she’s scared to death and has a heart attack. It’s set up by the husband and his boyfriend. It’s a perfect murder, of course, because you could never prove that someone who’s had a heart attack was actually murdered. But let’s say someone wanted to replicate it. First of all, it’s pretty hard to give someone a heart attack, and it would be even harder for you to figure it out. I don’t suppose you’ve found a suspicious heart attack victim, have you?”
“I actually have,” she said, and for the first time since she’d arrived at the store, I saw a gleam of self-satisfaction in her eye. She really did believe she was on to something.
“I don’t know much about it,” she continued, “but there was a woman named Elaine Johnson from Rockland, Maine, who died of a heart attack in her home last September. She had a heart condition, so it looked like a natural death, but there were signs that her home had been broken into.”
I rubbed at my earlobe. “Like a robbery?”
“That’s what the police decided. Someone broke into her home to rob it, or to assault her, but she had a heart attack as soon as she saw the housebreaker. So they took off.”
“Nothing was taken from the house?”
“Right. Nothing was taken from the house.”
“I don’t know,” I said.
“Think about it, though,” she said, moving a little forward in her chair. “Let’s say you wanted to murder someone by causing a heart attack. First of all, you pick a victim who’s already had one, which, in this case, Elaine Johnson had. Then you sneak into her house, where she lives alone, put on some sort of horrifying disguise, and leap out at her from a closet. She drops dead, and you’ve committed murder, just like in your book.”
“And if it doesn’t work?”
“Then the murderer bolts from the house and she can’t identify them.”
“But she’d report it?”
“Of course.”
“Did anyone report something like that happening to them?”
“No. At least not that I know of. But that only means that it worked the first time.”
“Right,” I said.
She was quiet for a moment. I heard the ticking sound that meant Nero was coming toward us along the hardwood floor. Agent Mulvey, who heard it as well, turned and looked at the store cat. She let him sniff her hand then expertly rubbed his head. Nero sunk to the floor and flipped onto his side, purring.
“You must have cats?” I said.
“Two. Does this one go home with you or does he just stay in the store?”
“He just stays here. For him the entire universe is two book-lined rooms and a series of strangers, a few of whom feed him.”
“Sounds like a good life,” she said.
“I think he does all right. Half the people who come in here just come to see him.”
Nero stood back up, stretched out his hind legs, one at a time, and walked back toward the front of the store.
“So what is it that you want from me?” I said.
“Well, if someone really is using your list as a guide for committing murders, then you’re the expert.”
“I don’t know about that.”
“I mean, you’re the expert on the books on your list. They’re favorite books of yours.”
“I guess,” I said. “I wrote that list a long time ago, and some of those books I know a lot better than others.”
“Still, it can’t hurt to get your opinion. I was hoping you’d look at some cases I put together, a list of unsolved murders in the New England region over the last few years. I threw it together quickly last night, just summaries, really”—she was pulling a stapled sheaf of papers from her briefcase—“and was hoping you’d go through them, let me know if any of them seem like they might have something to do with the books on your list.”
“Sure,” I said, taking the pages from her. “Are these … classified, as well?”
“Most of the information I’ve summarized is public information. If any of the crimes strike you as a possibility, I’ll take a closer look. I’m just fishing here, with these ones, honestly. I’ve already gone over them. It’s just that, since you’ve read the books …”
“I’ll need to reread some of the books, as well,” I said.
“So you’ll help me.” She sat up a little straighter and half smiled. She had a short upper lip, and I could see her gums when she opened her mouth.
“I’ll try,” I said.
“Thank you. And there’s one more thing. I’ve ordered