Murder at the Book Fair (18 page)

"What about your books? How
did you do?"

"Pretty good for someone
who's just getting started writing. It might have helped that I paid someone to
promote my books."

"Was that someone by any
chance Dan Grimes?"

"So, you know him, too. Yeah,
it was Dan. How do you know him or know about him?"

"When you weren't home the
first time we were by I went and talked to Jonnetta Jarvis. She said she paid
him to promote her books, too."

"And he promoted Cyril
Portwood's books, too. That's why I agreed to give him a try, because I'd heard
that Portwood sells a lot of books."

"How much did you pay Grimes,
and how did he promote your books?"

"I paid him $100. I had a
guarantee in writing that if I didn't sell at least enough books to pay his fee
then he would give me my money back. I sold enough and then some, so I'm
pleased."

"Do you have any idea how
much Portwood paid him?"

"Yeah, Grimes told me. $500.
Dan Grimes told me that he charges each author according to what he can
deliver."

"So, he promotes other
authors, too?"

"I know he has authors in
other states, but I'm not sure if he has any others here. He said that the
three of us were the only ones he promotes who were at the book fair this
year."

"And did you see Grimes
there?"

"No. I don't think he made
it. At least if he did I didn't see him. I think he said he was going to be out
of town."

"And you're sure he charged
Portwood $500, not $50,000?"

She laughed.

"Who would pay someone
$50,000 to promote some books. Portwood sold a lot of books there, but nowhere
near $50,000 worth. I'd say he might have sold one hundred books or so."

"What about you? Are you
Portwood's discovery, and was he paying you $50,000 a year until he felt you
could make it on your own?"

"You are kidding, aren't
you?"

"No, I'm serious."

"I didn't have any idea Cyril
Portwood had that kind of money to dole out."

"What about Jake
Cartwright?"

"What about Jake Cartwright?
Do I think he has that kind of money? Do I think Portwood gave him that much
money? Or how did he do at the book fair?"

"Any of the above."

"I met him, but I was on the
other side of our table and we were so busy most of the day I didn't get to
talk to him much. So I don't know enough about him to answer any of those
questions except that I know he too sold a lot of books that day."

"So, Grimes doesn't promote
him?"

"Not according to Dan Grimes.
He told me that he only promotes the three of us. Actually, I didn't know he
promoted Jonnetta's books until she told me."

"Did you see Portwood's
brother and sister?"

"Not that I know of."

"Do you remember a couple
stopping by when Portwood stepped away from his table and acted like they were
going to do something to his lunch?"

"I didn't even realize that
Cyril ever left the table. I guess I was occupied with something else. Maybe I
was signing a book for someone."

"Then I don't guess Portwood
gave you any money."

"Why would he do that?"

"Did he?"

"No, he didn't give me any
money. Why should he?"

"And you don't know of anyone
else he gave money to?"

"No, we were just there to
sell books. I didn't realize that he's a banker."

"Did you realize that he's
been murdered?"

"Who? Cyril Portwood?"

"Yes, and it might have
happened at the book fair."

"If it did, it happened after
I left."

"It might have happened
before you left."

"I'm not lying."

"I don't mean you're lying. I
mean you might not have noticed."

"So, somebody poisoned
him?"

"Why did you say that?"

"Well, I do write mysteries.
And I read mysteries. If you can't fix the time of death, and you say he might
have been murdered at the book fair, then that tells me he was poisoned, and it
wasn't a quick acting poison. Otherwise he would have fallen over quickly. So,
where did his body end up?"

"First of all, we don't know
it was a slow acting poison. Well, it was, but we're not sure how long it took
to work."

"So, he wasn't found right
away?"

"Now why did you say
that?"

"Do I have to repeat myself. If
he was found shortly after he died the coroner would have been able to fix the
time of death, maybe even down to minutes. So, my guess is that he wasn't found
until the next day. What happened? Did the maid find him in his room at the
Capital
Plaza
, dead in his bed?"

"You should have stopped
while you were ahead. Or are you merely diverting suspicion away from
yourself?"

"Oh, yeah! I'm sure I
murdered a man I just met because he sold more books than I did."

"We have only your word that
you just met him. Portwood can't talk."

"I'm sorry! I know you have a
tough job, but it's rather unnerving to find out that a man who sat two seats
away from me was poisoned that day. I'm sorry it happened to him, but it could
have been me. Can you tell me what the poison was put in?"

"Portwood's body. The medical
examiner got him too late to tell us anything else, other than something he ate
or drank between Friday night and Saturday night was poisoned."

"So it might not have
happened at the table."

"My guess is it didn't. There
would have been so many witnesses. Well, unless they were like you and didn't
see anything."

"Hey! We were busy signing
books. At least until the middle of the afternoon. Up until then, almost the
entire time one of the three of us was talking to someone, and some of the time
all three of us were. It was quite hectic. But fun. I'd never experienced
anything like it before."

"Anything else you can tell
us?"

"Nothing I can think
of."

"How about Dan Grimes
address? Can you give us that?"

"Yeah, I've got it somewhere.
Hold on a minute and I'll be back."

