Murder on the Page by Daryl Wood Gerber

Author:Daryl Wood Gerber [Gerber, Daryl Wood]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Books
Published: 2024-09-06T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 14

“When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.”

—Caroline Bingley, in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

I did a quick perimeter of the house and, seeing no errant footprints, dashed inside and closed and locked the door. Darcy warbled hello. I scooped him up, nuzzled his nose, set him on the floor, and dialed Zach.

“Hi, it’s me,” I said when I reached him. “Were you calling about Marigold? Have you solved her murder?”

“Sadly, no.” He sounded as exhausted as I felt. “We’re working the case. Don’t worry.”

“Did you talk to Oly Olsen?”

“Not yet.”

“Did you find out what secret Katrina might be hiding?”

“No.”

“Then why did you reach out?” I asked, somewhat exasperated.

“I wanted to see how you were doing with the menu for the memorial.”

I grunted. Really? He hadn’t called to be forthcoming about the poison in the water bottle theory?

“I made white soup that turned out well,” I said. I didn’t tell him about the footprint outside my window, seeing as I’d demolished it, plus after musing to Darcy about the gardener, I’d convinced myself that an intruder had not left the print.

“What’s white soup?”

I explained. When he said he hadn’t read Pride and Prejudice, I was surprised. No wonder he wasn’t curious about why Marigold had been holding that particular book. Sure, it was possible it had no significance. On the other hand, it had been one of her favorites, and as I’d suggested previously, a heftier coffee-table–sized book would have been a much better shield if that had been her intent. How I wished she could speak to me from the Great Beyond and give me a clue.

“I also baked Maids of Honor.” I described them and realized I hadn’t offered Zach one when he’d come to the bookshop Tuesday because I’d been too preoccupied with the details of Marigold’s will, not to mention Vanna had forced us to move the cart of treats to the side of the room.

“Do you have any left over?” he asked.

“I’ll make a new batch soon. You should touch base with Lillian if you plan to come in costume for the memorial,” I said.

“I will. Say, do you want to . . .” He stopped and let the question hang.

Want to what? I wondered. Talk about the case? Make him his own private stash of pastries? Accompany him to question Oly in person? Go on a date?

I waited, but he didn’t continue. After a long bout of silence, I said, “I’ve got to pick up Tegan. I drove her to work this morning.”

“Okay. Talk to you soon.”

I urged myself not to take affront at the abruptness of his good-bye. If I was honest, ever since ending my relationship with my ex-fiancé, I wasn’t the best at reading men. Zach might have received another call he had to take, or Bates could have been signaling him to confer about the case.

I fed Darcy and freshened his water bowl and hurled a cat toy to distract him.

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