Page 78 of Close Up

“I’m not an expert on this sort of thing but it sounds like you’ve just ruled out our two prime client suspects,” she said. “What about Ripley Fleming?”

“I can’t see him as a client,” Nick said. “There’s no connection between the two of you. But he makes a very good assassin. Perfect cover. Perfect camouflage. Talented actor. We know he showed up at the scene of the Carstairs murder and now he’s here in Burning Cove.”

Vivian shook her head. “The thing is, he seems genuinely grateful to me for not taking his photo that night.”

“If he is the killer, he had every reason to be grateful. Doesn’t mean he doesn’t plan to kill you.”

“We know he didn’t leave the hotel grounds the other night, so he couldn’t have murdered Toby Flint.”

“I’m not so sure he didn’t leave. According to Oliver Ward there were plenty of sightings of Fleming throughout the evening but it’s impossible to know where someone is every single minute. If Fleming is our man in the work clothes and cap, he could have used that disguise long enough to slip out of the hotel through a service entrance, murder Flint, and then return to the bar.”

“Still, he seems so nice.”

Nick raised his brows. “You’d be amazed how often people say exactly that after a killer is arrested.”

Vivian made a face.

“There is, however, one other possibility,” Nick continued. “An unknown figure. We’ll call him Mr. X for now.”

“We don’t know anything about him.”

“You’re wrong. We know a lot about him because of the timeline. Morris Deverell, the Dagger Killer, attacked you about a month ago because he realized you were the one who told the cops the killer was probably a photographer working in the pictorial tradition.”

“That turned out to be the truth. Remember, the police found an expensive camera and a collection of daggers in Deverell’s house.”

“And then he was mysteriously run down by a car immediately after he escaped from the hospital.” Nick paused. “Beforehe could talk to the cops.”

Vivian went very still. “You’re convinced someone murdered him after he escaped from the hospital, aren’t you?”

“Yes. Probably the same someone who helped him escape. Now Toby Flint is dead by the same means. There has to be a connection.”

“Mr. X murdered both of them. Motive?”

“Both men knew too much. Mr. X has the answers we need. With a little luck he’ll walk into the trap that Luther and I have set for tonight.”

Vivian’s brows rose. “Since when do you believe in luck?”

“Since I met you.”

She smiled a dazzling smile. “It’s so nice to know I am contributing to this investigation.”

“I wouldn’t be this far along without you.”

“Do we have any special plans for today?”

“No. Today is all about waiting and looking as if we aren’t the least bit concerned that a killer is watching you.”

“In that case, is there any reason why I can’t use Joan Ashwood’s darkroom to develop a couple of prints for her to hang in her gallery?”

Nick thought about it. “No, not as long as Lyra and I accompany you. I don’t want you to be alone today.”

Chapter 39

The storm struck in full fury shortly before midnight. Vivian was sitting in a booth in the Burning Cove Hotel’s elegant bar. She was not alone. Lyra was with her. So were Raina Kirk and Irene Ward. Rex was under the table, enjoying occasional pats from the women.

The glamorously shadowed lounge was packed because most of the hotel guests who otherwise might have chosen to spend the evening at one of the local nightclubs had decided to stay on the grounds. It was not as if the hotel did not offer plenty of first-class entertainment. A jazz trio was playing on the small stage and the cocktails were served up by skilled bartenders who put on a show every time they crafted a drink.

Security was tight but the beefy men wearing extra-large tuxes remained mostly in the shadows.

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