“That won’t be necessary, Mr. Moriarty.” Hayes rubbed his eyes. He looked as tired as I felt. “DS Wilson will take your statements shortly.”
“So he was garroted.” Morrie leaned forward, his eyes sparkling with interest. “Is that unusual?”
“Mr. Moriarty, please remove yourself and Ms. Wilde into another room,” Hayes frowned as he stared at the scene. “Let the real detectives deal with this case.”
Gladly.I bolted into the main room and collapsed in Heathcliff’s chair. The guys followed me – Heathcliff glowering in the doorway, Quoth perched on the corner of the table, Morrie pacing in front of the window, his mind already whirling through possibilities. My stomach churned. Right now, the last thing I wanted to do was think about who was behind this murder. “I can’t believe someone would want to hurt Danny. He seemed like such an affable bloke.”
“Just because Danny was jovial doesn’t mean he didn’t have enemies. His wife probably wasn’t happy about what was going on in the closet last night,” Morrie said.
“Do you think she knew?” I asked.
“Women usually do,” Heathcliff said.
I remembered the conversation I’d had with Penny Sledge last night.Yes, I think she knew.
“The guy also had a criminal past,” Morrie pointed out. He picked up a copy ofThe Somerset Stranglerfrom the stack on the desk and flipped through it. “Maybe something caught up with him. Too bad he didn’t get to publish his memoir. I bet that contained all sorts of sordid tales.”
“What about that publisher?” Heathcliff asked. “He didn’t look too happy about Danny’s announcement to self-publish his memoir.”
“Oooh, that’s a good one. Also, his friend Angus might’ve decided he deserved more of Danny’s money for his contributions,” Morrie mused. “Or maybe Amanda wanted Danny to leave his wife for her and he refused.”
“Don’t forget that batshit woman who screamed bloody murder,” Heathcliff added.
I winced. Quoth shot Heathcliff a dirty look. “Poor choice of words. Look at Mina, she’s upset.”
“I’m fine.” I rested my chin in my hands. My head spun.Keep it together. Don’t think about Danny’s bugged-out eyes. Don’t think about those horrible marks around his neck—
Jo poked her head in. “Just letting you know that we’re taking the body away now, as well as the hall rug. You’re safe to wander around. My guys are gonna be here photographing the shelves and collecting trace evidence, but they’ll be gone in an hour or so, and then you’re free to open up.”
“That’s great. Thanks, Jo.”
“Oh, and I have more good news,” Jo’s dazzling smile seemed at odds with the somber occasion, but that was Jo – she dealt with grisly deaths every day, so it took a lot to rattle her. “The exterminator came by this morning. No more locusts.”
“Locusts?” Morrie raised an eyebrow.
I gave a weak smile. “That is good news. Any serious damage?”
“Apart from the fact that my experiment is ruined? Not really. They’ve had a nibble on any exposed natural fibers – the cloth shopping bags, the wicker hanging basket, my merino vest on the indoor clothesline. We’re going to have to replant the herb garden. Those greedy buggers even ate the linen tablecloth. Can you believe it?”
I leaned back in my chair, my body overcome with weariness.Can I believe that there’s been another murder and a plague of locusts ate our herb garden? I wish I could say I didn’t, but the truth is… that sounds like just another day at Nevermore Bookshop.
* * *
Islumped between Heathcliff and Quoth, their hands in mine, as Wilson took my statement. She kept glancing between me and the guys, and I could tell she was wondering about the nature of our relationship. When I said Quoth and I had been in bed together this morning, her eyebrows wentwayup.
I guess I have to get used to people reacting like that if I’m going to stay with the three of them.
But I didn’t have time to think about my relationship, as Wilson’s questions came thick and fast. She’d always been a little suspicious of me. That probably had to do with the fact that dead bodies seemed to stack up wherever I went. And now here we were again, staring at each other from across Heathcliff’s desk, while the SOCO team dealt with the third crime scene in the shop in as many months.
We each described as much of the event last night as we could remember, including Danny’s talk and the audience questions, the visit from Beverly, and finding Danny and Amanda in the closet. Wilson asked lots of questions about Beverly and Amanda, as well as making detailed notes about our movements. She then asked us to walk her around the Events room and describe the layout while she jotted down a floorplan on her pad.
By the time Wilson finished with us, the SOCO team had left with their evidence. Outside the shop, a crowd of writers had gathered – the participants of Danny’s workshop. I noticed our purple-haired erotica writer talking with two ladies from Mrs. Ellis’ knitting club. They inched away as he described a sex scene he was working on.
“…and her nipples were hard and round, like the rivets on a steam engine…”
“Excuse me.” I cleared my throat. No one looked up.
“…his mouth wet with her delicious vaginal sap…”
