Murder at the Con: a novella

by Riley Adair Garret

  “It wasn’t a tête-à-tête. It was an official interview.”

  “An interview about what?”

  Landry pulled Dawson closer. “I don’t know if I’m supposed to say anything, but you’re going to find out anyway. Eileen was murdered!”

  “What the fuck? Holy shit! It was probably those freaking skinheads.”

  “I thought about that. But why would they target Eileen?”

  “Just to fuck with our conference. Poor Eileen! She was simply a sacrificial lamb.”

  “But–” Before Landry could get out another sentence, Skye came barreling over.

  “You’ll never believe what I just heard!”

  Dawson stroked Skye’s arm. “Calm down, sweetie, we already know she was murdered.”

  “Murdered? Who was murdered? Are you saying Eileen was murdered?”

  “Oh…I thought that’s what you heard.”

  “Oh my God, oh my God…”

  Landry hugged Skye. “Pull yourself together, and tell us what happened.”

  “No, no, tell me about Eileen! What are you talking about? I thought she probably had a heart attack. Oh my God, oh my God…”

  “Calm down, sweetie, calm down.” Landry hugged her tighter. “We don’t know anything more than that right now. I’m sure we’ll be told more when the police know more.” She held Skye at arm’s length, scanning her face. “Now, tell us what you heard. Okay?”

  “Okay.” She wiped a stray tear from her eye. “I overheard Lily Pond, the author from Sparkle Press, telling Rusty that Equality paid Eileen for book reviews!”

  Dawson’s eyes grew wide. “What?”

  “Where is Lily?” Landry looked around the room.

  “No one is going to slander my publishing company.” Dawson ran her hand through her hair. “I’ll take care of this. Where’s Rusty now? I need to talk to her.”

  “I just saw her over by the Sparkle Press table.”

  Dawson stormed off.

  “I’m shaking now. I can’t believe Eileen was murdered. Who would do such a thing?” Skye sniffled.

  “Now, now…things will be okay. Let’s think about something more pleasant.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like…like…who was that chick you were with at breakfast today?”

  “Oh, that’s my friend Patsy. She lives in Flagstaff and came to visit me.”

  Landry frowned. “Is she the one that called while we were…uh…” She felt her face heat up. “And, didn’t she come to visit you last night?”

  “Uh…yeah…” Skye squirmed. “But we’re not exclusive, right?”

  Landry cleared her throat. “No…no…we’re not.”

  “Well, she did share my room, but nothing happened.”

  “Skye, please, there is no need to lie, or defend yourself.”

  “Lie! I am not a liar!”

  “Okay, okay. We’re good. We’re fine. We’re not exclusive and therefore in case something did happen, it’s fine. But you do realize that your friend is now a suspect, just like the rest of us?”

  “We are all suspects?”

  Landry was so over this conversation. She let out a dramatic sigh. “Oh, there’s Detective Quinn.” She gave Skye a quick squeeze. “I need to talk to her. I’ll catch you later.”

  Detective Quinn was jotting something in her notebook as Landry approached.

  “I need to tell you something.” Landry touched her arm.

  “Something else?” She gave her a patently false smile. “Oh, please do,” she added a bit over-zealously.

  “Look, I’m not trying to tell you how to do your job. I’m just trying to help out here.” Landry turned away.

  “No, wait. I’m sorry.” Quinn put a gentle hand on her arm. “I want to hear what you have to say.”

  Landry turned and glared.

  Quinn gave her a small smile. “I’m sorry. Really.” Without releasing her arm she led her toward the interview table. “Let’s go over here and you can tell me what you were going to say.” She pulled a chair out for her. “Make yourself comfortable.”

  “I just wanted you to know that one of the people on the list is not a member of the literary society.”

  “Who?”

  “Her name is Patsy.”

  Quinn pulled the list from her pocket and circled the name. “If she is not a member then how’d she get in?”

  “Probably had a day pass.”

  “What can you tell me about her?”

