Page 19 of Hoodoo House
“That is interesting. You know, you’re really good at this.”
“Thank you,” Charlie said, taking a seated bow.
Declan nursed his drink for a moment before asking, “Could the publisher be involved in a tax scam?”
“A question for Mr Attwal, maybe?” Charlie asked.
“Maybe…”
“Anyway, this all got me wondering about Mount Temple Press. They are not as big a player as they used to be. They once represented several high-level Canadian novelists—ones you probably studied in high school.”
“Oh God.”
“Don’t worry. They’re mostly all dead now. There are rumours all over the literary sites that Mount Temple’s been looking for takeover bids from the remaining big players.”
“If they aren’t a heavy hitter, why would anyone want to buy them?” Declan asked.
“Because they still have one money-making property—The Heart’s Shadowseries of romance novels written by Marjorie Ellis.”
“Romance novels? And that counts as literary fiction?” Declan said, raising his eyebrows.
“The first book in the series was more along the line of a Jane Austen novel. And money talks. There have been over thirty novels in the series and they’ve brought millions of dollars into the Mount Temple coffers. It’s this series that provides the funding for the Heart’s Shadow Foundation which, in turn, pays the salaries of the writers like Tull and the cost of running Hoodoo House.”
“Interesting.”
Mickey interrupted with another round of drinks.
Declan chewed his lip and drummed his fingers on the table. “So we’ve got a foundation that might be involved in a tax scam, Thomas Pritchard who was apparently paid for twenty years to write one book and the latest writer who mysteriously died at a time when he was blackmailing his editor.”
Charlie nodded and said, “A lot more to this case than a missing computer with a manuscript and sex videos on it.”
Declan turned his head towards the young couple beside them who were clearly eavesdropping. “I’d suggest you turn your ears the other way. And if I find that you’ve breathed a single word of this on social media, I will have my assistant hunt down all of the embarrassing naked images of yourselves that you’ve been sharing with each other and make sure your contacts see each and every one of them.”
The two got up at once and moved to the back of the bar.
Charlie laughed. “It’s not quite that easy.”
Declan shrugged. “They don’t need to know that.”
“So what’s our next move?” Charlie asked.
“I think it’s time for a visit to Hoodoo House. It’s the last place Tull was seen alive and if he hid the computer, it might be there. Can you get in touch with Yamada and set it up?”
“Sure. And what if the computer was stolen?”
Declan finished his drink. “Maybe someone at the house saw something that can point us in the right direction.”
He pulled out his phone and checked the time. “Let’s call it quits for the day. I’m going to the washroom. If Mickey comes by, tell him to put it on my tab.”
Declan set his phone down on the table and made his way to the back of the bar. Just as he walked into the washroom, his phone buzzed. Charlie glanced at the screen. There was a text from someone named Michael. The text preview said ‘Thanks for this afternoon.’
Charlie pondered the message.
It’s none of my business.
When Declan returned, Charlie said nothing.
Declan picked up his phone without looking at it and said, “So, see you at nine tomorrow?”
