Former beauty queens aren't supposed to get strangled by strands of twinkling Christmas lights.

The sound of Christmas carols filled the room as Detectives Rick Conners and Daniel Chavez stared at the beautiful blonde sprawled atop a bloodied faux fur rug.

"Can someone shut off that music?" Daniel demanded. One of the officers taking pictures of the room nodded and did as the young detective asked.

"She's the chick who starred in all those foot fungus ads," Rick said, shaking his head with a grimace. He tugged on his wrinkled tie and exhaled deeply. "If it's true, it's a shame a beauty like her had stinky feet."

Daniel ran a hand over his dark hair already flattened by a handful of gel. "Can we not talk about foot odors? It's disrespectful to the murder victim."

Rick chuckled. He dragged the end of his pen across his bearded cheek before scratching his neck with it. "What's she going to do? File a complaint from the dead? You're too uptight, kid."

"Rick, I'm not a kid. And did you already forget? Saying inappropriate things is what landed you in hot water last month."

Rick adjusted the collar of his wool coat before scratching at a stain on the material. He smiled, causing the lines on his face to deepen, reminding Daniel his partner had been a detective for over twenty years.

"That's because everyone is too sensitive these days. You can't make a joke about anything without offending anyone. I'm surprised comedians still exist. If you want to last in this job, you need to have a sense of humor, Dan."

"It's Daniel not Dan."

"Fine, I won't call you Dan but you really need to lighten up, kid. You stare at dead bodies long enough, it'll warp who you are. Learn from a seasoned detective like myself. Find the humor in everything."

"You mean I should learn to insult the victims like you do?" Daniel asked.

"I never insulted anyone." Rick scowled.

Daniel raised a brow. "Is that so? Last month you said the murder victim had a face only a prostitue could appreciate."

"I stand by that statement," Rick insisted. "The man looked like a treasure troll with a meth problem."

"You said that in front of his mother," Daniel snapped.

"I didn't know their relationship at the time."

"Obviously not, since you also asked her if he was her pimp."

"She wore fishnets and a pleather dress. It isn't my fault she looked like a prostitue! Can't we just leave this in the past?" Rick whined. "The captain already ripped me a new one."

They stared down at the scantily dressed corpse of Kelly Vitali. Her silk crimson nightie matched the bright lights tangled around her neck.

Rick chewed on the end of his pen before glancing back at Daniel. "Don't be mad, Dan. You know I didn't mean anything by it. Is it possible her murderer killed her to steal her job in an upcoming foot fungus commercial? Maybe the perp we're looking for has stinky feet."

Daniel's eye twitched. Ignoring Rick's question, he studied the room. Black and white photos of the Kelly and a familiar looking man in ski wear decorated the fireplace.

"Did she have a boyfriend?" Daniel asked.

Rick shrugged. "The neighbors said she lived alone and we haven't interviewed her friends."

Rick's head tilted to one side as he examined her pedicured feet.

Daniel rolled his eyes in irritation. "Will you stop looking at her feet?"

"I'm not!" Rick denied. "I'm scanning her chest wound."

Her murderer carved an X on her chest.

"Foot fungus aside," Rick said, pointing at the bloody wound. "What do you think of that X?"

Daniel shrugged, pocketing a small notepad and pen in his leather jacket. "The wound isn't too deep which means it was probably done to be symbolic rather than to hurt her."

"Strangling her with her own Christmas lights must've been painful enough," Rick said. He spared a glance to the fallen Christmas tree.

Daniel nodded, his eyes fixed on a photo of her kissing an attractive man on the cheek. The man didn't look happy. Instead, he appeared bored. "Her parents are flying in from New York. Apparently, an officer came to do a wellness check after they couldn't reach her for two days."

"Hopefully, her parents can give us more insight into her personal life," Rick mumbled, again chewing on his pen.

"I think we're looking at a spurned lover or an ex-boyfriend. Will you get that pen out of your mouth? I told you it's a dirty habit," Daniel chided his partner.

Rick grunted before pulling the pen away from his mouth and scribbling down some notes. "For a man, you're such a germaphobe. What if the X is an initial of some sort?"

"How many words do you know beginning with the letter X much less people who have a name starting with the letter X?" Daniel shook his head. "I don't think it stands for anything but we can't rule anything out just yet."

Always ready to argue, Rick began listing words, "Xerox--"

"That's a brand. I doubt Xerox killed her."

"Maybe they wanted her in a commercial but she turned them down."

"Highly unlikely. As for names," Daniel shared, "I can only think of Xavier. Maybe the boyfriend in the picture is named Xavier?"

"If only it were that easy," Rick muttered. "Let's hope the X is significant to her."

"What if it isn't?" Daniel heard himself asking.

"If the X isn't an initial and it's not related to her in some way... that could only mean it's one thing," Rick said.

Daniel's brows rose. "And what's that?"

"A warning."

Note from SheHopes: Please do NOT post spoilers! If a dark romance married a mystery but had an affair with a comedy...you would get this story. I wrote this a few years ago but took it down. I'm re-posting it with changes but please do NOT post spoilers if you've read it before.

I repeat--do not post spoilers! Thank you for reading. If you like this story, please remember to vote, share it with your friends, tell me hi in the comments, etc... ❤