  “I’m thinking she may have had a romantic liaison with Skye, because she was having breakfast here this morning when Eileen died.”

  “Ah…I got it.”

  Landry rose to leave, but Quinn put a hand on her arm. “Wait. It just occurred to me that you’re in the perfect position to be of help to this investigation.”

  Landry’s pulse raced. “How so?”

  “You’re one of them. They might tell you things they won’t tell me. Plus, you said you know most of these people.”

  Landry smiled wide. “Of course, I’d be glad to help,” she said, glowing inwardly. This was a dream come true to help with a murder investigation, and as an added bonus she would get to work side by side with Detective Hottie. Yes! Landry was startled out of her reverie when Skye came up behind her.

  “Aren’t we supposed to be on a panel right now?”

  “Holy shit!” Landry grabbed Skye by the arm and dragged her away.

  ****

  Rusty touched Detective Quinn on the shoulder. “People are talking. I think we should tell them.”

  Quinn thought for a moment. “Okay, make the announcement, but make it brief.”

  Rusty nervously fingered one of her signature dangling ducky earrings. “Okay.” She made her way to the microphone. Tap, tap, tap. “Attention, everyone, please give me your attention.”

  The room fell silent almost immediately.

  “I’ve heard many of you speculating as to the death of Eileen. The fact is...she was murdered.”

  The crowd became tumultuous.

  She raised her voice to be heard. “I know this is a shock, but the conference will take place as planned, both in honor of Eileen because she would want it that way, and also out of respect for all of those who have traveled here and invested in accommodations.”

  Questions began to fly.

  “How was she killed?”

  “How? You mean why was she killed? She was such a kind and gentle person.”

  “I know! Poor Eileen. Who would do such a thing?”

  Rusty put up her hands. “These are questions we will all be grappling with for years to come I’m sure, but I have no answers for you right now. When we find out more, you all will be the first to know.” Rusty glanced at Detective Quinn who nodded her approval.

  At the end of Rusty’s speech, Lily Pond approached Detective Quinn. “May I speak with you again?”

  “Sure, have a seat.”

  Lily pulled out a chair. “I can’t believe Eileen was murdered!”

  “Did you remember something else, Ms. Pond?”

  Lily moved in closer and put her hand on Quinn’s arm, conspiratorially. “Yes, I think you should know that it’s common knowledge that Equality Publishing was paying Eileen for good reviews.”

  “And what bearing does that have on…anything?”

  Lily sighed. “Here’s the whole story…Eileen was making good money by providing positive reviews for Equality authors until she read Jansen Jeffries’s latest book. Then all bets were off.”

  “I need more than that.”

  “Well, Jansen Jeffries is one of their best authors, and she gave her last book a scathing review. Then she ends up dead? Do you need more than that?”

  “So you’re telling me that Eileen was killed because of a bad review?”

  “No. I’m telling you she was killed because she was paid to write a good review, but wrote a bad one. She betrayed them, and Dawson is about nothing if not about loyalty.”

  “This is a serious
accusation. Do you have any proof?”

  “Uh…uh.” Lily looked at her hands under the table. “Well…I can’t prove it…but everybody knows it.”

  Detective Quinn eyed her with suspicion. “Okay, fine, Ms. Pond. Thanks for the information. Again, if you remember anything more, please let me know.”

  Quinn stood to stretch, realizing she never did eat lunch. It was nearly six now. She decided to call it a day. However, she needed to tell Rusty where she could be found if anyone needed her. As she roamed around the room in search of her, she looked for Landry, too. Would it be unprofessional to ask her to dinner? While thinking it over, she literally bumped into Rusty. “Oh, just the person I was looking for.” She laughed at herself. “I’m leaving for the evening, but I wanted you to have my cell number.” She handed her a piece of paper with the information on it. After Rusty thanked her, Quinn left deciding it wasn’t a good idea to ask Landry to dinner after all.

