Page 32 of Seven Reasons to Murder Your Dinner Guests
“I’ve got nothing to hide,” Janet says with a shrug. “I had a meeting in Canary Wharf. I didn’t realize he worked there, but I happened to see him standing outside his office.”
It is only a small lie. She hadn’t exactly had a meeting in the area. That’s what she told her colleagues, too, but she’d been thinking about him and googled the company address, went over on her lunch hour hoping she’d see him. It felt like they’d had unfinished business.
“He was arguing with a man wearing a sports cap. He looked upset, was shaking his head over and over again. Then I saw them go inside,” she tells them. “I must have dropped my glove outside his office.”
“When was this?” Vivienne quizzes, in full journalist mode now, scribbling in her notebook.
“Last Thursday, the day he died,” she says, her voice breaking, betraying her.
“Janet, I found it on the roof,” Vivienne says. “The roof that Matthew allegedly jumped from.”
“Well, that’s impossible,” Janet responds, working hard to maintain nonchalance in her tone. “I told you—I stayed outside. He never even saw me.”
The three of them look at her, waiting.
But she’s determined not to crack. She pulls her lipstick from her handbag and paints on a fresh layer. It always makes her feel better, stronger.
“Is there something you want to say?” she asks, aiming her question at Vivienne.
“You do have a motive,” Vivienne says. “You made it clear that you wanted Matthew that night, and Stella got him in the end. I saw the way you looked at her. If looks could kill… Well, she was dead two weeks later.”
“Vivienne, that’s enough!” Melvin booms.
“As ifIcould be a murderer,” laughs Janet.
“Then, with Stella out of the way, you went to Matthew’s office to have another go at seducing him. He turned you down, you got angry, and you pushed him,” Vivienne goes on.
“This is ridiculous,” Janet says, still chuckling. “So how would you explain the numbers? Did I plan the whole thing in order to seduce Matthew? I’d never met him before. Wish I never had now.”
“You probably saw him in that ‘hot bachelors’ article, set your sights on him,” Vivienne says. “Perhaps this was your PR stunt all along. Your company is no stranger to tacky stunts. It would explain why you were the first to notice your envelope and open it.”
Melvin groans and covers his eyes while Tristan just looks on, his hand covering his mouth in shock.
“I’m not sticking around to listen to this…thisfiction,” Janet says, stepping off her stool and facing up to Vivienne. “You think you’re so clever with your pathetic little notebook, but actually, who’s to say you’re not the killer? It’s veryconvenientthat you’ve lost your own envelope!”
“Are you serious?” Vivienne gasps.
“Just as serious as you,” Janet snaps. “I’d think twice before throwing accusations around. Because your number’s coming too.”
She picks up her hat and offending glove from the table, pushes them into her bag and stalks away. The cheek of that woman! She passes a waiter holding a tray of drinks, takes two glasses, downs them both, and then heads toward the door.
Janet had left the Serendipity’s email group after Stella’s funeral, so she hadn’t seen Melvin’s message about Matthew. She found out about his death when she was in a taxi heading back from Giles’s place. She googled his name, and a series of newspaper articles popped up:
“Respected Banker Dies in Suicide Tragedy”
That’s when Janet knew his number had been twenty-nine. And that she had to be next. That’s when she resolved to make the most of the time she had left.
“Janet, let me walk you out,” Melvin says, his heavy arm suddenly around her shoulder.
“It’s OK. I’m just going to get a taxi,” she tells him.
They step outside and Melvin stops, his hands in his pockets, clearly with something to say.
“What you said in there… Don’t give up. We don’t know for sure…” he mumbles, looking down at his too-trendy brogues.
“Honestly, Melvin, I haven’t given up. I’m going to enjoy every second of the time I have. Actually, I think it’s an approach more people should adopt. Especially you, given what you told me after the dinner party…” Janet says, raising a knowing eyebrow.
“I’m not sure what you mean, Janet,” he snaps, looking right at her.
