Page 57 of Close Up

Nick exchanged a glance with Luther.

“Yes,” he said. “It does.”

“The only people who might have been aware that Toby and I knew each other would be a couple of Adelina Beach freelance photographers and Eddy, the night editor of theCourier,” Vivian said. She shook her head. “I just can’t see any of them as paid assassins.”

Raina raised her brows. “Why not?”

Vivian turned both hands over, palms up. “For one thing the assassin keeps his memoirs in the form of encrypted poetry. In addition he charges a lot of money for his so-called commissions. Trust me when I tell you that if any of the freelancers I know has a lot of money, he’s keeping it very well hidden. Finances aside, I’ve spent enough time with my late-night colleagues to be quite certain none of them has any interest in poetry. I suppose it’spossibleone of them is working as a hired killer on the side but I really doubt it.”

“Maybe one of them is the client,” Raina suggested, “the person who paid to have you murdered.”

Vivian looked at her. “I’m quite sure none of the freelancers I know could afford the assassin’s fees. And there’s no viable motive. I was probably the least successful photographer in the group. None of them had anything to fear from me. I certainly wasn’t a threat to their livelihoods.”

There was a short silence while they all considered those simple facts.

Nick looked at her. “We need to find out exactly how Flint discovered you were not only in Burning Cove but that you were staying at this hotel.”

“I’ll call my sister first thing in the morning,” Vivian said. “I’ll ask her if someone contacted her to inquire about my whereabouts. I didn’ttell her to keep the information a secret because I knew it would make her worry. The last thing I wanted to do was give her the impression I was in danger. She would have jumped into her car immediately and driven here.”

“You made a reasonable decision,” Raina said gently. “In your shoes I would have done the same thing.”

Vivian tightened her hands around the arms of the chair. She thought about the bloodied and broken body lying in the dark shadows of a doorway.

“Poor Toby,” she said. “He must have been desperate. If he did take money to locate me, he probably felt guilty about it.”

Nick gazed at her as if she had started speaking in tongues. “What the hell makes you think that?”

“Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it? He came to Burning Cove to warn me. His message was that he had to see me tonight, remember? It was a matter of life and death.”

Luther and Nick exchanged unreadable looks. Raina smiled a sad smile.

Vivian glared at all of them. “You don’t think Toby made that call to warn me, do you?”

“Until proven otherwise,” Nick said with great precision, “we will operate on the assumption that Flint took money not just to locate you but to lure you out of the safety of the hotel grounds. Keep in mind his instructions were for you to show up alone in a deserted neighborhood tonight.”

“Instead, you and Rex accompanied me.” Vivian hesitated. “Do you suppose the killer was watching us when we found Toby’s body and took off when he realized I wasn’t alone?”

“I don’t know,” Nick said. “I didn’t hear any other cars in the vicinity and Rex did not seem to be concerned, but that doesn’t mean no one was watching, possibly from inside one of the shops. But I am certain of one thing: The car that killed Flint sustained a considerable amount ofdamage. There was a lot of glass at the scene. Looked like one headlight was shattered. There will probably be some bent chrome and blood on the fender.”

“Detective Brandon is in charge of the investigation,” Luther said. “He’s a good man. He’ll notify all of the local garages and repair shops to watch for a car that looks like it has been involved in a collision of some kind. He’ll keep me informed.”

“I seriously doubt that whoever was driving that car tonight will take it to a local garage for repairs,” Nick said. “It’s more likely the killer will dump it over the side of a cliff. If it winds up underwater, it may never be found.”

Vivian thought about that. “If the killer does dump the car, he’ll have to find another vehicle.”

“Or steal one,” Raina suggested.

Nick tapped one finger lightly against the chair arm. “In fact, it’s possible he used a stolen car to kill Toby Flint. In which case, even if Brandon does locate the vehicle, it will be a dead end as far as the investigation goes.”

Vivian looked at him. “There you go with the unquenchable optimism.”

“What can I tell you?” he said. He gave her a thin, cold smile. “You’re seeing me in one of my more upbeat moments.”

The phone rang. Vivian flinched. Phone calls at three in the morning rarely brought good news. Nick leaned over and picked up the receiver.

“I see,” he said. “Thanks. I appreciate the information.”

He hung up and looked at the others.

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