Page 103 of Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds

Brie nodded and pulled out her phone. She read, “‘Money or love? Money, of course—he’s worth a small fortune. Does he know all the dirt on his new girlfriend?’”

It was one of the first comments Diana had written, followed by financial details.

“This is my dad,” Brie continued. “She’s talking about my dad and Sherry. Using your code, Sherry would be number 1913—she wrote that number twice. Did you notice this?” Brie turned her phone to face me.

Diana had written:Small fortune from 1913 with patience.

“What if,” Brie said, “Diana approached Sherry and blackmailed her? Remember when I told you that Sherry and I went to the spa Saturday and saw Diana there?”

“Yeah,” I said, vaguely remembering the conversation.

“Well, Sherry was tense and told Diana they’d catch up later.”

“And you asked if she knew her.” The conversation was coming back to me. “She said a business thing years ago and changed the subject.”

“Exactly. But what kind of business? Sherry has an interior decorating company in Arizona and does next to nothing with it, and Diana sold antiques in New Orleans or something. But they’re the same age. Look at this.”

Brie flipped through her screenshots and found one she had highlighted, turned her phone so I could read.

There was a symbol that looked vaguely familiar, like Greek letters, and then Diana had written:Wedding bells in the near future. For old times’ sake I’ll wait to get paid. Can’t wait to tell my #1.

“I think #1 is Amber,” Brie said.

“I think you’re right,” I said. “She mentioned her #1 being late.”

“These are Greek symbols. Delta Gamma. A sorority. So I did a little research.”

“They went to the same college.”

“No, but they are both thirty-twoandmembers of the same sorority, though different colleges. They could have met, or known of each other, right? And Diana must have known something serious about Sherry.” Brie paused, then added, “Do you think Sherry killed her?”

I had been suspicious of Sherry because of her actions. But now that Brie said it out loud... maybe.

“I don’t know,” I finally said. “If the secret was bad enough?” I rubbed my eyes and poured more coffee. “I followed her yesterday on St. John.”

“Yeah, you told me. She gave some sketchy guy cash.”

“That, and on the ferry coming back, it was just her and me, and she told me to leave her family alone.”

“That woman!” Brie exclaimed. “I’m not her family. I can’t let her marry my dad. I need to tell him about the creep.”

“We don’t have proof. We barely have circumstantial evidence. Maybe if we can find evidence that she knew Diana and didn’t say anything? Yet, that seems weak.”

“Going to St. John yesterday? Totallynot planned. And she didn’t come back with anything—no shopping spree. She told my dad she went sightseeing, but she was paying off some guy? For what?”

“I don’t know.” I sounded like a broken record. “Don’t say anything, because we don’t have enough information. I can possibly look at her finances, but I have to think about how to do it.”

“I can get you anything you want.”

“I can’t legally access her accounts without her permission, and I’m not going to lose my license. There are some things that are public record. I just don’t know if I’ll be able to find something to help make your case.”

“I don’t want her to kill my dad,” Brie said. “And I really think she might if she doesn’t get everything she wants.”

Her fear sounded real.

“Let me see what I can learn,” I said. “We have time before the wedding, right?”

“They’re talking about August, right before I go to college.Six weeksfrom now.”