Alibi in High Heels (15 page)

Moreau looked up, as did several of the other officers, all eyes turning my way.

But not Ramirez. In an instant, he was out the door and gone.

I felt my heart sink, my stomach doing a hollow, empty thing that had nothing to do with the fact I hadn't eaten. And everything to do with the fact that I wasn't sure how many more times Ramirez would walk away from me before he stopped coming back.

I felt tears well behind my eyes, but bravely sniffed them back, instead hobbling over to where Moreau stood waiting for me.

"You are free to go," he said, slowly. Then added, "For now."

I nodded, still staring at the doorway Ramirez had disappeared through.

"And Dana?"

"Your friend is waiting for you downstairs. I have a car ready to take you both back to the airport."

I nodded again.

"I expect you will inform me if you feel the urge to travel out of France again?" he asked. Though I could tell that wasn't exactly a question.

I nodded meekly, all the fight having drained out of me the second I'd seen Ramirez.

"Good." Moreau singled to Beak Nose, who led me down a flight of stairs to where Dana was waiting for me at the bottom.

She gave me a fierce hug. "I hope I did the right thing calling Ramirez?" she asked.

I nodded. Even as tears welled behind my eyes at the sound of his name.

We both piled into the waiting blue and white, riding to the airport in silence. Needless to say, there were no kisses on the cheek from Beak Nose as he saw us onto our flight.

I tried to sleep on the brief plane ride back to Paris, but it was nearly impossible. Images of Ramirez, Moreau, Felix, and Donata all mixed together, making my head hurt so badly, I begged the flight attendant for an aspirin.

By the time we'd landed and caught a cab back to the Plaza Athenee, I was beat. I crawled into bed, fully clothed and collapsed, just as the sun was coming up.

* * *

I wasn't sure how long I slept, but the sounds of room service carts woke me several hours later. I rolled over, looking at the clock. It was past noon. I felt like I'd been asleep for days. I stripped off my clothes, hopped in the shower and attempted to wash the previous day's events off of me while trying to keep Wonder Boot dry. The hot water helped, and I was feeling almost human again by the time I stepped into a clean denim skirt, white tank, and cropped black collarless jacket. An much as I would have liked to don my red heel again, Doctor Ponytail had been right, my legged throbbed today after running around Europe in one heel. Instead, I slipped on a black ballet flat and added an extra swipe of lip gloss as a concession.

I ordered room service in and dialed Dana's number while I waited for my waffles and eggs to appear.

"Hello?" she croaked out.

"Are you up?"

"I am now."

"I ordered waffles."

She groaned.

"And a grapefruit half for you."

"I'll be right over."

Ten minutes later I opened the door and let her in. She was still in her pajama bottoms, pink with leopard print, and a rumpled T-shirt that read "Aerobics Instructors Do It In Step". She flopped onto my bed, staring up at the ceiling.

"Get much sleep?" I asked.

"Some." She yawned. "Not enough."

Ditto.

Luckily, when sleep escapes me, sugar and caffeine are readily available substitutes. Both of which I indulged in as room service arrived with a big plate of waffles and maple syrup and two carafes of coffee - decaf for Dana, regular with loads of cream for me.

I slathered the syrup on, my mouth watering as I watched it make little pools in the waffle squares. I took one bite. Heaven.

Dana scrunched up her nose and dug into her grapefruit. "So, any thoughts about Donata's killer this morning?" she asked, covering her breakfast with one hand to avoid grapefruit-juice-in-the-eye.

I shook my head. "Nope. And here's what's been bothering me," I said, shoveling a forkful of waffle into my mouth. "Why kill Donata? I mean, assuming Gisella was working with a partner, it seemed like they had the perfect set-up. Why ruin that?"

Dana shook her head. "Good question. Okay, let's say the partner offed Gisella for a bigger piece of the profits. Or, maybe Gisella was getting sloppy and the partner was worried about someone finding out."

"The last one seems more likely to me," I said. "If he was just greedy, he'd want to keep Gisella around, right? Without her, the scam is over. On the other hand, Gisella was risking a lot by hitting four designers in one Fashion Week. Someone was bound to start putting it together sooner or later."

"Okay, so the partner's worried about being found out, so he kills Gisella. Lucky for him, you're in town and he can throw suspicion on you with the stiletto thing."

"Lucky him,' I mumbled, pouring more syrup on my waffles.

"So - why Donata? I mean, it doesn't seem likely she'd go to the police, does it? Not when she had a secret of her own to protect."

I shook my head. "No. It doesn't." I took another bite, chewing thoughtfully. "Dana, who did you tell that we were going to Milan?"

She paused, grapefruit wedge halfway to her lips. "Just Jean Luc. Why?"

"Maybe the killer was afraid Donata would let something slip to us?"

"You think?"

