Edited to Death (39 page)

“In hockey? Three goals in one game?”

“You’ve got to love your partner, you’ve got to like your partner, and then, you’ve
got to trust them.”

We took the turn, and Michael twirled me out on one arm and back again.

“Well,” I said, “two out of three ain’t bad.”

He pulled me close. “Oh, we’ll get back to three out of three,” he said. “Hat tricks
are happy accidents.”

The morning after we went skating, I got out the little brown derby with the veil.
I hadn’t worn it since the day Quentin died. I tried it on and looked in the mirror.
It wasn’t quite me, not anymore. I packed that hat and the fawn cloche Quentin bought
me into a hatbox and dropped it in the Goodwill bin at the supermarket. It’s okay.
I’ve got plenty of other hats.

Acknowledgments

Writing is supposed to be a solitary pursuit, but I’m indebted to a small city of
companions and cheerleaders. Whatever I got wrong was my fault; what I got right,
I owe to my pals. The smartest, most supportive and loyal agent around, Amy Rennert.
The best writing group in town: Eileen Bordy, Ronnie Caplane, Greg Ellis, Gloria Lenhart,
Suzy Parker, Christine Schoefer. Friends who read and offered help, suggestions and
corrections: Barbara Austin, Margret Elson, Scott Hafner, Kathy Halland, Maria Hjelm,
Jonnie Jacobs, Michael Learned, Wendy Lichtman, Phyllis Peacock. Steve Tollefson,
my longtime writing buddy, editor, and co-conspirator.

Thanks to Evan Young for many things, including the epilogue. Thanks to expert counsel:
Ted Michon on shipping, Murray Winthrop and Bart Elmer on hockey, Inspector Bruce
Fairbairn for SFPD titles. Editorial counsel came from many quarters, including Michael
Castleman, Antoinette Ercolano, Donna Lemaster, and Ed Stackler, and manuscript assistance
came from Susan D’Orazio and Kate Peterson. Thanks to Deke Castleman and 21st Century.
Thanks to Jackie Jones for a handsome hardcover book, my website, and a beautiful
friendship, and to Louise Kollenbaum for generous visual consulting. Hugs to David
Skolnick, my business partner, who sent me to the mystery conference at Book Passage.
I am blessed with an amen corner of family, fine writers and readers, one and all:
Ken, Ben, and Kate Peterson, Larry and Pat Winthrop, and my sister, Laurie Winthrop,
who thinks her full-time job is promoting me.

Maggie Fiori is an obnoxious know-it-all. Those of you who knew my nephew, Andrew
Tuttle, had the privilege of knowing a non-obnoxious know-it-all. The memory of Andrew’s
omnivorous appetite for knowledge of all kinds—from sports ephemera to political strategy—may
make Maggie a nicer person one day.

A new shout-out to Colleen Dunn Bates, Patty O’Sullivan, Jennifer Bastien, and all
the crew at Prospect Park Books. They embraced my second mystery,
The Devil’s Interval
, and re-issued (and re-edited)
Edited to Death
as an e-book. Thank you, new friends.

Finally, a toast to my parents, Vauneta Winthrop, who taught me to love books, and
to Murray Winthrop, who introduced me to Dashiell Hammett.