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she—left a letter with money in it at the skywriting office.”
    â€œTo draw even more attention to the damn things.” Emma looked thoughtful.
    Barb poked her head in the office. “Annie. For you.”
    Max waved his hand. “Tell any callers that we’re in conference.”
    Annie shook her head, moved to Max’s desk, a rather grand desk that had all the dignity of a refectorytable in a monastery, and grabbed the portable phone. Nobody but Ingrid knew she was here and if Ingrid was calling, Annie knew she’d better answer. Annie punched the phone on.
    In the background Barb remonstrated: “Annie, wait a minute. I think it’s—”
    Max said briskly, “We’ll canvass the neighborhood. Somebody must have seen something!”
    Emma nodded approval. “That’s one avenue. But we need to think about the kind of person who would pull a trick like this. Obviously, we have to look for an angry personality, someone in need of attention—jealous, hostile and aggressive. Perhaps the last is most important.”
    Annie strained to hear. “Annie! I simply don’t know what to do.” Annie clutched the receiver, understood Barb’s warning. The breathless, urgent, well-intentioned voice was all too familiar. If Pamela Potts hadn’t invented good works, she’d staked a preeminent claim as the island’s super do-gooder. Church suppers? Pamela cooked. Bereaved families? Pamela led the casserole brigade. Island charities? Nobody made more calls, walked farther, donated more time than Pamela. Hospital auxiliary? A staunch member. Annual bird count? Pamela had spotted more purple gallinules than the next five watchers combined. But now was not the moment. Annie didn’t have time to bake a casserole or do a walkathon or—
    â€œAnnie, you know I always do my best.” There was a quaver in Pamela’s voice. “However, I find myself in a most difficult…”
    Max picked up a legal pad from his desk, began to write.
    Carrying the portable phone, Annie came up beside him and craned to see:
    Â 
    DISTRIBUTION OF BOGUS FLYERS
1. Do a door-to-door canvass, seeking a description of the person placing the flyers in the mailboxes.
2. Find out if any other means was used to distribute the flyers.
3. Get a story in Island Gazette, making it clear the bogus flyers have no connection to Death on Demand.
    Annie could have hugged his broad shoulders. Bogus flyers, that was the message they had to get out to everyone on the island. She would never have thought the word “bogus” would become a favorite.
    Max continued:
4. Check on last ferry from the mainland Monday night, first ferry Tuesday morning.
    The ferry? Why the ferry? Oh, sure. Annie shot an admiring glance at Max. The person who left the anonymous payment for the skywriting had to get on and off the island between those times. Pamela’s worried voice droned in Annie’s ear: “…predicament. I am torn between my utmost loyalty to you and, of course, to Death on Demand, the finest mystery bookstore east of Atlanta, but…”
    Emma pulled a chair up to Max’s desk and grabbed a sheet of paper.
    Annie bent to look. Emma printed with a savage swiftness, the letters large and blocky:
    LINKS
Follow clues, discover identities of suspects.
Valid accusations or scurrilous defamations?
Explore backgrounds.
Determine persons having requisite knowledge of the suspects to create the list of Crimes and Clues.
Contrast that list with…
    â€œâ€¦I find myself in an untenable position. I want to do everything I can to support Emma’s signing—and isn’t Whodunit a wonderful title, it’s one of my favorites, almost as good as Just Desserts. You know that’s the first in the Mary Daheim series and I wouldn’t tell Emma, but I like those books even better than Emma’s. They’re so funny. Of course, Marigold is amazing and really so