Page 41 of Murder on the Page

“Dennell’s partner has accused her of stealing from the company coffers,” Tegan continued.

“I h-haven’t stolen a dime,” Dennell rasped. “I’m just not good with numbers. Balancing books is tricky for me. I make mistakes, so there are lots of erasures, and . . .” She cleared her throat, sounding as if she might choke.

I fetched her a paper cup of water. She thanked me and drank the liquid greedily.

“The reason I was with her that morning . . .” Tegan began to explain. “The reason I’ve kept quiet about it—”

“I’m an alcoholic,” Dennell blurted. “Last week, I made a real mess of the books, so I decided Tuesday night to go coldturkey. No more booze ever. By Friday night, I was having the DTs.”

“Delirium tremens,” Tegan said.

Dennell nodded. “I was shaking and icy cold, but sweating, and I was really confused. I texted Tegan after midnight—”

“At three,” Tegan cut in.

“That I needed help. Someone I could trust.”

“I went right over,” Tegan continued, “because if her partner finds out, she’ll end the partnership, like that.” She snapped her fingers. “She’s an extremely religious person and inserted a temperance and noncompete clause in their partnership contract. She will get the business outright if she finds out Dennell breached it. Dennell could lose everything. That’s why I kept quiet.”

“I’m planning to ask her to buy me out,” Dennell said, “but if she can end our deal without paying me a nickel . . .” She spread her hands. “She’s miserly enough to do something like that. Religious or not, to her, money is everything. I was a fool to go into business with her.”

“Detective Armstrong,” Tegan said, “I contacted Dennell this morning saying we had to talk after the appointment with Mr. Tannenbaum. I wanted to convince her to meet with you. But then, you showed up and she arrived early, so . . ” Tegan rotated a hand. “It’s Kismet, right?”

Zach studied Dennell and Tegan. “How do you two know each other?”

Tegan smiled. “Dennell likes any kind of mystery or romantic suspense where jewels are involved. I’ve been advising her for a couple of years about what she should read. We became friends.”

“Good friends,” Dennell said.

I’d never spent time with Dennell, and didn’t know the extent of their friendship, but Tegan didn’t know all my friends, either. Wasn’t life funny that way? You could hang out withpeople, could know them since kindergarten, and, yet, unless you purposely made an effort to introduce one friend to another, they might never meet.

“Is there anyone who saw the two of you together?” Zach asked.

Dennell said, “A delivery guy for Big Mama’s Diner brought over really strong coffee and glazed donuts. I had a craving for sugar.” Big Mama’s was one of my clients. The cream cheese–filled coffee cakes I sold them were one of their biggest draws. I didn’t sell them donuts because, one, I didn’t make them, and two, the diner created their own, using an in-house machine. “He might have seen Tegan.”

Tegan shook her head. “I’m not so sure. I was in the bathroom at the time. But he might have heard the toilet flush.”

“I’ll need the guy’s name,” Zach said to Dennell.

“He’s the really skinny one with spiky hair.” She gestured to hers, a tad erratically, and quickly tucked her hands under her armpits. “He’s twenty or twenty-one, I think.”

After a long moment, Zach said, “I hope you’ll seek treatment. My ex–brother-in-law is an alcoholic. He’s been sober ten years and continues to go to AA meetings.”

Ex–brother-in-law? Did that mean the brother of an ex-wife or the husband of a sister? How little I knew about Zach, but wanted to know more.

“I agree,” Dennell said. “I’m hoping I can do it as an outpatient.”

“I have a contact for you.” Zach pulled out his cell phone and texted the information to Tegan. Her mobile pinged. “Get help, and you”—he aimed a finger at Tegan—“work things out with your sister.”

CHAPTER10

“You showed me how insufficient were all my pretensions to please a woman worthy of being pleased.”

—Fitzwilliam Darcy, in Jane Austen’sPride and Prejudice

Vanna and Noeline were chatting between themselves when Zach, Tegan, and I reentered the meeting room. Mr. Tannenbaum was consulting his cell phone.

“Well?” Vanna demanded.

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