  Chapter Five

  Friday

  Landry woke earlier than usual. She had a restless sleep, dreaming she was a detective and had the sole responsibility of solving Eileen’s murder. She rubbed her face with her hands, rolled out of bed, and took a shower. The hot water felt good, and the steam helped clear her head. After dressing she went straight to breakfast. She could work out twice as long tomorrow.

  The elevator seemed to be moving slower than usual. God, she needed some caffeine. As she disembarked at the lobby, she noticed Quinn walking in the entrance. She stopped in her tracks and flashed a big smile. “Detective Quinn. I was on my way to breakfast, would you like to join me?”

  Quinn’s face lit up as if she were going to accept, but instead stopped and cleared her throat. “Uh…I’ve already eaten.”

  Landry’s smile faltered. “How about coffee then?”

  Quinn shrugged. “Sure, I can always use a cup of coffee.”

  “Great.” Landry’s smile returned as she motioned ahead of her. “Right this way.”

  Detective Quinn walked ahead, as Landry inspected her backside. What a great ass, I’d love to get my hands on that.

  Glancing back, Quinn caught Landry’s eyes lingering on her butt and lifted an eyebrow.

  Landry felt herself blush.

  Detective Quinn gave her a knowing smile and cleared her throat. “Why don’t you lead the way?” She moved aside to let Landry pass.

  Landry walked ahead. “Turnabout is fair play, I guess.” She glanced over her shoulder with a grin as they entered the café. “Where would you like to sit?”

  Detective Quinn chose a corner table and sat facing the door.

  “A cop through and through, huh?”

  “It’s second nature,” Quinn said with an apologetic shrug.

  The waitress arrived and took their orders. Within moments she returned with their coffee. Detective Quinn took a sip and cleared her throat. “I read your book last night.”

  Landry leaned forward and pulled in a deep breath. “How did you like it?” She put her hand on Detective Quinn’s forearm. “Did you like it?”

  Detective Quinn chuckled. “Of course I liked it. I thought it was very well written, and chock-full of good information.”

  Landry sat back. “That’s a good thing, right?”

  Quinn narrowed her eyes as if thinking.

  Landry was annoyed. Now she wondered if she should have shared her book with her at all. “You can’t still think I had anything to do with this?”

  “So far you’re the only one I know who possesses the knowledge to have committed this murder.”

  “Oh come on, you have to be kidding. Why would I do such a thing? Eileen has never done anything to me.” Landry sat back as the waitress served her.

  “Would you like more coffee, ma’am?” The waitress addressed Detective Quinn.

  Quinn nodded. “Thank you.” She turned her attention back to Landry. “What is the likelihood that you would write a book about a poisoning at a literary conference then it actually happens?”

  “Half the people at this conference have read that book! Any one of them could have used the information in there to have done it. And how stupid would I be if I did it after writing a book about it?” She noticed a mischievous smirk on the detective’s face. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

  “Yeah, a little bit.” She laughed.

  “Really…really?” Landry spread her hands in disbelief.

  Detective Quinn put her hands up, too, and smiled. “You know I can’t take you off the suspect list just yet.”

  Landry let out a deep sigh. “Okay, okay, I get it.” She took a taste of her eggs, and nodded.

  Detective Quinn watched Landry eat for a few minutes while she finished her coffee. “I think I’m going to let you finish your meal. I have interviews to conduct. I’ll catch you later.”

  Landry swallowed a bite of melon. “The Bids-4-Babes is going on this morning. I’m the last to be auctioned off.”

  “Ah…so what is this Bids-4-Babes?”

  “The highest bidder for each author wins the first dance at the Awards Ball.”

  “I’ll have to make sure I don’t miss that.” She sketched a wave as she started for the exit.

  “Even cops can have a little fun,” Landry called after her.

  ****

  As Landry entered the Mahogany Room, she glanced around for the detective. When she saw her at the back corner table conducting interviews her stomach fluttered. She tried to ignore it and found a seat near the stage moments before Nico took her place behind the podium.

  “Everyone grab a seat and open your wallets. The auction is about to begin.” Nico’s voice resonated throughout the room. “First up is Rusty Rustin, our esteemed president of the Southwest Desert Literary Society.”

