Bliss’s list was the longest. All of the abuses she’d suffered at her supposed BFF’s hands, as well as the fact she knew of Regina’s bulimia and had a key to the house. Bliss definitely seemed like the most likely murderer, but Dani’s instincts said the girl didn’t do it.
Dani was staring at the laptop monitor, trying to think of what she was missing, when the doorbell rang. Her heartbeat sped up and she felt unable to move. What if it was Mikeloff coming to arrest her?
Forcing herself to walk toward the foyer, Dani was relieved to hear a familiar voice yell, “Dani, it’s me, Frannie. Hurry up. I’ve got something big to tell you.”
Mother Nature had turned up her furnace, and as Dani welcomed the reporter into the mansion, a wave of heat accompanied her.
Once they were settled at the kitchen table, Dani handed Frannie a bottle of water and said, “I already know that Vance is out of jail.”
“That’s old news.” Frannie uncapped the Dasani and guzzled half the contents. Sighing in relief, she reached into her tote bag before plopping a thick sheaf of paper on the table. “I got hold of the manuscript Regina stole from her sorority sister.”
“Does it have her full name?” Dani grabbed the top page.
“Unfortunately, no.” Frannie made a face. “This is the copy Regina submitted, so it has her as the author. But I think the story is autobiographic, which might help us find the girl. Look at this.”
While Dani read the flagged sections, Frannie wandered around the kitchen and helped herself to one of the cinnamon-orange muffins leftover from the girls’ breakfast.
The plot was a heartrending story of a girl’s struggle with juvenile diabetes. It illustrated how the condition influenced every decision she made, from what she ate, to what she wore, to her reproductive choice. It was a tale of an emotionally fragile young woman who by the end was entering college and beginning to feel like she could have a normal life.
Laying aside the pages, Dani looked at Frannie and asked, “So you think Gail is diabetic? And who better to have insulin handy and know the effect of too much of the medication?”
“Exactly.” Frannie nodded enthusiastically.
“Still, my biggest problem is that Regina stole the manuscript so long ago, why would Gail kill her now?” Dani rubbed her chin. “Why not murder Regina when the incident happened?”
“Well”—Frannie’s brown eyes sparkled—“I may have some insight into that.”
At the sound of a chime, Dani glanced at the sliding window. “Hold that thought.”
The lunch rush had started and there were several customers lined up. When there was a break, Dani leaned on the serving counter, focused on Frannie, and said, “Okay, go ahead.”
“You didn’t ask where I got the manuscript,” Frannie teased.
“Fine.” Dani rolled her eyes. “Where did you get the manuscript?”
“From Regina’s agent.”
“You mean her previous agent?” Dani asked. “Surely the woman wasn’t still representing her.”
“Yes and no.” Frannie took a sip of water. “She wasn’t until a few months ago.”
“What happened a few months ago?” Dani sold a couple more lunches.
“Regina sent her another book.”
“Wasn’t the agent afraid this one was someone else’s writing too?”
“At first.” Frannie caressed the manuscript with the tip of her finger. “But she was intrigued by the query letter, so she agreed to read it. And it turned out to be a highly fictionalized story of what Regina went through when she was ‘falsely’”—Frannie made air quotes with her fingers—“accused of plagiarization.”
“Seriously?” Dani thought she’d heard it all in her years working in human resources, but Regina’s actions kept surprising her.
“And”—Frannie paused dramatically—“the agent said it was a really good novel. She sent it out to several publishing houses and there’s currently a bidding war for it.”
“So, if Gail somehow heard about this new book’s potential for success, that could be the thing that pushed her over,” Dani mused.
“Oh, she heard about it, all right.” Frannie bounced in her seat. “Once the agent realized what a blockbuster Regina’s book might be, just to be on the safe side, she emailed Gail to verify that she wasn’t the author of the new book.”
“So the agent has Gail’s last name.” Dani held her breath.
“The woman claims she only has an email, but I don’t believe her.” Frannie pursed her lips. “She hadn’t heard about Regina’s murder until I contacted her, and I suspect with her original client dead, she might want to make some kind of deal with Gail to write her side of the story.”
“Because the two books together could be even bigger bestsellers, and if she represents Gail, the agent will have a live client,” Dani guessed. “And she doesn’t want anyone to get to the author before she does.”
“Bingo.” Frannie touched the tip of her nose with her finger. “Now we just have to figure out who Gail is and get her to confess. My boyfriend, Justin, got me the pledge list for the fall that she pledged Alpha Beta Delta, but there is no Gail.”
“By ‘got you the list,’ I assume you mean hacked the sorority’s computer?”
“Your sarcasm isn’t appreciated.” Frannie neither confirmed nor denied Dani’s accusation.
“Yeah, well—” Dani interrupted herself. “Wait. Starr mentioned that sororities often use nicknames for pledges. Is Gail a short form of another name?”
“Hmm.” Frannie scrunched her face in thought, then said, “I got nothing.”
“Let’s put it into a search engine and see.” Dani moved from the sliding window to her laptop, saved her spreadsheet, and brought up Google. After a few tries she said, “Except for various spelling of Gail, the only other possibility is Abigail.”
“Let me check for Abigails on the pledge list.” Frannie tapped her phone and peered at the tiny screen.
Dani heard a chime and walked over to the open serving window. A glance at the customer standing
