Killing Kate: A Novel (Riley Spartz Book 4) (34 page)

Channel 3 was cheated out of any news exclusive because I
was locked in a car trunk, and because the FBI immediately announced a national search for Karl Dolezal.

When my parents returned to the farm, they initially thought I had just dropped off Max and driven away in a huff. But the puppy led them to my car, hidden near the grove. They called Garnett, and a national search was announced for me.

Minneapolis Police asked their counterparts in Iowa City to put Oakland Cemetery under surveillance. That’s where they found me, in the shadow of the Black Angel, standing over a bleeding corpse.

The next day, Dolezal’s nanna was discovered dead in her bed, smothered with a pillow.

The patrol officer who stopped Dolezal for passing counterfeit bills survived the altercation, but requested a desk job.

The Angel of Death’s body remains unclaimed at the Johnson County morgue in Iowa City.

Consultant Fitz Opheim was named acting news director at Channel 3.

Good homes were found for all of Noreen’s animals. Barbara Avise took in Speckles the dalmatian. My parents adopted Blackie the Lab, to stay with Max on the farm.

And Husky now lives with me. I figured while a puppy would probably make me crazy, Max might keep Mom and Dad young.

Desiree Fleur’s final book,
Sexpocalypse
, was a breakout bestseller. The book received critical acclaim for challenging mankind’s overemphasis on sex. Reviewers especially raved about the ending in which the world explodes, yet the protagonists go on
to make love in heaven with famous dead people like Einstein, Cleopatra, and Elvis.

Since the author and her heir were both dead, under Kate’s will, all royalties passed to the Minnesota Library Foundation.

Kate’s editor, Mary Kay Berarducci, went on to be hired by one of the top publishing companies in New York.

Because all Laura and I had was a handshake deal, I never saw a dime for writing that ending. No one besides Garnett ever knew about my role as a ghostwriter.

I tried getting reengaged, but this time Garnett was the one who held back. “Let’s wait for a happier stretch. Too much pain surrounds us right now.”

So I’m not sure whether I’ll ever wear that deep red ring again or live the life of Riley.

My apologies to Iowa City’s stunning Black Angel statue and to the ghost of Teresa Dolezal Feldevert. I mean no disrespect to this historical character. If you haven’t seen the sculpture, it is worth the trip to town.

My agent, Elaine Koster, had been enthusiastic about the concept behind this book but died before the manuscript was completed. I wish she could have read it. Her associate Stephanie Lehmann was supportive and kept me on track in her absence. I will miss working with her.

My publisher, Atria Books, did much for me and
Killing Kate
, but nobody did more than my editor, Emily Bestler, who encouraged me as I wrote from a killer’s point of view and shook things up in my fictional newsroom. Her editorial assistant, Kate Cetrulo, deserves thanks for her attention to detail and her good sportsmanship in regards to the title.

Additional kudos to Mellony Torres for publicity; Isolde Sauer for production editing; Jane Herman for copy editing; Hillary Tisman and Rachel Zugschwert for marketing; Jeanne Lee for jacket art; and also to Richard Defendorf, Adrian James, Renata Di Biase, and Fausto Bozza for all the other tasks involved in bringing a book to print.

My loyal beta readers—Trish Van Pilsum, Kevyn Burger, and Caroline Lowe—contributed praise and criticism to make this a better book.

My thanks to those experts who shared specific knowledge with me: John Kirkwood, special agent in charge of the US Secret Service–Minneapolis, for chatting about counterfeiting; senior investigator Keith Stress of the Animal Humane Society in Golden Valley, MN, for discussing animal cruelty laws; Vernon Geberth, author of
Practical Homicide Investigation
; and Dr. D. P. Lyle, author of
Howdunit Forensics, Forensics for Dummies,
and
The Writer’s Forensics Blog
.

My sister Teresa Neuzil I fear will endure taunting and teasing from family about being the evil persona behind the Black Angel. To minimize that I have named my other sisters—Bonnie Brang, Kathy Loecher, Maggie (Mary Agnes) Kramer—as murder victims, so she will have something to throw back in their faces.

I have spared my other relatives a similar fate, but they should not become overconfident because there’s always the next book: Ruth Kramer; Mike Kramer; Richard and Oti Kramer; Steve and Mary Kay Kramer, along with Matthew and Elizabeth; Jim, Adriana, and Zach Loecher; Roy Brang; Galen and Rachel Neuzil; Christina Kramer; Jerry and Elaine Kramer; George and Shirley Kimball; George Kimball, Shen Fei, and Shi Shenyu; Jenny, Kile, David, and Daniel Nadeau; Jessica, Richie, and Lucy Miehe; Becca and Seth Engberg; Mary, Dave, and Davin Benson; Nick Kimball and Gannet Tseggai; numerous far-flung cousins and other kin, especially those who granted me gracious hospitality on my last tour—Mae Klug in Nebraska; Rosemary and Bruce Jacobs in Arizona; Amy and Dan Comstock in Texas.

Soon after this book is released, my husband and I will become empty nesters. I will see what that does for the writing process. I’m just glad to have raised a family of readers: Andrew and Alex Kimball—off to college; Joey and David Kimdon—with Aria and Arbor; Jake and Katie Kimball (take special note that while Kate may have been killed, Katie lives on).

And, as always, my soul mate, Joe.