Page 90 of Killer on the First Page
Everyone stopped eating.
Miranda squeezed in next to Doc Meadows—He’s a married man!she reminded herself—as Andrew took up a spot on one of Bea’s kitchen stools.
“Hey there, deputy,” said Doc Meadows. Andrew beamed.
“Any word on the culprit?” asked Tanvir. “I have it on good authority that they arrested the children’s author.”
“Not arrested. She surrendered to authorities,” said Andrew.
Ray Valentine nodded as though he’d been expecting it. “I heard the same thing over at the Better B&B. Word was, Wanda Stobol was going to spill the proverbial beans. Though it was not clear which beans, exactly, or how many would be spilled.”
Miranda tilted her head and looked at the author/faux police officer. “What brings you to this side of the harbor, Mr. Valentine?”Looking for another life’s story to steal? Perhaps Inez is not the real vampire amongst us. Perhaps it’s you.
She smiled sweetly, but her teeth were showing. She did not care for Mr. Valentine, no matter how much the men of Happy Rock gushed over this self-proclaimed Prince of the Police Procedural.
“Truth be told, I was looking for the police chief. Mr. Buckley, I think his name is. The one who locked us down in the bookstore last night. When I phoned the station, the officer who picked up said, and I quote, ‘Try Bea’s, that’s usually where you’ll find ol’ lover boy.’ The officer—Holly, I think her name was—said something about Mr. Buckley being ‘Happy Rock’s answer to Don Juan.’”
Now it was Bea’s turn to blush.
“In regards to lover boys,” said Tanvir, a broad smile breaking through his beard, “Owen, I am informed by Harpreet that you and Ms. Fonio are now an item.”
Owen stared at the table. “Not really. Not so much. She’s been kinda cold to me today, like the passion burnt out in one night. I probably shouldn’t have asked her to marry me.”
It was all Doc Meadows could do not to slap his palm against his face. “Owen, no. You didn’t. Not again.”
“I just think a girl worth kissing is a girl worth marrying.”
Doc turned to Ray. “Our friend the mechanic has a habit of falling a little too hard, a little too fast.”
“Why were you looking for our police chief?” Miranda asked.
Ray dug around in his cardigan pocket, fished out a necklace chain with a small circle of broken glass at one end. “I found this. Hanging off a tree branch outside the Better B&B.”
God, I wish he’d stop saying that! thought Miranda. Even if it is the name of the damn place.
“That’s Inez’s necklace!” said Owen. “It’s that vial of her blood. It must have come loose when we were, um, pre-indisposed. She was lookin’ for that. How’d it break?”
“No idea. But it seemed like a clue of some sort.”
Deputy Andrew retrieved a plastic baggie from Bea’s counter, and Ray dropped the necklace inside as a piece of potential evidence.
“How is that evidence?” Owen asked, agitated. “Are you accusing Inez of—what exactly?”
With hands held up in protest, Ray insisted he was suggesting nothing of the sort. “I found it by chance. The afternoon light across the bay. I was sitting on the stairway out behind the Better—”
“Yes, yes, yes,” said Miranda. “Move the story along.” Ray had a knack for annoying people.
“I managed to pull the branch down, and I recognized it right away as the remains of that little glass tube Inez was always wearing around her neck. It struck me as possibly important to the case. Something the police should examine.”
“You could have asked her about it!” Owen shouted, getting angrier by the moment. “You didn’t need to pocket it and then come skulking around. You were probably the one who stole my rope!”
Owen grabbed his jacket and left. The tension in the room crackled on his departure.
Ray took a big breath. “Maybe I should go.”
“Maybe you should,” said Miranda, still smiling with all her teeth.
The mood had been spoiled, and Doc got up, too, stretched, and thanked Bea for the cobbler.