I shrugged. "Either way, the killer must have known we'd be in Milan. Otherwise, there'd be no point in doing the stiletto thing again. He couldn't very well point the finger at me if I'd been in Paris with an iron-clad alibi at the time of the murder. He had to have known I'd be in Milan."

Dana put her spoon down. "Wow. You're totally right. Okay, who knew you were going? Jean Luc. Who else?"

I bit my lip. "No one. I mean, I called Ann for Donata's address. I didn't exactly tell her I was going to Milan, but I guess she could have found out if she tried. And I did ask Angelica about Donata. She could have easily followed me there, I suppose. But the only person I really told was..." I trailed off.

"Who?"

"Felix."

Dana paused. "Maddie, there is a chance that he actually did it."

I shook my head. "No. I mean..." I thought about it. Then shook my head. "No. He couldn't have."

"Maddie, I know you like him-"

"I do
not
like him. I
loathe
him."

She shot me a "get real" look, completely ignoring my protests. "-but all the clues point to him. And, if he did, that means he must have been the one blackmailing Donata about her past in the first place."

"Which is completely ridiculous. You've seen Felix. He knows nothing about fashion. There's no way he'd know about a seventies male model."

"He works at a newspaper. He has all kinds of access."

I bit my lip. "True," I said slowly. "But what would tip him off? I mean, it isn't the type of thing that you'd go looking for unless you knew it was there."

"What about his aunt? You said she never misses Fashion Week. I'm sure she knows all the designers and models. Maybe he saw some old fashion magazines of hers. Maybe she said something that had him putting two and two together."

I felt my brow pucker. "I don't know, Dana. I mean, it's Felix."

Dana gave me a look. "Right. And how much do you really know about this guy?"

I stabbed at a bite of waffle. She had a point. He'd kept a peerage secret and hid his relationship with a murdered model. I suppose it was possible that he had other skeletons lurking in his closet.

"Maddie, don't let one little kiss cloud your judgment."

My head snapped up. "I am not-"

But she shot me down with the "get real" look again.

I shut my mouth. "Fine. Finish your grapefruit," I said. "We'll go visit Auntie Charlene."

Chapter Fifteen

I finished my waffle, then picked up my crutches and headed down to the front desk, Dana in tow. Back at the castle, Charlene had mentioned that she was coming back into Paris to attend a show today. I crossed my fingers she'd come back to the same hotel.

Pierre, aka Andres, was on duty as I approached. He ducked behind the counter as soon as he saw me.

I looked at Dana, then shrugged. I stood on tippy-toe and peeked my head over the counter.

"Uh, Pie- I mean, Andres?"

"Is she with you?" he whispered, crouching on the ground.

"Who?"

"The loud one. Mademoiselle Rosenblatt?"

I shook my head. "Nope."

He did an audible sigh of relief, then stood up, brushing invisible lint off his jacket. "Thank the gods."

"I take it the date did not go well?"

He shook his head. "That woman, she is... how do you say... too much to handle. All she want to do is kiss me. I am not machine. I am man, with feelings!"

I tried to hide the grin tugging at my lips. "I see. Uh, listen, I was wondering if you could check if someone is a guest here. Charlene..." I paused, trying to recall Auntie's last name. "Fellows?" I finished.

"Oui, I will check. Uh, you have not seen the Mademoiselle Rosenblatt today?" he asked, still warily glancing over my shoulder as if she might appear from behind one of the decorative white, marble columns.

"No, I haven't." Which, now that I thought about it, was odd. Surely news of my arrest must have reached Mom. I'd honestly expected her to come bursting into my room with a rib-crusher hug last night, demanding to know what had happened to "her baby". Suddenly I felt a little neglected.

"Ah," Pierre said, his fingers flying over his keyboard. "We have one Mademoiselle Charlene Dunn, checked in last night. You wish to call her room,
oui
?" he asked.

I nodded. "Please."

Pierre pulled a phone out from behind the desk and set it on the counter, dialing the room number. He handed the receiver to me just as it was starting to ring.

On the third one Charlene's voice came through.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Charlene. It's Maddie Springer," I told her.

There a slight pause on the other end. "Yes? What can I do for you, Maddie?"

"I was wondering if I could come up and talk to you for a moment?"

Again with the pause. "Well, I was just on my way out. I'm due at the Hermes show today."

"Please," I said, appealing to that famous British etiquette. "I'll just be a moment. It's about Felix."

"Oh." I heard her breathe deeply into the receiver. "Alright, I supposed I could spare a moment. I'll meet you in the lobby."

"Thank you."

I hung up, handing the phone back to Pierre.

"Thank you, Pierre," I said. Then looked down at his nametag. "Sorry, I mean, Andres."

He shrugged. "As long as you keep the Rosenblatt away from me, you may call me anything you like.

* * *

Dana and I settled into a pair of cream colored chairs situated around a dark, cherry end table in the lobby to wait for Auntie Charlene.

