Sofia Smith: Graduate Student
Motive: ???None apparent
Behavior: Very evasive.Might know more about Margaret than she admits?
New member to the club
Claimed she went straight home to work on school project
Pointed me toward Dylan
Pamela Cross: Retired Librarian
Motive: ???
Behavior: Haven’t yet spoken with her.Only saw her at book club
Dylan noticed she was uncomfortable hearing about Margaret’s memoir, as did Gerald.
Charlotte saw her at the library, crying.Left quickly after book club without saying goodbye.
It seemed like there might be more to learn about Margaret’s memoir.Aiden’s police friends might know something about its content if they’d searched Margaret’s home.Chief Hawkins was unlikely to share anything with her, and she knew the state police wouldn’t, if they were on the case by now.
The doorbell rang, making Sam jump.Arlo barked once, then trotted toward the front door, tail wagging.Not a threat, then.
Sam opened the door to find Nora, her sharp-tongued neighbor from down the street, standing on her porch, juggling a covered casserole dish in one hand while Precious strained at the leash in her other hand.The pit bull was wearing what appeared to be a small argyle sweater vest.
“Don’t get excited, it’s not for you,” Nora said briskly to Arlo, who was wagging his tail.She tried to maneuver past Sam while Precious lunged forward to greet Arlo.The leash wrapped around Nora’s legs.“Precious, for heaven’s sake.Sam, a little help?”
Sam grabbed the casserole dish before Nora could drop it, pushed the door wider, and offered her arm to her.Arlo and Precious began their usual greeting ritual of sniffing and tail-wagging.
“Well, hello there, Arlo.At least someone’s happy to see me,” Nora said, unwinding herself from Precious’s leash.
“I’m happy to see you,” Sam said, closing the door.“I’m just surprised.Did we have plans?”
“No, but I saw your car pull up and figured you’d been out doing your amateur detective thing.”Nora unclipped Precious’s leash, and the pit bull immediately began his inspection of the living room while Arlo followed behind like a devoted admirer.Nora set her purse down and spotted Sam’s notebook on the kitchen table.“Ah-ha!Making lists of suspects, are we?”
“Nora—”’
“Don’t Nora me.This is precisely what you do.Very organized, very thorough.”She peered at the notebook before Sam could close it.“Ooh, you’ve got everyone listed, haven’t you?Even Pamela.Who seems innocuous enough.And rather old.”
Sam said, “I’m just trying to make sense of what happened.”
“Mm-hmm.”Nora opened Sam’s refrigerator without asking and pulled out a bottle of sparkling water.“This casserole is for Edith Martin.She’s at Sunset Ridge Senior Living, recovering from a hip replacement.I made her chicken and rice, which is basically invalid food, but that’s what she requested.”
“That’s nice of you.”
“I have my moments.”Nora took a sip of water.“Anyway, I was going to drop it off, but then I thought you’ve probably been running around town all day talking to people.Have you eaten anything substantial?”
Sam wasn’t sure that the granola bars she had for breakfast counted as substantial in Nora’s eyes.
Nora gave a sniff as if she’d thought as much.“You could come with me to see Edith.Then we shall get an early dinner at that Italian place afterward.”
“I hate to intrude on your visit with your friend.”
“Please.Edith will love you.And Precious, of course.She’s bored out of her mind, and all I’m going to do is drop off the casserole.She’s not supposed to have long visits yet.”Nora glanced at Sam’s notebook again.“As I recall in my quick perusal of your notes, you were looking for a way to speak with Pamela.”
Sam sighed.There seemed to be no point in denying it.“I’m just trying to get impressions from everyone who was at book club.”
