Murder on the Orient Espresso(48)

‘Must have what?’ Zoe was looking a lot like she did before she passed out. Happily, if she toppled, she couldn’t go far.

‘A reason to kill Larry Potter, of course.’ I slid closer and in a confidential tone whispered, ‘So who do you think it was?’

‘How would I know?’ The conference organizer was back to the window.

‘But you know these people. For example,’ I nodded toward Rosemary Darlington, ‘could the legendary author have finally snapped when her rumored former lover trashed her new book? Or maybe,’ I hooked a thumb over my shoulder at Danny, ‘it’s the aspiring young writer who’s the killer. He’s practically been stalking the victim, after all, since the critic refused to read his work.’

‘Then there’s the literary agent.’ A head tilt toward Carson, seated with Markus across from us. ‘Could he have had a reason to kill his client? Or what about the librarian? I’m pretty sure he was one of Potter’s “victims” in the past. And what about the long-suffering wife?’ I couldn’t see Audra Edmonds, but plunged on anyway, still keeping my voice down. I was on a roll. ‘Might Don’t-Call-Me-Mrs-Potter have done away with her cheating mister?’

‘I … I don’t know.’

‘Of course not. How could you?’ I turned back full-face to Zoe. ‘The only person who does isn’t talking.’

‘You mean Larry?’ Zoe’s voice was raspy, as if she couldn’t draw in enough air.

‘And the killer, of course.’ I swept my hand to encompass the entire assemblage. I couldn’t help myself. ‘Or killers.’

Zoe was surveying our fellow passengers warily, so I left her to it and turned my attention back to Pavlik’s question-and-answer session, chewing things over in my mind.

‘… say, we’re stuck here,’ Carson was saying. ‘But for how long?’

‘Has someone called for help?’ came from Grace, who looked a little worse for wear. Hopefully she hadn’t been dancing on top of a table when we’d come to our abrupt stop, but her body language did project an aching head.

‘Unfortunately, it appears the only communication is by cell.’ I noticed that Pavlik didn’t elaborate. ‘And there seems to be no service here.’

Cell phones magically appeared in hands.

‘Huh,’ Markus said, looking at his. ‘Not a single bar.’

‘We’re still deep in the Everglades.’ I tried to look out the window, but all I could see was my own reflection against the black backdrop of rain riveting down the glass.

‘There are no cell towers. Or at least not many.’ Zoe slipped her phone back into her pocket. ‘And I’m sure the storm didn’t help matters any.’

‘I hear the Everglades is like twice the size of Rhode Island,’ Danny contributed. ‘Some hunter got separated from his friends a while back and they didn’t find him for four days.’

Prudence sniffed. ‘Must have been decades ago. Now—’

‘You’d think,’ Danny interrupted, ‘but this was like three years ago. And just this past spring a whole family got lost. They were found a day later, but the newspaper story I Googled said they got lucky. They could have been out here a week.’

‘A week?’ Missy’s voice squeaked from somewhere in the back of the car. The assistant event coordinator was probably keeping a low profile.

‘Please,’ Pavlik said, holding up both hands. ‘I’m not familiar with the area. But once it’s light, we’ll have a better idea of what we’re dealing with. For tonight, stay in this car and the two behind it – the dining and club cars. The forward one is off limits.’

‘The sleeping car?’ Rosemary asked. ‘Why?’

‘See?’ Zoe hissed, elbowing me. ‘I knew they’d ask.’

‘At least a few of us should be allowed to catch some zzz’s in there,’ Prudence contributed in support of our surviving guest of honor.

‘I’m afraid that’s not possible,’ Pavlik said flatly. No explanations, no apologies.

I dug an ‘I told you so’ elbow into my seatmate’s ribs.

‘Oh, yeah?’ demanded the big guy who’d followed Grace onto the table earlier. ‘Who says?’

‘Can it, Fred,’ Zoe said, rubbing her side. ‘The sheriff is in charge.’

‘Some cop from Hicksville, Wisconsin?’ The guy surfed tabletops – I guess it figured he had more nerve than brains. ‘That doesn’t give him any authority here.’

‘And you are …?’ asked Markus.