Some overzealous person must have seen the box and simply included it with the rest. Godfrey would no doubt have had a fit if he had known.
But what a stroke of luck. I silently thanked whoever had stuck the box of disks in with everything else.
This was something Kanesha Berry needed to know about, and I planned to tell her.
First, though, I wanted to dig further and see if there were other letters. Had Godfrey continued to put his name to X’s work?
I realized I should also check the acknowledgments in all of the books to see if there were any clues in them.
Did his agent know? I wondered. I would have to start keeping note of the questions that occurred to me.
Back to checking the disks. I went through them chronologically. There was no letter included on the disks for the next book on the list. I went on to the fifth book.
Pay dirt. My eyes widened as I read this letter.
You bastard, I should have known better than to trust you. You haven’t changed, still intent on screwing anybody to get what you want. I thought a contract would protect me, but you saw to that, didn’t you? I can’t believe how naive and stupid I was. I should have talked to a lawyer, but you said it wasn’t worth the money. Did your agent really review the contract like you said? Frankly, I don’t believe it. I have a good mind to call her and have a little talk with her. But I can’t afford to pay back the money, you bastard, and you know that. I’m stuck, but this doesn’t mean I won’t try to find some way out.
What kind of contract had X signed? I wondered. Godfrey had only too obviously taken advantage of X’s naivete and lack of experience, but this sounded bad, even for Godfrey.
There was a mention of contracts in the inventory, but I suspected that there wouldn’t be a copy of the contract with X. Even Godfrey wouldn’t be arrogant enough—or stupid enough—to include something that potentially damaging with the rest of his papers.
That contract, however, could be the key to everything. Had X finally become so enraged over the unfairness and decided that Godfrey had to die? If only I could find it—or figure out some way of discovering who X was.
The answer might be in the box of disks. All it would take was time.
Stopping long enough only to walk home for a quick lunch, I spent most of the day at the computer, going through every disk in the box.
I found a few more letters, some of them filled with X’s anger over Godfrey’s behavior, others with a tone of resignation. Occasionally X mentioned the increasing profits the books brought. X apparently had no complaints there.
That was another point to consider. Godfrey had made millions from these books. Even I had read some of the articles in magazines about his lifestyle. X must have made some pretty significant money as well.
Was there someone in Athena living beyond his or her apparent means? Had X resisted the temptation to spend conspicuously? That would be something Kanesha could check better than I—once one of us could put a name to X, that is.
After all the time spent with the disks, I had no solid clue to the identity of X. X had obviously known Godfrey a long time, but there were plenty of people in Athena and elsewhere who had.
There was the mention of a group—probably a writers’ group—but there were such groups all over the place.
I believed there was a local connection, though. It was at least a place to start. I could talk to one of the librarians who had been at the public library for nearly thirty years. If there was a writers’ group in the area, she would know about it.
I finished printing copies of the letters on the disks and arranged them chronologically. I made sure the disks were organized in their containers as well.
Time to quit stalling, I told myself. I couldn’t put it off any longer, though I wasn’t looking forward to the inevitable explosion.
I went back to my desk, noticing Diesel once again asleep on the windowsill. I picked up the phone and called the sheriff’s department.
TWENTY-SIX
When Kanesha Berry walked into my office, I could see the thunderclouds forming. “What is so urgent? I don’t have time for some amateur interfering in this investigation, Mr. Harris.”
“I understand that, Deputy,” I said. “If I didn’t think this was significant, I wouldn’t have called you away from what you were doing.”
She did not appear mollified by my placatory tone. I gestured to the chair by my desk. “Please, have a seat, and let me tell you what I’ve found.”
Behind me on the windowsill, Diesel stirred. He always reacted to a harsh tone of voice, and Kanesha had disturbed him.
The deputy took the proffered seat, but her glare did not diminish.
Before I sat down I handed her a folder of the letters I had printed out for her.
“What’s this?” She accepted the folder but didn’t open it.
“It could be evidence of a strong motive for Godfrey Priest’s murder,” I said. “Let me tell you about what I found, and I think you’ll agree this is serious.”
Kanesha nodded before glancing pointedly at her watch.
“When Godfrey showed up in my office three days ago, he told me he wanted to donate his papers to the college archive,” I said. “What I didn’t know at the time was that he had already made arrangements to ship his papers here. They arrived the day after his death.”
“And you waited two days to tell me about this?” The intensity of Kanesha’s glare sharpened.
“Yes, I did,” I said. “Godfrey’s papers basically belong to the college now. In a letter that came with the papers Godfrey pretty much assigns ownership to the college.”
“That may be,” Kanesha said. “But that doesn’t mean you can suppress information that could be relevant to this case. I have a good mind to charge you with interfering with an official investigation.”
“I’m not suppressing it, and I’m not trying to interfere,” I said. “There was simply a delay in telling you about them. I realize that’s not an excuse, but as the person who will have to process the collection at some point, I wanted a chance to see what it contained. A lot of the content won’t be of any use to your investigation whatsoever.”
“It’s kind of you to make that judgment for me,” Kanesha said, the sarcasm dripping from her words. “And how do I know you haven’t already destroyed anything in these papers that might link you to the crime? Or link someone else, like Julia or Justin Wardlaw?”
“You don’t,” I said with what I hoped was a disarming smile. “And if you want to charge me with anything, go right ahead. But first, at least let me tell you what I did find. I think it might be the key to Godfrey’s murder.”
“Go ahead,” Kanesha said. “I’ll listen.” But not for long, her expression told me.
I picked up the inventory of the papers and handed it to her. “This is the inventory that came with all the boxes. It’s very general, which is unfortunate. But the interesting thing is that there is an extra box.”
“What do you mean?” Kanesha was scanning the inventory.
“All the boxes were numbered except one. And the numbers match the inventory. The unnumbered box contains computer disks.”
“You think that box wasn’t meant to be included?” Kanesha handed the inventory back to me.
“Judging by what I found on some of the disks, no, I don’t think Godfrey wanted anyone else to see them. I don’t know why he kept them, other than his unbelievable arrogance. He probably figured no one would ever see them and he would be safe.”
“Safe from what?” Kanesha glanced at her watch again.