Page 106 of Dead Man's List

“Aw,” Marshall said. “He calls her Mama.”

“Leave him alone,” Kit said. “His mom’s nice.”

“What happened with Connor, then?” Ashton asked, but he was teasing.

“Hello, Connor,” his mother said. “Shouldn’t you be at work?”

Connor laughed. “I am at work, Mom. You’re on speaker. I’m with Kit and two other detectives, Marshall and Ashton.”

“Are those their first or last names?” his mother asked tartly.

Marshall chuckled. “Kevin Marshall and my partner Alf Ashton,” he said. “It’s nice to meet you, Mrs.Robinson.”

“Call me Susan, please. Now, what can I do for you this morning? More gossip? Because that is totally my jam.”

Kit’s lips twitched at Susan’s enthusiasm. “Yes, ma’am. We were hoping you could tell us which of the country clubs Christopher Drummond is a member of.”

Susan sighed heavily. “Ours, unfortunately. The man is a pig. Which is mean to pigs. We thought so even before Connor arrested him for murder.”

Kit glanced at Connor. “You didn’t know Drummond was a member of your own country club?”

“It’s not mine,” Connor said. “It’s my parents’.”

“Connor hasn’t been in a long while,” Susan said. “Maybe just to play squash.”

“I play squash at the athletic club, Mom, not the country club.”

“Well, those are clearly different places,” Ashton said dryly.

Connor flipped him the bird and continued. “So…how did I not know that Drummond was a member of your club, Mom? You never mentioned it when I was investigating him.”

“You didn’t ask. I figured it had come up in your investigation and you already knew. You know I’d never interfere in your work. But when you ask…well, that’s different.”

“What can you tell us about Christopher Drummond, ma’am?” Kit asked.

“He’s always been an impossible chauvinist pig. That he killed that poor woman was not a surprise. Everyone knew he had a terrible temper. My husband and I avoided him like the plague.”

“That was probably smart, ma’am,” Kit said. “How long has he been a member?”

“Oh my. For ten years or more. Mostly played golf.” She paused, then said, “Is this to do with your current investigation, Connor?”

“Yes, Mom. And you can say we’re investigating Brooks Munro. Everyone knows. Why did you ask?”

“Because they used to play golf together, Munro and Drummond. And then they had some kind of falling-out. This was maybe four years ago—after Munro married Wilhelmina. Munro and Drummond wouldn’t speak to each other. Drummond stopped coming to the club as often—which everyone was pleased by—and Munro joined somewhere else.”

“Two somewhere elses,” Kit said. “He was a member of three country clubs.”

“Probably so he could schmooze,” Susan said. “Munro was a thoroughly unpleasant man if you looked really hard, but on the surface, he had a lot of charisma. Even I thought he was a nice guy for a while. But I realized that he was just a blowhard and everyone knew he cheated on his wife. If you’re looking for information, try his admin assistant. She was definitely doing him.”

“Mom!” Connor said, shocked.

“I didn’t say she waseffing him, Connor. Give me a little credit for decorum.”

“We know about Veronica,” Kit said. “Was there anyone else he was intimately involved with?”

“Of course,” Susan said. “The man could not keep his pants zipped. Give me a minute to think of the names of some of the women.” Susan was quiet for a moment. “There were several, but the ones I remember were Estelle White, Juanita Young, and Trisha Finnegan. Two of them were divorced already. Trisha Finnegan’s husband divorced her soon after her affair with Munro.”

“Is there a reason you remember them specifically?” Connor asked.