A couple of minutes later Lori
Wildwood returned and handed me a piece of paper with a name and address
written on it.

"I doubt if he'll be able to
help you. He wasn't even there."

"Remember, I said it happened
sometime between Friday afternoon late and Saturday night late. Maybe Grimes
saw him or knows of someone who might have seen him somewhere other than the
book fair itself."

She nodded in agreement.

"What do you think,
Lou?"

"Everyone seems innocent."

"And someone's not so
innocent. Want to go see this Grimes guy? Maybe he's the one who got
$50,000."

Grimes didn't live anywhere near
the two authors, so I had more time to get to know my new ride. Five songs
later I found the house and hoped Grimes didn't know anything. I was starting
to get hungry.

This time we found ourselves in an
older middle-class neighborhood closer to downtown. Lou and I walked up and I
knocked on the door. A few seconds later, a man answered my knock.

"Hi! Can I help you?"

"You can if you're Dan
Grimes."

"I'm your man. But if you're
Publisher's Clearinghouse I guess you left your cameras at home."

"Actually, we're with the
Criminals Clearinghouse. I'm Lt. Dekker and he's Sgt. Murdock. We'd like a few
minutes of your time."

"Sure. Come on in. What's
this about?"

"What kind of business are
you in, Mr. Grimes?"

"Right now I'm in book
promotion. Authors pay me to promote their books. But that's more of a
sideline. In a way. My mother had a good-size insurance policy, and a lot of
stocks and bonds, and since I was her only child I got all of her money when
she died. And the house was paid for and I inherited it, too. I don't have many
needs, so I retired from my job, but I still do what I can to help authors sell
books. Not too many, though. I only have two authors around here. And a handful
out of state."

"Two, Mr. Grimes."

"Two what?"

"Authors around here."

"That's right. Lori Wildwood
and Jonnetta Jarvis."

"What about Cyril
Portwood?"

"You've done your homework.
But not well enough. See authors only stay with me until they get on their feet
enough that they can sell books without my help. I haven't promoted Portwood's
books for two years."

"But you told another author
he was one of your clients."

"You're probably talking
about one of the two women I promote. I helped him get started, but now he does
well enough that he doesn't need my help anymore."

"Did it hurt when he dropped
you?"

"No, I expected it. And like
I said, or maybe I didn't say, he only paid me $100 in the beginning and
eventually $500 a year to promote his books, so it wasn't a big loss."

"Have you ever been to his
place."

"No, but I think it's up in
Westport
. Or at least that's his mailing
address."

"It used to be his mailing
address."

"Oh, I didn't realize that
he'd move. See, I haven't seen him in a while."

"When was the last time you
saw him?"

"I don't know. I guess at
last year's Kentucky Book Fair."

"Not this year?"

"No, I didn't get to go this
year. My niece in
Indiana
got married that day. I went up
on Friday morning and didn't get back until Sunday around
noon
."

"I guess you can prove
that."

"Why should I have to? But
yeah, I can. You can check Facebook and YouTube. Some of the family took
pictures and videos. And then I have receipts from the motel where I stayed,
and from a couple of places I ate while I was there."

"Back to Portwood. When you
promoted him, did he pay by check or cash?"

"He always paid cash."

"$50,000."

"I wish. No, it only got up
to $500. I just charged the two women $100 each, because they're both just
getting started. I promise each author I handle that the money they take in at
an event will be more than what I charge them or I will give them their money
back. That's why I only handle new authors. In addition to the two women here
in town I've got a couple of authors in
Ohio
and a couple more in
Indiana
,
but that's all."

"Did you know Cyril Portwood
well?"

"I don't know him all that
well. I read one of his books when he first started writing and told him that I
could help him sell more books. Usually we'd talk on the phone a couple of
times a year and we met so he could pay me before the book fair. I believe
that's the only big event he does. But like I said, two years ago was the last
time I promoted him. He was on his own last year and did quite well. This year
too, from what Monday's paper said. His new book made the top ten at the book
fair."

"And what about Jake
Cartwright's new book?"

"Let me see. I think he made
the list too, but I think Portwood was higher."

"And Portwood can make enough
money to live on from just one event?"

"I doubt it. I don't think he
sells that many books there. But I think the guy has some money somewhere.
Maybe he's like me. Maybe his mother left it to him."

"Back to your mother. How
long ago did she die?"

"Let's see. It was almost
eight years ago."

"From natural causes?"

"Depends on whether or not
you call cancer natural causes."

"So, she died of
cancer?"

"That's right."

"And when did you retire from
your job?"

"When her health started
failing. She didn't want to go away somewhere and die, so she asked me to help
out, and she helped me out by paying for everything. You'd never know it from
this house, but my mother had a lot of money. She just had no desire for a big
house."

"So what's your secret, Mr.
Grimes? How do you promote your authors?"

"Well, now I can't tell you
that. If I did someone else might try to take my authors from me. Of course
it's not a lot of money, but I make enough from my six authors to take a little
vacation each year, provided I don't go far. I'm kind of partial to Gatlinburg
myself."