Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

Declan and Charlie stepped into the reception room. Sinclair Yamada stood by the office door.

"Sinclair. It's good to see you again." Declan walked up to him and shook his hand.

"Can I get you a coffee?" Charlie asked.

"No. That's okay. I got here early and had one at the café downstairs."

"Why don't we sit out here?" Declan suggested, indicating the couches across from Charlie's desk. "It's more comfortable than my office."

Sinclair sat down, then nervously asked, "What have you found? Did you get the computer?"

Declan said, "Before we get into that, I need to ask you a few questions. It appears that you haven't been completely honest with us, Sinclair."

Yamada scowled. "About what?"

"Well for starters, Mrs Cameron said that you argued with Malcolm Tull on the day before he died. Is there a reason you didn't tell us that?"

"I didn't think it was important. You already knew he was blackmailing me."

"Is that what you argued about?" Declan asked.

"Yes. As I told you, he had threatened to reveal the sex tape to my employer."

Declan stared Yamada down. "Anything else you'd like to share?"

"I can tell you he was in a mean mood, and he had clearly been drinking when we fought. What's this about?" Sinclair snapped.

Declan ignored the question and continued, "It seems that neither Tull nor his predecessor actually wrote much for your company. We were wondering why you would keep them on?"

Declan watched Sinclair carefully. He seemed uncomfortable with the question. He shifted a bit, removed his hands from his pockets then stuffed them back in again. He got up, walked over to the window and stared out at the street below.

"Have you discovered something that I don't know about?" Yamada asked.

Declan continued in a cool tone, "We found the computer. And it did have your sex video on it and also what appears to be the copy of the latest manuscript. You said Tull was writing a book, but there was something in the opening chapters that seemed familiar to Charlie here. At first he thought it might be a spoof of The Heart's Shadow series. Is there anything you'd like to tell us, Sinclair?"

Yamada turned his head to the side, then made his way back to the couch and collapsed into it. "Nobody was supposed to have access to the manuscript. You shouldn't have read it."

Charlie interjected, "Oh we didn't read much. However, when I checked it against the other Heart's Shadow novels, the characters were the same. But this book…it was more like erotica."

"Well, I guess there's no getting around it. You need to know the truth."

"And that is?" Declan probed.

Sinclair glowered at him. "After Marjorie Ellis finished writing The Offal House, she had an…emotional upset, let's call it. I wasn't around of course. It was well before my time. She went totally off her rocker just before she finished the third book, The Heart's Shadow, which was to be the first in a series."

He shifted his gaze to his hands.

"So," he continued, "there was Mount Temple Press with an author who had a huge hit, a miss and a potential money-making series. Only apparently, she wasn't able to cope with the pressure. The solution was to bring in a ghostwriter to complete the task. That was Thomas Pritchard. This of course was after Marjorie Ellis had fled to Portugal. Thomas had been a correspondent of Miss Ellis'. When the publisher asked if she would be amenable to having someone else write under her name, she said that she had read his book, The World Before Time, and liked his writing. I don't know what she was thinking. It was his only book. Like I said, she was off her rocker. But she suggested he would be an acceptable replacement and against all odds, it turned out all right."

"So, she agreed to step aside and let someone take over her characters?" Declan asked.

"From what I was told, she knew she couldn't handle the stress of writing to the tight deadlines that were asked for. Her first book took ten years, the second, four. Mount Temple Press wanted a new novel at least once per year. She gave up complete control of the series and agreed to the setup of the foundation in exchange for a percentage of all future sales of books containing her characters. It worked in everyone's favour."

"So, Pritchard and Tull both wrote The Heart's Shadow novels?" Declan asked.

"Yes."

"And nobody knows they aren't written by Marjorie Ellis?"

"Maybe some have guessed, but officially, only myself, the publisher and the accountant who transfers the funds know. And to protect the brand, we have to keep it that way."

"Have you personally had communication with Marjorie Ellis since you took over as editor?" Charlie asked.

"No. Supposedly, the head of Mount Temple Press is in email contact with her, but I haven't personally had any contact with her. My job is to edit the work of the ghostwriter."

Declan stepped closer to him. "So, is she still alive?"

