Free Book Club Killer by Mary Maxwell

know
why you’re so certain. Murder isn’t stealing something from a store. It’s a crime
of passion. Or rage. There has to be motive, opportunity and means.”
    “Well, we know about the last two,”
I said. “Some kind of poison that was delivered from Olive Street Café.”
    “Did the detective confirm that?”
asked my husband.
    “That was the coroner’s initial conclusion,”
I answered. “The tox panels were expected back either today or tomorrow.”
    “Okay, so if it’s poison,”
Ben said, “what’s the motive?”
    “That’s what we’re trying to find
out.”
    “Who knew that Rosemary would be
here on Saturday?” he asked.
    I thought for a second. “Everyone
in book club. And I suppose anyone that Rosemary might have told; members of
her family, people at work, her other girlfriends, neighbors.”
    “That’s a pretty large pool of
potential suspects. Who would want to kill someone as nice and mellow as her?”
    “That’s the baffling part,” I said.
“It just seems so—”
    “And why would they have known
about the catered dinner that we were planning for Brock Truscott?”
    The question stopped me cold. I’d
been so focused on Rosemary’s death and the coroner’s preliminary supposition
that I hadn’t considered something so elementary.
    “Wow! That’s such a good
question!”
    Ben grinned. “See? I’ve paid
attention all those nights when you’ve been watching CSI and NCIS and all those other shows.”
    “I guess so,” I said, digging in my
purse. “I’ve got to call Sonja and let her know.”
    Ben finished his beer. “Can it
wait?” he asked. “Matt and Sam should be here soon.”
    I looked at my phone. Then back at
the sideways grin on my husband’s face. I let the phone slip back into my
purse.
    “I’ll call her after we eat
dinner,” I said. “Do you feel like going out? I didn’t take anything out of the
freezer and—”
    “Done and done,” Ben said. “I made
reservations at that Italian place you like.”
    “Russo’s?”
    He nodded. “That’s it! Now, why
don’t we go take a quick shower?” He took my hand and tugged me gently toward
the hallway. “The boys are due home in…” He checked his watch. “…twenty-five
minutes, give or take. That should be plenty of time to freshen up, don’t you
think?”

Chapter 15
     
     
    An hour later, we were tucked into
a booth near the front of Russo’s Original, the best Italian restaurant in
town. Matt and Sam were arguing about a video game while Ben and I enjoyed a
glass of Chianti.
    “I’m glad you agreed to this,” Ben
said. “I actually had an ulterior motive.”
    I smiled. “Are you talking about
the shower?” I whispered.
    “There was nothing mysterious about
that,” he said. “I’m talking about Brock Truscott.”
    I shook my head and waited for the
rest of his explanation.
    “He’s having dinner here tonight
with his girlfriend,” said Ben. “There was something odd in his voice on the
phone earlier. I just wanted a chance to maybe casually run into him and take a
temperature on our deal.”
    “You think he’s getting cold feet?”
    Ben shook his head. “I’m not really
sure. But there was hesitancy or something when we were talking. I just want to
see if I can make sure it isn’t related to him selling us Zephyr Industries.”
    I’d heard the company name a
thousand times since Ben started negotiating to buy Truscott’s company, but it
struck a chord after the conversation Sonja and I had with the woman at Skinny
Skeleton Tattoos earlier in the day.
    “What does Truscott drive?” I
asked.
    Ben made a face. “What?”
    “His car,” I said. “Is it an
Escalade? And does it have personalized plates?”
    “Yeah, Zephyr’s fleet has company
plates with identifying numbers,” he answered. “And they’re all black SUVs, but
I’m not sure if it’s a Cadillac.”
    I narrowed my eyes and leaned
closer. “Then it’s very possible that Rosemary wasn’t the killer’s