'Shelley!' Jane exclaimed. 'Do you really suppose so?'
Shelley shrugged. 'Who could guess? Maybe we should look it up if it's still somewhere on the Internet.'
'I don't think I could stand to read it,' Jane said. 'Good sex scenes or not. Come to think of it, we don't even know where to look. I've never heard what it's titled. I wonder if Felicity knows. She hasn't read it but she said some of her friends had attempted to wade through it. Anyway, since it's been sold to a real publisher, it's probably been removed from the site, wouldn't you imagine?'
'Maybe so. I think this obsession with costumes means something,' Shelley speculated. 'Like what?'
'Maybe she has a fabulous imagination hidden under her horrible public personality?'
'She's simply an obsessive show-off. Her imagination only runs to crummy costumes,' Jane claimed.
As they entered the dining room, Jane spotted someone way back in the corner waving to them. 'There's Felicity. She seems to be inviting us to join her.'
They told the waiter to take them to her table. 'What's up?' Jane asked, afraid it was just a friendly wave, not an actual invitation, when she
noticed that Felicity had an old book open on the table.
'Nothing much. It's just too dark in here to read this tiny print, and I'd rather visit with you two. I haven't even ordered anything but a drink yet. You were just in time.'
'We didn't see you at the snack party,' Jane said. 'I figured Vernetta might turn up.'
They regaled Felicity with the Dorothy and Tin Man description. 'He'd already burst out of his costume and was wearing really fancy underwear,' Jane said.
'No!' Felicity said with a vulgar laugh. She closed her book — an ancient Mary Stewart paperback — and set it beside her at the edge of the table, and it promptly fell to the floor.
'Let me pick it up for you,' Jane said.
'No, I can grab it,' Felicity said. She leaned over, still laughing, and remained unseen for an unusually long time. She finally came back upright with the book in one hand and several loose pages of it in the other.
'Glue's gone. I'll put the pages in order later.' 'That's it!' Jane exclaimed so loudly that several people looked around at her.
'What is?' Shelley asked.
'Old paperbacks often have pages that come loose,' Jane said, lowering her voice. 'That's why Zac was holding one when he was attacked. That's what I've been meaning to ask Mel about all this time.''Why?' Shelley inquired.
'Because it might mean something.'
'Like what?'
'Your handsome detective is in charge of this case but he still gave his talks?' Felicity wasn't quite grasping what this was about. It was certainly more interesting than Gaylord's underwear.
'No,' Jane said, surprising Shelley that she'd paid attention in spite of her deer-in-theheadlights look. 'He was just called first because he was the closest. It's some other detective's case.'
'Okay. I grasp that now,' Felicity said. 'But what does this have to do with the pages of old paperbacks falling out?'
'Mel mentioned in passing that Zac was found on the ground just outside his van. He had an old yellowed book page in his hand. That's what I was trying so hard to remember.'
Shelley said, 'Why is this so important to you, Jane, that you've fretted so much about recalling it?'
Jane shrugged. 'I don't know exactly. I just have a strong feeling that it might be significant.'
'Nonsense,' Shelley said briskly. 'He was probably waiting for someone and reading while he waited. Maybe he dropped it like Felicity did and was trying to find where to put it back in when he was attacked.'
'I know that makes sense,' Jane admitted. 'It's
probably true, too. Somehow I had an idea it might have more of a meaning.'
Both the other women were trying hard not to roll their eyes in disbelief at this bizarre remark.
'Where was the rest of the book?' Jane said. 'Mel didn't mention a book being in the van.'
'Why would he mention it anyway?' Shelley asked. 'Probably half of the people attending this conference have books in their cars if they drove here. You yourself have already stashed some of your own in your new Jeep so you don't have to carry them all out at once, and I've loaded about half mine into the minivan.'
Felicity said, 'I've already shipped some of mine home through the hotel's office center.'
'You're both right again,' Jane said. 'But still… would you order the shrimp pasta and iced tea for me while I go in the lobby and call Mel? I hate to see people making their phone calls from restaurant tables.'
As Jane left, Felicity said, 'If she feels so strongly about this, she could be right.'
Shelley replied, 'It's just writer's imagination.' She added with a kind smile, 'You have it, too.'
Mel was even more skeptical than Shelley. 'A page from a book? Yeah, I think I noticed that. I'd forgotten about it. Why are you asking?'
'It could be important. Were there other books in the vehicle?'
'I have no idea. Why do you think it's important?'
'I'm not certain. I simply think it could be significant. Would you ask the detective in charge if he could fax the page to the hotel? I have the number here.'
'Jane, get a grip. Why would anyone have bothered keeping the page he had in his hand?'
'You don't mean when a person is attacked all the relevant bits and pieces aren't kept? That doesn't sound like what you said in the 'Scene of the Crime' talk you gave.'
'But he wasn't murdered. Just roughed up. Nothing was even stolen,' Mel objected. 'And in case you want to know, the hospital already released him this afternoon.'
'Please, Mel. See if someone has the page. It would mean a lot to me.'
Mel sighed deeply. 'Jane, I must have some halfway decent reason for asking for this stupid page. I can't just say 'a friend of mine would like to see it.' '
'Why not? If it's still around and nobody thinks it means anything, why wouldn't they let someone see it?'
'Jane, you're the most meddling woman in the world.'
'I know that,' she said, smiling. He'd caved.
She came back to the table and didn't mention anything else about the page or her conversation
with Mel. And neither of the other women brought it up. They just chatted about the conference and complained once again, halfheartedly, about Vernetta and Gaylord.
'Have you discovered any additional information about who Miss Mystery is?' Jane asked Felicity.
'Not for sure. I hive a theory though. I think it's that woman who eavesdrops everywhere she goes. In fact, she's sitting over there.' Felicity pointed with her hand close to the table. 'The plump one at the third table to the right with the upswept gray hair and the purple suit. Keep an eye on her. She's sitting next to a bunch of authors and making notes behind her menu so they don't see her doing it.'
Shelley said excitedly, 'It's the same woman I was guessing. Remember when I pointed her out to you earlier, Jane? Great minds think alike.'
