What in Astarte’s name am I supposed to say to that?
“Um… I don’t know if there’ll be enough room. Heathcliff and Morrie and Quoth are coming, and Jo, the forensic pathologist. My mum’s house is very small—”
“Nonsense. With such a fine crowd, you won’t notice one more. And I might be able to wrangle some useful information out of that pathologist to help you solve the case.”
I sighed. As if this night couldn’t be any more of a disaster. “Sure. I guess you can come.”
* * *
After finishing her cup of tea, Mrs. Ellis perked up a bit. Grimalkin curled up on her lap and I didn’t have the heart to remind them Heathcliff didn’t want anyone on his chair. I brought her a stack of steamy romance books and a block of chocolate and she relaxed.
Downstairs, I gathered Heathcliff, Morrie, and the raven, and filled them in on what happened at the church and on the conversation I’d overheard between Ginny Button and Dorothy Ingram.
“Mrs. Ellis believes this is about the Banned Book Club, and after today, so do I.”
“If this witch tries to hurt you, I’ll make her swallow a bloody crucifix,” Heathcliff growled.
“If Dorothy Ingram is behind this, I doubt she’s after me. I’ve only been to that one meeting.”
“You did bring all those corrupting books to the church,” Morrie pointed out.
“True, but I think whatever this is goes back much further. Ginny spoke about Dorothy’s ‘ugly little secret.’ That could be what Dorothy is killing to protect. The only thing that doesn’t make sense is the conversation between Ginny and Dorothy.”
“Agreed,” Morrie rubbed his chin. “You made it sound as if Dorothy killed Mrs. Scarlett onGinny’sorders so Ginny wouldn’t reveal a secret about her. But Ginny wanted Dorothy to do more of her dirty work. Dorothy pushed her down the stairs in order to stop the blackmail.”
“Maybe that means she won’t kill again?”
“I wouldn’t count on it. We don’t know who else knows this dirty little secret. We already know Gladys is the type to blab a secret all over the village. Isn’t that what she did to the Lachlans?”
I nodded.
“In that case, all we need to do is figure out why Ginny Button would have wanted Mrs. Scarlett dead, and what dirt she had on Dorothy Ingram.” Morrie grinned. “Uptight bint like her? I bet it’s absolutelyfilthy.”
“I’d rather not find out, if it’s all the same to you,” Heathcliff muttered.
“You mean you’re not in the least bit curious?” Morrie looked scandalized. “I confess that I’ll never understand you, Heathcliff. I dosolove a juicy secret.”
He did at that. James Moriarty already had a lifetime of my secrets stored within the vast vaults of his mind. I wondered again if Morrie had any juicy secrets of his own. He played the easy-going, devil-may-care villain too well. But I suspected underneath that act was a man hiding a whole ocean of pain.
Or… maybe underneath the act was just the Devil himself. It was one or the other.
“I’ll look into Dorothy’s background. I’ve already done a thorough background check on all the ladies in the Banned Book Club, and nothing popped for Ginny, except for the fact that she insured that diamond and ruby necklace for twenty thousand pounds. The only old biddy with a record is Mrs. Ellis, who flashed her tits at a police officer in an attempt to get off a parking ticket.”
“Go Mrs. Ellis!” I grinned. “I knew she’d had a wild youth.”
“Youth? This incident occurred last year.”
Heathcliff choked on his doughnut.
Quoth fluttered down from his perch on the chandelier to sit on my shoulder. He bowed his head, his wide brown eyes tinged with concern. I patted his head.
I’m worried for you,he said inside my head.Why are you meddling in another murder? Shouldn’t the police be trusted to solve the case?
“I agree with the bird,” Heathcliff added. “We’ve got enough to concern ourselves with, given the shop’s penchant for opening doors and throwing surprises, and our continued feud with The-Store-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named. Solving murders isn’t part of your job description.”
I stared them all down, meeting fierce black eyes, calculating blue, and kind brown. “It is now. The police are still trying to pin Mrs. Scarlett’s death on the Lachlans. They think Ginny Button fell down those stairs. If Dorothy Ingram is behind this, we’ve got to get to the bottom of this before anyone else dies.” I winced. “Afterwe endure a dinner with my mother.”
Chapter Twenty