"Why would you say that? I mean, I couldn't say for sure, but I haven't heard anything to the contrary."

"Very interesting," Declan said.

Sinclair scowled. "I hope I can trust you not to reveal that you know the secret of the ghostwriters? After all, I came to you with the understanding that you would be discreet."

"Why is it so important that readers don't find out about the ghostwriters?" Charlie asked. "I mean, a lot of books are ghostwritten. V.C. Andrews' novels, for instance. They've been ghostwritten since she died."

Declan looked at Charlie who shrugged. "My mother reads a lot of romance."

Sinclair sighed. "For many of her fans, Marjorie Ellis is more than a writer. Her readers are rabidly faithful to her and many of them write to the publisher saying that they base their intimate fantasies on her characters through living in the world of her books."

"And what are you worried would happen if they found out that she no longer wrote the books?" Declan asked.

"They may feel tricked. Her works have been praised for accurately capturing the feelings and emotions of a predominantly female audience. One wonders what would happen if they found out they had been deceived by a male publishing team and male writers pretending to be her. If her image is tarnished, a takeover bid from a larger publishing house could collapse along with Mount Temple Press. The publishing industry is very delicate right now. I'd also likely lose my job and my head, and not necessarily in that order. You have to promise not to reveal what you have discovered."

Declan said, "We will keep your secret."

"Good," Sinclair said. "Now is there anything else?"

"Did Tull ever threaten to reveal the secret of the ghostwriters if you didn't let him get his way?"

Yamada shifted on the couch. "He intimated it."

"You mean with phrases like ‘I'll bring down the mountain on all of your heads'?" Charlie asked. "I assume that mountain refers to Mount Temple Press."

A look of shock crossed Sinclair's face. "Yes. How did you know about that?"

"There is nothing Charlie can't find out," Declan said.

Sinclair scowled. "That correspondence was private and on a protected site."

Declan shrugged. "Like I said, Charlie's good at his job. Now, about the book Tull wanted to have published…"

"Malcolm wanted to put more erotic elements into the book. The readers would have abandoned the series entirely. But Tull was egotistical, single-minded and vindictive. He had me backed into a corner. He said that it was time The Heart's Shadow had more heat, and that the readers would just assume Marjorie Ellis had evolved."

"It doesn't sound like something Miss Ellis would have been in favour of. Did she read the manuscripts before they were published?"

"Never. Like I said, I was told she gave up control, in exchange for the royalties. As far as I know, her only involvement at this point is to take the money that is wired into her account."

Sinclair continued, "Revealing the secret of the ghostwriters was something Tull knew I could never allow, but he also knew I would do just about anything to stop him from revealing that sex video. That threat was like the extra topping on his masochist sundae. I was stuck in the middle of two unacceptable choices—my reputation or the continued life of the book series and my job."

"And now, conveniently, Malcolm Tull is dead, and we've found the computer with your missing sex video and the manuscript as well," Declan added.

"I didn't murder him, if that's what you're thinking."

Declan stared at Yamada, "Now why would you say that?"

"I'm just saying that there are many people who would have liked to see him dead, and the police said it was likely an accidental death."

Declan smiled. "Last time we spoke to you, you said it was currently ruled a suspicious death."

Sinclair paused. "So, where do we go from here?"

Declan said, "Technically, we should turn the computer over to the police, but I think given this conversation, we should hold onto it for a bit longer."

"And the sex video?" Sinclair asked.

Declan stared him down. "I want to make sure that I'm not erasing something that might be evidence connected to Malcolm Tull's potential murder. We're going to do a bit more investigating before we delete that video. You'll have to give us a little more time. If it turns out that Tull wasn't murdered, you can have the manuscript and your video."

Sinclair Yamada stood abruptly. "Why would I have hired you in the first place if I murdered Tull? That simply wouldn't make any sense."

Declan nodded. "Sometimes people think they can outsmart the system by being the one to get the ball rolling on the investigation. If you've told us the full truth, then you have nothing to worry about. Now, if you don't mind we have another appointment shortly. We'll be in touch."

Declan opened the door and a disgruntled Sinclair Yamada left the office, slamming the door behind him.