A Body in the Attic : Myrtle Clover #16

Chapter Eighteen

Miles shoved his puzzle away as if eager to put it out of his sight. "I think I want to mull this all over. Just to get things set in my head."

Myrtle glanced at the puzzle. "Or you're trying to escape your Sudoku."

"It really is a bad one."

"You said it was two stars," said Myrtle.

Miles sighed. "Apparently, I'm not quite as adept at Sudoku as I am at crosswords."

"Well, perhaps you can apply your talents to the case before you head home. Let's see. Liam was really our best suspect, but I suppose we can count him out unless we're cursed with two killers in this tiny town."

Miles nodded. "Right."

"So let's start with Liam, our most recent murder. Who might have wanted to do away with our local lawyer?" asked Myrtle.

"Tripp was right there," pointed out Miles helpfully.

"Very true. He was there and he was up to no good. But why would he have killed Liam? Unless Liam was trying to blackmail Tripp."

Miles added eagerly, "And Tripp didn't have any money. Not only is he jobless but he has a drug habit."

"I can't say I understand why Tripp would have called the police, though. Wouldn't he have just wanted to slip away into the darkness? The whole thing looked suspicious, after all."

Miles said, "So who else do we have? Carter? He was arguing with Liam."

"Or not, if we're to believe Carter."

"Orabelle? She was arguing with Liam, too," said Miles.

"But she just explained that. And it sounded like a reasonable-enough explanation." Myrtle frowned. "I feel like there's something there that I'm missing, though. I'll have to have a think about it all later."

Miles was still mentally scrolling through the rest of the suspects. "Pansy?"

"I suppose Pansy might have known Darren left her something in his will. And, by all accounts, Pansy has certainly fallen on hard times."

Miles said, "Maybe Pansy killed Darren and Liam knew it and she had to get rid of Liam, too."

"Although it's a bit hard for me to see Pansy stuffing good-sized men out of office windows," said Myrtle.

"Which takes me back to Tripp. Tripp also needed money and was rejected by Darren. Maybe Tripp, high on drugs, took his anger out on his uncle when he wouldn't give him money. Then Liam knew something, tried to blackmail him, and Tripp pushed him out of the window out of desperation."

Myrtle sighed. "It certainly makes the most sense. Although I rather like Tripp. And here he is on the cusp of changing his life for the better and having a fresh start."

"It's not like you to be sentimental, Myrtle."

"No, it's not. Maybe it's because I taught him long ago and would like to see him finally make something of his life. He had a good deal of promise in school. Even though he didn't choose friends well and wasn't disciplined, he was smart."

Miles said, "What about Orabelle? We just heard her say she'd had dreams of traveling and didn't have the funds to make it happen. Maybe she acted out when Darren denied her money for carrying out her dreams. After all, hitting someone over the head with a flashlight sounds like an impetuous attack and not something anyone planned out. Maybe it was a heat-of-the-moment thing and then Liam found out and she had to do away with him, too."

"Maybe," said Myrtle. "Although how is Liam finding out all this information in our scenarios?"

"He must have come by Darren's house that morning. After all, Darren mentioned clippings to me and they weren't there when we arrived."