Murder at the Book Fair (11 page)

"Something like that. I'm not
saying you did it. I'm checking with anyone who was around him during that
time. Maybe you saw someone or something suspicious."

"Not that I can think of.
Like who or what?"

"Well, we think poison was
put into something he ate or drank. At least that's usually the case. If we
include every time he ate between Friday afternoon late and Saturday night,
that would include the authors' reception, Saturday morning breakfast, which I
assume he ate in the hotel dining room, goodies volunteers brought to him
during the book signing, lunch, dinner after it was over, and maybe a snack
after he got home. You were around for most of those times."

"Pretty much all of them,
except we didn't eat breakfast together on Saturday morning and I didn't go
home with him. I went on over to the convention center Saturday morning and
helped myself to some pastries the committee set out for us. I like to get
there early, even though there's no one to buy that early. They don't open the
doors to the public until
9:00
."

"These pastries, did people
leave them for you on your table?"

"No, they're in the
hospitality area set aside for the authors. They're real nice to us
there."

"How hard would it be for
someone to sneak into that area?"

"Not very. But I don't think
anyone would know which drink or pastry Cereal would drink or eat."

"You didn't happen to notice
if someone put something on his table, did you?"

"Well, all of us were given a
goody bag, with little treats and trinkets. Jeannie Oldham and St. Catherine's
College are good enough to do that for us each year."

"Is she the murdering
type?"

"I'd say more the tormenting
type. Naw, she's real nice. Does a lot for the book fair."

"Okay, let's go back to the
beginning, but forget about anything that happened prior to the author's
reception. Tell me about that."

"Well, each year the KBF
invites each of the authors to a reception on Friday night. It's not always at
the same place. Many of the authors attend. We really enjoy getting together
with each other and on Saturday there's not a lot of time to socialize outside
of the authors at our table. Particularly during the morning and early
afternoon. That's when most people come. So, many of us look forward to the
reception each year. They serve several finger foods, and many of them are
quite tasty. Most of us make a supper out of it. Also, they have wine, mixed
drinks, soft drinks, and bottles of water to drink. We go through a line and
get whatever we want and take it to a table and sit or stand around and eat and
talk."

"So, if you go to a table do
you pretty much stay at your table the way you do on Saturday, or do you mill
around?"

"Some of both. Some people
move around and talk to a little bit of everyone. Others stay at the table where
they choose to sit."

"Did you see Cyril Portwood
there?"

"Oh, yeah. If you pay
attention you can tell who's there and who didn't make it. Well, unless someone
was just there a few minutes. It's possible we could miss someone"

"And did Portwood mill around
or stay seated?"

"I think some of both. There
were times when he and I were seated at the same table. Other times one or both
of us wandered around, talked to friends we might not have seen since the
previous book fair, or welcomed new authors who are there for the first time.
First time authors are always excited and happy to be there, but some of them
are shy and don't talk to people easily."

"Does anyone attend other
than authors?"

"Well, several members of the
KBF board are there, and two or three
Kentucky
publishers turn out to support their authors. Oh, and some of the
authors bring their husband or wife or boyfriend or girlfriend, but not
both."

He laughed when he said that, to
show me he was kidding about any of the married authors having someone on the
side.

"Did you pay any attention to
Portwood that night? Did he spend a lot of time with anyone in particular, or
have a disagreement with someone?"

"I doubt if anyone there had
a disagreement with anyone. We all get along quite well. And I doubt if one
person occupied all of his time."

"Do they ever have the
reception at the hotel?"

"Not so far, and they move it
around. This year it was at the Paul Sawyier Public Library. Those people are
nice, too. The library also puts on an event called A Gathering of Authors each
August. Diane Dehoney and Mark Kinnaird go a great job with it, and are so good
to the authors."

"Let's get back to the book
fair. How do the authors get to the event?"

"Some drive their cars. Some
who are staying at the
Capital
Plaza
ride a shuttle over from the hotel. Cereal and I rode on
the shuttle. And there is more than one shuttle trip. The shuttle goes back and
forth a few times during the night. Not everyone comes over or leaves at the
same time."

"What about Portwood? Did he leave
early or stay late?"

"He was one of the last to
leave. I was, too."

"And you didn't notice
anything out of the way on Friday night?"

"Not a thing."

"What about when you went
back to the hotel? Did you ride on the same shuttle?"

"We did. And it wasn't full
like it was when I rode over."

"What did he do when he got
back to the hotel?"

"We both took the elevator up
to our room. Our rooms were on the same floor. I didn't see him open his door,
because my room was closer to the elevator, but I'm sure he went on to his
room. Probably didn't stay up too late, either."

"That's a nice hotel. Lou and
I are staying there now."

"I like it. That's the reason
why I always stay there during the book fair. Even though I live only a short
distance away."

I wasn't going to debate with him
about whether or not he lived a short distance away, but I wouldn't want to
make that drive so far out in the country at night.

"When was the first time you
saw him on Saturday morning?"

"When he showed up at his
table. I'd say he got there somewhere around
8:20
. Even though they don't let the public in until
9:00
, they like for all of us to be in place by
8:30
."

