Poison Pen by Tanya Landman Read Free Book Online Page B

Suppose Max is right? Suppose he knows the truth? What if Charlie
did
get stuck? What would happen if you got stuck with a book? Do you get into trouble with your publisher? Is it like being late with your homework?”
    “From what I’ve read, writers often have deadlines to meet. With a series like the Sam the Striker books, the publisher would have arranged events – signings, appearances, interviews, that kind of thing. They would have been booked months in advance. It would have been vital to have the book ready on time.”
    “So … if Charlie was blocked in the middle of a book, could he have paid Max to finish it for him?” I asked.
    Graham looked thoughtful. “It certainly sounded as if the two of them had some sort of contractual agreement. That would help explain why he mentioned the confidentiality clause – if Max did finish writing it, clearly he’s supposed to keep quiet about the fact.”
    “And now Max has written something else – something of his own – and he wants help to get it published.” I frowned. “Charlie wasn’t at all helpful about that, was he? And Zenith looked at Max as if he was something she’d trodden in. It might all be enough to make him a bit unhinged. Maybe he’s written stuff for the others, too…”
    “It’s possible,” Graham said. “And he may well be a little unbalanced. Yet his chief desire seems to be the publication of his manuscript. I don’t see how attacking authors would help him achieve that objective.”
    We fell silent. I recognized signs of Deep Thought on Graham’s face, so I didn’t say anything more until he spoke again. “The thing that perplexes me,” he said at last, “is that there doesn’t seem to be a single consistent motive that unites all the different attacks. I suppose what we have to consider is the combined effect. That way, we might come nearer to discovering who’s orchestrating it all.”
    “Well,” I said, “the festival has been virtually destroyed. I can’t imagine that Viola will want to organize another one.” The glimmer of an idea flicked across my brain. “I wonder…”
    “What?” asked Graham.
    “Whoever’s doing it… Is it really the authors they’re after?”
    “On today’s evidence I’d have said yes, definitely,” Graham told me.
    “Suppose someone’s using them to get to Viola? Has she got any enemies? Her festival’s been sabotaged from the word go. Maybe it’s her they’re trying to hurt. It’s like in a war when you bomb a military base or something and civilians get killed by accident. There’s a name for it…”
    “Collateral damage,” Graham supplied helpfully.
    “Yes – that’s it. Maybe the authors are just being used. You know how we always look for Motive, Means and Opportunity? Well, maybe they’re the Means.”
    We Googled “Viola Boulder” but couldn’t find very much about her other than stuff related to the book festival. She’d given various interviews beforehand, but all she’d talked about were the visiting authors. She was also a member of the local choral society and helped out on alternate Mondays at a charity shop on the high street, but that was about it. She seemed to be a fine, upstanding member of the community. We couldn’t find a single reason why anybody would want to sabotage the Good Reads Festival. Even so, I couldn’t help feeling that Viola might be the real victim.
    Mum arrived back at that point, so we shut the computer down quickly and jumped to our feet to help with the food. She crashed out on the sofa and switched on the TV while Graham and I took the bag into the kitchen and dished special chow mein and crispy beef onto plates.
    “Nigella’s been pretty poisonous to Viola, hasn’t she?” I said, crunching on a prawn cracker.
    Graham nodded. “Whoever’s behind the whole thing has a very detailed knowledge of the authors’ works, which would certainly be consistent with them being a children’s book specialist.”
    “And those