Murder by Page One by Olivia Matthews (read aloud txt) 📗

meant to warn him I was going to start our investigative questioning. “Thank you again for hosting this dinner for us, Spence. It’s a nice way to wind down an unsettling day. People around town have been talking about Fiona Lyle-Hayes’s murder. We even discussed it at the library.”

Floyd waved his dessert spoon. “Didn’t the deputies speak to you at the crime scene? Why’d they need to speak with you again today at the library?”

Adrian leaned toward me. “Is it because you’re friends with Ms. Jo? Are you like a key witness or somethin’?”

Viv shook her head vehemently. A lock of hair slipped from the bun she’d gathered on the crown of her head. “Jo Gomez is not a murderer. Besides, why would she kill one of the featured authors at a scheduled book signing right before her event?”

Floyd made a disparaging noise. “And then to leave the body in the store? It’s one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard.”

“I agree that doesn’t make sense,” Corrinne said. “Ever since she opened that bookstore, Jo’s whole world has revolved around it. She’d never do anything to jeopardize her business.”

“Murder would jeopardize it, all right.” Floyd inclined his head in agreement without lifting his eyes from his dessert. “Having dead bodies popping up all over your store will chase your customers away.”

Spence and I exchanged a look of relief. Unprompted, the librarians had agreed with us about Jo’s innocence.

“Who would you consider to be a more viable suspect for the murder?” I asked the question as casually as I could, but Floyd wasn’t fooled.

The older man gave me a suspicious look before directing his question to Spence. “What’s this dinner really about?”

I hurried to reclaim Floyd’s attention before Spence could respond. “What do you mean?”

“Come now, Marvey.” Corrinne’s gracious smile softened her chastening tone. “We noticed you arrived here separately.”

I tried to shrug that away. “I wanted to check on Phoenix first, since we’d probably be out late.”

Viv cocked her head. “You checked on your cat, but you still made it here before us.”

“And we were on time, which means you were early,” Adrian added.

Caught. But my associates seemed more amused than accusing. Well, I couldn’t see Floyd’s reaction. He was busy trying to scrape the painted design from the porcelain dessert bowl.

I held up both hands. “I didn’t lie about checking on Phoenix.”

Floyd made a rude noise. “Never said you did.”

I ignored him. “And Spence really had planned to host a dinner for us.”

Spence gestured around the table. “As you know, I’m a huge fan of the library. And I have to say I’m impressed with the deductive reasoning skills you used to assess this dinner.”

Corrinne inclined her head at the compliment. “Librarians tend to be underrated. We have inquisitive minds and suspected something else might be going on in addition to the dinner.”

I cleared my throat. “I apologize for misleading you. That was my idea, not Spence’s.”

Spence touched the back of my hand. “I was in on this from the beginning. I’ll take my share of the blame.”

“We can argue that later.” I squeezed his forearm before turning back to the librarians. “I’m glad you also believe Jo’s innocent. Spence and I are determined to clear her. We’re trying to get compelling information to bring to the deputies to show there are much stronger suspects than Jo for Fiona’s murder.”

Floyd set aside his dessert bowl. “We can help you with that. Fiona didn’t have a shortage of frenemies. Got a pen?”

Chapter 11

“When Buddy Hayes divorced Ms. Betty to marry Ms. Fiona, Ms. Betty pitched a hissy fit with a tail on it.” Adrian’s nod added emphasis to his statement.

“Ms. Betty was furious.” Viv’s dark eyes twinkled as she translated Adrian’s Southern phrases for me. “Popular opinion is she was the one spreading gossip about Fiona. Those rumors were pretty vicious. And whenever they crossed paths, Betty would get really stiff and totally ignore Fiona. I’m interested in body language. It expresses a lot that people don’t always say with words.”

Interesting. “How would Fiona react?”

“She wouldn’t.” Viv shrugged a shoulder. “She was just normal.”

“Granted, Betty was over the top, but I can understand her anger.” Corrinne slid aside her empty dessert dish and folded her hands on the table in front of her. “She and Buddy had been married for more than twenty years. Their divorce was such a cliché: husband leaves wife for a much younger woman.”

“Betty still loved Buddy despite his betrayal.” Viv sighed. Her expression was almost dreamy. “Whenever he was near her, she only had eyes for him. And she was always touching him.”

Spence sat back on his chair. “Buddy’s death hit Betty really hard.”

Hearing this made me feel sorry for Betty and blame Fiona. “Did Betty and Fiona have any public disagreements?”

Corrinne’s brow creased. “Not that I can recall.” My other companions chimed in to agree with Corrinne.

“But things can’t be going that well for Betty,” Viv added. “She’s taken a second job, working at the general store.”

I glanced around the table. “If Betty had that much animosity toward Fiona, why would she attend Fiona’s signing?”

Adrian seemed to vibrate with excitement. “If I were a bettin’ man, I’d say she was after causin’ a scene and ruinin’ the event for Ms. Fiona. D’y’all know what Ms. Fiona’s book is about?”

Viv’s brow knitted in concentration. “The protagonist’s husband dies of natural causes, but she suspects he was murdered.”

“By his ex-wife.” Adrian’s gaze circled the rectangular table. “Now, I haven’t read the book myself yet, but I found a spoiler site on the internet.”

“Did you just ruin the ending for us?” Floyd glared across the table at Adrian.

Adrian rolled his eyes. “Don’t go pitching a hissy fit, now. I didn’t give away the endin’. I don’t think.”

A horrified silence hung over the table as the five of us considered Adrian may indeed have ruined Fiona’s book for us.

I pulled myself together first. “That motive sounds plausible.” I made a note of his theory. “But could