I said, ‘You mentioned “boy meets girl,” et cetera as the idea Danny thought your husband stole. How did you know what his manuscript was about if you didn’t see it?’
‘The naive boy told me about it, of course. In return for this stunning revelation, I assured him his ground-breaking concept was safe.’ Audra Edmonds shrugged and closed her eyes, seeming to lose steam. ‘Believe me, Larry’s book died with him.’
TWENTY-NINE
When Boyce returned from outside, he insisted on re-taking the watch from Pavlik. The sheriff slipped into the aisle seat and put his arm around me.
I laid my head on his shoulder. ‘Did Boyce see anything out there when he drained the lizard?’
‘How you talk.’ The sheriff nuzzled the side of my neck.
‘So, I’ve been thinking.’ I pushed myself up to see over the back of Audra Edmonds’ seat. The woman was snoring softly, mouth open. ‘Audra seems to be the most likely suspect in her husband’s death, either alone or allied with Danny or even Carson.’
‘Danny I can wrap my head round, but Carson? What would his motive be?’
I’d thought about that. ‘He’s in love with Audra and wanted Potter out of the way? Maybe there’s a financial incentive for Audra to do away with Potter, rather than divorce him.’
‘There’s always a financial incentive. Believe me, no one comes away from a divorce in better shape than they went into it.’
I could sure attest to that. Happily, other considerations – things like human decency and the law – kept us from knocking off our spouses. For the most part.
‘Audra just informed me that she’s scrapping what she called “Larry’s book,”’ I told Pavlik. ‘But who knows? Maybe she’s lying and fully intends to finish and publish it. Plus, Potter’s dramatic “exit” will mean lots of publicity, with only the grieving widow and Carson left to rake in the profits.’
The sheriff opened his mouth to comment, but I was on a roll. ‘Audra and personal motives aside, maybe Carson had a pure business reason to knock off Potter – something to do with Danny’s manuscript. Carson says Danny emailed him accusing Potter of stealing it, but perhaps he already knew what was going on. Larry could even have let him see the manuscript.’
‘So Carson killed Potter, his client and perhaps co-conspirator? Why? Better that they take Danny off the board.’
‘We know Potter turned to Rosemary to write for him once. Perhaps he wasn’t a very good writer, but Carson got him the publishing deal thanks to his notoriety and profile. Then Carson read Danny’s work and saw a promising young talent that could boost a literary agent’s reputation and make him more money over time than Potter ever would have.’
‘Why not just represent both?’
‘I don’t know enough about the book business to speculate.’ Not that it stopped me, of course. ‘Some kind of conflict of interest? Threat of lawsuits because of … creative jealousy? Writers rage?’
Pavlik ignored that. ‘I honestly don’t see Carson stabbing somebody to death, no matter which somebody. The man doesn’t like to get his hands dirty, remember.’
‘Maybe that’s just a front. I mean, he refused to touch the water glass so we couldn’t get his fingerprints and we thought nothing of it. Convenient, don’t you think?’
‘And he’s nurtured this faux phobia all these years just for this moment?’
Suddenly exhausted, I scooched myself back against the sheriff and snuggled in, wrapping his arms around me like a blanket. ‘You have a good point, not to mention a nifty way with words. The writers must be rubbing off on you.’
‘They aren’t the only ones rubbing on me.’ Pavlik’s breath tickled my ear. ‘You’d better behave or I’m going to have to do you right here and now.’
‘Threat or promise?’
Pavlik’s arms tightened. ‘Listen, Maggy. Boyce and I have been talking. Unless cell service improves now that the storm has stopped, we may have to hike out of here.’
I couldn’t imagine convincing the other passengers to step into the water just to cross the flooded track, much less hike along the tracks once they reached the other side. Unless, of course, a booze bar or a giant bottle of aspirin was at the end of the rainbow, in which case all bets were off.
I turned to face him. ‘It could be fifty miles back to Fort Lauderdale. And that’s assuming, given the flooding, that there’s a railway bed to walk on.’
‘We’d take cell phones and call for help as soon as we reached an area where there was service.’