The unkindest cut by Honor Hartman

Author:Honor Hartman [Honor Hartman]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Policier
ISBN: 9780451224361
Published: 2008-06-03T19:32:27+00:00

Chapter 15

Paula had picked up her water glass and was about to sip from it when the man spoke. She set the glass down with a loud thump, and water sloshed over the edge and onto the tablecloth.

‘‘Haskell,’’ Paula said. ‘‘What the hell are you talking about?’’ She glared up at the man who had come to a halt scant inches from our table.

Marylou, Sophie, and I stared at him. It took me a moment to remember who he was—Avery Trowbridge’s agent. I had also forgotten how large he was. At the moment he loomed over us like a mountain.

Without being invited, he pulled a chair from a nearby table, twirled it around backward, and sat down with his arms across the back of it. He stared straight at Paula, ignoring the rest of us.

He laughed. ‘‘Come on, Paula, you’re not fooling me one bit with this little outraged-innocence act. Avery told me he was going to divorce you, and he was going to see that you didn’t get much out of the settlement.’’ He paused for emphasis. ‘‘Now that he’s dead, you stand to get a lot more than you would have otherwise.’’

For the first time he acknowledged the presence of other persons at the table. ‘‘What do you think, ladies? Isn’t it awfully convenient for Paula that somebody offs Avery before he can divorce her?’’

‘‘You had better be careful about saying such things,’’ I said, ‘‘or Paula just might decide to sue you.’’

‘‘I certainly will,’’ Paula said in a fierce tone. ‘‘You had better shut your mouth, Haskell Crenshaw, or I’ll hire somebody to shut it for you.’’

Crenshaw threw his hands up in a gesture of mock surrender. ‘‘Okay, okay, I give. So maybe Paula didn’t kill Avery for the money.’’ He laughed. ‘‘But it’s still pretty convenient.’’

‘‘It looked like a crime of passion to me,’’ Paula said, her voice suddenly cool. ‘‘I didn’t care enough about Avery to want to kill him. And I wasn’t interested in his money. He was willing to give me a divorce, and that’s all I cared about.’’

‘‘She’s very convincing, isn’t she?’’ Crenshaw cocked his head at me.

‘‘What are you playing at here?’’ I said. I couldn’t take much more of this nasty little fencing match. ‘‘This is not a good place for this.’’

‘‘Emma’s right,’’ Sophie said. ‘‘We’ve all had enough of these unpleasant public scenes.’’ Marylou nodded in agreement.

‘‘Sorry, ladies,’’ Crenshaw said, though he didn’t look in the least abashed. ‘‘But you can’t tell me you really believe she’s Little Miss Innocent in all this.’’ He nodded at Paula.

‘‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’’ Paula said. ‘‘You’re being ridiculous.’’

‘‘Well, go ahead, Paula,’’ Crenshaw said. ‘‘Let’s have it. Tell us all about your little chat with Avery last night.’’

Paula stared hard at him for a moment. ‘‘You really think I don’t know, don’t you?’’ She shook her head, as if in sadness. ‘‘You really think Avery didn’t talk to me about things, don’t you?’’

For the first time, Crenshaw appeared the slightest bit uneasy.

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