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Back Murder Past Due Save as PDF
Chapters (36)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Acknowledgements
  4. ONE
  5. TWO
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE

“Just starting it now.” Patty’s tone was cheerful in reply. She winked at me. “If you need help with anything, you just let me know.” She turned to look around the counter for something. She picked up a printout and brandished it at me. “I have to go through the romance section and decide what we need to reorder. I’m the expert for that section.”

As she turned, her foot caught on something, and she stumbled toward me. I put out a hand to steady her, and Diesel scooted out of the way.

“Thank you,” she said. “Now what’s this doing here?”

She stooped down and picked up a box of books that had been sitting on the floor behind the counter. She set the box, labeled with Godfrey’s name and the title of his new book, on the counter next to the doughnuts.

Julia’s words from last night flashed into my mind. “Could I have a look at one of those? I haven’t read it yet.”

Shrugging, Patty pulled one out of the box and handed it to me. “It’s pretty awful. I gave up after fifty pages.”

I heard her only dimly as I opened the book to the title page. There, below the printed name, was Godfrey’s signature.

And yesterday’s date.

FIFTEEN

FIFTEEN

“This is pretty interesting.” I held the book out to Patty.

She took it from me and glanced down at the title page.

“Whoa. This is going to be worth something, let me tell you.” She snapped the book shut and stuck it back in the box.

“I suppose so.” I was annoyed she hadn’t given the book back to me, but perhaps she was so surprised she didn’t realize her rudeness.

“So that’s where she was.” Patty muttered the words under her breath, but I was close enough to make them out.

“What are you doing?”

Neither of us had heard Jordan approach. Patty stared at her boss like a fox caught in the proverbial henhouse, while I mustered as innocent-looking a smile as I could.

“Just looking at this box of books,” I said. “I was thinking about buying one. I haven’t read it yet.”

Jordan’s eyes narrowed with suspicion as she looked from Patty to me. “These aren’t for sale.”

“Then what are you going to do with them?” I thought that was a reasonable question. She could surely sell them for a lot more than list price—books signed by a famous mystery writer the day he was murdered. Talk about collectible.

“I meant they’re all spoken for,” Jordan said in a more conciliatory tone. “They’re all special orders.” She turned and reached for the box.

“You know, I saw Godfrey yesterday morning,” I said. “I know he had plans for lunch. Was that when he signed them?”

Jordan stepped back from the box and glared at me.