Death on the Bella Constance (A Jesse Watson Mystery Series Book 6) by Ann Mullen

and
slipped on the knee-highs. Then I slipped on the strapped stilettos, stood up,
and walked around. The shoes felt very comfortable.
    “I love them,” I said, looking at Billy and back to the
salesgirl. “By the way, what’s your name?”
    “I’m Jen. I think I might have told you earlier, but you only
had eyes for your husband and that dress.”
    “We’ll take it,” Billy announced. “And the shoes. Doesn’t she
need a small dinner purse?”
    “I’ll be right back.” She turned and disappeared.
    “Mr. Big Spender! These shoes are three hundred dollars. I
can just imagine what the price of the purse will cost.”
    “You should have what you want.”
    “I do, Billy. I have you.”
    He leaned down and kissed me lightly on the lips. He reached
into the pocket of his pants and pulled out his wallet. He looked through the
wallet, pulled out his Visa Card, and then handed it to me.
    I leaned close to him and whispered, “I would never, ever pay
this much for clothes if we didn’t have that cash back in the safe. I want you
to know that.”
    “I do, `ge ya.”
    Jen returned with a silver clutch purse.
    “I don’t even want to know what the purse costs. We’ll take
it all,” I said, handing her the credit card. “Let me go take off this dress
and these shoes. I’ll be right back.” When I returned and handed her the
merchandise, the transaction had been completed. Billy had already signed on
the dotted line.
    “I’ll have these boxed up in a second,” Jen said.
    Five minutes later, we were leaving the store with a mighty
expensive dinner outfit.
    “I still can’t believe we paid so much for that dress.”
    “Wait until you find out what the purse cost.”
    “Oh, I never even looked. How much was it?”
    “Let’s just say that we could’ve bought a good used car for
what’s in that shopping bag.” I started to open the bag to have a look at the
prices, but Billy stopped me.
    “Look later. I don’t want you to worry about the money.”
    “I’ve never been this frivolous.”
    “You are on vacation, your majesty. You deserve the best and
I’m going to give it to you as long as I can.”
    “That won’t be long, if we keep this up. I say we go find a
new tux for you.”
    “That’s not a bad idea. I must be handsomely dressed, too, or
I will embarrass you.”
    “That will never happen!”
    We turned, started walking, and immediately noticed a men’s
shop right next door. Of course, not to be left out, the shop was named,
Loukas’ Shop for Men.
    “I should’ve known,” I said, chuckling.
    We spent fifteen minutes in the clothing store. Billy picked
out a fine-looking tux. It fit perfectly, and the pants didn’t even have to be
hemmed. It was as if the tux had been hanging there, waiting for him to come
along, and I told him so. That was all he needed. He already had a pair of shoes
he could wear, and he didn’t need a purse, so we were in and out faster than
one can try on an evening gown. Men shop quicker than women do. We agreed to
take our packages back to our stateroom and then maybe go for a dip in the pool
before dinner, but once we got back to the room that was put on hold
temporarily. Someone had entered our room while we were gone and had set up a
folding divider, normally used for dressing and undressing, in front of the
desk with all the electronic equipment.
    “That was a good idea,” Billy said as he closed the door and
then put his package on the bed. “That way nobody can see our little spy
operation in case we have a visitor.”
    “I’m uncomfortable with people coming and going in our room.
I want my privacy. This has to stop. Why couldn’t they wait until we had
returned?”
    “I will call Loukas.”
    “No.” I held up my hand. “Don’t do that. I don’t want to
offend them. I might bring it up in private when I see Bella. I don’t want to
make a big deal of it.” I sat my packages on the bed, and walked over to the
dressing screen.
    An hour later,