Russ looked up from his computer screen. “Yeah. But these spreadsheets are depressing the hell out of me. Come on in and sit down—and try to cheer me up, will you?”

Tricia stepped inside the office and closed the door. She tugged off her coat, hanging it on the back of Russ’s guest chair, and took the empty seat in the shabby little office she had come to know so well. She and Russ had once been lovers but that had ended when he’d dumped her, thinking he was going to find a job with a large-circulation paper in bigger city. That hadn’t worked out and he’d tried to get back together with her. When that hadn’t worked, he’d stalked her. That ended when he’d gone for counseling and started dating Nikki. Until she’d spoken to Nikki a few days before, Tricia had assumed they were quite happy.

“Nikki shared your big announcement with me. Congratulations, Daddy,” she said with a smile.

Russ shrugged and his expression was anything but happy. “If you say so.”

“Oh, come on, Russ. This is wonderful news.”

The man looked positively depressed. “It would have been . . . if we had your money.”

“Hey, the two of you have two successful businesses. Okay, this is the leanest part of the retail year, but things will pick up—and soon. I’m sure of it.”

“From your lips to our cash registers.” He shook his head and looked sadder yet. “The truth is, ever since I had the misfortune of buying this rag I haven’t had a pot to piss in. Nikki owes so much on the Patisserie that we’re really struggling—and I don’t see things getting better anytime soon.”

“Surely you can hang on until the tourists return in a couple of months,” Tricia said.

“Barely. That won’t help my bottom line—or hers.”

“You can’t take it out on the poor baby,” Tricia chided.

“Tricia, I’m forty-five. When my kid graduates from high school I’ll almost be eligible for Social Security. And besides that, will I still be able to throw the kid a baseball?”

“You might have a little ballerina on your hands,” she said.

“Whatever it is, it’s going to need clothes, shoes, and a college education. We can’t afford a kid, and Nikki’s got her heart set on staying home with it. That just isn’t going to happen. We’ve been arguing about it for days.”

“Stop being so negative,” she chided, frowning, and thought of her mother and how her negativity had shaped Tricia’s life. “I can tell you from experience that what you say and do in front of your child will have a lasting effect that will stay with him or her for their entire life.”

“What kind of experience? Are you talking about your mother?” Russ pushed.

She nodded. When they’d been dating, she’d told him all about her stormy relationship with her mother. “Angelica finally spilled the beans on why I’ve been persona non grata my entire life.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to share it with me?”

Tricia thought about it for a moment. Russ’s opinion of her mother wasn’t likely to be improved, but then he wasn’t ever likely to meet her, either.

“It turns out I had a twin brother who died at two months. It seems my mother has held it against me my entire life.” There. She’d said it aloud. She’d said it without rancor. She was getting used to the whole idea and while it didn’t feel good, she thought she was near acceptance.

“And you never knew?” Russ asked, surprised.

She shook her head.

“Are you going to bring it up the next time you talk to her?”

Tricia shook her head once again. “What’s the point? Nothing I say will change her mind. She’ll always blame me for what happened.”

“But you were a baby.”

She managed an ironic laugh. “Yeah, go figure.”

Russ’s expression darkened. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, Trish.”

“Me, too. That’s why I want you to promise me that you’ll give yourself a chance to fall head-over-heels in love with your child. I have a feeling you’re going to think that having this baby was the best thing that ever happened to you and Nikki.”

“I sure hope so.” He sat back in his chair, signaling it was time to move on from that subject. “What else is on your mind? Or should I even bother asking. Betsy Dittmeyer’s death, right?”

Tricia nodded, and unhappily so.

“If I know you, you’ve been poking your nose into things. What have you found out?”

“The face Betsy showed the world was far different than the way she lived in secret.”

He smiled and his eyes opened wide as he leaned forward, eager for her to spill what she knew. “For instance?”

“She was a hoarder.”

Russ winced. “I’ve seen a couple of TV shows on the subject. It’s pretty nasty business.”

“It sure is.”

“Can I assume that you—and probably Angelica—visited Betsy’s home to learn that piece of news in person?”

“I’m not admitting to anything,” Tricia said. “I can tell you that from what I’ve discovered, Betsy wasn’t a very nice woman, and she had a lot of money—from multiple sources, not all of them aboveboard.”

“Did you come here thinking I might have some inside information on her?”

“You do seem to be able to dig up dirt the rest of us would never have access to.”

Russ shrugged. “I admit, I have spoken to a few people about her.”

“Are you willing to share?” Tricia asked.

He shrugged. “Since I’m only going to be doing an obit, I might as well. Although I’ll probably skew it to the sunnier side of her life.”

“You’re not going to run a straightforward news story?” Tricia asked, surprised.

“Whatever I’ve got will be old news by the time the next issue comes out.”

“Not necessarily. Will the Nashua and Manchester papers even care about her death two weeks down the line?”

Again he shrugged. “You’ve got a point. Okay, I’ll share. Betsy was an alcoholic.”

“I knew that.”

“She had a bitter divorce.”

“Knew that, too.”

“She had a daughter who died young. I guess it crushed her spirit.”

“I heard that, too.”

Russ scowled. “Then why don’t you tell me something about her that I haven’t heard.”

Tricia wrestled with her conscience. “All right, I’ll share the biggie. Betsy was embezzling money from the Chamber of Commerce.”

Russ’s eyes widened in surprised. “That’s a biggie, all right. What do Bob and Angelica think about that?”

“I’m pretty sure Bob doesn’t know. Angelica was appalled and she’s arranging to have the books audited. She’ll probably have to sue Betsy’s estate to get the funds back. Betsy’s Chamber files also contained a dossier of members that was highly uncomplimentary.”

“Am I on the list?” he asked warily.

“Everybody is on the list, and none of it is complimentary. I wondered if she might be using it for blackmail purposes, but I haven’t found any evidence to support it—yet.”

“Who’s going to admit it and paint themselves as a suspect? That said, it could explain where she got some of her money.”

Tricia thought about the file she’d opened the night before. “I wonder if she kept lists like that on her previous employers and fellow employees. Over the years she might have collected a lot of cash. I know she had a lot of investments.”

“How much is a lot?” he asked.

“Millions.”

“That’s a lot,” Russ agreed.

“And she recently disinherited her younger sister. Joelle Morrison said it was because she nagged Betsy to get counseling, but I’m not sure I swallow that excuse.”

“Have you narrowed down the list of suspects?” Russ asked.

Tricia shook her head. “I’m stumped. There are plenty of people with an ax to grind, but their motives just aren’t strong enough to warrant a murder charge and a long jail sentence.”

“People do stupid things in the heat of passion, and from what I learned from your police chief friend, someone strangled the old witch before pulling a bookshelf onto her.”

Tricia nodded. She and Russ stared at each other for a long minute, and for the first time in a long time she realized she once again saw him as a friend. The anger at his rejection of her and then from stalking her was suddenly gone. He’d changed since meeting Nikki—and for the better. She’d brought out his more noble qualities and Tricia hoped they could reach a compromise about their new arrival. “I don’t have much else to go on. When will you write Betsy’s obituary?”