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“Afterward, he did agree to an interview,” Jade revealed. “By me. He said I handled his parents with such sensitivity he trusted me to break the story to the world. It made my day.”
Lucien noticed the owners hovering around the conversation. “Hey, guys. What’s up?”
Mandy held up a glass to toast everyone in the room. “Dale and I want to thank all of you for deciding to hold yourvery unusual eventat the Windhorse. Because of you, we’re having the best autumn we’ve ever had. It’s been such a great time that we’re considering making Mystery Weekend a regular package. Your entire group is welcome back anytime.”
Beckett whooped with laughter. “Do you hear that? We started a trend. We opened up a new venue.”
Lucien grinned. “Yeah, but I wouldn’t recommend luring a murder suspect into these woods. We used one of our own as bait. It took six people and clever undercover work to pull it off and bring down a serial killer. Not every group has access to that kind of support.”
“You’re the one who wrote the script,” Beckett noted. “You said you knew him, and damned if you weren’t right about all the buttons to push.”
“Here’s to having friends crazy enough to think this was a good idea,” Brogan declared. “We’re so glad you’re part of our pack.”
25
On the last day of the month, Brogan breezed into The Pointe to deliver Gavin Birken’s latest dessert masterpiece to the book club. Today, the luncheon on the terrace overlooking the ocean had a special meaning for her. Thanks to Kelly, The Bookworms had invited her to join the club. Her contribution was a chocolate mousse cake topped with whipped cream frosting guaranteed to satisfy the pickiest chocolate lover without worrying about calories.
At least two dozen locals—male and female, young and old—gathered to sample the cake and discuss Brent’s recommendation, The Evil Secrets Trilogy, the trio of books he’d devoured on the twenty-one-hour flight to South Africa.
One of the local writers, Ethan Cody, brother to Brent, had agreed to show up and give his take on the three books. Before diving into his review, though, Ethan pulled Brogan aside. “I’m thinking about doing a book on Chad Pollock. It was actually Hayden’s idea. We found the case a fascinating character study on the dirty side of the music industry. Would you and Lucien mind sitting down and discussing the whole story with me? Maybe explain how you took on the case that no one else could solve.”
“Sure. Drop by the house any time,” Brogan offered, plopping into a chair next to Kelly at one of the tables. “Better still, why not make it dinner at our house? That way, you and your lovely wife get a night out. Where is Hayden anyway?”
“She’s sitting with her sister, Sydney, over there next to the railing. You know they lost their mother a couple of months ago.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I wondered why Hayden had been so down in the dumps lately. We’ve been so busy; I’ve been out of the loop—gossip-wise.”
“They both needed a night out,” Ethan whispered. “And the book club is the perfect venue to get their minds off their grief, especially gobbling up a trilogy like this one. I’m sure that’s why Brent took the time to email Hayden about it. There’s so much to discuss.”
Ethan twisted in his seat. “I hate to change the subject back to Pollock, but do you think he murdered other people outside his family? I saw Beckett at the store today, and he alluded as much.”
“We think so. Brent does, too. You should ask him about it.”
“Definitely. But he’s been so busy since getting back from Johannesburg. I might catch him here tonight.”
“As far as Lucien and I go, we want people to know how evil this man was during his most successful years. You know Chad’s owned his own record company for decades. He’s signed some of the world’s most talented musicians to contracts. It’ll be interesting to see what happens to Pollock’s empire after everything comes out.”
Kelly, who’d been listening, leaned over and, in a low voice, added her take. “This case is so twisted Beckett and I wonder if there’s a jury out there who’ll convict him. Juries seem to love celebs and superstars and people with money.”
Ethan wanted to get deeper into the topic, so he dropped into the empty chair next to Brogan. “It took two juries to convict Phil Spector.”
“Exactly, and there are still questions about the involvement of certain other people in Chad’s inner circle,” Lucien muttered as he leaned down to kiss his wife hello. “Sorry, I’m late.”
“You’re forgiven as long as you finished reading the third book and can contribute to the discussion. I don’t want us to bomb on our first time here.”
“Don’t worry. I couldn’t put it down. The entire Hollywood angle pulled me in from the get-go,” Lucien noted as he pulled out a chair across from Ethan. “All three books kept getting better as the story developed.”
“The tie-in to the Manson murders seemed like a brilliant cover when the elderly couple got bumped off at the ranch,” Ethan prompted. “I can’t wait to hear what everyone else thought about the double murder that jumpstarted the revenge. I didn’t see that twist coming. But it was the one I enjoyed the most.You add in the sadistic actress/mother getting her due on Mother’s Day, and you figure Kit had to get the blame for it.”
“Yeah, but because she had such an abusive childhood, Kit Griffin was the character I empathized with the most,” Brogan relayed. “Don’t get me wrong, my heart went out to Baylee and Quinn, too, but Kit had to deal with Alana’s mood swings and put up with all her crap. I think the author captured that dark side of Hollywood that nobody ever talks about, especially back in the sixties when keeping secrets seemed easier.”
“Not since the rumors about Joan Crawford and Bing Crosby surfaced,” Ethan cited. “As an author myself, the most interesting aspect for me was that the real killer—the stranger—kept working his way down his list. I loved the payback angle, all the while taking down the bad guys. And the writer gave us some nasty bad guys. By the time I got to the third book, I was cheering for the stranger.”
“Same here,” Lucien echoed. “You’ve been to these book club things before. How much do we divulge about the ending?”
“Since everyone’s read the books, we discuss the outcome, what we loved or hated, which characters we loved the most, that sort of thing.”
“I can do that,” Brogan vowed. “I wasn’t surprised Brent suggested the books to his wife, River, or Hayden, but I was surprised when he urged everyone in the book club to read them. Is River here tonight?”
