Makeup and Murder

The lights of the makeup studio burned brighter than the city outside.Every mirror was framed with glowing bulbs. Every countertop was covered with expensive palettes, sparkling brushes, lipsticks, foundations, and tiny glass bottles of perfume.And in the center of it all sat Victoria Vale.She was beautiful.Or, at least, she had been.Victoria was the most famous makeup artist in the city. Celebrities traveled across the country just to sit in her chair. Her tutorials received millions of views, and her signature lipstick shade—Blood Rose—had sold out within minutes of its release.People often said Victoria could make anyone beautiful.But beauty had always come at a price.Tonight, Victoria was preparing for the launch of her newest makeup collection.She leaned toward the mirror and carefully applied a deep crimson lipstick."Perfect," she whispered.Behind her, someone entered the studio.Victoria saw the reflection in the mirror."You're late."No answer.Victoria frowned."I said you're late."The figure stepped closer.Victoria slowly turned around."What are you doing here?"The studio lights flickered.Then everything went dark.---The next morning, Victoria's assistant, Lily, unlocked the studio."Victoria?"Silence.She stepped inside.Her eyes immediately went to the makeup chair.Victoria was sitting perfectly upright.Her hair was immaculate.Her face was flawlessly made up.Her crimson lipstick was perfectly applied.For one terrifying second, Lily thought Victoria was simply sleeping.Then she noticed the blood.A thin red line ran from the corner of Victoria's mouth down her neck.Lily screamed.---Detective Mara Quinn arrived twenty minutes later.She stood in the doorway, studying the scene."No forced entry," she said.The forensic investigator nodded."Nothing obvious."Mara walked toward the makeup table.Dozens of products were arranged neatly across it.Foundation.Concealer.Powder.Blush.Mascara.Lipstick.She picked up the lipstick Victoria had been wearing."Blood Rose?"Lily nodded nervously."Her favorite."Mara examined it."Who had access to this studio?""Victoria's employees. Her models. Her business partner. Her boyfriend.""Anyone else?"Lily hesitated."Victoria had a lot of enemies."Mara raised an eyebrow."Why?"Lily looked toward the dead woman's reflection."Because Victoria wasn't very good at keeping secrets."---By noon, Mara had a list of suspects.There was Diana Cross, Victoria's former business partner, who claimed Victoria had stolen her makeup formulas.There was Ethan Vale, Victoria's estranged brother, who stood to inherit her company.There was Marcus Reed, Victoria's boyfriend, who had reportedly argued with her the previous evening.And then there was Lily.Victoria's assistant.The person who knew everything.Mara brought each suspect into the studio.She watched their faces carefully.People lied with their mouths.But their faces often told the truth.Diana cried.Ethan became angry.Marcus insisted he was innocent.Lily barely spoke.That bothered Mara most.---That evening, Mara returned to the studio alone.Something had been bothering her.She stood before Victoria's makeup table.One by one, she examined the products.Then she noticed something strange.The lipstick.The crimson shade was not actually Blood Rose.The label had been switched.Mara opened the tube.Inside was a lipstick Victoria had never released.She remembered something Lily had said earlier."Victoria never let anyone touch her makeup formulas."Mara stared at the lipstick.Then she smiled."Got you."---Lily was waiting outside when Mara emerged."You figured it out, didn't you?" Lily asked.Mara stopped."What makes you say that?"Lily's expression changed.For the first time, her pleasant assistant's smile disappeared."Because you found the lipstick."Mara reached for her handcuffs.Lily suddenly ran.She didn't make it far.Two officers caught her at the end of the hallway.---In the interrogation room, Lily finally confessed.Victoria had discovered that Lily had been secretly selling stolen makeup formulas to a competing company.Victoria threatened to expose her.So Lily had created a final makeup appointment.She had replaced Victoria's lipstick with one containing poison.But Lily had made one mistake.She had assumed the lipstick would kill Victoria immediately.Instead, Victoria had discovered what was happening.Before she died, she had switched the lipstick label with another product.She knew someone would investigate.And Victoria had left one final clue.A tiny fingerprint pressed into the lipstick.Lily's fingerprint.---Three days later, Victoria's makeup collection launched.Millions of people watched the livestream.At the end of the broadcast, a photograph of Victoria appeared on the screen.Beautiful.Perfectly made up.Smiling.Beneath the photograph were six words:Beauty fades. Secrets leave stains.Detective Mara Quinn watched from her apartment.On the television, Victoria's signature crimson lipstick appeared one final time.Blood Rose.Mara stared at it.Then she noticed something.The lipstick was being advertised as the shade Victoria wore on the night she died.Mara frowned.She leaned closer to the screen.That wasn't the lipstick from the crime scene.Someone had changed it.Again.Mara's phone rang.She answered."Detective Quinn?""Yes?"A distorted voice whispered through the phone."You caught the wrong killer."The line went dead.Mara slowly looked toward the television.Victoria's smiling face stared back at her.And for the first time, Mara wondered whether Victoria Vale's murder had ever really been about makeup at all.Maybe it had always been about what was hiding underneath.The End... for now.