Okay, so that’s chilling.
“…our money troubles will be over, but only if we keep our heads screwed on. That means going to the funeral in a black dress that actually covers your tits and not sleeping with anyone for an hour or opening your mouth. Can you manage that, luv?”
The voice on the other end started yelling. Brian cut off the call and shoved the phone into his pocket.
“What does all that mean?” Quoth asked.
“It sounds like Danny was going to revoke his rights to his backlist so he could self publish all his books himself,” I whispered. “That would cut Brian out from Danny’s royalties. Only, the paperwork wasn’t finished before Danny died, which means that Brian will continue to gain from Danny’s estate until Penny gets around to reverting them herself…”
“But wouldn’t that mean—”
“That Brian had a major financial incentive to kill Danny?” I watched the man walk out into the parking lot with a cold heart. “Yes, yes it does.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
“You’re right.” Morrie looked up from his computer. “Brian Letterman is in a world of financial trouble. He’s living off credit cards, his business is in the toilet, and his authors are being slammed in the reviews. Add to that, his wife has an addiction to designer handbags and expensive vacations. The only books Brian’s making any profit on are Danny’s. I bet he was counting on the royalties from Danny’s memoir to make things right again, but if Danny self-publishes, Brian gets nothing.”
“We have to go to the police,” I said.
“We could do that,” Morrie said. “It’s not enough evidence to convict Brian. Hayes and Wilson probably have this same information, and they’ve still got Beverly Ingram in custody. In the meantime, the shop will continue to be deserted, and you’ll continue to withhold your sexual favors until my entire body turns as blue as my balls—”
“We didn’t have sex forone nightbecause I had to go to bed early. You’ll live. I take it you have a better idea?”
“Of course I do. Every idea I have is naturally superior. Brian’s wife is the only other person who knew about his business failing or this case between him and Danny. If anyone could dish the dirt on what might turn a mild-mannered publisher into a cold-hearted killer, it would be her. All we have to do is convince Amanda Letterman to give us information that we can use. I’m willing to bet my considerable fortune of ill-gotten gold bullion that she didn’t tell the police the whole truth.”
“And how do you intend to do that?” My mind flashed back to Morrie’s flirtation with Miranda at Mum’s party.
“I’m not going to do it.” Morrie grinned. “You saw for yourself at the party. Amanda’s taste tends more toward the rugged, unkempt man than a fine specimen like myself. Heathcliff the Desirable is going to do the convincing.”
* * *
“You owe me,” Heathcliff muttered as I shoved him toward the hotel’s ornate double doors.
“I’ve already agreed to man the shop for the next two weeks,” I said. “That’s two weeks where you get to lounge around in front of the fireplace upstairs, reading books and stroking my grandmother’s back without a single customer in sight. What more do you want from me?”
“You know,” Heathcliff growled, his eyes darkening with lust. A deep purr rumbled in my belly.
“Hey, you two, simmer down. Heathcliff needs to save that sexual appetite for our target. Get in there, tiger.” Morrie gave him a harder shove. Heathcliff grunted in protest, but he did push his way inside.
“No closets!” I yelled after him, thinking about the last time I’d seen Amanda.
Morrie had downloaded Amanda’s calendar from her cloud account and discovered she took tea at the Argleton Arms Hotel every second Tuesday. I booked a table for Heathcliff and then spent a couple of hours schooling him on the correct tea etiquette (apparently a thing Nelly Dean never thought to teach him). Morrie dressed him in what he declared to be a style of passable gentility. Then he ruined it all by trying to shave Heathcliff, and Quoth had to swoop in to break up the ensuing fistfight. It had all been worth it, for Heathcliff sauntered up to the door looking more the gentleman than I’d ever seen him before. In fact, he looked bloody gorgeous, with his hair combed and his clothing fresh and unrumpled—
“Pick your jaw off the footpath, woman,” Morrie commanded me as Heathcliff disappeared into the restaurant. “He may look the part, but the poxy bastard refused to wear a wire, so we’re just going to have to sit here and wait for him to come back. Hopefully, he remembers everything she tells him because he doesn’t have a photographic memory like I do—”
“He’ll be fine, and I don’t mind sitting here with you.” I took his hand. “It gives us a chance to talk.”
“What do you want to talk about? I am an expert on several subjects, including bank safe construction, biological warfare, the best places in London to buy a cronut…”
“Biological warfare…”Nope, I’m just not going to ask.“Morrie, something’s going on with you. Does it have to do with what we talked about that night at Baddesley Hall?”
“Nothing whatsoever.” Morrie’s ice eyes darted toward the hotel doors.
“It’s just that the way you looked at Heathcliff the other night…”
“Oh, that.” Morrie turned his head away. “That’s been simmering for some time.”
“It has?” I knew that Morrie was bi, but I’d never noticed any particular spark between him and Heathcliff. Although come to think of it, their constant bickering did have an air of sexual tension to it.
