Diesel sat up and warbled at me. He stretched a moment before getting to his feet and walking over to Justin’s chair. “There’s my answer,” I said. “See you later, then.”
I left the two of them and climbed the stairs to my bedroom. I wanted to change out of my clothes and relax with a book—the history book, not Godfrey’s novel. I wasn’t in the mood for it right now.
But when I was comfortably in my pajamas, slouched into my chair, book in hand, I found I couldn’t concentrate on late antiquity. My mind kept returning to the murder.
Was there someone else who might have a motive for wanting Godfrey dead? The mysterious Mr. or Ms. X?
I needed to know more about Godfrey’s past. I needed dirt, if there was any. And I knew the right person to call. Putting my book aside, I retrieved my cell phone and settled in for a long chat.
TWENTY-THREE
The obvious person to call was Melba Gilley. With her healthy interest in the doings of her fellow Athenians and her long-term involvement in a variety of community activities, she was a prime source of information.
Calling her, however, meant that I would have to tell her why I was so involved in Godfrey’s murder. If she had somehow heard that I—really, Justin and I—discovered the body, she hadn’t let on, and such behavior would be totally out of character.
I found her number in my cell phone’s address book and initiated the call. She picked up after two rings.
“Good evening,” I said. “It’s Charlie. How are you?”
“Hey, Charlie, I’m doing fine. How about you?” She sounded as chipper as ever.
“I’m okay,” I said. “Is this a good time? Am I interrupting anything?”
“Only some lame show on TV,” she said, laughing. “Sometimes I don’t know why I even turn the dang thing on, except it’s company. What’s on your mind?”
“I need to talk to you about Godfrey,” I said. “I need to find out some things, and I figured you were the person to ask.”
She gave a hearty chuckle. “You mean you called the biggest gossip you know.”
I had to laugh. “Well, if you want to put it like that.”
“I’m nosy. I admit it,” Melba said. “So what do you want to know? But maybe I should ask why first. Godfrey wasn’t exactly a buddy of yours.”
“No, he wasn’t,” I said. “And if it weren’t for certain circumstances I’d be happy to keep my nose out of it.”
“And they would be?”
“First off, you know Justin Wardlaw is boarding with me,” I replied. “And I’m sure by now you’ve heard about his relationship to Godfrey.”
“Yes, I have,” Melba said. “Can’t say I’m surprised. I remember how hard Godfrey was running after Julia back then. And frankly, honey, if I had to pick between Godfrey and Ezra, I’d pick Godfrey. Even knowing he was a class A jerk most of the time.”
I started to speak, but Melba went on. “And her already engaged to Ezra. That’s what got me. Julia never seemed like the type, but I guess you never can tell, can you? When the baby was born, people started counting up, but it was close enough that no one knew for sure.”
Poor Julia, I thought. Having to be the cynosure of all those suspicious people in town, many of them gleefully assuming the worst.
“It was certainly a surprise to me,” I said. “I feel a certain amount of responsibility for Justin because he’s boarding with me, and I can’t help feeling concerned for him and Julia, naturally.”
“Of course,” Melba said. “They need support right now, because I’m sure the sheriff’s department is looking pretty closely at them.”
“They are,” I said. “But the other reason I’m concerned about this is . . . well, I found the body, basically.” I didn’t see any point in giving Melba the full details of the situation. This would be more than enough to make her eyes pop.
“You dog,” Melba said. “You never said a word to me.” She chuckled. “But I won’t hold it against you.”
“Thanks,” I said. “Trust me, I’d rather not have been the one. It wasn’t pleasant.”
“No, I’m sure it wasn’t,” Melba said, her tone serious. “It’s one thing to read about it in a book, like one of Godfrey’s, but it’s something else to experience it for real.”
“It sure is,” I said, doing my best to suppress that ugly image from reappearing in my head. “I guess you can see now why I’m curious about it all.”
“Sure,” Melba said. “What was it you wanted to ask me?”
“I know Godfrey came back to Athena on a regular basis,” I said. “He had quite a track record with women, like the episodes with Julia and Peter Vanderkeller’s wife. Are there any other outraged husbands or boyfriends or spurned women in the area?”
Melba was silent for a moment. “The first one that comes to mind is the woman who owns that bookstore on the square. Can’t remember her name at the moment.”
“Jordan Thompson,” I said. “I heard about her. Can you think of anyone else?”
“The other one that comes to mind is Frank Ledbetter.” Melba sighed into the phone.
“Frank Ledbetter?” Why did that name sound familiar?
“My ex-husband,” Melba said.
“Oh,” I said, too stunned for the moment to say anything else.
“I know,” Melba said, sounding sheepish. “It’s not something I’m proud of, let me tell you. But I had a brief fling with Godfrey about ten years ago, and it cost me my marriage.”
“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I had no idea.” Poor Melba. I knew she was divorced, but that was pretty much the extent of my knowledge.
“Frank and I were going through a bad patch,” Melba said. “Old, old story. And here comes Godfrey on a book tour. I went to hear him talk, there were some sparks, and I went out to dinner with him afterward. And you can guess the rest.”
I could, but I was curious about one thing. “I do have to ask you one question.”
“Shoot,” Melba said.
“Did Godfrey hang around town while you had this, er, relationship?”
“I wasn’t stupid enough to run off to California with him, thank the Lord,” Melba said. “Yeah, Athena was the last stop on his tour, and he was planning to stay here for a couple of months, doing research for a book.”
“And when he finished, he went back to California?”
“And I stayed here,” Melba said. “By then I’d realized what a fool I’d made of myself, and poor Frank, too. He filed for divorce right away.”
“Another question,” I said, “and forgive me for asking it, but I have to. Did either you or Frank hate Godfrey enough to kill him?”
“Ten years ago Frank was ready to skin him alive—and he loved to hunt,” Melba said. “But by the time Godfrey came back to town a couple years later, Frank was remarried.”
“And you?” I prompted her gently.
“I hated him, too,” Melba said. “But I hated myself more, let me tell you. I learned my lesson from that.” She laughed, a little wildly, I thought. “I got back at Godfrey in my own way, though.”
“How so?” I was almost afraid to ask, uncertain of what I would hear.
“I took every one of his books I owned and sat down in front of the fireplace. I ripped out every page, one by one, and burned them. It felt pretty good, though of course I don’t normally hold with burning books.”
“That’s a good thing,” I said, trying to ease the tension a little. “Especially since you work in a library.”
She laughed, and I felt relieved. I couldn’t completely cross her off the suspect list, but it sounded to me like she had worked through her feelings.
I wondered if things might be awkward between us at work after her confession, and I hoped they wouldn’t be. I liked Melba. Her sunny, upbeat disposition made her fun to be around, and I would hate for her to feel embarrassed with me.