Page 97 of Murder By the Millions

“Ignatius Luckenbill didn’t kill him, either,” Tegan offered. “He—”

I elbowed her.

She scowled at me. “It’s going to come out. Gossip doesn’t stay buried forever.”

Her choice of words troubled me.

Lillian chimed, “He played poker on Monday.”

“Monday may be the night for his regular game, but he didn’t attend,” Tegan said.

Finette’s eyes widened. “He didn’t?”

“No, however, an eyewitness gave him another alibi.”

“Like …” Finette, eager for details, rotated a hand to urge Tegan to continue.

Tegan mimed sealing her lips.

“Poker is his passion,” Finette went on, “so if he didn’t play that night, why not? What could be more important?” She tapped her chin with her fingertips, and I could see the wheels in her brain working feverishly. “I’ve got it. He’s having an affair!”

Tegan tried to remain stoic, but she blinked.

“I’m right!” Finette whooped. “With Ulla Karlsson? Of course it’s her. He slobbers around the woman. She’s sexy beyond all get out. And single. What a skunk he is. Behind poor Shayna’s back. She’s such a kind soul. He doesn’t deserve her.” She blew a raspberry. “He must have met up with Ulla at her place so they could keep the affair quiet.” She regarded me for acknowledgment.

I maintained a neutral expression.

“Whichmeans”—Finette dragged out the word while making eye contact with everyone at the table like a lawyer summing up her case to a jury—“his alibi isn’t solid, because he could’ve sneaked out the back of Ulla’s house, gone to Jason’s, killed him, and doubled back to Ulla’s before anyone was the wiser.”

I gasped. She was right. Evelyn hadn’t seen him enter Ulla’s place. She’d caught sight of him exiting the front of her house after the time of the murder.

“Iggie is a weasel,” Stella muttered. “Do you know what the rat did? He paid a Realtor to reveal how much my brother bid on three apartment complexes, and then he outbid him.”

“Deplorable.” Lillian tsked.

Again, I dredged up the conversation between Iggie and Finette at Ragamuffin about Burt the Cyber Buddy. What if Iggie, not Reika as I’d theorized, had the wherewithal to clone Jason’s phone, and he sent me the texts Monday night to lure me to the estate? If so, he might be tech savvy enough to know how to erase them from my phone. I pictured the cuff link at the crime scene. Was it his? Had Zach pinned down that fact? If Iggie and Jason had scuffled, the cuff link could have come loose and fallen to the floor. But how could Iggie have known about my spearpoint collection? And where would he and I have crossed paths the day I lost my Celtic knot earring?

Someone tapped on the microphone.

“Hi, everyone. I’m Candace Canfield.”

I hadn’t realized she’d left the table.

“Let’s give a round of applause for the library,” she said. “We’ve raised over five thousand dollars this evening.”

The crowd cheered.

“Now, let’s get all of you singing this next song by Green Day, ‘At the Library.’”

Candace pivoted toward the redheaded man queueing up the tunes. He gave her a thumbs-up. She twirled back and launched into song.

The crowd began bellowing out the words along with her, the lyrics on the karaoke screen telling the story about Billie Joe, who was too shy to talk to a girl at the library.

“I can’t hear you!” Candace beckoned everyone to sing along with the raucous refrain.

We all chimed in at the top of our lungs.

Suddenly, the sound crackled, sparks flew, and the amplifier exploded.