Claire shrugged.“I don’t know.I’m not sure I want to open myself back up again to rejection.It’s pretty tough.”
“You’d confronted Margaret about it?Outside the coffee shop?”
“That’s right,” said Claire.“I knew her coffee routine, so I waited for her.When she came up, I asked for an explanation.Why she’d done it.She said she wanted to save them from publishing trash.”
“What happened then?”
“I yelled at her,” said Claire.“I mean, I knew how Margaret was.But it was hard to believe she’d gone the extra mile to ruin my chances with Red Mountain.She just looked so smug.So self-satisfied.I let her have it.But Ididn’tkill her.I would never do anything violent.I was furious and devastated and definitely angry.But after that one big tirade, I was done.”She shook her head.“I went home and considered quitting writing.My husband talked me down.And later, Gerald did.He told me just what you did.That Margaret might be jealous.”
They were quiet for a few moments, Sam drinking her coffee and Claire taking a bite of her muffin.Then Claire said quietly, “Can you tell me more about what happened to Gerald?”
“I wanted to talk with him about him having a pen name.It sounded like Margaret had found out.”
Claire rolled her eyes.“Oh, that would have been a nightmare.Margaret would have dangled that over his head.Or she’d have made all kinds of cutting comments during book club meetings while looking at him.”She stopped.“Is that what you were thinking?That Gerald murdered Margaret to stop her from revealing his secret?”
“It was something I was worried about.”She paused.“Clearly, that doesn’t seem to be the case.”
Claire frowned.“Well, it doesn’t look like Gerald killed her.But now that I think about it, Margaret did keep making these sorts of smug references to ‘secret identities’ and ‘secrets’ during book club.Like she was baiting someone.I didn’t know what the point was at the time.But I guess she was blackmailing him, in a way.Maybe not extorting real money from him, but emotional blackmail, for sure.”She shook her head.“That woman was a piece of work.”
“Do you have any ideas about who might be behind this?”
Claire considered this.“I hate to think anybody in our club had anything to do with either death.I’m the club president, you know and its biggest booster.Even with Margaret, I’ve always thought the club was a wonderfully supportive environment.”
“The last time we spoke, you thought maybe Gerald could have done it.”
Claire winced at this.“Yeah.And he was my friend,” she said bitterly.“Obviously, I was wrong.If I had to pick someone, I guess I’d say Pamela or Sofia.I’ve seen them look at Margaret.I could tell neither of them liked her much.But like I said, I can’t picture either of them murdering anybody.”She gave a bitter laugh.“It sounds like I had the bigger motive, didn’t I?But I didn’t do it.And I would never have hurt Gerald.He was my biggest cheerleader besides my husband.”She said quietly, “How did he die?Do you think he suffered?”
“No.No, I think it was quick.”She didn’t mention how he’d died.
Claire nodded.“Okay.I know it was yesterday afternoon.I was out running errands, which isn’t helpful at all.I’m sure the police, whenever they talk to me again, are going to think that’s not much of an alibi.”
“Just tell the police exactly what you told me.The truth is your best defense.”
Chapter Twenty
After she and Clairefinished up at the coffee shop, Sam headed back home.She stood in her kitchen, staring at nothing in particular.Margaret hadn’t been a good person in a lot of ways.But she hadn’t deserved what had happened to her.She felt terrible for Claire, too.She hoped she’d somehow find the confidence to keep going and submit her story to another publisher.
