OUTLINE FOR MURDER by Kaufman Karin

Author:Kaufman, Karin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Winter Tree Books
Published: 2023-10-10T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 12

After Angela and I agreed to meet up at my house, I left Fig’s and drove home to do some internet sleuthing. I had to admit that Sinclair was smarter than I’d given him credit for, but I’d come away from our meeting believing that his focus was too narrow. His investigatory radar didn’t extend to Kristen McCann as perpetrator, only as victim. It seemed he’d come to the same conclusion I had, that Kristen knew her father had died a natural death, but he hadn’t taken the next logical step.

Had Kristen been murdered for her blackmail schemes, not in revenge for her accusations of murder? As yet I had no proof of blackmail, but I was going to find it. Kristen’s most damaging blackmail threat might have found a target among the mystery contestants. Find the blackmail, find the killer.

But what if the answer was simpler than that? Again I sifted through the possibilities.

Miranda killed Kristen to avenge the misery she’d caused her aunt. Possible. Carly killed Kristen to stop a slander suit. Also possible. No matter that Kristen’s attorney said the suit had no merit, since Carly might not have known that.

Sally had been in serious financial trouble, and perhaps still was. She killed in an act of revenge. Why not? She clearly hated Kristen. Earl killed to stop a rehab center from springing up on his green and quiet block. It was possible.

Now what about Dylan?

First stop, that gaming website of his. If it was still up.

I let Stella out the back door and opened my laptop at the kitchen table.

To my surprise, his website—Gephart Does Games—was operating, though minus any crime-scene photos. But as I clicked various tabs, I saw several dozen photos taken at different in-person gaming venues. By the looks of them, most had been shot surreptitiously, using camera lenses hidden behind scarves and other clothing.

I recalled Dylan asking if he could take a photograph of the body outline Lauren had drawn. At the time it seemed an innocent question. As it turned out, the man was a heartless shutterbug.

I went to the back door and gave my leg a pat. “Inside, Stella.”

She ran for the door and bounded into the kitchen, her tail swishing expectantly on the tile floor. Autumn was homemade pumpkin treats time, and she figured she was owed a treat for just about anything she did. Going out, coming in, letting me clip her nails and brush her thick fur. I fished a small treat from the doggy cookie jar on my kitchen counter and told her to sit.

“Good girl!”

She carried her prize from the open kitchen to the living room, where she settled in her favorite spot.

“Aunt Angela will be here soon,” I told her.

Stella’s ears lifted at Angela’s name, much the same way they’d once lifted for the name “Adam.” Only a dog could move through life with such grace and hope, I thought, pressing on, forgetting the past. But forget was the wrong word. In Adam’s absence, Stella hadn’t forgotten him, she’d simply found and delighted in the next good thing.

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