Chapters (50)
- COVER
- PRAISE FOR TITLES BY MIRANDA JAMES
- ALSO BY MIRANDA JAMES
- TITLE PAGE
- COPYRIGHT
- DEDICATION
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- AFTERWORD
- LETTER TO THE READER
- SPECIAL EXCERPT FROM BLESS HER DEAD LITTLE HEART
She was looking at me when she asked the question, and Kanesha also appeared to be waiting for me to answer.
I thought about it for a moment. “Frankly, I can’t see that they’d have significant monetary value. Maybe a hundred bucks or so, but unless letters in Mrs. Cartwright’s own hand are truly rare, I shouldn’t think they’d be worth much. It’s not like she was a hugely famous or successful person—although to her fans she was royalty.” A thought occurred to me. “Were those letters handwritten?”
“I’m pretty sure they were,” Melba said, though she didn’t sound completely certain.
“It doesn’t sound to me like those letters were valuable enough to kill over.” Kanesha rubbed her forehead. “If an item in those files motivated the murder, it surely had to be something else.”
But what? I wondered. I couldn’t come up with any ideas at the moment.
“Ms. Gilley, would you do me a favor and write down everything you remember about those files? Anything you can recall that you saw or even think you saw?” Kanesha drained the last of her coffee, and I refilled it. She nodded her thanks.
“I can sure do that,” Melba said. “If Charlie will find me some paper and a pen, I’ll get right on it.” She flashed a smile. “That is, if you and Diesel don’t mind me hanging around here a little while.”
Diesel meowed loudly, and I grinned at Melba. “I think he has spoken for both of us. I’ll be back in a minute.” I headed for the den at the back of the house and retrieved a notebook and a couple of pens from my desk there. Kanesha and Melba were silent when I returned to the kitchen.
“Before you start making your list,” Kanesha said, “can you think of anything else that could be important?”
Melba shook her head. “Not right this minute, but who knows what will come to me when I start writing? Okay with you if I do it here while you and Charlie talk? Or do you want me somewhere else?”
Kanesha eyed me for a moment.
“It’s fine with me if she stays here,” I said.
Melba flipped open the notebook, uncapped a pen, and started writing.
“Okay, then,” Kanesha said. “When you were at the Farrington House last night, did you rifle through anybody’s room?”
THIRTY-ONE
I stared back at Kanesha. Was this some kind of joke she was trying to pull?
Melba laughed. “I know Charlie is on the snoopy side, but I’d be surprised if he was going through anybody’s room unless he had a powerful good reason.”
I started to protest, but I recalled my actions last night in a particular guest’s room.