Page 45 of Murder on Charity Lane

Also, I didn’t want to dehumanize Anthony, but he made me feel secure, like having a guard dog on premises. These days, when I saw strangers lingering at the bus stop outside the Cottages, I figured they were waiting for the bus, not waiting to attack me. Talk about personal growth.

I unpeeled the theatre quotes from my wall and was packing away my favorite, A playwright is someone who lets her guts hang out on the stage.—Edward Albee, when my phone rang. Angela’s name appeared, along with the surname Givemore Girls, because I hadn’t known her well when I’d added her contact info.

“Hey,” I said. “Thanks for calling back.”

“C’est bon. In your message you said you’re looking for the tea about the other guests at Frank DeYoung’s party?”

“You know I write plays, yeah? I base them on true crime, so I’m digging around for inspiration.”

“Oooo! I love true crime. I’m obsessed with this makeup artist influencer who talks about murder while she does her face.”

“Is her makeup any good?” I asked. “Send me the link.”

“Certainement. But wasn’t Frank’s death an accident?”

“Sure, but it’s still a great background for a play. A dead music producer in a mansion. I’m just looking for inspiration. You know, ‘based loosely on.’ So anything you can tell me about the other guests?”

“Especially CJ, right? She’s the prime suspect?”

“Absolutely,” I said, feeling disloyal to Ocean.

“She’s only interesting because Karina hates her. Jane—you know, my mentor?”

“Yeah, I know who she is.”

“Well, she says Karina is crazy jealous and she’s got a serious temper.”

“Really?”

“Apparently she throws things. Let’s see, there’s George and Helene Kagant. Beard and Bird.”

“Beard and Bird?”

“’Cause he’s got that Old Testament look and she’s like a chickadee. Guess how they made their money?”

“Hedge fund?” I asked.

“Windshield wipers. They invented a new hinge or something. Frank invested in them early, paid for prototyping and attorneys and all. They sold to a big company and made an absolute mint.”

“How do they know about windshield wipers?”

“George worked as an engineer. For medical instruments, but I suppose the expertise transfers.”

“Huh,” I said. “So they owe the DeYoungs for investing in them?”

“Big-time. Though Jane says the DeYoungs probably made more money off the patents than George and Helene did.”

“Ooh, I like that as motive. And what about Jane?”

Angela blew a puff of air like a Frenchwoman. “She came by her money the old-fashioned way. She married it.”

“Her husband died?”

“Both of them.”

“That’s pretty true-crime-y.”

“Ha! She’d make a great black widow, except at least one died of cancer, which you can’t really pin on her. And Jane cares too much about Brand Jane to kill anyone. I mean, no shade, she’s done a lot for World of Goods. But that’s part of her self-image: she is a good person doing good things.”