Bell, Book, and Scandal

allowed to have my children to herself.“
    Shelley obligingly fixed her one the way she knew Jane liked it—a full can in a big glass with very little ice to dilute it. As she handed it to Jane she asked, “Did you really mean everything you said in Sophie’s suite?“
    Jane had taken her first big gulp and hiccupped happily. “Thanks, Shelley. Exactly right. Cold and strong enough to take my breath away. As for your question, I suppose I did mean what I said. Maybe. I was just so angry that Sophie, Corwin, and even Zac were talking solely about money and reputations. Corwin doesn’t surprise me. He seems such a wimpy toady. But Sophie and Zac both suffered at someone’s hands and don’t seem
    to give a fig for their own safety. How stupid can they be?“
    “Remarkably stupid. Either one of them could have died from what happened to them,“ Shelley agreed. “So why are you so much angrier about it than I am? They aren’t friends of ours. Neither happens to have died, though I agree that they could have. Why should you care so much?“
    “Because I was the one,“ Jane said, “who was obviously brushed off like a mosquito. Even by Zac. I’d done a lot to help him. I even paid for his drink.“
    “Forget about them, Jane. It isn’t worth working yourself into a fit of nerves over them. Or even over paying for something on behalf of Zac.“
    “I know you’re right,“ Jane admitted, sipping gratefully on her own drink. “I’ve paid more than the drink cost for a good hamburger. If you’d been me, though, you’d be just as angry. It’s the principle.“
    “I was thinking the same thing. I mean thinking what you told them about their safety, which appears to be the truth.“
    “So you believed me?“
    “I always believe you. Except when you criticize my driving,“ Shelley said.
    “I don’t criticize your driving.“
    “Not in words, usually. You just sit petrified, shaking, putting your hands over your eyes, and periodically hitting your imaginary brake pedal.“
    Shelley’s driving was the last thing she wanted to think about.
    “I really think Vernetta hadn’t the faintest idea what plagiarism meant,“ Jane said. “She couldn’t even pronounce it correctly. All she knew was that she thought Sophie was being all het up about nothing. But it scared her when Sophie threatened to withdraw the money she was expecting.“
    “I agree,“ Shelley said. “But she couldn’t have not realized it was looking bad for her. She’s probably already spent whatever she’s been paid on the architect who produced the plans for her teaching mansion.“
    “And do you also agree that she at least sounded sincere about having nothing to do with what Sophie and Zac suffered?“
    “She did sound sincere,“ Shelley admitted. “But maybe she has a secret gift for sounding sincere when she isn’t. We don’t really know her, Jane. We just know enough to dislike her enormously. And after all, who else would have had a motive to put Sophie out of the conference by any means at hand, and injure Zac, to keep them from knowing she was a plagiarist?“
    “But that doesn’t work, Shelley. Even you must admit she didn’t know what it meant. Who else could want to injure or kill both Sophie and Zac? Who else had a reason to hate them enough to possibly murder them?“
    “Who knows?“ Shelley said, still calm. “Jane, we’ve both learned a lot this week about the business of publishing. And this must have to do with publishing, right?“
    “It must.“
    “But we don’t know about the other hundred and fifty people at this conference. Just the surface descriptions of the main speakers in the brochure. There could be any number of creeps in this group.“
    “We know Felicity pretty well,“ Jane said.
    “You’re right. I believe she’s absolutely innocent of everything. She speaks her mind bluntly. Sometimes too bluntly for her own good.“
    Jane speculated. “Maybe Chester Griffith or this mysterious Miss Mystery have a long and horrible history with both Sophie and Zac. We had no idea that Zac and Sophie had a friendship. And I still don’t believe it. Come to think of it, Zac may have stayed behind to negotiate his own financial settlement with Sophie. Or blackmail her into reprinting his old books.“
    “What a horrible thought,“ Shelley said. “But Mr. Griffith and Miss Mystery are both involved heavily in the book business and have probably been around both of them many times. Even your