thinking about it. ‘‘If she divorced him, she couldn’t get her hands on all of it.’’
Sophie and I waited for Marylou to say something. When she realized that both of us were staring at her, she spoke. ‘‘I just don’t know what to think. You think you know someone, and something like this happens. I don’t think Paula would kill anyone, or could kill anyone. But I just don’t know. I don’t think she would care about the money all that much. I think she just wanted to be free of him.’’ She frowned. ‘‘And like Sophie says, she could have divorced him. She wanted to divorce him, but he was resisting, for some reason.’’
‘‘There are certainly other people who might have had reasons to want him dead,’’ I said.
‘‘No kidding,’’ Sophie said. ‘‘I can think of four right off the bat, and there are probably others that we know nothing about.’’
‘‘Who’s on your list?’’ I asked.
Sophie cocked her head, considering her response. ‘‘First, there’s his ex-wife. She’s a pretty cool customer, and I think she hated him. Then there’s his son, who didn’t seem to care much for him either. He might have stood to gain the most, at least where money’s concerned. Or maybe Avery threatened to cut him off completely.’’
‘‘From what we overheard,’’ I said, ‘‘it sounded like Avery wasn’t giving his son the financial support he needed.’’
Sophie nodded. ‘‘And his son could have been really angry about that. Get rid of Dad and then get his hands on Dad’s money.’’
‘‘That’s possible,’’ Marylou said.
‘‘Who else?’’ I asked Sophie. ‘‘You said four.’’ I was curious to know whether her four matched mine. They probably did.
‘‘There’s dear sweet Veronica, of course. There was obviously something going on between her and Avery, and ‘hell hath no fury’ and all that. She looked mad enough to kill last night, that’s for sure.’’ Sophie rolled her eyes. ‘‘I would like it to be her, just because she’s such a bitch.’’
I had to laugh at that, and Marylou reluctantly joined in.
‘‘Finally,’’ Sophie said, ‘‘there’s his manager. Avery had fired him, or at least, that’s what we overheard him say.’’
‘‘Yes, we did hear that,’’ I said, ‘‘and Avery claimed his agent had caused him some serious financial problems. Maybe the agent had been embezzling from him, and Avery was threatening to go to the police,’’ I said.
‘‘That would be another good answer,’’ Marylou said. Then she sighed heavily. ‘‘But I’m afraid you’re forgetting someone. There’s a fifth person who could be said to have a motive for killing Avery.’’
‘‘Basil Dumont,’’ Sophie and I said in unison after a moment’s pause.
Marylou nodded. ‘‘There was no love lost between Basil and Avery. We all saw that—very publicly—last night. Basil has always been pretty mild mannered, but maybe he finally snapped. Avery could have pushed him too far for once.’’
‘‘Good point,’’ I said. ‘‘So there are five people besides Paula with possible strong motives for getting rid of Avery Trowbridge.’’
Sophie and Marylou nodded.
‘‘The police have their work cut out for them,’’ I said. ‘‘Plus I think I may be on the list of suspects myself.’’
‘‘Why?’’ Sophie asked.
Quickly I explained about the card in Avery Trowbridge’s hand. I had told Ainsworth I wouldn’t tell anyone, but that didn’t include my two best friends.
‘‘So you think he could have been trying to leave a clue to the killer’s identity?’’ Marylou frowned. ‘‘What could the queen of diamonds mean? We know you didn’t kill him, Emma.’’
‘‘Maybe the killer put the card in his hand to confuse everyone,’’ Sophie suggested.
‘‘I don’t know,’’ I said, ‘‘but I hope they get it sorted out soon.’’
Sophie and Marylou exchanged looks, then faced me.
‘‘What?’’ I asked with a voice full of suspicion.
‘‘Don’t look at us like that,’’ Sophie said. ‘‘You know you want to figure this out just as much as we do.’’
‘‘Is that so?’’ I said, trying to sound haughty and slightly offended.
Sophie snorted. ‘‘Come off it, Emma. I know you too well.’’
‘‘Besides,’’ Marylou said, very earnestly, ‘‘I don’t want Paula to be accused of something she didn’t do. I can’t help feeling sorry for her, and she’s going to need my—our—support.’’
‘‘Okay,’’ I said. ‘‘I agree. We should keep our eyes and ears open. We might spot something that the sheriff’s department could miss, but we have to be careful, or Ainsworth really will think I have something to hide.’’
‘‘Of course,’’ Sophie and Marylou said in unison.
‘‘I’m not sure Deputy Ainsworth will be too happy if he finds out we’re going to be helping