Peter was a suave older gentleman with classic good looks and dignified graying hair. He wore an expensive suit with a blood-red kerchief peering over the edge of his breast pocket. Neatly trimmed nails, leather shoes, and a black fedora finished out the ensemble. He spoke softly and warmly but with authority. His card said "Literary Matchmaker" and had a phone number and an email address. While he waited in the interview room, he calmly sent texts and answered emails on his palmtop communicator. No fidgeting, and he appeared to silence the ringer whenever he received a call but never answered one.
It felt strange to address him as Mr. Publius when he had simply been Peter in my mind, and I was somewhat glad what he asked me not to be quite so formal.
Zade: Mr. Publius, thank you so much for coming in this morning on such sort notice. My name is Detective Zade, and I have a few questions I'd like to ask you.
Peter: Oh, it was nothing at all. I'm happy to be of service to our fine men and women in blue. And, please, call me Peter.
Zade: Thank you, Peter. So you know Johannes Book?
Peter: Absolutely! Johannes is my oldest friend in the world. We have quite a history together, he and I.
Zade: You are just friends? Or have you worked together as well?
Peter: Friends first and foremost, but we have occasionally worked on projects of mutual interest.
Zade: Can you tell me what kind of work?
Peter: Of course, here's my card. Johannes and I are different sides of the same coin. I like to think of myself as a matchmaker, putting people with similar tastes and complementary interests in touch with each other. (He winked at me at continued.) That's really just a fancy way of saying that I bring readers and writers together. Publishing just sounds so boring.
Zade: And how does Mr. Book fit in to your business?
Peter: Johannes has a real knack for being the glue in the transaction. He really knows people quite well. On both sides of the equation.
Zade: So he helps you find good matches?
Peter: No, not really. I can't easily describe what he does. Johannes is like a force of nature. He's the lodestone of my industry. (pause) You're still not clear are you? Johannes is a magnet with two poles, only instead of north and south, he has a writer and reader pole. He attracts them both together and instead of releasing heat in the process, he releases profit. I simply capitalize on the transaction. And Johannes, well, he gets his fulfillment from doing what he was made to do.
Zade: Does he make anything from it at all? How did he make his fortune?
Peter: Why are you asking me these question? He could tell you better than I.
Zade: You're the one in the room with me now.
Peter: I see. I don't know where Johannes got his money from. It's always been a mystery to me. I never understood what she . I mean, what he did to get that trust. He never asked for money from me. And besides, he won't be doing work for me anymore.
I felt sure he had been about to say something about Allison when he corrected himself. Then he seemed to slip up and reveal knowledge of Mr. Book's death. He must of sensed surprise in me, because I thought I saw the fleetest flash of fear pass over his eyes before he continued talking.
Peter: His work has become less effective lately. Writers and readers are not as enamored of him as they once were. I've been forced to look for other partners.
Zade: What about Allison Dollar? What can you tell me about her?
Peter: Allison? She's a lovely woman. We've been playing cat-and-mouse for ages.
Zade: Do you love her?
Peter: Detective Zade, I thought I was here to talk about Johannes Book.
Zade: Peter, Mr. Book was murdered Monday night.
Peter: Good lord! Why didn't you say that before? Oh, my dear brother! There are plans to be made, may I go now?
Zade: Not yet. I still have a few more questions. Where were you between eight and ten that night?
Peter: (pausing a moment) I had dinner that evening, although I was with Johannes earlier that night. He seemed perfectly fine to me. How did he die?
Zade: Were you alone at dinner?
Peter: No. I dined with Jon Reader that night.
Another detective interrupted me then and pulled me out of the interview room. The others had arrived.
I sent two other detectives to interview Mr. Reader and Ms. Web and went to see Allison.
Allison: Hello, Detective Zade. Have you found Peter yet?
Zade: Good morning, Ms. Dollar. Thank you for coming in. I have spoken with Peter already today. Can you tell me where Mr. Book made his money?
