The Last Word (A Books by the Bay Mystery)

you.”
    Olivia could hear the unspoken directive. Rawlings was ordering her not to tell anyone else. She nodded in understanding.
    “Mrs. Vickers confessed to having blackmailed her ex-husband for years. According to her, Mr. Plumley once told her that he was responsible for the death of an old woman. Other than his father, this woman was his primary source for The Barbed Wire Flower .”
    Leaning forward in her chair, Olivia opened her mouth to ask a question but Rawlings held up a finger. “I know what you want to ask, but listen to the whole story first. Mrs. Vickers alleges that Mr. Plumley made this confession after drinking a great deal of vodka. It was the same night they conceived their son, in fact. The two parted ways and then Mrs. Vickers had her own secret to carry.”
    He paused and Olivia wondered if he too was picturing Cora touching her swollen belly, her face slack with shock as her obstetrician gave her the hard news that her son had Down’s syndrome.
    “So they lived separate lives until Mr. Plumley’s novel was released and immediately hit the bestseller list,” Rawlings continued. “At that point, his ex-wife paid him a visit and demanded money. They struck a deal. She would remain silent about what happened to his source in return for quarterly payments in cash.”
    Olivia couldn’t contain herself. “Was the woman Evelyn White? Did Plumley kill her?”
    “Mrs. Vickers claims that Mr. Plumley let Ms. White read an early draft of A Barbed Wire Flower . This was years before the book was actually published. Ms. White never knew that Plumley’s real name was Ziegler, and she told him over and over that it was Nicklaus Ziegler who murdered James Hatcher, the Camp New Bern guard, not Heinrich Kamler.”
    Groaning, Olivia picked up her glass. “But Plumley ignored her and portrayed Kamler as the killer, just like the papers did in 1945.”
    “Yes, and Ms. White became very upset. She’d only agreed to tell him her story on the condition that he’d rewrite that event the way she believed it to have happened.” Rawlings noted Olivia’s empty tumbler and gently took it from her hand. “Even though Mr. Plumley’s book was a work of fiction, Ms. White had hoped that it would help right the wrong done to Kamler’s reputation.” He sighed. “I’d better get you a refill before I continue. Be right back.”
    Rawlings headed for the bar, but Olivia sat frozen in her chair. Once again, she was overwhelmed by the losses Evelyn and Heinrich had experienced. Plumley had had the chance to assuage a small bit of Evelyn’s pain, but he couldn’t do it.
    After listening to Evelyn White’s stories, Plumley must have suspected that he was the son of the real murderer. Evelyn didn’t know this, of course, because he wasn’t going by the name of Ziegler. This left Nick the freedom to continue burying the truth, filling his novel with the same lie the newspapers had printed, and profiting from the deceit.
    Worst of all, the bastard had betrayed Evelyn. She’d given up her child, lived a lifetime apart from the man she loved, and then, in what was probably her last chance to seek a measure of redemption for her Henry, had been denied that small opportunity.
    “So were both the Zieglers murderers? Father and son?” Olivia demanded angrily when Rawlings returned with their drinks. “And cowards? Stabbing a man in the back and killing an old lady!”
    Rawlings squatted at her side, his eyes softening. “I knew this would upset you. You felt a connection to Ms. White.”
    It wasn’t a question. Olivia said, “Tell me how she died.”
    “I will, but remember that this is all hearsay,” the chief reminded her gently.
    “Tell me,” she insisted.
    He took a swallow of Chivas Regal. “When Ms. White read the escape scene in the draft of The Barbed Wire Flower , she grew hysterical. Mr. Plumley panicked, fearing that Ms. White’s nurse would come running and would find out that he’d broken his promise. He was afraid that Evelyn would tell her story to others, to the nurse perhaps. According to his ex-wife, Mr. Plumley silenced Evelyn White by smothering her with a pillow.”
    Olivia closed her eyes, trying to keep her features under control. It was too easy for her to visualize Nick Plumley grabbing the pillow from under Evelyn’s head and pressing it against the old woman’s face. She could see Evelyn’s limbs jerking below the bedsheets, her thin nails clasping at the arms that were