  Rusty took the stage.

  “This fine specimen of a president stands five feet ten inches tall, with gorgeous red hair, and blue eyes. Who will begin the bidding?”

  Landry laughed as the bidding took off fast and furious. She hoped when it was her turn the bidding was as competitive.

  When things calmed down, Nico spoke. “Don’t the dangling duckie accessories quack you up?”

  Rusty cocked a hip, flicked her left dangling earring, then swiveled to the other side and did the same.

  Someone in the crowd shouted, “Ooh-la-la.”

  “They have to be worth at least another fifty bucks, am I right, am I right? Come on people, show the love! The bid is at four hundred right now, ladies.”

  Mary Anne jumped up and shouted, “I bid five hundred dollars!”

  “Five hundred dollars. Do I hear six hundred?”

  When there were no more bids, Nico picked up her gavel, “Going once, going twice…sold to MAF!”

  Zelda Zion was next on the docket. Landry never remembered laughing so much as when she wiggled and danced around the stage making five hundred. She made sure to keep tabs on the bids, and was impressed when Betsy Belt garnered four hundred dollars from her publisher. The bids for Billie Babcock stalled at six hundred, until she unveiled her guns which boosted the final total to seven. Lucy Lincoln was next so Landry sat back to enjoy the show, wondering if Bambi would come through with some big bucks.

  Lucy took her time sashaying up to the stage. She danced around in Rocky style, then pulled off her pink hoodie. Holding it by the hood she twirled it like a lasso over her head, while standing in a black sports bra showing off a tight, tanned stomach. The crowd went mad with hoots, hollers, and loud whistles. The bidding escalated quickly. When it stalled out at six hundred, she threw her hoodie into the crowd hitting Bambi in the face.

  Bambi jumped up with the hoodie held high. “I double that bid!”

  Landry whistled and clapped when Nico announced Bambi as the winner. Landry had to give Bambi kudos, she made good on her word…or threat, however you wanted to view it.

  “Last but not least, we have Landry Matthews!” Nico shouted into the microphone.

  Landry was nervous. S
he wanted to make a good showing because Detective Quinn would be watching, or at least she was hoping. She took a quick glance around to see where the detective was, and noticed her sitting alone, watching from the interview table. She wiped her hands on her jeans before stepping onto the stage.

  “How about an opening bid of one hundred dollars? Who will give me one hundred dollars?”

  Skye yelled, “Take off the jacket.”

  “It will cost more than a hundred dollars for me to take off this coat,” Landry said.

  “Two hundred to take it off!” Skye returned.

  Landry slowly unzipped her black warm-up jacket to whistles and catcalls, then peeled it down one shoulder revealing her colorful tattoos.

  “An extra hundred for the tat!” someone yelled from the crowd.

  “You know she has more than one,” Nico reminded them.

  Landry bared her other shoulder and turned around to show off the tattoo across her back.

  Someone yelled, “I’ll bid five for that!”

  “You still haven’t taken the coat off,” Skye shouted.

  Landry dropped the coat at her feet, turned to face the crowd, and struck a pose. She looked at the detective who was watching with a provocative smile. Landry thought she seemed to be enjoying the show so she gave her a wink. The detective laughed and gave her a thumbs up.

  Skye followed Landry’s sightline and noticed the detective watching Landry intently. She stood. “Eight hundred dollars! I want the first dance!”

  Everyone turned and looked at Skye who shrugged. “I really want the first dance,” she said as she slunk into her chair.

  “Are there any more bids?” Nico paused. “No? Going once, going twice, sold!” Nico picked up Landry’s jacket and handed it to her. “Ladies, that wraps up our auction for this year. Let’s give a hand to the authors who were brave enough to participate.”

  Everyone applauded as they began dispersing. As Landry put on her jacket she noticed Dawson waiting for her.

  “Nice job! You sexy beast.” Dawson wrapped Landry in a big hug.

  “Yeah, too bad I couldn’t beat Lucy, but then who can?”