Preface to Murder by M Morris (funny books to read txt) 📕

‘So,’ said Bridget, pushing a pair of clear plastic evidence bags across the tabletop. ‘Here we have two handwritten documents. The first, a list of books that you were planning to buy from Blackwell’s bookshop this morning. The second, a letter that was sent to Diane Gilbert, threatening to kill her if she proceeded with the publication of her book. According to our expert the handwriting is consistent in the two cases. Even to a casual observer they look the same. The letter was sent with a London postmark, and I’m sure I don’t have to remind you that you live and work in London.’

Grant said nothing, but if anything his hands began to shake even more. He withdrew them from view and hid them in his lap.

His lawyer leaned forward to study the evidence, a pair of reading glasses perched on his long nose. The expression on his face didn’t bode well for Grant’s chances.

At Bridget’s side, Jake cleared his throat and Grant jumped as if he’d been struck. ‘Mr Sadler, would you agree that these two documents were written by the same person?’

‘Yes,’ said Grant, refusing to make eye contact.

‘And can you tell us who wrote them?’

A pause. ‘I did.’

‘So you admit that you wrote and sent the death threat to Diane Gilbert?’

‘Yes.’ He looked up, his face holding a desperate appeal for Bridget’s compassion. ‘But I didn’t kill her. You have to believe me!’

Bridget wasn’t moved by his plea. ‘Why should we believe you? All the evidence points to you.’

‘You don’t understand. I never wanted to harm Diane. I certainly didn’t want her to die. She was my client! I had nothing to gain from her death.’

‘Except for fifteen percent of all the revenues from her book sales. Which looks to be a considerable amount of money now that the book is becoming a bestseller.’

‘I know!’ cried Grant in anguish. ‘I know how it looks. But it was never meant to happen like this.’

‘You didn’t want the book to become a bestseller?’

‘Of course I did! That’s why I sent her the death threat, but you have to believe me, I didn’t murder Diane. I never had any intention of harming her.’

Jake leaned across the table. ‘I think you’d better explain.’

Grant ran both hands through his hair, lifting the unkempt tufts to new heights. ‘All right, this is how it was.’ He breathed deeply, calming himself down. When he had himself back under control, he began to speak. ‘Diane and I cooked up the death threat plan between us. It was my idea, but when I suggested it to her, she was enthusiastic. I wrote the letter and sent it to her, and when she received it, she showed it to her sister and to Jennifer, her publisher.’

‘Are you saying that they were in on this plot too?’

He shook his head. ‘No. They both thought the death threat was genuine.’

Bridget frowned. ‘According to Annabel and Jennifer, Diane was dismissive of the letter. Initially she didn’t even want to report it to the police.’

‘Yes, but don’t you see? That was all part of the act. Diane had to respond to the letter just as she would have done if it had been genuine. In other words, with her usual contempt. She needed to convince Annabel and Jennifer that it was real. That would make it more credible when she did eventually agree to take it to the police.’

He was starting to look embarrassed, as if he’d pulled a schoolboy prank that had gone too far.

‘And what precisely was the purpose of this hoax threat?’ demanded Bridget. ‘A publicity stunt?’

‘Exactly. It’s a cut-throat business, the world of publishing. And the truth is that I’ve been finding it hard-going these past few years. I’ve had a string of bad luck, you might say. Authors that showed promise, but whose careers came to nothing.’

Bridget looked at the dishevelled man across the table from her. She pictured the budget hotel where he was staying at the far end of the Abingdon Road, the bus journeys he was having to make in and out of town each day, and the way that he had dodged paying for his coffee at the coffee shop. That his financial situation was dire – here was a fact she could believe.

‘So,’ he continued, ‘I came to see Diane in Oxford to discuss plans for the book launch, and we were chatting about how to get more sales. She was saying that her appearance at the Oxford Literary Festival was a waste of time. I told her that was nonsense. It was an honour to appear at the festival, but she said there would only be a small audience for her talk at the Divinity School – it wasn’t as if they’d offered her the Sheldonian – and she wasn’t particularly keen on meeting readers anyway. She said she would hate answering their stupid questions and signing books for them.’ He raised his eyes to the ceiling. ‘You know what Diane was like.’

Bridget nodded. That was exactly the kind of remark she could imagine Diane making.

‘Anyway,’ continued Grant, ‘I said that if she wanted more publicity, then we needed to make the most of the controversial nature of her book. Half-jokingly, I suggested the idea of the death threat. I told her that if word got out that she had been threatened, we could use the story to generate more publicity for the launch. To my surprise, she thought it was a great idea, and so we agreed to do it. You know, I didn’t really think it would work, but when the police took the letter seriously and offered to provide round-the-clock protection for Diane, I knew that we’d struck gold. It was going to make a great story.’

Bridget was furious. ‘So you used