“Eugene Marter, the grandson, called the sheriff’s department to report the theft.”
I had put my odd encounter with Eugene out of my mind, along with the manuscripts. Now, I realized, I needed to tell Sean what Eugene had told me. “I have more questions about the theft, but first there’s something you should know.” I gave Sean a summary of the meeting when I resumed my seat at the table. My son’s eyes narrowed when I related the alleged threat Eagleton had made against Mrs. Cartwright.
“Did you believe Marter?” Sean asked.
“Hard to say. Carrie Taylor told me he was shiftless, couldn’t keep a job, but of course I have no idea if that’s true.” I thought back to the encounter, replayed a bit of it in my head. “He was rather odd. Talked like Hollywood’s idea of a Mississippi redneck, when both his mother and his grandmother speak like educated women. He told me he’d had run-ins with the police.”
“Maybe not a completely trustworthy character then.” Sean looked thoughtful. “I’ll have to discuss this with my client. Kanesha didn’t mention any threats when she questioned him, so I presume that Marter never talked to anyone else about it.”
“Frankly I thought he probably wouldn’t,” I said. “He didn’t seem that eager to have contact with the authorities.”
“Other than calling them to report a theft.”
“That reminds me of one of the questions I wanted to ask. Who found the manuscripts in Eagleton’s suite?”
“Kanesha.” Sean leaned back in his chair. “Evidently Marter wouldn’t talk to anyone else when he called in to report the theft. He said Eagleton must have taken the manuscripts during a visit to Mrs. Cartwright earlier in the day.”
I nodded. I remembered that Eagleton had referred to a visit tonight.
Sean continued, “They weren’t able to settle on terms because, according to my client, Mrs. Cartwright and Mrs. Marter were asking for much too large an advance.”
Given what I suspected about the man’s financial situation, I figured much too large might be a relatively modest sum—although they did seem really greedy. I told Sean my suspicions. “You might well be whistling in the wind for your fee if I’m right.”
Sean sighed. “My first pro bono case then. That’s another topic I’ll have to discuss with Mr. Eagleton. If he really is desperate for money, that could have spurred him to steal the manuscripts.”
“Did Eagleton tell you how much they wanted?”
“Fifteen thousand per manuscript. I don’t know enough about publishing to decide whether that’s an unrealistic figure or under market value. What do you think?”
I considered it for a moment, but I had to confess to Sean I wasn’t sure, either. “The Veronica Thane books have been out of print for thirty years, and Eagleton has been the only one that I know of to show any interest in reprinting them. I don’t know that any big publishing houses would pay that much. I suspect they wouldn’t.”
“Sounds reasonable to me,” Sean said. “I almost forgot. Eagleton mentioned that he expected to be negotiating with Mrs. Cartwright’s agent. She was supposed to be there but she never showed up.”
“Mrs. Cartwright mentioned that tonight at the hotel.” I frowned. “That’s really odd. Teresa talked to someone in Ms. Thigpen’s office the other day and was informed that she was already en route to Athena. She was flying into Memphis and would pick up a rental car to drive down. I wonder what happened to her.”
Sean’s expression turned grim. “I don’t like the sound of that.” He pulled out his cell phone. “Let’s call Kanesha and report this. The agent may have gotten lost trying to find the Marters’ house or decided to do a little sight-seeing, but if she didn’t . . .”
He punched in a number. “Voice mail.” He waited a moment, then left the deputy a message with a brief summary of the potential issue.
He set the phone on the table when he’d finished. “I have to say, Dad, with all that you’ve told me, I have a feeling there’s something hinky going on here. The missing agent could be connected, too. How, I don’t know.”
“It’s all strange.” I thought for a moment. “You said earlier that Kanesha found the manuscripts. Did she have a search warrant?”
“She did, but I doubt she would have needed one. Eagleton told me he was convinced the whole thing was a practical joke on Eugene Marter’s part. He thought Marter was simply jerking the sheriff’s department around and was happy to cooperate.”
“But Marter wasn’t, as it turned out,” I said. “Do you know where exactly Kanesha found the manuscripts?”
“In between Eagleton’s mattress and box spring. Not an imaginative hiding place.”
I agreed. “What do you think? Did he take them?”
“He’s hard to read.” Sean gave a short laugh. “He was really wound up. You weren’t kidding about the seven words when one would do, except I’d say it was more like seventeen. He was highly indignant that such aspersions had been cast upon his character.” Sean grimaced. “Now I’m starting to sound like him.”
“That last bit did have the ring of a direct quotation.” I smiled. “He is loquacious, almost beyond endurance, but is he a thief? And a murderer?”
Sean’s eyes narrowed. “You think this is connected to the murder?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “None of this would have happened if we hadn’t decided to do this exhibit and then asked Mrs. Cartwright to appear at the library. Eagleton and the others might never have come to Athena.”
“You had no way of knowing a woman would be killed.” Sean gazed sternly at me. I knew it bothered him when I went into hair-shirt mode.
“I know, but I can’t help a feeling of responsibility.” Sean started to speak but I held up a hand. “Let’s just leave it at that, okay?”
His expression told me he didn’t like it, but he didn’t press the point.
“Tell me, did Eagleton venture any theories as to how the manuscripts got in his suite and under his mattress?”
“He kept insisting that Eugene Marter had to be behind it.” Sean shook his head. “Though he couldn’t explain exactly why Marter would do it. Or when and how Marter got access to his hotel room.”
I considered that for a moment. “What if someone is trying to get him out of the way?”
“Out of the way of what?” Sean got up to pour himself more coffee.
“Good question. Perhaps somebody is working for another publisher.” I mulled that over for a moment. “No, that seems far-fetched.”
“Maybe.” Sean sipped his coffee. “It seems even more far-fetched as an attempt to link Eagleton to the murder.”
“It doesn’t make much sense. Let’s look at it from another angle. What if Eagleton really did steal the manuscripts? How could he possibly have hoped to get away with it? If he published them, he’d be putting the evidence right out there.”
“He didn’t strike me as a stupid man, although he might be desperate for money,” Sean said. “He had to know—if he did take them—that he was bound to be found out.” He shook his head. “No, it won’t wash. Frankly, that’s why I’m inclined to believe he didn’t steal them. It would be a completely asinine thing to do.”
“Could it be what Eagleton claimed then? Eugene Marter playing a practical joke?” I frowned. “But if Marter is truly leery of tangling with the law, he’d know Kanesha would take a dim view of such an idiotic stunt.”
“Who else had access to the manuscripts?” Sean asked. He continued before I could respond. “Obviously Mrs. Cartwright and Mrs. Marter did. Anyone else?”
“The agent might have,” I said. “She’s unaccounted for, but why would a reputable agent do something like that? It doesn’t make any sense.”