Party Perils by Patti Benning (the chimp paradox TXT) 📕

“It’s the only explanation that makes sense,” she said.

“I don’t agree with her,” Dean told Hannah, sighing. “Don’t get me wrong, I think she’s got a lot of good points, but I just can’t see any of our friends murdering someone in cold blood like that.”

Caroline gave a long-suffering sigh and Hannah realized it was a conversation they had already had. “It’s the only thing that makes sense, Dean. I don’t like thinking any of them would have murdered him either, but people can surprise you. Besides, we don’t even know if Edward was the target.”

“His killer didn't use actual poison,” Hannah pointed out. “Peanut oil isn’t exactly a wide range assassination tool. In fact, most people with peanut allergies can eat most brands of peanut oil just fine – they would’ve had to know exactly how severe his allergies were to think it would work. No one else at the table would have had a problem consuming the peanut oil. Whoever did it was targeting him specifically.”

“Lacey has the same allergy,” Caroline said. “Sorry, I thought you knew that. That’s how they met – they were going to a support group for people who have severe allergies and fell in love. If she had taken a bite of that soup, she would have been in just as much trouble as he was.”

“Oh.” Hannah blinked. She vaguely remembered Caroline mentioning that they were allergic to peanuts on the night of the murder, but for some reason it had slipped her mind. Had someone been trying to kill them both? Or had Lacey been the real target all along?

“That’s why I’m saying it just doesn’t make sense,” Dean said. “No one at the dinner party was a killer. Even if one of them is secretly a sociopath, Edward was a nice guy, and no one would have had any motive to kill him.”

“Well, Bucky might’ve had motive, but I agree that he doesn’t seem like a killer,” Hannah said.

“What do you mean?” Dean asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Oh…” She winced, remembering how Bucky had asked her not to tell Caroline about his feelings for Lacey. This seemed important enough for her to break her word, though. She would have to apologize to him later if it somehow got out, but she didn’t think Caroline and Dean would spread the information around. “I spoke to him at the restaurant a couple of days ago. He admitted to being in love with Lacey.”

“Bucky?” Dean asked. “He never mentioned that to me. He is one of the most open people I know, I can’t imagine him keeping something like that from us.”

“He seemed pretty upset about it,” Hannah said. “I think he felt guilty for having feelings for a married woman.”

“If he really felt that way toward her, he might’ve had motive to kill Edward,” Caroline said quietly.

“No way,” Dean cut in. “Bucky wouldn’t do something like that. He’s a good guy.”

“He might not be as good as everyone thinks if he’s been pining after a married woman.”

“But he never did anything about it,” Dean said. “I’ve never seen him try anything inappropriate with her. If he did have feelings for her, he hid them well. I’ve never seen him be anything but friendly and open with her and Edward.”

“Maybe he got tired of the act,” Caroline said quietly.

“Guys,” Hannah cut in. “We’re not going to solve anything like this. We’re basically just gossiping, and it doesn’t feel fair to your friends. We need more proof.”

“How can we get it?” Dean asked. He nodded at Caroline’s purse, where the bottle of peanut oil was hidden. “If the police can’t get anything off of that, we are back to square one. I’m sorry, but I’m not just going to believe that one of my friends is a heartless murderer without more evidence.”

“I wouldn’t discount Rich just yet,” Hannah said reluctantly. “I heard him on the phone after the funeral, and it sounded like he was waiting for a lawyer to contact him regarding Edward’s death.” She quickly related the conversation to them, and was rewarded with puzzled looks.

“You must be mistaken,” Dean said. “I’ve worked with Rich for years. As far as I know, he only knew the Finches through me. I mean, sure, he and Edward had become friendly over the years, but they went to car shows together, they weren’t business partners or anything like that. Trust me when I say he had zero motive to hurt either of them.”

“No one had a reason to hurt Edward,” Caroline said, sighing. “That's pretty much all we can agree on and it's not helping us get to the bottom of this.”

Hannah groaned, feeling the urge to rest her forehead on the table and give up. “This is getting ridiculous. We’re talking around in circles. Why don’t we just ask Lacey? She’d have more knowledge than we do about Edward’s friendship with the others. She might have some insight we aren’t aware of. Caroline, you can drop the bottle you found off with the police first, then one of us can call Lacey and ask if she will be able to meet with us sometime later this week to talk about it. Normally I wouldn’t want to disturb someone who just lost a loved one, but she did say she wanted answers and this could help us get them.”

“All right,” Caroline said. She gave Hannah a tight smile. “You’re right that we’re getting nowhere like this. Can we all agree not to talk to others about this, though? Right now, Lacey is the only one who we don't suspect as possibly involved in Edward’s death. I don’t want one of the others getting wind of our little investigation and deciding to disappear or try to stop us.”

“I agree,” Dean said. “Even though I don’t think it’s any of them, logically I know that it must be because that