"This is ridiculous," I said. "There is no way Felix killed two women. It just isn't like him."

"Maddie, just because he's a good kisser-"

"I never said he was good!"

Dana shot me a look. "You didn't have to. You blush like a virgin every time I mention it."

Dammit if I didn't feel my cheeks go red. I crossed my arms over my chest, trying my best to hang onto some shred of dignity.

"And your point?" I said.

"My point is let's talk to his Auntie."

I didn't respond. Mostly because I knew she was right. Not about the kissing thing, but about the possibility that Felix could have a hand in this. Not that I actually thought he'd kill two women. Even a slug like Felix had his limits. But that maybe, somehow, he was inadvertently mixed up in all this.

We didn't have to wait long, as a few minutes later Charlene stepped off the elevator, dressed in a light, cream colored pantsuit, a soft peach blouse underneath. A tiny frown of concern etched her features, settling between her pale blue eyes. "Sorry, to keep you waiting," she said, her lightly accented voice as evenly modulated as ever.

"No problem. Charlene, this is my friend, Dana. Dana, Felix's Aunt Charlene."

Dana raised an eyebrow at me. Then leaned in and whispered, "This is dear 'old' Auntie?"

No kidding.

"Hello, lovely to meet you." Charlene extended a hand in Dana's direction.

She shook it as Charlene perched straight backed on the edge of an armchair facing us.

"So, what is it I can do for you today, Maddie?" Charlene asked.

"I wanted to ask you about Felix."

"So you said on the telephone."

"Specifically..." I looked to Dana, not sure how to broach the subject in the face of Charlene's very prim and proper demeanor.

Dana rolled her eyes at me. "We were wondering if he's shown any special interest in fashion lately?"

Charlene raised one perfectly plucked eyebrow. "I think everyone in Paris has this week, don't you?"

"I mean, maybe less recently than that. In the last few months," I said, thinking back to when Angelica said Gisella had signed on at Donata's agency.

The little frown lines deepened and I steeled myself against warning her that she was going to have to Botox that out if she kept it up.

"I'm not really sure I know what you're getting at. As I'm sure you know, Felix doesn't really, uh, dress to trends," she said. A kind way to describe his fashion sense.

"Let me ask you something else," I decided. "Have you ever heard of the model Donatello Gardini?"

"Yes."

I sat up straighter, suddenly on high alert. "You have?"

Charlene nodded slowly. "He was quite well known in Europe in the seventies. One of the first male models to catch the public's attention, I believe. Though, I'll admit, it's not a name I've heard much talk about."

"You haven't?" I shot Dana an I-told-you-so look.

"No, as you'd expect he's long gone from the scene, by now."

"So, no one has, say, been asking you questions about him?" Dana asked.

She shook her. Then gave a small smile. "Just you."

"Not, say, Felix?" Dana pressed.

She cocked her head to the side, blonde hair falling over one shoulder. "No," she said slowly. "Why would he?"

Dana shrugged. "Well... I thought perhaps he might be an... acquaintance of Felix's."

"Not as far as I know. Donatello has been long gone from the fashion scene. You have to remember, this was before anyone really paid attention to male models. From what I understand, he was hot for a season or two, then faded into relative obscurity."

Or so
Donata
would have liked people to believe.

"So, you don't happen to have any of his magazines or photos do you?"

"But, of course."

Dana nudged me in the ribs and shot me an I-told-you-so look of her own. "You do?"

She shrugged. "I'll admit, I'm a bit of a fashion groupie. I've got back issues of
Vogue
since 1963. Donatello is in quite a few of the early issues."

"Where are these magazines?" I asked.

"Back at the castle. I'm sorry, I really don't understand what this has to do with anything," Charlene said, standing up. "And, I don't mean to be rude, but I really must be going or I'll be late for the Hermes show."

"Of course," I said, gathering my crutches and rising. "I don't want to take up any more of your time. Thanks so much."

Once she had crossed the lobby, her backside swaying Marilyn Monroe-esque in her tight skirt, Dana rounded on me. "See! I told you Felix knew about Donatello!"

I shook my head. "Just because his aunt has fashion magazines with the guy's picture in them doesn't mean Felix was blackmailing Donata."

"No, but he
could
have been."

I bit my lip. "Okay, fine. He
could
have been." I paused. "But you heard what Charlene said. If Donatello was really such a big deal way back when, anyone with some time on their hands could have dug up those old pictures. And any one of the people on our suspects list knows more about fashion and the industry than Felix."

Dana let out a long sigh. "Yeah. You're right. Which I guess brings us back to square one." She looked down at her watch. "Listen, I have to get down to the tents for my final fitting. I'll see you there later?"

I nodded. "I told Jean Luc I'd be in at three."