Allison: He never made any money for himself. Johannes always enjoyed the work and felt that taking money for it would undercut his personal integrity. But he was human. Sometimes, money was everything to him, integrity be damned! During those phases, Johannes would take his share of the profit from what he did.
Zade: Peter said that Mr. Book never took any money from him. Did he work with anyone else?
Allison: No. Johannes was indebted to Peter. When they first started out, Peter was the only one willing to give Johannes a chance. He could never work from someone else. Johannes thought he would lose face if he asked Peter for his share of the money. So what Peter doesn't know is that I siphoned off profits for Johannes. Or at least that's what Johannes always believed.
Zade: What do you mean?
Allison: I convinced Johannes that I was a silent partner in Peter's side of the business and that I paid him from my share. In truth, I was never in league with Peter but with the three of us it wasn't always easy to tell, especially from Johannes' perspective.
Zade: So you've been supporting Mr. Book all these years without his knowledge?
Allison: Lies and half-truths all the way around. It's a wonder any of us ever loved each other.
Zade: Peter said that Mr. Book was losing his touch and that he needed to find some new partners to work with.
Allison: That's another damn lie! Johannes is just as good as he ever was!
Zade: Is that why Mr. Book felt his life's work was at stake?
Allison: Peter never told Johannes that his work was flagging. That's just a cover for the real reason.
Zade: And what is that?
Allison: I don't think that Peter could bear to be without me anymore. Working with Johannes was a constant reminder that he could never have me.
Zade: So why did Mr. Book feel threatened?
Allison: I wish you would call him Johannes. He knew that Peter was fishing around for other partners. He just didn't know why.
Zade: Could Johannes have jeopardized any possible partnerships?
Allison: I don't know. Maybe.
Zade: Have you ever heard of Laura Web?
Allison: Web? Yes, Johannes had mentioned her name a few times. Just someone that he liked talking to about his work.
Zade: Were you aware that she's been implicated in other poisonings?
Allison: No! Really? She seemed harmless enough.
Zade: Thank you, Ms. Dollar, for your cooperation. Can you still a while longer? I may need to ask you one or two more questions.
Allison: Certainly. Anything to help.
After leaving Allison, I caught up with the other two detectives, and they filled me in on their interviews. Ms. Web had nearly left in a fluster when the two previous charges were brought up. She spouted expletives and ranted about conspiracy theories totally out of character with the mature woman she had presented herself as the day before. Her character change was so extreme that the detective considered bringing in a uniformed officer to prevent her from doing anything rash. After calming her down, the detective got her to admit that Peter was insistently courting her to join him. She also confessed to a profound dislike for Mr. Book but vehemently defended her right to make a statement of such a subjective nature.
Considering the weakness of the two prior cases against Ms. Web, I was hoping for something concrete that I could use to tie her to the scene. The detective was able to get a voluntary cheek swab from her that were accompanied by accusations of police state tactics and invasion of privacy blathering. A quick test by CSU determined that the hair found in Mr. Book's study wasn't hers, so I told the detective to let her go. I had a feeling we wouldn't have any trouble finding her again if we needed to.
Mr. Reader was a very different story. His demeanor had changed from fawning police helper (with a touch of cold shoulder) to frantic suspect who couldn't believe he was being investigated for murder. He constantly proclaimed himself unable to kill a fly and cooperated with the questioning in an overly friendly, overly helpful manner. Without prompting, he expounded profusely about his every move the night of the murder, explaining in great detail the meal with Peter and his subsequent trolling of the late-night club scene. He denied with great concern any knowledge that Mr. Book had threatened his possible partnership with Peter and didn't believe that Mr. Book would even harbor such a sentiment. In the end, the detective chose to let him go with a stern warning to "stay in town and keep out of trouble."
I approved the decision and went to the viewing room that separated the interview rooms where Allison and Peter were waiting. Watching Allison, I knew that Peter had done it. I did not yet know why, but I was going to find out.
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