Page 89 of Death on Riddle Road
From approaching grumpy with her previous statement, Clara asked with interest, “Isn’t there another name that means gift of God?”
“I think half the names mean that.Anna, Nathaniel, Dorothea, Theodore.And on and on.Except Sheila — which means heavenly.Or Clara — which means clear—”
“Not exactly a surprise.”
“—or bright.”
“How do you know all this?”
“Researching character names.”
She opened her mouth to ask another question.My morose tone might have persuaded her not to follow up on that.She cleared her throat.“Anyway, Quebec Ferguson is sure possessive enough of Evan.”
“You don’t like her.”
“I wouldn’t say that.Exactly.I wasn’t immediately drawn to her.”
I grinned at Clara.She grinned back rather sheepishly, but added with determination, “Donna doesn’t like her and that says a lot.”
“Donna didn’t say that.”
“Pfft,” she scoffed.“She didn’t need to.”
“Point taken.Still, the math doesn’t work.”
“What math?”
“First, she would have been a young teenager when Jaylynn was killed.”
“There have been cases—”
“You’re thinking of that teenager on Long Island?”
“Amy Fisher.Do you know, I heard her complain that the wife she shot made more money out of follow-ups on the story than she — Amy — did?Talk about gall.Though I could see Quebec having the nerve to—”
“I think she’d be more subtle.”
“Manipulative.”
“Or manipulative,” I conceded.“But she had no apparent motive to kill Derrick.Not to mention, I have a hard time imagining Quebec Ferguson, in her current condition, slipping into Kentucky Manor unnoticed and then smothering a man, even one as weakened as Derrick was.”
Clara addressed the no-motive issue.“If she killed Jaylynn, she might have feared Derrick would expose her.”
“Why now and not any other time while he was incarcerated—”
“He’d finally figured out it was her.”
“How?And how would she know that?And that’s predicated on her having killed Jaylynn when we don’t even know if she was around here then.If she was, do you think nobody would have known she was gaga about him then and wouldn’t be talking about it now?And here’s the clincher, if she was nuts enough to kill Jaylynn, thinking that would get her Evan, would she have waited patiently and silently before snagging him only a couple years ago?”
“Thatisthe clincher,” Clara acknowledged.“Darn.Though I think she could have managed the physical stuff if only she had a stronger motive,” said my friend, whose sweet face and voice could really lead you astray.
Berrie screeched at one of her Boston Terriers.The other two dogs and their humans all looked around at her.
Neither Clara nor I did.Our dogs either.Nor did any of her Boston Terriers.
Amazing what you can get used to enough to ignore.
“Wait,” Clara added, “Let’s take a step back on this.Do we start with Derrick’s murder or Jaylynn’s?”
