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Jolene laughed as she sat down. “I’m trying to cut down on the caffeine. My therapist says I’ll be less anxious if I slow down. And now I’ve told you I’m in therapy. I don’t understand why you’re so easy to talk to. Are you a witch or something?”

Meg sat next to her. “Far from it. My only superpower is to choose the one path that won’t continue. I fail at everything I do. Of course, I hope that doesn’t happen while working for Lilly. I love doing the assignments. I can’t believe how many mystery-focused bookstores there are.”

Jolene pulled out her phone and made a note on it. “I’ve got a folder on my computer I’ll send you. It’s all the bookstores that Lilly has visited since I started working for her, dates of visits, names of owners or contacts, and contact information. It might help.”

“Thanks. It sounds like you were on top of it.” Meg wondered why Lilly had asked her to do the spreadsheet.

This time the laugh sounded harsh. “Hardly. I’m good at looking like I’m in control, but I’m overwhelmed.

It’s one of the things I’m working on in therapy.

I was the one who talked Lilly into hiring Jessica, the girl before you, and then she was a mess.

I was skeptical about hiring you. But you’ve been great.

I hope I haven’t been too hard on you. I can be friendly. ”

Meg took a deep breath. Jolene was opening up with her, and now Meg was going to slam that door shut. “I wonder if you can tell me about finding Meade. Had you talked to him that day?”

“On the phone. He called on his way to the island, and I told him Lilly wouldn’t see him.

She was done. I gave him her lawyer’s number.

We were building a case to sue him.” She leaned against the couch.

“I didn’t tell him that. But he insisted that he could make this all go away.

All he needed was five minutes with Lilly. ”

“Did he tell you what he was going to say?” Meg figured he was going to blackmail her, but having Jolene say it would be better.

Jolene closed her eyes as she began to talk.

“He knew about Josh. He’d gotten a call from someone with a tip.

I think it was Josh’s girlfriend. I talked to Josh about breaking up with Tabitha, but he said it was the perfect cover.

Besides, they helped each other with their careers.

He said it wasn’t serious and he’d stopped sleeping with her so she would get the hint.

” She opened her eyes and looked at Meg.

“I know you haven’t met him, but he’s Lilly’s kryptonite.

He’s also an idiot. Truly. Of all the men she could have fallen for, she finds him. ”

“You love who you love, I guess.” Meg wanted to steer the conversation back to Meade. “So Meade came to the house?”

Jolene shook her head. “He came but I didn’t let him in.

I called Lilly and told her that he was coming to the island, and she said to ignore him.

If he showed up, not to even answer the door.

I went to my room and worked on a knitting project, another one of my therapist’s ideas, and screened the calls.

He called twice. His first message was that he was at the ferry terminal and needed a ride.

Then he called and said he was at the back door, but no one was answering.

I watched him on the security feed, but soon he gave up, flipped off the camera, and left. ”

“Did you give that tape to Uncle Troy, I mean, Chief Miller?”

“We turned over everything, and I told him what I told you. After Meade left, I got in my car and went down to Marina Taco Tavern and ate lunch. I drove back to Summer Break around three. I went down to the beach to walk and clear my head. That’s when I found the body.

I called the police. The neighbor, Alice Clark, was walking the other way, and she stayed with me until your uncle got there.

I know what you’re asking, but I didn’t kill Robert Meade.

Even though I wanted to, several times.”

* * *

After Meg gave Dalton’s phone number to her so she could talk to him about signing an NDA, Jolene stood from the couch, signaling she was ready to leave the bookstore. She gave Meg a quick hug. “Thanks for listening. You’re almost as good as talking to my shrink.”

After Hurricane Jolene had left the store, Meg wandered around the shelves, looking for a new book to read. The bell rang again. Meg hadn’t had this many customers since the week after Lilly’s new release event. “I’ll be right there. Feel free to look around.”

This time, Natasha called out. “I brought dinner. Where are you?”

“Set it up on the coffee table. I’ll be right there.

” Meg grabbed a recent true crime book from the shelf and took it back to the counter.

