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Despite her obvious interest, Bess also did the diplomatic thing and turned her back on Esme and Todd, joining Nancy by the darkroom.
    â€œI’ve told you, Esme, I take the blame for everything,” Nancy heard Todd say. “If I thought you would ever forgive me, I’d be down on my hands and knees in a second. Why can’t you believe it was someone else who did those things?”
    â€œTodd, please.” Esme took a long pause before continuing. “That’s all in the past.”
    â€œBut your book—” Todd protested.
    â€œThe book will tell only the truth,” Esme countered. “No one can stop me from doing that.”
    â€œThink about what I asked you, Esme,” Todd implored. “If you could simply hold back just a little . . . you and I both know it would help me out a lot.” Todd’s voice grew gentle. “We shared quite a bit,” he said. “I find it hard to believe you can’t remember our good times.”
    Esme let out a long sigh. “I do, Todd, I do. Please leave me alone now. So far, this hasn’t been the greatest day.”
    â€œI understand,” Todd said. “Will I see you tonight? Will you save a dance for the man who once had your heart?”
    At this, Bess clutched Nancy’s arm and made a face of disbelief. “Can you believe this creep?” she whispered. “Esme’s got to see through him.”
    â€œShe made the mistake of trusting him once before,” Nancy reminded Bess, her voice low.
    â€œWe’ve got enough shots without the change of clothes,” Janine announced, coming toward the dressing room. “Let’s call it a day. I think it’s time we went back to the hotel and you had a nice long sauna, Esme.”
    â€œThat sounds like heaven,” Esme said. Then she called Nancy and Bess over. “You girls are coming to the masquerade ball I’m hosting tonight at the hotel, aren’t you?”
    â€œYou’re kidding!” Bess said.
    Nancy had heard Bess mention the ball, but it was by invitation only. Excited, Nancy realized it would be a chance to keep an eye on all the suspects—including Kim and Janine.
    â€œBut we don’t have costumes,” Bess pointed out.
    â€œI wouldn’t let that stop you,” Esme said with a laugh. “Janine can give you the address of a costume shop where we all got ours. By the way, you have to come dressed as a character from oneof my novels, so pick your costumes accordingly.”
    â€œThat sounds like fun,” Bess said. “Thanks for inviting us.”
    Janine led a weary Esme out of the studio with Todd following. Nancy waited to see if Giancarlo and Kim might appear, but they seemed to have left while Esme was talking to Todd. Nancy and Bess hailed a cab and headed back to the Barrington to pick up Nancy’s car. Bess was eager to go straight to the costume shop, but since Nancy had to stop by the police department to turn the suitcase over to Sam, the girls split up. Bess caught a cab and would pick up two costumes. Nancy was free to drive over to the River Heights Police Department then.
    Sam wasn’t in, so Nancy left the evidence with the sergeant on duty, and also wrote a note to Sam about the latest incident, asking him to call when he got in. On the way home Nancy tried to make sense of what she knew so far. It was obvious that whoever was harassing Esme knew her well enough to know her old nickname. That person held enough of a grudge against Esme to want some serious revenge. Most of the harassment was centered around Telling All. The note writer had warned that if Esme went ahead with Telling All, her life would only get more miserable. The question then was, why would someone not want Esme to publish the book? Better yet, who would want to stop Esme from writing it?
    One person came to mind right away: Todd Gilbert. He could have a lot to lose personally and professionally if