Book Club Killer by Mary Maxwell Read Free Book Online

resuscitating
memories of her sister’s recent death.
    “And what about Ed and Rosemary’s
parents?” asked Ben. “Are they here already?”
    “Her father and mother drove in
last night,” I answered. “Ed’s dad passed away a couple of years ago, so his
mom is flying in tomorrow morning. It was the first flight she could get from Montana.”
    Ben nodded. “That’ll help a lot,”
he said. “Having family and friends around at a time like this is really
important.”
    We shared a comforting glance. The
past twenty-four hours had been impossibly chaotic and stressful. It felt
reassuring to be in our kitchen together with the boys upstairs playing in
their room and a delicious dinner filling the air with mouthwatering aromas.
    “How are you doing?” Ben said,
refilling my wine glass. “You look pretty stressed, babe.”
    I shrugged. “I’m still numb. I just
can’t even believe it happened, you know?”
    “Absolutely. Especially in such a
strange and unexpected way. It’s one thing when somebody’s in their seventies
or eighties and they’ve lived a long life. But Rosemary was—what? Maybe thirty
or so? That’s just way too young.”
    “And it wasn’t from natural
causes,” I said, shaking my head. “I just can’t believe that she was poisoned.”
    “Have you heard anything more from
the detective?”
    “No, but I left a message for him
earlier,” I answered. “There was something I needed to tell him about Sonja’s
brother.”
    “Her brother?” Ben said. “I didn’t
even know she had one.”
    “She doesn’t talk about him very
much. He’s basically the black sheep of her family, so I think she’s pretty
much written him off.”
    “What were you going to tell the
detective about him?”
    “That I actually met him today,” I
said. “Or maybe I should say that I met him again.”
    Ben frowned. “What are you talking
about?”
    “Sonja’s brother was the guy that
delivered the spinach dip yesterday,” I told him. “From Olive Street Café. And,
if you do the math, then…” I paused, giving Ben a chance to connect the dots.
    “Then her brother was involved in
poisoning Rosemary?”
    “I don’t know if we can go that far
at this point,” I said. “But it’s certainly suspicious, don’t you think?”
    Ben nodded. “ Very suspicious,” he said. “And I’ve been thinking about that a lot actually.”
    “The dip?”
    “Remember I told you that Brock Truscott
had claimed to be getting threats?”
    I nodded.
    “Well, I talked to Hal this
afternoon. He’s on the acquisition team from our office.” He paused and I
nodded again. “Anyway, Hal told me that Truscott’s pretty sure his soon-to-be
ex-wife was behind the anonymous notes he’d received.”
    “Oh, come on,” I moaned. “That’s such a cliché.”
    “Yeah, I know. But it’s also true.”
    “How do you know that?”
    “Hal saw one of the notes,” my
husband answered. “I guess they were in the Hamptons a couple of weeks ago for
some charity polo thing. Truscott got pretty sauced, they got to talking and he
actually showed one of the threats to Hal and a couple of the other guys.”
    “And you’re being serious?”
    Ben nodded. “Completely,” he said.
“Hal’s a straight up guy; he’d never lie about something like that, no matter
how much he can’t stand Truscott.”
    “Truscott’s wife is so angry about
the divorce that she’s going to kill him?” I sipped my wine and ran the concept
through my mind. “ After she writes a bunch of death threats?”
    Ben shrugged. “I’m not making this
stuff up, babe,” he explained. “I’m just reporting what I heard from Hal.”
    “What’s her name?”
    “I have no idea,” he said. “Maybe
Lizzie Borden.” When I didn’t smile, he tried again. “Or the Wicked Witch of
the West.” He chuckled, but I didn’t join in. “She is, after all, from California.”
    “This isn’t funny, Ben!” The retort
was out of my mouth before I knew it.