no proof.”
“Like I said, there’s always something.”
“In this case, it wasn’t what the girl had, it was what Garrison didn’t as in self-control. He never actually broke off the affair.
“No.”
“Yes. So, when a Jefferson County deputy ran he and Missy in for committing lewd acts in her car near the old cannon on Altamont road, it pretty much ended that run for mayor. He’ll have to wait six or seven years to get elected now, this being Birmingham and all. We never forgive, but we always forget.”
“But Bunny wasn’t that magnanimous.”
“To say the least. She divorced Garrison faster than you can say ‘extreme emotional distress’ and took him for a bundle. Before the papers were even filed, she met Gavin Beaumont at a fundraiser and was lounging naked on his examining table three days later.”
“Love in the stirrups. That’s our Bunny.”
We shook our heads, good moods restored.
“Oscar was all over the Net,” I said. “Mostly articles about cases he prosecuted and now clients he’s defending. Lots of overlap with Saul, especially about black widow stuff. When Saul did his book tour for that one, he gave Oscar a lot of press. And then, when he started dating Robin, the two guys appeared on all the major talk shows.”
“Instant publicity.”
“For
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