“Very clever, Ms. Crump,” Franklin said. “You’re turning out to be a regular Miss Marple.” Vicky looked down, her cheeks blushing from the compliment.
Bentley cleared her throat. “What was Mr. Reynolds’s response?” she asked, trying to keep the conversation on track. Sometime during our discussion, Olive had found her way to Bentley’s lap, where she was snuggled in close. Surprisingly, with everything going on this week, my normally high-strung boss had remained relatively calm. Maybe what Franklin said was true. Dogs do have a calming effect on people. In fact, I’d never seen Bentley so calm. I wondered if she’d make Olive a permanent addition in her life.
Vicky’s voice brought me back to focus. “He didn’t actually give me a name, but he did say that thankfully the worst contractor in town was no longer in business.” She shuddered. “And he said it with such a menacing smile. So out of character for such a nice man.”
I heard Sean’s words echo in my mind: Nice people do bad things. He was right, of course. It was hard telling what might push someone over the edge. Cause them to do the unthinkable. Had Matt been pushed too far? Was the financial stress of the ruined aquarium enough to make Matt resort to murder? When he’d thought the cause was Olive, pet lover that he is, he was willing let the poor thing freeze to death out in the cold streets, at least in the heat of the moment. But, eventually, he’d realized it was an accident. How would he feel when he discovered a person he’d paid had been the cause of the loss? And that it was no accident at all, just plain negligence? I didn’t want to, but I had to admit, his name did belong on our list of suspects, which seemed to be growing longer by the day.
“Yoo-hoo!” A voice came from outside the conference room. It was followed with a sharp knock on the conference room door. “Are y’all in here?”
Olive let go with a series of high-pitched yelps, jumped to the floor, and ran to the door. Unfortunately, I recognized that yoo-hoo. It belonged to Ms. Lambert.
Bentley threw open the conference room door and smiled through gritted teeth. “Yes, Ms. Lambert. Is there something I can do for you?”
The woman pushed past Bentley and came right on into the room, passing around her sugary smile like she was sharing a box of chocolates with old friends. “Hi, y’all. I just stopped by to talk a little about what happened yesterday. The author being arrested in front of attendees, well, it was so distasteful. When Southern Belles Bridal signed on with you people, we didn’t know y’all had a reputation for this sort of thing. Now I’m hearing around town that this type of stuff happens at most of your events. Something that you should have disclosed before we entered into an agreement, Ms. Duke.”
“Disclosed what? That we anticipated a murder at the expo?” Bentley asked with an incredulous expression.
From the floor, Olive started growling. Obviously she didn’t think much of Ms. Lambert’s attitude, either. Ms. Lambert looked down her nose at the pup and curled her lip with disdain. “What a feisty little dog you are.”
Bentley signaled Vicky. “Ms. Crump, would you mind taking Olive for a walk? I think she needs a little exercise.”
Vicky let out her own little growl as she stood and scooped up the dog. The rest of us remained silent, waiting for the inevitable row that was about to occur. Ms. Lambert had a lot of nerve waltzing into Bentley’s domain and addressing her in such a way. Then insulting Olive? Oh boy. She was about to get blasted.
As soon as the door shut behind Vicky and Olive, Bentley turned back to the insufferable woman and scowled. To my surprise, though, and probably the surprise of everyone in the room, Bentley remained controlled. She even managed to match the woman’s saccharine smile with one of her own. “Ms. Lambert. I can assure you that our reputation is impeccable. That’s why authors from around the world seek our representation. The fact that the crime rate has risen in this area has nothing to do with us. And the idea that you would buy into the canards of scandalmongers and muckrakers is an insult to your obvious intelligence.”
Somewhere buried in there was a compliment, and Mrs. Lambert was, if anything, easily flattered. Two bright circles of pink appeared on her cheeks as she started backtracking her statements. “Yes, of course, Ms. Duke. I do apologize. I’m sure that’s all it was: silly gossip. I should have realized that when someone made mention of a murder magnet.” She chuckled. “I mean, really, isn’t that the silliest thing y’all have ever heard?”
*