Murder on the Half Shelf (34 page)

“I did not kill Pippa.”

“Then who did?”

“Maybe it was Clay Ellington. They had a thing for each other all those years ago. Maybe it was that old guy who creeped her out.”

“Chauncey Porter?”

He nodded. “For all I know it could’ve been you or your sister.”

“Don’t make me laugh. We’d only met her a few minutes before she was killed.”

He shrugged. “Go ahead, talk to the cops. They can’t touch me because I’ve got an alibi. And it wasn’t Amy.”

“I suppose you were having more than one fling.” And then
she saw in his face that it was true. “Another one of your students?” she accused.

He laughed. “Hey, it turns out teaching is a very powerful aphrodisiac. Why shouldn’t I take advantage of the situation? My wife was as cold a fish as they come.”

Or had she been disgusted by her husband to the point of avoiding his touch?

Tricia shook her head. “What did I ever see in the likes of you?”

“The same thing my students do, what many of my readers did. You wanted to be with someone famous. Someone who could do what you couldn’t.”

“And what was that? Get published?”

Harry nodded.

Tricia had to fight to keep herself from slugging the guy. “Get out of my store.”

“I’m hurt. You never even mentioned the little gift I sent.”

Tricia’s eyes widened.

“I told you we’d meet again.”

“That picture was taken years after I was with you.”

“I told you, I eventually made it back to the East Coast. You were with some joker eating at a sidewalk bistro in Portland, Maine. I snapped your picture. I mailed it last Saturday when I was in Nashua on an errand for the inn. I’d been carrying it around all these years. I thought maybe we could get together again. I didn’t know you’d turned into a bitch.”

That was the second time in two days Tricia had been referred to by the
B
word. She didn’t like it. Even though he’d been with Amy and some other woman, the rat had still plotted to add her to his stable. She hoped Amy was smart enough to get tested for sexually transmitted diseases. No doubt Pippa had withdrawn her affections once she’d found her husband had no inclination to remain faithful.

“Then why did you disappear when I entered the inn?”

“I’m not stupid. Pippa was my meal ticket. Believe it or not, I didn’t go out of my way to make her angry.”

Tricia didn’t believe it. “And what about the other stuff?”

It was Harry’s turn to look puzzled. “What other stuff?”

“The cocktail napkin and the scarf?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” This time, she believed him.

“I gotta go. I’m packed and ready to meet that agent first thing Monday morning. Look for me on the
Times
best sellers list in about eighteen months.” He flashed his teeth one last time and sauntered out the door.

“Good riddance,” Tricia called after him.

“Gee, you’re having a lousy day,” Pixie said. Of course she’d been eavesdropping.

“You have no idea,” Tricia muttered.

“What was all that talk of murder?”

“It’s a long story.”

“I’ve got time to listen,” Pixie offered.

Tricia shook her head. “Not tonight. Maybe I’ll feel more talkative in the morning.”

“Look, the place is dead. Hell, the whole
town
is dead,” Pixie said. “Shut the door, go up to your apartment, kick off your shoes, and have a snort. It’ll make you feel better.”

“That does sound pretty good right now,” Tricia admitted.

Pixie bit her lip and looked thoughtful. “I really am sorry about what happened over at the Everett Foundation. The truth is, I was in over my head at that job and I knew it. I thought I was being a good employee, and I screwed up. Mrs. H-E should’ve just fired me, but she gave me a chance and I blew it. And now you’ve given me a chance, too. I’ll try not to let you down, Tricia.”

“Thank you, Pixie. I hope this works out for both of us.”

Pixie smiled. “I guess I’d better get going.” She grabbed her big brown coat from the chair in the reader’s nook where she’d left it, and put it on. “I’ll see you tomorrow at ten.”

“Have a good night,” Tricia said, and walked her to the door.

From her perch behind the register Miss Marple said, “
Yow!
”

“Good night to you, too, Miss Marple,” Pixie said, and headed out the door.

