Pernod was indeed Brandy's pride and joy.
The border collie, so full of life and spry as a puppy, had turned into a constant companion by the time Brandy was a senior in high school. The two were often inseparable, except when Brandy had to leave Sweetberry Grove twice a year for boarding school in Finland.
But when she was home, Pernod rarely left her side.
Except, too, when Brandy sneaked out of the house.
Which was often.
Because Brandy had a secret.
A big secret.
Pernod wasn't just the name of her beloved pooch, it was also a code name for her secret lover. A lover she had had since she was a mere sixteen years of age.
That, incidentally, was also the year that Ginny stepped into her life and ruined everything. So it was only natural for her to seek comfort in warm, loving, and generous arms.
The arms of...
...Yvette Altelier.
So when Benedict E. Nelson had raged into Yvette Altelier's office demanding this and that and having his primadonna hissy fit, Yvette was mad. Pissed, actually. But she was also scared. Shaking in her 4-inch Jimmy Choos.
Yvette couldn't help thinking that handsome, clueless lawyer was going to ruin her carefully-balanced life: good social position, prominent law practice, and Brandy. Damn him! In her experience, good-looking men were all the same: always putting their nose - among other body parts - where it didn't belong.
And this was all happening because Brandy's father, Gordon, had to go and get himself killed. If he'd been less of a hard-nosed, unfeeling businessman, he might have developed fewer enemies and no one would be in this predicament. Yvette was really seething now.
Of course, she reminded herself, if Gordon had been a nicer person she never would have been able to get so close to Brandy. Beautiful, outspoken, petulant, and overly-emotional Brandy. Yvette's blood pressure started to drop precipitously as she thought of her dear, sweet Brandy.
Then she sighed. Not a sigh of love, but a sigh of resignation.
She was going to have to find a solution to this whole mess, and fast. It wasn't something she could simply solve in the courtroom, no matter how many times she terrified Benedict E. Nelson.
The only way to solve this once and for all, she thought, was to look up that nosy girl who always seemed to be one step ahead of the police.
"Trixie!" Yvette called to her assistant. "Get me Anise Starr on the phone right now!"
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