Page 12 of Line of Sight

Silence fell, only to be broken by Jane Marple’s dismissive snort.

“There’s no such thing.”

I held up one hand. “No, hear me out. What if someone was in your way? Blocking either your financial security, your chances of a career, of success, fame, glory…. And if you removed them, the way ahead would be clear.”

Clarice grinned. “So I could kill Professor Martindale? She gave me a C for my last paper. I call that standing in the way of me getting my degree.”

John laughed. “I’d be murdering half the teaching faculty in that case.”

Sherlock nudged him with his elbow. “You’re not doingthatbadly, and you know it.” He lowered his voice. “Besides, you’ve found something most of us would kill for.”

“And what’s that?”

Sherlock’s gaze softened. “Love?”

John’s face flushed. “Not gonna argue with that.”

“I know whoI’dkill.” Poirot’s voice was quiet and a little slurred.

Sherlock chuckled. “You don’t need to kill anyone. You just employ your little gray cells a bit more, Hercule,” he said in an exaggerated French accent.

Something in Poirot’s demeanor intrigued me. I shifted in my chair until I faced him. “Tell me. Who would your victim be?”

Poirot didn’t even miss a beat. “My stepbrother, Scott.”

Clarice’s breathing hitched. “What’s he ever done to you to warrant wiping him out?”

Poirot scowled. “Forget I said anything.” He glanced toward the refreshments table. “Any punch left?”

Miss Marple frowned. “I think you’ve had enough. Maybe it’s time to leave.”

I wanted to tell her toshut the fuck up, but I bit my tongue.

“No, let him speak.” I shuffled my chair closer to him and leaned forward. “You started this. Tell us.”

He shrugged. “Not much to tell. My mom married this tycoon. Rich as Croesus, with a kid my age. Real Goody Two-shoes.”

“Your stepfather?” I asked.

Poirot rolled his eyes. “No—my stepbrother, Scott.”

Sherlock’s brows knitted. “That isn’t a reason to want to kill him. Just ’cause he’s a good guy.”

Poirot glared at him. “Let me finish, okay? Anyway, my stepdad is all right. He paid for my studies ’cause he said that’s what my dad would’ve done if he’d still been alive. Then when I reached twenty-one, he called me and Scott into his office and told us one day he’s gonna step down, and the pair of us will run all his companies. Hisempire, and that isn’t an exaggeration.”

Miss Marple gasped. “Wow. That’s awesome.”

He nodded. “I know, right?”

Sherlock’s eyes gleamed. “You mean we’re sitting here with a potential megarich dude? Remind me to stay in touch withyouafter we graduate.”

Poirot rolled his eyes. “Yeah, it sounds great, but here’s the kicker. I’m sitting there, rubbing my hands, thinking about how my life is going to look, and Scott? Once his dad’s nowhere in sight,he’stalking about selling off the companies, donating it all to charity, shit like that. Saying how he’s not like his dad, andnooneshould be that rich, not when there are millions of people starving out in the world.”

“He couldn’t sell if you didn’t agree, though,” Sherlock remonstrated.

Poirot sighed. “But that means it would get messy, and I fuckinghatemess.”

John laughed. “NowthatI don’t believe. I’ve seen your room.”