"And how did he seem on
Saturday morning?"

"I thought something might
have been bothering him, but if so he quickly dismissed it and put on his
bookselling face."

"Portwood made some notes in
a book, and in it he wrote that the two of you had breakfast together on
Saturday morning."

"What kind of a book?"

"A journal."

"I didn't know that Cereal
kept a journal. But that doesn't matter. We didn't eat together at breakfast.
I'm always so excited about getting over to the convention center that I never
stop for breakfast."

"Do you have any idea who he
might have eaten breakfast with?"

"Possibly Bill Noel. And
there was another author who usually ate with him, but you won't be able to
find him this week. He and his wife left for Gatlinburg on Sunday. His books
are really big down there and he told me that some of the stores that carry
them were running low, so he and his wife decided to turn it into a business
trip slash vacation."

I made a note to call Bill Noel to
see if he poisoned Portwood, then continued my questioning.

"So what do you do when you
get to the event?"

"Introduce ourselves to the
other authors at our table, if we don't know them. A lot of times they pair up
veteran authors with newcomers. Some of us will head to the hospitality room or
ask a volunteer to get something for us. Some will wander around and see what 
books are similar to the ones they write, or ones they might want to buy that
day. And most of us will head to the restroom before things begin, because
people start coming in right at
9:00
, and by
9:15
most of us have someone at our
table. A lot of times that doesn't let up until mid-afternoon. We can leave our
tables to eat lunch if we want, but most of us choose to stay there and talk to
anyone who comes to see us. We think we sell more books if we're at our table.
And besides, if people come for us, we don't want to miss them. Some people
come for a few particular authors only. If you are a popular author it may take
you an hour-and-a-half or two hours to finish eating your lunch, because people
are constantly coming up, picking up a book (or several), and asking you to
sign it for them. Of course taking a while to finish eating your lunch is a
good problem to have. For some of us it's the one time we get a feel for what
it's like to be a big-name author."

"How does the lunch
distribution work?"

"A volunteer brings each
person his or her lunch. They come by early, give us choices on what we want,
then bring it to us later. Each lunch has the author's name on it."

"So, it's possible that
someone could have sneaked into the area where Portwood's lunch was, found it,
and added an ingredient or two?"

"I guess that's possible. I
don't know how long the lunches are there, and if there is someone keeping
watch over the area all the time they set there. I never go back there once
they let the people in, but I doubt if the lunches are there a long time before
we get them. They are delivered by a caterer."

"Okay, let's forget about
food for a minute. I know how it was when Lou and I were there, but how were
things throughout the day? Did Portwood have a lot of people at his table? Did
he leave it much to go to the restroom, or to stretch his legs?"

"Neither Cereal or I want to
miss one of our readers, so both of us pretty much hang out at our table unless
we really feel we need to leave. The only time I remember him leaving was when
his brother and sister came along."

"So, you know them?"

"Only in the sense that
Cereal pointed them out to me one time. See, both of us have been authors there
for a long time, and we're usually seated pretty close to each other."

"They came after his lunch
arrived but before he ate all of it. Am I right?"

"I think so. Yeah, I know so.
I remember they both acted like they were going to do something to his
lunch."

"Is it possible that they
did?"

"I got busy with a couple of
people wanting books at that time. But I don't think they touched it. Of course
I can't be sure of that."

"Do you know anything about
Portwood's relationship with his brother and sister?"

"I know he had none. He only
saw them at the book fair, and as far as he was concerned that was too
often."

"What about his finances? Did
he ever talk about that?"

"Never. But I know enough to
know that he didn't support himself from his book sales. And I don't think he
was hurting, but I can't tell you how much money he had."

"What about you? Do you make
enough from writing to support yourself?"

"No. And most of us don't.
But with all the ways we can sell books these days I'm getting close. I just
retired last year from the state government."

"I've heard that you and
Portwood had a rivalry about who sells the most books at the event each year.
Did you ever bet on it?"

"Never.  It was always in
fun, although both of us wanted to sell the most."

"Who usually won?"

"Most of the time he did, but
I beat him a couple of times. Most years it was pretty close."

"I know that Lou and I were
mainly interested in mysteries, although we did buy some books that weren't
mysteries. Do most people know what they want before they come, or do they
wander up and down the aisles selecting a book from time to time?"

"It's some of both. Many
people who live in and around
Frankfort
see a brochure before the event each year, so they know what authors are going
to be there, and what kind of books they write. Some people will come with a
written list of books they are going to buy. Some won't vary from that list one
iota, while others will also buy other books they find interesting."

"So some people kind of have
a grocery list."

"You might say that. Which
reminds me of something. I noticed a few people this year that had identical
lists, who only bought from the other two authors at Cereal's table. Most
people will write their list on a piece of paper. Others will type it on a
computer and print it. But there was more than one person who seemed to have an
identical list. I tried to get a couple of those people to buy my books, but
they said they were only to buy the books on the list. Now this is common,
provided those people were buying for a library or were part of a book club,
but the two people I asked said they weren't affiliated with either. I wondered
who had given them the list and told them what books to buy."