Christmas Family Style in Savannah: A Garlucci Family Saga Novel (Made in Savannah Mystery Series Bo by Hope Callaghan (summer reading list txt) 📕

“The cops already have that information,” Elvira said. “I drove by the river on my way here and noticed the cops searching Pete’s ship.”

While Elvira talked, Carlita pulled up the pictures from the party and sent them to her. “I sent you the pictures.”

Elvira began humming under her breath. “Got them. Geez. You made them giganotosaurus.”

“Sorry.”

“I can fix it.” She continued humming as she tapped the keys. “All right. I have them assembled. You want to have a looky-loo?”

Dernice and Carlita gathered behind Elvira and studied the screen. The first few pictures were of Carlita’s grandchildren with Santa.

“Who was Santa?” Elvira asked.

“Mark Fox.”

“I thought I recognized Glenda’s nasally voice when Mrs. Claus spoke.” Elvira chuckled. “Man, I am good.”

“Good at what? Being judgmental?” Carlita couldn’t stop herself, and Elvira swung around. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re not nice sometimes,” Dernice answered. “Maybe people think you have a nasal voice too.”

“I didn’t say it to her face, at least not that I can remember.” Elvira clicked through the rest of the children’s pictures. She stopped when she reached the ones of Cool Bones and the Jazz Boys.

“Do you see something?” Carlita asked.

“No. I was thinking about how gorgeous Cool Bones is. Do you think he still has the portrait I painted of him hanging above his fireplace?”

“Maybe you should find out,” Carlita teased.

“Yeah, maybe I should.” Elvira slowly clicked through the pictures Carlita had taken of the guests on the dance floor. There were several photos taken from different angles of Mercedes and Sam dancing, Santa and Mrs. Claus, Gina and Paulie.

“That’s it.” Elvira clicked away. “That’s all of them.”

“Go back,” Dernice said. “I think I might have noticed something.”

Chapter 12

“Go back to which picture?” Elvira asked.

“I’ll let you know when to stop.” Dernice grew quiet as Elvira pulled up the pictures again.

“There.”

Carlita leaned in. It was a shot of the edge of the dance floor and the refreshment table, which was right next to Santa’s chair…Santa’s empty chair.

“I see Santa heading up the stairs,” Elvira said.

“Right toward the back of the ship where Roxy was being kept,” Carlita squinted her eyes. “I wonder if Roxy was still back there at the time.”

“She had to have been, right?” Elvira said.

“No.” Dernice shook her head. “The fireworks started after the ship turned around. Check the time stamp on your cell phone, Carlita.”

Carlita scrolled through the pictures until she found the one of Santa heading up the stairs. “I took this at ten ‘til ten.”

Elvira slid out of her chair and wandered to the window. “Roxy’s been detained in the bathroom. The party resumes. The ship reaches the turnaround point. Instead of us following the hippopotamus boat, the boat that recovered Roxy’s body is now following us.”

“What if Santa’s the culprit?” Dernice asked.

“Mark Fox?” Elvira looked skeptical. “It’s possible, but what’s his motive?”

“I don’t think it was Mark Fox,” Carlita shook her head. “He spent most of the evening with the children.”

“Leave no stone unturned,” Dernice said. “He witnessed the incident on the deck. I’m sure he, along with everyone else, watched Pete escort Roxy to the back of the ship. He had to have known she was back there. I would think he would want to avoid the area.”

“True. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to ask Glenda to ask him if he noticed anything when he went up there.” Carlita dialed Glenda’s cell phone. She left a message when she didn’t answer, asking her to return the call.

She ended the call and discovered she had a new text message. It was from Pete, and there was an attachment. “Pete sent me a copy of the guest list.”

“Great.” Elvira rubbed her hands together. “Now we’re getting somewhere. Someone on board that ship stabbed Roxy and contributed to her death. The quicker we can start narrowing down the list of suspects, the better.”

“We might as well get the ball rolling and assemble a list of potential suspects.” Dernice grabbed a yellow pad and pen off the desk. “I’m putting Santa at the top of the list. I know what you said, but he’s the first person we have actual footage of who was headed in that direction after Roxy was locked up.”

“Unfortunately, you’re going to have to add Luigi and Ricco to the list,” Carlita said.

“Yep.” Dernice jotted their names under Santa’s. “And Mercedes. She popped Roxy in the jaw, which put everything leading up to Roxy’s death into motion. Pete is going on the list too.”

“Ricco didn’t care for Roxy,” Carlita said. “Wouldn’t that be something if he saw this as his opportunity to get rid of her and have his former co-worker, Luigi, take the rap?”

Now that Carlita really thought about it, it would be the perfect setup, with dozens of witnesses. Even though Ricco had jumped in to help Luigi, it could have been all for show. She remembered a comment Ricco had made to Roxy right after they arrived the previous day. It was some sort of slur.

“Ricco called Roxy a zips,” Carlita said. “Mercedes told me it’s some sort of insult.”

“Zips.” Elvira tapped the keyboard. “I found it. Italian Americans and Sicilian Americans use zips as a slur when referencing newer immigrant Mafiosi.”

Dernice drew an arrow on the sheet. “I’m moving Ricco to the top of the suspect list.”

Carlita’s cell phone rang. It was Glenda Fox, returning her call.

“Wait.” Elvira held out a hand. “Don’t tell her we saw Santa heading up the stairs. I want to see if she mentions it.”

“Right.” Carlita answered the call. “Hi, Glenda. Thank you for calling me back. I’m gonna put you on speaker so Elvira and Dernice can hear.” She tapped the button and continued speaking. “I’m sorry to bother