Silence reigned for several seconds.
Finally, Dashiell broke it. “Your sister? Why do you think that?”
“I think it had to do with her autobiography. My mother was being quite frank. Some of the information may have been….less than flattering.”
“So you’ve seen a copy?”
“Not as such, no. But mother was completely open about her book with us. She called each of us in and told us what she planned to write. I didn’t speak directly with
Dashiell and
Peter paused for a moment and thought. “It must have been….about two weeks ago now is when Mother spoke to me. She spoke to
“What sort of information was your mother going to reveal about your sister?”
“I don’t know all the details of my sister’s youth. But I understand there were some….indiscretions. Things that would be quite embarrassing for someone in our social circle.”
“Embarrassing?” Dashiell commented. “There’s a far cry to being embarrassed by something and being willing to kill over it. Especially when the victim is your own mother.”
“Mr. Aldridge, you need to understand. My sister has a certain reputation among her friends. She was held up by all of our friends' parents as the ideal to which they should strive. That image has carried with her to this day. If it were to be tarnished, or worse yet, flat out destroyed, it would devastate her.” He paused. “Sad to say, yes, I believe that protecting her reputation would be enough to drive her to this desperate end. Especially given….”
“Especially given, what?” Dashiell prompted.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Aldridge, Detective Robins. There are some things we just don’t discuss outside the family. Certain topics we are ingrained not to mention. It is a habit that is hard to break, especially after so many years. But then, there’s no need to hide it from you. You’ve doubtless already read, or will shortly read, Mother’s book.”
“What?” Peter asked.
“The only copy of the manuscript is missing.”
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