Beauty & The Beast (Book 1)

29. Daphne

The art opening was even more of a draw with the news of Nicholas's death. Tess, Cat and Evan were looking at the guests, standing at the bar.
"Fancy crowd, not your usual money laundering suspects," Cat muses.
A tall blonde with a short dress passes them, reeking of expensive everything.

"Just think, Brooke could have out you in that for the wedding," Tess jokes.

"I wouldn't mind it," Evan says, still staring after the woman with a lazy smile.

"Evan, focus," Cat scolds with a laugh. "You're supposed to be mingling." Evan sheepishly rolls his eyes and pushes off the bar to do just that.

"Alright, so we know how the money gets cleaned, let's figure out why it's dirty." Tess and Cat split up.

*

Tess is standing next to a horrible, vomit inducing lime painting, trying to figure out what it is supposed to represent, and feeling that she's had enough lime colored anything to last her a lifetime.

A bald man in his mid forties comes to stand next to her. He clears his throat. "How tall are you? Six feet in those heels?"

Tess glances at him and back at the painting. He is busy looking at her legs. She was a tall woman there wasn't denying that. "Six one, but who's counting?" She looks at him again. "Well, I guess you are," she quips and he immediately starts laughing.

He opens the brochure in his hand. "Fifteen grand." He looks Tess up and down again. "And I bet it's worth every penny." He starts to smile creepily, bopping out of sync with the music, eyeing her.

Tess blinks at him, suddenly very uncomfortable, then at the painting and back to him winking.
That's when she figures out what he is suggesting and rushes off to find Cat.

Cat has her head angled sideways, looking at the man who had just basically offered money for her...
services?
Before she could tell him she wasn't part of the auction, her arm is grabbed from behind.

"Hey," Tess says and pulls her along to where Evan is standing next a sculpture. "It's not art fraud."

Evan nods. "I just got propositioned," he's also figured it out.

Cat sighs. "That's because they're not paying for the paintings." The man flirting with her made a lot more sense. She should have knocked him out.

"They're paying for the women," Evan says.

"So Marco's no gallery owner, he's a pimp," Tess scoffs.

"Now we know why Nicholas knocked off so many of the same paintings and why clients pay so much for them." Cat shakes her head. "Pay a few hundred bucks for a painting and a woman comes home with you. Makes it harder for the authorities to follow."

"Do you think Nicholas knew his art was being used as a front for prostitution?" Tess asks.

"If he did, maybe he was upset, he confronted Marco and things didn't go so well."

Evan rejoined them, having left a few minutes ago to answer his phone. "Ballistics just came in. The gun that killed Nicholas was a Ladysmith." A small handgun used by women mostly for protection?

"Sexy suspects, filthy dons, the press is gonna have a field day with this," Tess jokes.

"I have to admit, this is the best looking room of suspects I've ever seen," Evan grins.

Tess snorts. "Great, then you'll have a good time sussing out if any of them are carrying."

"And if any of them were in a relationship with Nicholas." Cat looks around the place and sees Lauren, the hostess from earlier in the day, who it turns out was actually the curator. "Think she's in on it?"