No one was expecting a dead body at a charity event. Especially not Patricia Lynn, who almost tripped over it on the way to the bathroom. On the dance floor, many rich and influential aristocrats danced to one of the finest string quartets in California. Though, when they heard the shrill scream of Mrs. Lynn; everyone's night of fun and enjoyment was over.
Many people rushed to the sound of the scream, each stopping once they saw the dead girl. It took a minute for someone to call 911, but everyone was thinking the same thing. Who was she?
Juliet O'Hara was enjoying a bowl of popcorn with her boyfriend Shawn Spencer. They were watching a movie, For Your Eyes Only. There was a beep, and Juliet answered her
cell, "O'Hara."
"O'Hara, I really hope I interrupted something between you and Spencer" She heard Carlton Lassiter say.
"Haha" Juliet mocked, "What's up?"
"Dead body found at the Overgate Hotel downtown, signs of foul play. Ditch Spencer and get over here ASAP."
"I don't think that's possible." Juliet replied, glancing at Shawn who was looking at her intently. Nevertheless, she added, "I'll be there in fifteen minutes."
"So where are we going?" Shawn asked as Juliet hung up and stood up off the couch.
Juliet put on her jacket and pocketed her police badge. "Shawn, Lassiter doesn't want you to come. Maybe you should just stay home."
Shawn scoffed, "Since when have we ever listened to Lassie? Come on Jules, just let me tag along."
Juliet sighed, knowing that her boyfriend wasn't going to give up. "Fine. Come on."
"Awesome."
Shawn quickly ran up the stairs to grab his jacket and shoes, when something caught his eye on Juliet's desk: Bride's Magazine. Shawn's started to panic, he and Juliet had discussed it a while ago; but he wasn't ready for marriage yet. A year ago, Shawn was freaking out when he accidentally called Juliet and told her he wanted to move in.
"Shawn?" He heard Juliet's voice from downstairs, "You coming?"
"Yeah! One minute sweetie!" Shawn quickly pushed the Bridal magazine from his mind, and grabbed the jacket and his shoes.
On the car ride to the crime scene, Shawn sent a text to Gus to meet him at the hotel. It was eleven o'clock, and normally Gus would be in bed. He would just have to hop out of bed and meet him at the crime scene, possibly wearing his fireman pajamas.
When Shawn and Juliet walked into the lobby of the Overgate Hotel, they were greeted by the usual cheeriness of Carlton Lassiter.
"O'Hara? I told you to leave your boyfriend at home!"
"Sorry Lassie," Shawn replied with his usual amount of snarkiness, "I just couldn't wait to see another dead body. Neither could Gus." Who was walking into the Lobby at that moment, looking like he had just woken from the dead.
They walked to the back of the lobby, and down a hallway where the body was. Dressed in a sleeveless red dress and dark hair tumbled across the floor, a young woman lay with red marks around her neck.
"According to the ID in her clutch, the victim is Fiona Campbell. 27 years of age, and born in Jonesboro, Arkansas." Lassiter explained, "According to the manager, she was most likely attending the Golden Smiles Charity Ball."
Shawn did a once over of the body, his eyes gravitated towards her nails, painted a violet color, and were chipped.
"Lassie. Something tells me that this girl wasn't upscale." Shawn interjected "She was here for a different reason, other than to give money to poor people."
"What makes you think that?" Lassie asked.
Shawn smirked and put a finger to his temple.
"Well, then, let's go and see what Miss Campbell was doing at this event." Juliet said, as the coroners lifted the body onto the stretcher and wheeled it away.
"Ok." Lassiter announced, "I want every person at the Dance to come down to the Station for questioning.
Juliet drove to the station alone, mainly because Shawn and Gus went to go get pancakes before heading over to watch interrogations. The station was rarely crowded, as many of the officers went home hours ago. But, she couldn't help but release an exhausted sigh when she saw how many witnesses Carlton had brought over.
Juliet sat through hours of questioning, very few had seen the victim. The only person who had actually talked to her was Brenden Michaels.
"I thought she was hot, and my girlfriend was out of town." He had said, "but we only danced once. She mentioned that her parents had donated to the charity fund. That was at about eight. I didn't see her for the rest of the night."
The final witness they talked to was the event planner, Jillian Micheals.
"There isn't anyone named Fiona Campbell on the invite list." Jillian said, "Unless she was someones date."
"How easy would it be for someone to crash the party?" Juliet asked.
"We had someone stand at the door for the first half of the event. To check the invites. After that, anyone could've walked right in."
It was almost three in the morning when Carlton and Juliet had finished with all the witnesses. Shawn and Gus had arrived about halfway through, and joined Juliet while she read through the statements.
" It looks like no one knew who she was." Juliet confirmed, "Why would someone crash a charity event?"
"Maybe they wanted those little hot dogs on the sticks." Shawn offered, leaning back and putting his feet on Lassiter's desk.
"Or wanted to rub elbows with the rich" Gus suggested.
"Carlton called the girl's parent's. They said they hadn't seen Fiona in a year, and definitely didn't donate any money to Golden Smiles Charity." Juliet noted, "They're flying over now."
"I guess we won't get any information until Woody comes tomorrow to do the autopsy." Juliet said, "We should all go home."
"Thank you!" Gus exclaimed, afterwards letting out a giant yawn.
"Let's meetup here at around eight AM." Juliet said, "That gives us about, five hours."
"I guess five hours is better than zero." Shawn said, putting his arm around Juliet's shoulder as they all walked out, leaving Carlton to do all of the paperwork.