“You’re so sneaky. I love it.” She zoomed in so they could look at the snapshots. One showed Enolia as a younger woman with two kids, a girl and a boy. “Does she have kids?”
“Not that I know of. So who are these two?”
“Niece? Nephew? Does she have siblings who have kids?”
Alden pulled out his phone and made a note. “I’ll check. What else you got?”
Roz moved the image around on the screen. “Oh, wow. Is this who I think it is?”
Posing with Enolia at what looked like a book signing—complete with banners, a table filled with novels, and bookstore shelves behind her—was a handsome, dark-haired man with brilliant white teeth. Both of them were all smiles, both holding glasses of champagne.
“That’s Vandershell.” Alden’s voice held a note of excitement. “This looks cozy. How close were they? I mean, they’re at a book signing, obviously. So it’s not exactly a boudoir shot.”
“They were business partners if he was making her movie. But who puts a photo of their business partner on display in their living room?”
“Well, it’s not in the bedroom,” Alden pointed out. “Maybe she just liked the way she looks in the photo—happy, pretty and successful.”
“And posing with arm candy that makes her look even more enviable.”
“You think he’s arm candy?” Alden’s tease had the tiniest hint of jealousy.
“Not anymore! Is she that vain?” Roz thought about Enolia and her meticulous house and clothes and face. “Yeah, maybe she is. But I think there’s more going on there.”
“I’ll try to ask her delicately.” He made another note on his phone. “Any other pictures in the shot?”
Roz moved the photo around the screen some more. “Not here. Let’s see if I got a different one with a focus fail.”
Alden chuckled and worked on finishing off his burger. She took another bite of her sandwich and scrolled some more before she found a wider shot in which the novelist was blurry and the shelves weren’t.
“Here you go,” she said, zooming in until the picture was almost pixelated, sliding the image around to examine every shelf. “Here’s one more. Oh my God.”
Alden looked up from the fry he was pushing around in his ketchup and popped it in his mouth. “What?”
“She’s at the beach in this one. Maybe even on her deck. And she’s posing with someone we know.” The women had their arms around each other, and both were smiling.
“Is that Mae from the bookstore?” Alden’s eyes widened. “What’s going on there?”
“Friends? Family? I know what you’re thinking, but Mae has had a string of short-term and slightly odd boyfriends. She likes guys. I’ve never known her to cross the road, so to speak. Plus there’s a significant age difference.”
Alden shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. Mae obviously knows Enolia pretty well, well enough to make the cut of the living room bookshelf. Whether she’s friend or family, that would explain how our little bookstore landed Enolia Honeywood, beyond the fact she’s a part-time resident of Comet Cove.”
“Right. Mae had an inside connection. So Mae would know more about her, too.”
“We should talk to Mae and get a quote for our Wayne Vandershell follow-up anyway,” he said. “Her reaction and that sort of thing.”
Roz nodded and spoke around a french fry. “In lieu of facts, color. Though I’d prefer facts.”
“You always do.” Alden’s eyes twinkled. “That’s why we make such good partners.”
Roz smiled back at him. And then her phone pinged.
She looked down at the screen. “It’s Duke. Maybe we can get some facts after all.”
Chapter Eight
Roz picked up the phone and spoke quietly, not wanting other diner patrons to hear the conversation. “Duke, how’s it going?”
“Hey, Roz. Sorry it’s taken so long to get back to you, but I didn’t have much to report, and there’s still nothing official yet, OK?”