Tricia locked it behind her and turned the OPEN sign to CLOSED.

“
Brrrpt?
” Miss Marple inquired. If the store was closing, that meant a kitty snack or even her dinner might be in the offing.

“Not yet,” Tricia chided her.

As Tricia closed the blinds, Miss Marple jumped down from her perch. “
Yow!
”

Tricia had intended to go get the vacuum cleaner, but instead she paused to pet her cat. “Who do you think killed Pippa?” she asked.

Miss Marple nuzzled her hand, purring loudly.

“I don’t really think it was Harry. He probably
was
with his latest conquest. Apparently he doesn’t know that a zipper can stay up as well as go down.”

“
Yow!
” Miss Marple agreed, walking back and forth on the counter, letting Tricia pet her from top to tail.

“Clayton Ellington was on the phone—probably having a fight with his wife—for the fifteen or so minutes between the time Ange and I saw Pippa and Sarge and I found her dead.”

Miss Marple bristled at Sarge’s name.

“And then there’s Chauncey. But somebody hit him. Was it to keep him quiet? Do you think he could have seen something and now the killer is out to get him?”

“
Yow!
” Miss Marple agreed.

“That only leaves one person who could have done it.”

Mary Fairchild.

But Tricia really couldn’t believe Mary was responsible for Pippa’s death. What was her motive? Still, what was she doing
standing on the landing? She’d held the liqueur glasses, so she might have just been down in the parlor availing herself of the sherry—but she’d been breathless, as though she’d run up the stairs. And she’d been startled when Tricia appeared before her. Had she dumped the candlestick, run back to the inn, grabbed the glasses for her alibi, and hoped someone would see her?

Tricia glanced at the clock. Most of the stores on Main Street closed at six. She still had a few minutes to catch Mary—talk to her about it.

And say what?
Everyone else has been accounted for—did you kill Pippa Comfort?

“I’ve got nothing better to do,” she told Miss Marple.

“
Yow!
” Miss Marple admonished, but whether it was to ask her to stay or demand an early dinner, Tricia didn’t know.

She retrieved her jacket from the back of the shop, grabbed her keys, and headed out the door. “I’ll be back in a little while. You’re in charge.”

“
Yow!
” Miss Marple protested again.

But Tricia didn’t listen. One way or another, she was sure she’d learn the truth about Pippa Comfort’s death before the day was done.

TWENTY-EIGHT

Like Haven’t
Got a Clue, By Hook or By Book had no customers this late in the day. Mary sat behind her cash desk, crochet hook and yarn in hand, working on a baby blanket. She looked up as Tricia entered.

“What brings you here?” She looked at the wall clock. “There’s still five minutes until your store closes.”

“I’ve given up for the day. I wanted to talk to you about Sunday night at the inn.”

Mary cocked her head, looking puzzled. “I don’t understand.”

“I’ve been thinking about how strange it was to find you standing on the landing. You looked…furtive.”

“Furtive?” Mary repeated, and her hands stopped moving.

“Yes, you were also out of breath, as well as being pink-cheeked. Like you’d been outside and had just run up the stairs.”

Mary laughed nervously. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I think you do. And I’m here to encourage you to go talk to Chief Baker.”

“About what?” Mary said, growing a little testy.

“I’ve ruled out everyone else, Mary. It’s got to be you who killed Pippa Comfort, although I’m not exactly sure why.”

“What are you talking about?” Mary asked, fear entering her eyes.

“You’ve been very interested in the case. Asking a lot of questions, running around the village looking over your shoulder. And you quit the book club because you said murder made you uneasy. I could understand that, especially if you’d recently committed one and were afraid of getting caught.”

Mary shook her head. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You bribed Bob Kelly to win the raffle for the night’s stay at the Sheer Comfort Inn. There’s no use denying it; Bob’s already admitted you gave him money to announce your name as one of the winners.”

Mary’s cheeks flushed red, and Tricia thought she might be about to burst into tears.

