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 quickly turned to Eugene. “Before I share the good news with you, Mrs. Cartwright, there’s something I want to show you.” I put my briefcase on the table, opened it, and withdrew Aunt Dottie’s scrapbook. “My late aunt was a huge fan of yours—I inherited her wonderful collection of your books, by the way—and while I was looking for things to use for our exhibit, I came across this.” I patted the scrapbook.
Eugene eyed it nervously. He licked his lips. “Really, how interesting.”
I beamed at him, and Teresa gazed at me blandly, though I knew she was as curious as Eugene to see what I was going to do.
“Yes, it’s very interesting. My aunt cut out articles from newspapers and film magazines, lots of pictures, too, and put them in her scrapbook. I just couldn’t resist bringing it to show you.”
Eugene tittered. “That’s all very nice, Mr. Harris, but I don’t really need to see all those old things. I lived it all, remember. I’d rather focus on the present.”
“Of course you would. But there is one picture I would love for you to sign, if you wouldn’t mind.” I opened the scrapbook and flipped the pages to the photo of Marietta Dubois and Mrs. Cartwright. “It’s such a shame that the movie never got made, I think. Veronica would have been even more famous.”
Eugene scowled. “Can we get on with this? I’m not having one of my good days, and I don’t have the time or energy to sit around here listening to such foolishness. Tell me about the offer of money.”
“I’ll get to that. Please, won’t you look at this picture?” I shoved the scrapbook in front of him, and he glanced down at it. “That actress surely was tall, wasn’t she? You look short standing next to her.”
Eugene glared at me, his eyes narrowing. I could feel the fear and anger emanating from him.
“You can find out all kinds of things on the Internet,” I continued in a chatty tone. “For example, there’s a site you can go to and find out how tall famous people are. Marietta Dubois wasn’t all that famous, but I did find out her height.” I paused and glanced at Teresa. Her eyes were wide with shock. I reckoned she had figured out where I was headed with this. “Turns out Miss Dubois was only five foot six. Judging by that picture, you must be a good four inches shorter than her.”