Dana and I split, her catching a cab and me heading for the elevators back up to my room. I stopped at Mom and Mrs. Rosenblatt's first, but no one was in. I was beginning to wonder about those two. I briefly contemplated calling Mom's cell, but I knew that meant explaining the whole arrest thing and honestly, I just didn't have the energy for that at the moment.

Instead, I walked across the hall to my own room, threw open the door, and lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

I closed my eyes.

Obviously Gisella was the key to all this. Why had she been killed in the first place? She had taken an awful risk stealing so many jewels this week. And Jean Luc had been in a tizzy about the necklace. Sooner or later, he would have realized it was stolen. Sooner or later one of the designers would have called the police in. Considering this, it had been especially bold of Gisella to wear it out to a party the night before pocketing it.

The party. Had that been the catalyst? Had the killer seen her wearing it and realized she was getting too reckless?

So, who'd been at the party?

Felix, of course, I reluctantly admitted. Angelica. Ryan. Donata, though by her current deceased status, she obviously wasn't the killer.

I went over the conversation that I'd had with Felix about Gisella and his last night with her. I'd been a little preoccupied with Ramirez walking into the room at the time, but something had bugged me about Felix's story even then. Felix had readily admitted to arguing with Gisella, but he'd sworn he hadn't slept with her. And, oddly enough, I was inclined to believe him. (And no,
not
because he was a good kisser. Not that I was even admitting that he was. He wasn't. At least, not
that
good.) What reason would he have to lie about it now? So, unless Angelica was making things up, someone else had been in Gisella's room before Felix.

I got up and grabbed my purse, rummaging around until I found the camera and the list of names I'd pulled from it. I turned the camera on, hoping that maybe the files would have miraculously reappeared. Not such luck. I hit a few buttons and pulled up a couple of beautiful pictures Gisella had taken of the Eiffel Tower that made me sigh with envy, but no video files. I mentally thunked my head against the wall. The best evidence we'd had of her accomplice and I'd erased it. Some days, I swore I really was blonde.

In lieu of actual video, I pulled out the list of file names I'd written down. Had one of these guys been the Mystery Man in her room that night? What if he was her partner? They'd had sex, he'd left, then told her to meet him at the tents early that morning. Where he'd killed her.

Rocco. Marcel. Charlie. Roberto. Ryan.

I'd already met Ryan. And while he wasn't totally cleared as a suspect, the way Gisella had dumped him for Felix didn't speak of a continuing criminal partnership to me. Angelica had said Rocco was a one night stand and Roberto was in New York. Both unlikely candidates. That left Marcel and Charlie.

I took my list and went downstairs to the business center and booted up a computer. Going on the assumption that Gisella's partner in crime had ties to the fashion industry, I figured I would see what I could dig up on the two names. I had to admit, I felt slightly awkward at the unfamiliar terminal. I wished Mom and Mrs. R were around to do this for me, as I tried to punch in Google keywords to narrow my search.

An hour later I was cross-eyed from reading tiny print on the screen and not a whole lot closer to finding Gisella's last lover.

There were more Charlie's in fashion than I could count - a handful of young, beautiful models as well as three designers who were showing at Fashion Week and countless booking agents. And those were just the ones I found. I set that name aside and tried Marcel instead.

That list was considerably smaller and, once I whittled it down to only those currently in Paris for Fashion Week, I had three Marcels to choose from. A makeup artist (who I dismissed as soon as I read that he was seen at a party with his boyfriend the night before), a style reporter for the TV entertainment show
Paris Spectacle
and a male model currently living just outside the city.

I found
Paris Spectacle
's webpage and, after calling up the site directory, a contact page listing the telephone number of a Marcel Dubois, Style Reporter.

I slipped my cell out and dialed, waiting while it rang on the other end. Finally, five rings into it, a man picked up.

"
Bon jour, ce Dubois
?" he answered.

"Uh, English?" I asked, crossing my fingers.

"Oui, how may I help you?"

I did a sigh of relief. "Hi, my name is Maddie Springer and I'm a-"

But I didn't get any further as I heard him suck in a quick breath. "The Couture Killer?"

I gritted my teeth. I was really beginning to hate that nickname.

"Yes. I mean, no, I'm not a killer but, yes, that's what the press is currently calling me." I paused.

"You prefer to be called something else?" he asked.

I rolled my eyes. "I prefer not to be called anything! I didn't do it."

"No, no, of course not," he said, his voice laced with a Spanish accent. "So, you are denying the current allegations?" he asked, and I could here him scrambling for a pen and paper in the background.

I bit my lip. Obviously Marcel thought I was calling him for an exclusive. But, for the moment, I decided to play along.

"Yes, I am denying them. I had nothing to do with Gisella's death. Or Donata's," I added as an afterthought. "I've been..." I cringed, borrowing a phrase from Mrs. Rosenblatt said, "Set up."