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

Mercedes’ head snapped up. “You’re paying for Dernice to get her hair done?”

“It’s my Christmas present to her. She’s put up with a lot and helped get Luigi a job. Besides, it’s the season to do nice things, and I want to do something nice for her.” Carlita promised to contact her first thing in the morning to give her the credit card information while Mercedes sent Dernice the salon’s address.

Carlita returned home where it was quiet, and the only light was from the small lamp near the front door. She could hear soft voices coming from Mercedes’ bedroom. She thought about calling it a day but decided to go out on the balcony to get some fresh air to clear her head.

Could Luigi be responsible for Roxy’s death? What if Ricco was involved too? And what had happened to Jersey Joe? Carlita leaned her elbows on the railing and stared out toward the street.

It could be that Joe Mariani was spying on them, watching their every move. Even Elvira had commented about feeling like they were being watched the other night.

What if Jersey Joe had reached the same conclusion as Carlita – that Luigi may have been involved in Roxy’s death? The “family” had their own way of meting out justice. For all she knew, Luigi could have already been exterminated, and his body taken to a remote location never to be found.

If Vito was as attached to Roxy as everyone said, justice “family style” would be a terrible way to go. Not that being stabbed and going over the side of a ship was much better.

Carlita wandered back inside to her computer and pulled up the pictures from the party. She went over them one by one, looking for something, anything that would stand out as a clue.

There were servers and Pete’s employees in some of the pictures. A few of the faces looked vaguely familiar.

The pictures of her grandchildren with Santa were some of Carlita’s favorites. Perhaps when she had more time, she would print copies, frame them and then send them to their parents.

The fireworks had been spectacular and were the highlight of the evening. The picture of Cool Bones and the Jazz Boys was good enough to put in advertisements. She couldn’t have planned the picture any better if she’d tried.

She flipped back to an earlier picture of the band, taken when they first started playing. Something looked different. She flipped to the fireworks shot again, and then she saw it.

Carlita checked the time. It was late. Cool Bones would be wrapping up his last set at the Thirsty Crow. She remembered the pictures from earlier in the evening, the ones she’d taken of the Christmas parade…Reese, the dancing elf, the Thirsty Crow’s float with Cool Bones’ band on board and noticed the same discrepancy.

“What if this means something?” Carlita muttered under her breath. She didn’t notice her eldest son quietly making his way into the dining room.

“What means something?” Vinnie asked.

“This. Pull up a chair.” Carlita waited for her son to join her. She showed him the first picture of Cool Bones and his band. “How many band members do you see?”

“Four.”

Then Carlita showed him the picture she took during the firework display. “Now look at this picture. How many band members do you see?”

“Three.”

“Right, and this picture was taken right around the time Roxy would’ve gone missing.” Carlita could barely contain herself. “Think about it. Roxy was locked up before we reached the end of the parade route and turned around.”

“She was,” Vinnie agreed.

“The fireworks started after we turned around and headed back to Merry Bay.”

“Correct again.”

“Which is when the hippopotamus float started following us and not the other way around.”

“Yes, but just think, Roxy could have gone over before the parade ended and we turned back around,” Vinnie pointed out. “Maybe she wasn’t spotted until the return trip.”

“It’s possible, but let’s stick with my theory. So while the fireworks are going off, and everyone is distracted, and the band is playing, Roxy’s attacker went back there to confront her. There is so much going on, so much noise, there’s a good chance we wouldn’t have heard anything,” Carlita said. “One of Cool Bones’ band members is missing. Why would you miss the fireworks? Why would you not be playing with the others?”

“They had to use the john?” Vinnie shrugged.

Carlita turned her attention to her computer. She opened a new search screen and typed in “Cool Bones and the Jazz Boys, Savannah, Georgia.”

Their website popped up, and she clicked on the picture. A brief description was in small print just below the caption. She slid her reading glasses on, began rattling off the names of the members of Cool Bones’ band, and nearly fell out of her chair.

Chapter 22

“Lee Strange,” Carlita whispered the man’s name. “Do you think it’s possible when Roxy told you someone looked familiar, that instead of saying you wouldn’t know him and he was a stranger, she actually said his last name?”

“Maybe. I can’t recall exactly how she said it, just that I wouldn’t know him.”

“Him,” Carlita repeated. “Are you sure she said ‘him?’”

“I’m not sure of anything at this point.”

Carlita compared the band’s professional photo to the one from the fireworks. Lee Strange was missing from the photo, and she pointed it out. “Do you think this is a coincidence? We need to find out more about Cool Bones’ band.”

“Maybe if you click on the ‘about us’ button near the top, you can find out more,” Vinnie teased.

“Smart aleck.” Carlita clicked the button.

The intro gave the date the band was formed, plus a brief description of the band members, including the instrument they each played. A list