“I think you should leave right now, Tricia,” Mary said, standing. “Please, leave right
now
.”

Tricia shook her head. “Not until you tell me everything.”

“Why? So you can go to the police?”

“I’ve already shared everything I know with Chief Baker.” Okay, that was a lie. But Mary didn’t know that. “It’s just a matter of time before he comes to arrest you.”

Mary’s face crumpled. “Please, Tricia—go home. Now!”

Before Tricia could do more than shake her head, the curtain that covered the doorway to the store’s back room parted, and Mary’s husband, Luke, stepped into the store. “Is something wrong, dear?” he asked.

Mary shook her head furiously, jumped up from her stool,
and scurried around the cash desk. She grabbed Tricia’s arm and began to steer her toward the door. “Tricia was just leaving.”

“I don’t think so.”

Mary stopped dead, and the hairs on the back of Tricia’s neck bristled at Luke’s tone.

Mary turned to face her husband. “It was just a matter of time, Luke.”

A matter of time?
Tricia felt confused.

“I will not cover up for you again,” Mary declared.

Luke’s expression changed from feigned puzzlement to cunning. “A wife can’t be made to testify against her husband,” he said smugly.

“Who says I’d be coerced?” Mary countered, although her voice wavered.

Luke’s eyes widened in anger. “You are my wife and you will do as I tell you…or do you want to suffer the consequences?”

Tricia’s head was spinning at all this. “What’s going on?”

Mary turned to her with anguished eyes. “I can’t believe I’m saying this…but it could only have been Luke who killed Mrs. Comfort.”

“Why?” Tricia asked, stunned.

“He was missing at the time of the murder. I didn’t think anything of it when he asked me to lie for him.”

“Why did you have to lie?”

“Because I didn’t want his children to know.”

“Know what?” Tricia demanded.

“That their father had started smoking again.”

Confused, Tricia couldn’t believe what she’d just heard. “What?”

Tears flooded Mary’s eyes. “That’s what I thought! When he came back in I smelled cigarettes on his breath. I…I never thought. I would never have believed he could have hurt, let alone kill…” Her choking words came to a halt.

Luke was silent, his mouth a thin line, his eyes blazing.

Tricia shook her head. “Smoking? Why would he kill Pippa?”

“Oh,” Mary cried, frustrated. “It has nothing to do with smoking, and everything to do with who Mrs. Comfort used to be.”

“A Playboy bunny?”

“No, the driver who ran my wife down,” Luke cried.

Tricia looked from him to Mary, puzzled.

“Not Mary,” Luke said testily, “my
first
wife!”

“But I thought you said you and Luke had been married half your lives,” Tricia hissed at Mary.

“Yes, but not to each other.” She turned back to her husband. “Joanna’s death was an accident! She was distraught. She jumped out in front of the car. The police ruled her death a suicide. Even the jury in the civil suit agreed.”

Luke kept shaking his head in denial, his expression one of pure hatred. “I never forgot that woman’s face.”

“But Luke, she didn’t mean to hit Joanna. She stepped out in front of the car. It just happened to be poor Pippa who hit her.”

“That woman took the best part of my life from me.”

Tricia noted Mary’s expression change from sympathy to annoyance.

“Haven’t I given you at least one minute of pleasure in the fourteen years we’ve been together?”

Luke turned to her. “I was lonely. I missed my wife. I needed someone to take care of me and my home.”

“Is that all I’ve meant to you?” Mary cried. “A maid and a sexual substitute?”

Luke said nothing, but his expression—lifeless eyes and a slack jaw—said it all.

Tricia wished she were somewhere else. She backed up a step.

Mary’s mouth trembled and her voice was shaky when she spoke. “And to think I actually lied to protect you.”

“Lied how?” Tricia wondered aloud. “Did you know Pippa was responsible for Joanna’s death?”

Mary shook her head. “Not when I first spoke to Chief Baker.”

“When did you find out?” Tricia asked in spite of herself.