She’d scan it to see if it could help her write the sleuthing guidebook.

Maybe she needed to study more than the active investigation to get a better understanding of how to solve the crime.

Especially since she was down to one suspect, who seemed to be in the wind.

Then she went to the couch, where Natasha was setting out fish and chips for them.

“I need to start chipping in for these meals,” Meg said as she sat down on the couch.

Natasha finished setting things on the table and folded the bag that the food had come in. “It works out. You paid the night after the book-signing event.”

“No, Mom did. Technically. I still need to get reimbursed for that . . . as soon as I find the receipt. It was fun having the four of us out together. I don’t think we’ve done that since you and I graduated and the boys took us to dinner in Seattle.

” Meg smiled at the memory. “Junior was our official college guidebook. He told us everything we needed to know that first year and what frats to avoid.”

“Junior is always trying to help.” Natasha nodded, focusing on her fries. “Anyway, I was craving Proper Fish, so I got you one, too. Dalton texted that he is working late. I think we’ll see him in a few, but he said he ate on the ferry.”

They ate in silence, enjoying the food, and then Natasha picked up her phone. “That murder board is sick. You’re good at this. Maybe you should get a degree in criminal justice and go into law enforcement?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. I’m not good with authority. You know that.” She dipped the fish into the sauce. “And there’s a fitness component, which would mean I couldn’t eat like this three times a week. I need to join a gym or something if I’m going to continue to eat my way through the island.”

“You’re grieving a loss. You’re supposed to be eating. If you were depressed, you wouldn’t eat anything.” She nodded to the phone. “So Jolene or Nate? That’s the answer?”

“Jolene came in today and alibied herself. She was eating at Marina Taco Tavern at the time of the murder. I’m sure Uncle Troy has already verified that. So now it’s Nate, but according to Violet, he’s left town.”

“That’s not true. I saw him today.” Natasha pointed a fry at her for emphasis. “He’s still here. I heard Violet had to move back in with her folks until she saves up enough for her own place. I think she’s leaving Bainbridge, though. She says the guys here, except Dalton, are lame.”

“Everyone thinks Dalton is amazing. Why isn’t he married or in a relationship?” Meg finished off the fish and looked at the pile of fries.

“I think you know the answer,” Natasha said as she pulled out her notebook. “So Nate’s on the list because he hates newcomers?”

“Seems a little thin, right?” Meg brightened. “He also had a loan from Meade, but that got written off, so yeah, still a little thin.”

“Well, let’s dig a little deeper and see what we can find out to prove he didn’t kill Meade. If we get him off the list, we’ll need more suspects, but so will your uncle. There are a few reasons someone would kill someone else. One, they’re crazy. Two, love.”

“Three, hate,” Meg added.

Natasha nodded, touching the third finger on her outstretched hand. “And four, money.”

“Is that it?” Meg tried to think of more reasons. “I guess survival is another one, but that’s an extreme, Donner Party situation.”

“So five. And we can take off survival, unless it was to save a secret. But that has to have another component. Like money or love, right?”

“Keeping a secret? I’d put that under survival. Especially if the secret would blow your normal life up.” Meg stood and grabbed a notebook from the counter. She wrote down all the reasons to commit murder that they had come up with. “These will make a great chapter for my book.”

“That’s amazing, and I’m glad to help, but let’s get back to Nate. He was cheating on Violet, but he’s already let that cat out of the bag. I’m surprised there hasn’t been more than one person. Nate’s never been good at monogamy.”

Meg snorted. “That’s probably because Violet’s dad is the mayor. He doesn’t want to be arrested.”

“Okay, so it wasn’t a secret from Violet, but maybe the other person didn’t want the secret being let out.

” Natasha tapped her finger on the table.

The fries had gone cold, and she tucked them back in the bag.

Then she held her hand over Meg’s. “Are you done? Watson’s drooling over there, and I think he’s going to pounce. ”

“Food’s a strong motivator for anyone,” Dalton observed as he walked into the bookstore. “What did I miss?”