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
I ended the call and put the phone on the table. “Now all we have to do is wait. Eugene will bite, I’m sure of it.”
THIRTY-NINE
The meeting was set for nine thirty the next morning. After Kanesha left, I kept thinking about my plan, and through the afternoon and the evening, I went over it and over it until my head started pounding.
While I lay in bed, trying to still my brain enough to get to sleep, I realized I had overlooked two of the odd occurrences in this strange affair.
The first was the business with the glaring lights when Teresa and I went to visit Mrs. Cartwright in her home. Now that I knew that Eugene was sitting in for his grandmother, I understood. With all that glare, visitors would have a hard time focusing on details of Mrs. Cartwright’s appearance—like an Adam’s apple or hands that looked too young for a centenarian. At other meetings Eugene had worn a scarf and gloves.
The second incident was the fainting spell Marcella had at Winston Eagleton’s party. The news of Carrie Taylor’s murder caused it, but I wondered whether it was a put-on or whether Marcella really had been shocked by the news. I hoped it was the latter because it would mean that she had no idea her son had committed murder until that very moment.
After an hour of lying in bed wide awake, I decided I might as well finish reading The Mystery at Spellwood Mansion. If I focused on that for a while instead of the murder, I might relax enough to go to sleep.
I finished the book in about forty-five minutes, and then I put it aside and turned off the light. The plot of the book gave me an idea for the meeting with Eugene and Marcella, and at last I drifted off. Diesel had gone to sleep right away, stretched out beside me in bed.
The next morning I arrived at the library a few minutes before nine, and Bronwyn let me and Diesel in. After she extended the usual greetings to the cat, I pulled her aside and told her I needed a favor. “I can’t explain why I need you to do it, but afterwards I can.”
“That’s okay, Charlie.” Bronwyn smiled. “I can contain my curiosity until you’re ready to come clean.”
While I headed into Teresa’s office, Diesel followed Bronwyn as she went to unlock the door for the day. I knew he would stay with her, which was just as well.
“Morning, Teresa.” I stood in the doorway of the director’s office with a nervous smile.
Teresa greeted me, her expression solemn. “This isn’t going to be anything dangerous, is it? I know it has something to do with Mrs. Taylor’s murder, but I don’t want any kind of violence. I almost called you at midnight last night.”